#so i guess this is me coming to terms that while my elena is heavily inspired by canon she isnt exactly canon compliant | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

crystal-methionine · 3 years

Text

The Post-Eurovision ranking and comments from an American that nobody asked for:

1. Switzerland 🇨🇭 Gjon’s Tears - Tout l’univers: I absolutely was enamored by this song, its artistry, and the artist. He can really sing and one of my early favorites from this year. So happy for him to get in the top 3 bc it was well deserved. 100/10

2. Italy 🇮🇹 Måneskin - Zitti e Buoni: Deserved winners. As queer as you can get and I am here for it. Another early favorite of mine constantly fighting with Switzerland for the top spot. 100/10

3. Iceland 🇮🇸 Dadi og Gagnamagnid - 10 Years: A beautiful song dedicated to his wife and deserved Top 5 for sure. Last year’s song would have won hands down so I’m bummed he couldn’t win the first one for Iceland but brilliant song and I hope the group stays together to produce more music. 99/10

4. Bulgaria 🇧🇬 Victoria - Growing Up Is Getting Old: Eurovision fandom will forever say Imaginary Friend or Ugly Cry was the better song to send, but I don’t think they would have won the contest either. This year was strong, and I personally think Growing Up was a perfect choice from Victoria. It deserved top 10 so I was pissed that it came 11th on the night and received so few televotes. 97/10

5. Ukraine 🇺🇦 Go_A - SHUM: To all y’all who said this wouldn’t qualify when the new version came out, eat those words hun. This was a masterpiece, and the live performances just elevated it further. Honestly, Kateryna could step on me, and I would let her. Who doesn’t love an ethnic modern fusion rave? 95/10

6. Serbia 🇷🇸 Hurricane - Loco Loco: I honestly have to say when it came out, it was never breaking my top 20, but here we are. This group of gals is amazing. The choreo, hairography, and the still great vocals won my gay ass over. They served and deserved top 10 in my eye. 90/10

7. Greece 🇬🇷 Stefania - Last Dance: Much like Serbia, I kinda dismissed this as a top 10 song at first, but after many listens and then the live shows, it was one of the best songs this year. Last year’s song was nowhere near a qualifier for me, and then I thought they had a good chance of being top 5 this year. Amazing improvement and can’t wait to see what comes next from Stefania. 80/10

8. Malta 🇲🇹 Destiny - Je me casse: Not going to lie, the studio definitely did more for me. It was up with Italy and Switzerland for winner contention until the live shows. Don’t get me wrong, Destiny is still amazing live, and the song is a deserved top 5 song. However, the costume and staging just really didn’t add to the song and I think detracted a bit. Her song last year was also much better in my opinion. 75/10

9. San Marino 🇸🇲 Senhit ft Flo Rida - Adrenalina: Oh boy this was a party, and the fact Flo Rida actually was there made it even better. The staging and costuming was absolutely camp, and I was here for it. This was definitely not underrated by fans beforehand, but the jury and televote were beyond robberies in my opinion. Granted I know the backing vocals were carrying the chorus a lot so in terms of vocals, I can see where this song got dinged, but this should have been San Marino’s best ever result at Eurovision, and it wasn’t so I’m mad. 60/10

10. France 🇫🇷 Barbara Pravi - Voila: The new Edith Piaf and probably one of the most representative of the country’s culture for a song. A definite deserved runner up on the night but for me 10th place. I loved the staging, the costume, the emotions. It was all right for Eurovision and me. 50/10

11. Cyprus 🇨🇾 Elena Tsingarou - El Diablo: Come through Cyprus with another female pop banger. I’d say if the formula ain’t broke don’t fix it, but wasn’t really enough to crack top 10 this year. Another early favorite of mine this year but soon got eclipsed. Still going to be listening to El Diablo for a while. 49/10

12. Russia 🇷🇺 Manizha - Russian Woman: I can’t lie that at first, this song was absolutely trash to me but quickly rose the ranks and became one of my faves. Same thing happened last year with Uno. We also always love a good female empowerment moment with the native language thrown in. Manizha is a girlboss without the gaslighting and a true queen. Deserved top 10 the night of. 40/10

13. Lithuania 🇱🇹 The Roop - Discoteque: An earworm for first listen and was top 10 for a while for me but like Cyprus, lost out to some others. No doubt this is a deserved top 10 the night of. 35/10

14. Croatia 🇭🇷 Albina - Tick Tock: The first song to get me pressed on it’s placement. Deserved to be in the final over both Israel and Norway (please come for me I don’t care). They freakin rocked that stage during the semis and the song is absolutely a bop. Albina deserved better. 30/10

15. Sweden 🇸🇪 Tusse - Voices: A beautiful song by an amazing artist. Sure the lyrics were a bit cliche Eurovision but guess what...it’s Eurovision. I can hear the voices. Keep carrying on Tusse. 25/10

16. Albania 🇦🇱 Anxehla Peristeri - Karma: This song grew on me a lot. I liked it but wasn’t a don’t skip for a while on my playlist. The live performance changed it for me. She slayed and the staging was everything for Miss Thing. Also native language brownie points. 24/10

17. Finland 🇫🇮 Blind Channel - Darkside: Before you come for me for having this at 17th, keep reading. I’m not a big fan of the lyrics but the song is absolutely fantastic. This style of music isn’t something I pull out on a playlist often, but I had my middle fingers up for this one (and pointed at Germany but we’ll discuss later). Deserved top 10 as they rocked it on stage. 20/10

18. The Netherlands 🇳🇱 Jeangu Macrooy - Birth of a New Age: I absolutely do not understand the hate for this song. I was also a huge fan of Grow last year so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised for being generally alone again. The fact it got 0 points in the televote and only 11 in the jury is not surprising but extremely disappointing to me. This song is a masterpiece much like the ones ranked above it. Jeangu, you are amazing and deserved so much better than this. 20/10

19. Belgium 🇧🇪 Hooverphonic - The Wrong Place: Fantastic song but fantastic artists. Always here for a dark pop moment. Gonna go get my own Johnny Cash T-shirt. 15/10

20. Spain 🇪🇸 Blas Cantó - Voy a Quedarme: Such a heartfelt ballad. I enjoyed it quite a bit and don’t understand the hate it has. Didn’t deserve 0 points in the televote. 14/10

21. Denmark 🇩🇰 Fyr og Flamme - Øve Os På Hinanden: Look we all know this song is cheesy but it’s the cheesiest Velveeta queso loco so it’s ranked so high in my opinion. This is a nod to the whacky and weird Eurovision I love. It’s always in my head and I always find myself dancing along. Deserved to be in the final over two of the songs in Semi 2. 13/10

22. Azerbaijan 🇦🇿 Efendi - Mata Hari: As far as the song goes, it’s enjoyable, but the stage show was a hot mess in my opinion. The choreo looked a mess and the different sheer legging configurations on the backup dancers was not the correct fashion choice in my opinion as I was distracted by the thought of why are they all different. Did deserve their spot in the final though. 12/10

23. Moldova 🇲🇩 Natalia Gordienko - Sugar: The studio version of this song is a heavily replayed one on my playlist bc of the drop and dance-ability of the song. However the downfall of the song was it’s live performance. The staging was fine and the choreo was great but those attempted sexy whisper vocals were not the choice to go with. I don’t want to sugar-coat this 😝 so they were terrible. Glad she made it but I felt her position in the final was one of just pure luck. 11/10

24. UK 🇬🇧 James Newman - Embers: The nul points was a huge ass oof. This song isn’t bad but I can see where people didn’t vote for it bc it’s not super memorable in terms of who all was participating this year. I like the song and always sing and dance along. 10/10

25. Israel 🇮🇱 Eden Alene - Set Me Free: This is how to do a revamp and be successful. Eden is a fantastic artist who can clearly sing, but the live performance was not all that sans the whistle tones. Yet the whistle tones aside, the song is lacking a lot. When looking back at the songs available, this one should not have been the selected one. I was always on the fence with this one and still am. 9.5/10

26. Czechia 🇨🇿 Benny Cristo - Omaga: The live definitely hurt this song in the first minute and a half. The second half was absolutely what should have happened in terms of vocals. Still like the song and listen to it often. 9.25/10

27. Ireland 🇮🇪 Leslie Roy - Maps: This song was a victim of a super strong bloodbath and shoddy staging ideas. The song is arresting and a bop. Leslie’s gruff voice mixed with the modernized Irish sounds is a match made. The staging of this song that required Leslie to run along with the beat and the distracting and constantly changing bits of the performance we’re definitely it’s downfall. It didn’t deserve last place in Semi 1 though. 9.25/10

28. Portugal 🇵🇹 The Black Mamba - Love Is On My Side: I am the first to admit that while I don’t like the song, it deserved the final. The staging and atmosphere elevated the song. 9/10

29. Austria 🇦🇹 Vincent Bueno - Amen: In the battle of the Amens, this one wins solely based on the classy and amazing staging. Don’t get me wrong, Slovenia’s was also elevating but this one did it better. 8.5/10

30. Australia 🇦🇺 Montaigne - Technicolor: This song is a fantastic one for studio. The live since the Sydney Mardi Gras performance has been rough and didn’t necessarily improve. I feel bad bc I do really love this song but it definitely didn’t deserve to qualify. This being said, I love Montaigne, and Don’t Break Me was my runner up last year, and I still listen to it as my anthem when I’m feeling down. I wish I could rank this higher but I can’t. 8.5/10

31. Romania 🇷🇴 Roxen - Amnesia: This song is great in the studio but it got old real fast for me and I don’t know why. This mixed with the poor vocals and the bizarre costume:stage combo was really what did this in and got this low in my ranking. 8.25/10

32. Slovenia 🇸🇮 Ana Soklic - Amen: The loser of the Amen battle, but just barely. The song and vocals are better in my opinion but the whole package was just barely edged out in the end. 8/10

33. Latvia 🇱🇻 Samanta Tīna - Moon Is Rising: Look, this song is nowhere near as good as last years. The queeeeeen sashayed away with that annoying trap beat. 8/10

34. North Macedonia 🇲🇰 Vasil - Here I Stand: Leave it to the gays for bringing musical theatre to Eurovision. The song honestly isn’t that special or memorable but he’s higher up bc his stage and voice are amazing. 7/10

35. Norway 🇳🇴 Tix - Fallen Angel: A great message on mental health outside of the song and Tix seems like a quality fella but I do not like the song. I preferred it in Norwegian. And this low ranking is not at all influenced over him beating out Keiino (but maybe a slight bit tho). 5/10

36. Estonia 🇪🇪 Uku Suviste - The Lucky One: While this was 1000% better than last years entry, it still was relatively boring. The stage was equally as boring so sorry Estonia, but you didn’t make the mark. 4.5/10

37. Poland 🇵🇱 Rafael - The Ride: This throwback to the 80s was a bad one. The attempt at a one hit wonder vibe really hurt it along with the artist’s terrible vocals. Also half the time, he was behind the pyro and relying on backup vocals. 4/10

38. Georgia 🇬🇪 Tornike Kipiani - You: You really should not have to wait so long for the more upbeat rock ending of this. If it was that last 30 seconds for 3 minutes, it would be much better. A definite step back from last year. 1/10

39. Germany 🇩🇪 Jendrick - I Don’t Feel Hate: Jendrick might not feel hate but I do bc that is all I feel when this song comes on. 0.5/10

#Eurovision #Eurovision 2021 #top 39 eurovision #my opinion

15 notes · View notes

buildarocketboys · 4 years

Text

Books read 2020: Reviews (1-20)

Decided to write a little review/overview for all the books I’ve read this year. Mostly just for personal record but please feel free to message me about any of these books!

1. Amberlough by Lara Elena Donnelly (Jan 6th – Jan 13th) 8 days 400 pages

I loved this whole trilogy, but this might have been my favourite of all three. I loved the setting (the main reason, apart from the queer characters, why I wanted to read this book) which is a fantasy setting based on the dying days of Berlin during the Weimar Republic. Loved this setting (especially the cabaret/music hall part) and it’s the only book that really features it. I also enjoy (or…find compelling, enjoy might not quite be right since there’s some very ‘yowch’ descriptions regarding torture/being beaten up) the story/plot most in this one, I was on the edge of my seat wanting to know what happened next…

2. Maurice by E.M. Forster (Nov 17th – Jan 21st) 256 pages

This is the only kind of cheat I have in here, because yes I did start reading it in November 2019, but I read the vast majority of it in 2020. I’d wanted to read it for ages because it’s such a gay classic and there were many sections (sentences, paragraphs) that I related to heavily, not even always as a queer person, but in that way that the best books get at the heart of something about the human experience in a way that’s intensely relatable to the reader. I think I found the romance elements kind of anticlimactic overall but maybe that’s kind of the point? It’s a happy ending, but in a very quiet way. (I think, it has been nearly a year since I read it!)

3. East, West by Salman Rushdie (Jan 17th – Jan 24th) 8 days 224 pages

I started reading this to compare it with its Spanish translation for my Postcolonialism in Translation essay lol. Some pretty interesting stories in here, also pretty sure this is the only collection of short stories I read this year, so it has that distinction. Not super my thing but acted as an enjoyable reading break in the local park while I was slogging my way through essays (and God do I miss that life now).

4. Affinity by Sarah Waters (Jan 24th – Jan 31st) 8 days 352 pages

This was the first of three Sarah Waters books I read this year. I have now read all of her work, and I enjoyed this one a lot – very much a ghost story. It wasn’t my favourite, but definitely sits nicely in the middle.

5. The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger (Jan 31st – Feb 5th) REREAD 6 days 500 pages

Reread this while on a trip to York, when stuff like that was still possible. As good as ever. I love Time Traveler’s Wife not for the romance (which is…interesting, but personally I don’t find it exactly enjoyable and the characters aren’t particularly likable or relatable for me) but for the prose and the structure. The back-and-forth structure of the book (travelling through time, Henry – and Clare – at different points in their life) makes for a breathtakingly constructed plot and I love it more every time. Some of the prose and stuff the characters talk about are kind of pretentious but I’m kind of pretentious myself (I discovered Rilke through TTW) and a lot of it has stuck in my brain, to the point that 10 months later I keep thinking about it and kind of want to read it yet again.

6. Armistice by Lara Elena Donnelly (Feb 5th – Feb 9th) 5 days 400 pages

I really enjoyed this sequel, I loved exploring the rest of the world, I loved the interaction between characters who either hadn’t met before, hadn’t seen each other in years (there’s a time jump between Amberlough and Armistice) and brand new characters (who were mostly equally as compelling/lovable). A worthy sequel.

7. Consider the Fork: A History of How We Cook and Eat by Bee Wilson (Feb 13th – Feb 24th) 12 days 327 pages

My thing (at least non-fiction-wise) this year has been books about food and food history, and this is the first of those on this list. It was pretty good, very interesting. I have trouble retaining information from non-fiction books so I only remember it in the broadest strokes (and remember reading it in the Hygge café in Sheffield which was really cool and I hope it’s survived the pandemic) but it was a really eye-opening look into different appliances/tools/processes/spaces used throughout history and in different parts of the world when it comes to food and cooking.

8. Bi: Notes for a Bisexual Revolution by Shiri Eisner (Feb 25th – Mar 11th) 16 days 352 pages

I read this in the period just before everything started shutting down and the day I finished it (incidentally my girlfriend’s birthday) was more or less the start of the lockdown for us, so that’s my prevailing memory of this book. It was a very good, enlightening look into bi politics and what we (I, as a white gentile especially) could do better. But again, I don’t remember it in great detail because I was more preoccupied with what was happening around it.

9. Solitaire by Alice Oseman (Mar 14th – Mar 16th) 3 days 392 pages

This was pretty good but I definitely read most YA (well, reality-based YA) as an easy, quick read that doesn’t challenge me too much, so I don’t have too much to say about it. It was nice to read about the Heartstopper characters

10. What If It’s Us by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera (Mar 17th – Mar 20th) 4 days 437 pages

Again, early lockdown YA so basically brain popcorn for me. That’s not a bad thing though.

11. The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters (Mar 20th – Mar 30th) 11 days 512 pages

This was my least favourite of the Sarah Waters books I read this year, and probably not coincidentally, the only book of hers without explicit queer characters. But still a pretty good scary story.

12. Amnesty by Lara Elena Donnelly (Apr 1st – April 6th) 6 days 384 pages

The last in the trilogy. I still liked it very much, but not as much as the first two books. I think endings to a trilogy are hard to get right. I feel like there was too much focus on one character and his predicament (and while I enjoyed his ending and happily ever after with probably m favourite character of the series), I wasn’t as compelled by this one as I was by the other two.

13. Lisey’s Story by Stephen King (Apr 6th – Apr 15th) 10 days 513 pages

My first Stephen King! I actually really enjoyed this, especially the scary fantasy dream world thing. It wasn’t too scary for me (I am a big scaredy cat who’s just dipping my toe into horror novels since I figure reading horror is moderately less scary than watching it) and just overall pretty good.

14. This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone (Apr 16th – Apr 20th) 5 days 209 pages

Loved this! The meandering almost poetry of it, the epic enemies to lovers, the weird admixture of sci fi and larger than life fantasy concepts (and beings!). Will definitely return to this one again.

15. Five Hundred Mile Walkies by Mark Wallington (Apr 21st – Apr 25th) REREAD 5 days 224 pages

I read this as a young teenager and found it hilarious. It was one of my dad’s books (he might even have recommended it to me, although I did have a habit of reading anything and everything that was in the bookcase – Memoirs of a Geisha at about 13, anyone?) and I laughed out loud practically every page. The gist of it is that Mark takes his sister’s (or sister’s ex??) dog, Boogie and goes to walk the entire 500 miles of the South West coast path. I loved this anyway because I loved the South West (especially Cornwall) and love seeing it through someone else’s eyes. So I reread it and I still enjoyed it, but didn’t find it as rip roaringly hilarious as I used to. Guess your sense of humour changes as you grow up, who knew?

16. Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café by Fannie Flagg (Apr 27th – May 10th) 14 days 416 pages

I’ll be honest, I struggled with this one. I’m not sure if it was the setting (historically, geographically, linguistically) that put me off or the way it was written or what. I enjoyed the story but it just wasn’t really my thing.

17. The Night Watch by Sarah Waters (May 11th – May 17th) 7 days 528 pages

My final Sarah Waters book (until she writes more! *fingers crossed*) and definitely my favourite of the ones I read this year. Set during the Blitz in London, it’s pretty much straight up historical fiction, and I enjoyed it very much. I think part of it was I related heavily to the characters going through this dramatic time in history, because, you know, pandemic! There were certain passages that really connected with me/felt like an echo of today in a way that was sort of comforting, I guess.

18. Doctor Who: The Maze of Doom by David Solomons (May 18th – May 19th) 2 days 272 pages

A fun, quick and easy Doctor Who romp. Not much to say about this one.

19. Room by Emma Donoghue (May 19th – May 20th) 2 days 321 pages

Possibly the opposite of the previous. If you know anything about Room (the book or the film, which I actually watched years ago) then you know the subject matter is pretty dark and harrowing. Because it’s told through the eyes of a child however, I found it pretty easy (in terms of speed rather than subject matter) to get through and read it in about 24 hours. It’s super compelling too.

20. The Psychology of Time Travel by Kate Mascarenhas (June 6th – June 11th) 6 days 372 pages

This, as far as I remember, was just a random one that I managed to pick up (metaphorically since I read this as an ebook) but it was pretty good. Possibly my favourite random discovery of the year, an interesting look on time travel and its consequences, based around the discovery/invention of time travel by four women scientists in the 1960s (I think) and how it affects the rest of their lives.

#bookblr #books #read 2020 #book review

2 notes · View notes

in-dire-need · 4 years

Text

Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge- My Chemical Romance

The only 2004 album that could even come close to giving American Idiot a run for its money is Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge. My Chemical Romance’s second full-length album shot the band out of its familiar water. Its numerous hits continue to reach billboard charts, such as opening track “Helena” and world-renowned “I’m Not Okay.” According to frontman Gerard Way, Revenge stands as a “pseudo-conceptual horror story”. Every track on the album ties into this twisted and supernatural story of the two lovers featured on the cover, which was created by Gerard Way.

“Helena (So Long and Goodnight)” opens this story of Three Cheers with a heartfelt yet twisted dedication to the Way brothers’ grandmother, Elena Rush, had passed away under circumstanced unknown to the public during the band’s tour of I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love. Elena had heavily influenced the brothers from a very young age and inspired them to pursue their dreams. When she passed, Gerard Way was sent into a spiral of anger and self-destructive behavior. He wrote the song to be somewhat of a letter to himself, expressing the hatred he felt for himself at the time. Despite the dark theme behind the lyrics, “Helena” continues to be a radio classic on rock stations everywhere.

The story element behind the album begins during the second track, “Give ‘Em Hell, Kid”. A man has been divided from his lover after the devil resurrects him from the dead and, in order to resurrect his wife as well, he must kill one thousand evil souls and present them to the devil. While he ventures out to accomplish this, his wife wonders where he has gone and is clueless of his plans. She is livid at him for wrecking their marriage that began when they were young and dumb. In the next few tracks we listen as the protagonist crashes a wedding in order to kill the guests. He begins to question his sexuality and if his wife is worth one thousand souls. Continuing the double-meaning, the “To The End” is also based on the short story “A Rose For Emily” by William Faulkner. In this story, a rich wife begins suspecting that her husband may be a homosexual, so she poisons him before he cheats on her or leaves her.

“You Know What They Do To Guys Like Us in Prison” features Bert McCracken, frontman of The Used, with whom all of My Chemical Romance was extremely close with at the time of Three Cheers’ release. Gerard was also featured on their 2004 album, In Love and Death, which toured with Three Cheers after its debut. Since then, the bands had a falling-out and didn’t speak for years before heavily hinting that The Used would be opening for My Chemical Romance’s reunion tour that was scheduled for 2020. This information was never officially announced, though, seeing as COVID-19 has ruined every hope and dream that it could lay its greasy paws on. Anger aside, “Prison” continues the protagonist’s journey to kill one thousand evil souls to resurrect his wife as he is arrested in a restaurant gunfight. Once in prison, he begins falling for an inmate of the same sex, which confuses and upsets the protagonist who had assumed he was heterosexual for his entire life. He still dreams of his deceased lover, whom his journey is all for. The other inmates begin to take advantage of him, forcing him to dress in drag and give blowjobs to accommodate to their sexual desires. He begins to lose his sanity and believes that he might as well be executed since he will not be able to fulfill his mission from prison. He decides that when he leaves, he will burn down an entire hotel to quickly raise his body count.

Another track that has gone down in history is number four, “I’m Not Okay (I Promise”. It follows a girl who struggles with dealing with the problems in her life. She vents and complains to her boyfriend, who is dealing with his own problems. He puts them aside to comfort his girlfriend time and time again. She does not take this into account and simply continues to wallow in her own pain, attempting and failing to relate to sad songs with deeper meanings. He has finally had it with her by the end of the song and explodes, telling her that he is not okay and he is done with her melodrama. “The Ghost of You” is another smash hit produced by this album, which continues the story already present. The protagonist expresses the grief he experienced after losing the lover he is trying so hard to save. Later tracks emphasize this as the protagonist begins to doubt his ability to bring his lover back.

Standing as a message of inspiration and a sign not to give up, “Thank You For The Venom” has become very popular within its target audience. Critics began to blame My Chemical Romance for making music purely to become famous, to which the band responded saying that the fans are a huge impact on their music. They never wanted to be on the front covers of magazines and at the head of the rock scene, but at a certain point they could no longer fight the inevitable. The song narrates what is possibly a nun attempting to convert a horrible sinner, then being murdered by the man. The sinner could be the protagonist continuing his killing spree, knowing that no amount of preaching could save him. In the following tracks, he questions again if his lover is really worth kill one thousand evil souls. After a woman representing his lost love holds him at gunpoint and tells him to stop his killing spree, he considers shooting himself and therefore dying for her instead of killing. He trudges on still and vows revenge on this woman as his story nears its end. After killing nine-hundred ninety-nine evil souls, he realizes that the last one he must take is his own. He begins hallucinating that his wife is there with him and even holds conversations with her before remembering that she is not there. It is heavily suggested that his lover committed suicide after getting drunk, though the means are unknown. The protagonist finally comes to terms with the fact that he is destined to die and that he would never have been able to resurrect his wife.

In the final track, “I Never Told You What I Did For a Living”, the man completes his transaction with the devil. He accepts his fall from grace, but knows that once he is with his love again it will all have been worth it. Once he kills the last soul, himself, it is revealed that the devil tricked him. As a result of his astounding body count, he has been damned to hell instead of being reunited with his lover. His final realization is that it was all for nothing and that he has simply become a monster.

Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge’s final lines are a callback to the group’s first album, I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love, or Bullets for short. Dozens of lines throughout the album reference Bullets, and the lovers featured are even referred to as two “Demolition Lovers”. Initially, fans and critics believed that the two albums were linked as one continuing story, but that theory has been denied. Past its horrific tale, many songs actually send a buried positive message- keep going. Specifically “I’m Not Okay (I Promise)” and “Thank You For The Venom” have worked to debunk the band’s stereotype of being a suicide cult. Ironically, these songs have also become symbols of this said suicide cult, given the references to death and self-destruction, which leads many younger listeners to fall prey to this cult mentality that the media has created. That very concept was something that My Chemical Romance vehemently spoke out against, seeing as the very reason they began making music was to help people. Even despite being twisted and forgotten by the media, that is still exactly what they did. Although fame wasn’t what they wanted, in the end they achieved exactly what they wanted: to help people. Their worldwide fame simply allowed them to reach farther and wider than ever imagined.

As previously stated, all tracks on the album not only tie into the crazy narration of two dead lovers, but into the real lives of the bandmates, specifically Gerard and Mikey way. For example, “The Jetset Life is Gonna Kill You” personifies Gerard’s struggle with alcoholism and cocaine addiction in the form of a woman. He says that he could stay with her for hours even though she will eventually kill him. He was able to sober up and toured for Three Cheers during his first full year sober, which he described as extremely difficult. “The Ghost Of You” helps paint the picture of how the brothers were grieving after the loss of their grandmother, Elena.

Elena was one of the most powerful influencers behind the creation of My Chemical Romance and continued to inspire them throughout their entire career. Thanks to her, the band went on to inspire millions of young adults worldwide. Had she not supported her grandchildren like she did, so many more influencers would have never developed the confidence to take their first steps into the sunlight. These influencers include Palaye Royale, Twenty One Pilots, Post Malone, and Yungblud. Who knows how many more celebrities truly are that wouldn’t be where they are without the influential messages of My Chemical Romance? Who knows who the next possible star will be? I guess we’ll just have to wait and find out. Go enjoy yourselves, internet.

“And we'll love again, we'll laugh again We'll cry again, and we'll dance again And it's better off this way, so much better off this way I can't clean the blood off the sheets in my bed!”

#three cheers for sweet revenge #my chemical romance #music

8 notes · View notes

exquisitley-obsessed · 5 years

Text

Pieces of People - Part 13

Author: @exquisitley-obsessed

Summary: Vampire y/n returns to Mystic Falls after finding out her friend Stefan Salvatore has gone off the rails with blood, what she doesn’t expect to happen is find out her deep-rooted connections with the Mikaelson family, in particular – Elijah.

Word Count: 4305

Pairings: Elijah Mikaelson x Reader

Warnings: Maybe some swearing, mentions of killing briefly

A/N: It’s been a while ahaha, but better late than never. I forgot how much I love this story (and Elijah) thank you so much for bearing with me whilst I took a break - since it has been so long I have a very long chapter here for you. Also, I’m very unsure of where the timeline is in the actual story, I’ve decided to write around the time where Katherine is inhabiting Elena’s body <3 Also I have lost the updated tag list so if you do wish to be tagged if you could just shoot me another message or comment I’ll add you <3

MASTERLIST FOR THIS STORY,

MASTERLIST

The sun was gently bleeding behind the trees. An ecstasy of colours left over from the recent storms, mingling and melting as the promise of a new day, new experiences and more healing revealed itself. It had been months now. Months of talking through her problems with Stefan. Following Damon on his adventures. Helping Elena with the possibility of a cure. None of it came easily but, she was healing.

Getting up, y/n found herself stripping off before stepping into the shower. She scrubbed at her skin until it blushed pink and then proceeded to lather herself in the finest creams’ money could buy, a small parting gift from Klaus before he and his family had left for New Orleans. Dressing in pearly towel, she reached out and wiped at the mirror until she could see her damp form peering back at her. Ripper.

The word flashed in her mind, but she wasn’t scared anymore. The people that she had killed may never have the chance to forgive her - but she did. It was clear to her now that once she’s forgiven herself, she could move on.

Moving through the day everything appeared to happen around her, not to her. Damon and Elena were having further problems, she had recently broken up with him for reasons unknown. With both Elena and the Mikaelson family moving away from them, y/n and Damon had become even closer over the past few weeks.

“I wonder what she’s doing,” Damon heaved down next to y/n from where she was quietly reading in front of the fire.

“No, you don’t,” She turned the page.

“But I do,” He dragged his hands across his face, “I know I shouldn’t be thinking about what she’s doing but God turns out she was pretty important to me.”

“Was,” Y/n repeated, turning another page.

“Are you listening to me?” Damon snapped turning around to his friend.

“Mm?” Y/n quipped, her eyes swimming up from her book, “Of course, I’m listening to you Damon.” He eyed her inquisitively for a moment before getting up and, of course, pouring himself a glass of bourbon.

“When was the last time you went out?”

“I don’t want to go out Damon.”

“Yeah you don’t seem to want to do many things nowadays.”

“Is that not allowed?” A beat, he was thinking.

“I’m going to make a deal with you,” He suddenly quipped, sitting down on the coffee table in front of her, “I’m going to stop talking about Elena, I’m going to pick up the pieces of this damn life and try and move on if-”

“If I go outside?” Y/n finished off.

“Damon,” she finally looked up from her book, “You’re allowed to be upset about Elena. Hell, I’ve never seen you like this with a girl, it’s obvious she means something incredibly powerful to you and she’s just broke up with you for seemingly no reason – of course, you’re allowed to talk about her. I want you to talk about it, I’m just sorry that I’m not the most responsive person right now. But you don’t need to make deals with me, talk about Elena all you like - I’ll go on a walk this evening.”

“Okay but be careful,”

“Damon, I’m upset not delirious – I’m still one of the oldest vampires in existence I haven’t forgotten.” Even though y/n couldn’t see it, her eyes now back on her book, Damon was smiling for what felt like the first time in forever.

“That’s my girl…but do watch out. I heard a storm is coming in.”

***

The wind was tormenting. A relentless gale pushing against y/n as she made her way up Mystic Fall’s only waterfall. She was getting dragged this way and that as she moved over stones, knowing well that if she did not have her vampiric strength and balance that she would have most likely fallen to a rocky death by now. She kept climbing, going up and up and up, hoping that once she entered the thicket of trees it would calm.

Damon was right about the storm. Behind her the sky was pulsating warningly, the sun nearing the horizon as night drew in, bleaching the sky gold and red. The further you looked up, colours swirled into grey and black as foreboding clouds settled over the town of Mystic Falls. Thunder boomed.

Pausing for a moment, y/n took it all in. The sky, the wind, the thunder. It would probably rain soon, and she almost hoped for it - there was something about the feeling of drenched clothes that y/n almost longed for in that moment. Suddenly, a flash of silver electrocuted the sky followed quickly by a roaring thunderclap that caused the trees around her to shudder.

And in that moment, a peculiar feeling flooded her, a strange giddiness bubbled in her chest and erupted in her throat as laughter. She felt free, for the first time. Watching the sky explode in front of her, she resonated with it. And then-

“I didn’t want you to see me.” She suddenly spoke into the wind, wondering if it would be carried.

“I understand,” A voice came from behind her, the presence she had felt only a few seconds ago making itself known. She didn’t turn around. Thunder bellowed out over the land once more and this time, it was followed by the beautiful white noise of rain. Y/n watched as a shower descended upon the town, the water illuminated by the sun and turning to gold as it splashed across the roads and roofs. “Let’s find shelter inside,” The voice spoke.

“No,” Y/n still refused to turn away from the sight, “Over there,” She turned to the thicket of trees a little to her left, “We’ll be dry in there.”

***

“I didn’t want you to see me.” She repeated. The wind still pinched at her cheeks.

“I understand.” Elijah repeated after a moment, just a murmur, “But quite frankly, the idea of you trying to get over…this…without me there to help you along…” Elijah’s words shivered into a whisper.

“I know.” Turning her head slightly, y/n drank in the appearance of Elijah and noticed that even with his crisp shirt and dark pants, there was something ruffled about him, something not quite in place. “How have you been?” A smile of disbelief warmed into Elijah’s features.

“Fine,” He responded warmly, moving to the edge of the trees so he could look out across the sky. He remained, however, a fair distance from her. “New Orleans is…just as I remember,”

“How long have you been waiting for me to step outside?” She said softly, not upset or angry at all, almost playful. Elijah chuckled.

“I wanted to see you for another reason, y/n.” Elijah cocked his to the side and smiled ever so gently, ignoring her question.

“Oh yes?”

“Yes,” He moved just a little closer, “I wanted to come here, to forgive you.” The words caught y/n off for a moment, but she stayed silent, “I know that this might seem a little strange for me to say, but I also know you. I know that you didn’t just keep me away because you wanted to deal with this by yourself. I’m guessing you kept me away because you felt guilty for what happened, all those years ago, what we went through. So, I want - I need you to know, that I forgive you. And that although those years were difficult…they were truly, and honestly, the best years of my life. Because in those years, you made eternity feel like it was too a short of a time.” Y/n breathed heavily.

“Thank you but-” She began.

“I also hope you can forgive yourself.” He continued, his eyes going back to the sky. “Now you can remember what happened but, your perception of events was…inaccurate. You are not a monster y/n, I know you want to believe the facts figures but, nothing is that black and white.”

“Elijah,” She interrupted. “I…I am…” She tried to begin but stopped, allowing her eyes to flutter closed for a brief second before-, “I’m a ripper.” She choked out finally, now looking right at him through glassy eyes, “I am the original ripper.”

“Yes,” Elijah spoke clearly after a moment, his hands in his pockets, his stature tall and reassuring. He was talking about a subject that he had had a thousand years to come to terms with – but, was that fair? That he had lived and grown with the details whilst y/n stood before him, drowning in them.

“You knew, and you watched me as I killed…hundreds and thousands of people…and then you continued to fall in love with me.” Elijah’s breath caught in his throat, but he smoothed down the front of his jacket to hide his shaky hands and took a deep breath.

“I know.” He had to be strong. For her, he had to be strong. “I loved you, more than I ever thought it possible to love someone. I cannot even begin to describe how…complicated that time was. I watched you, this flower girl, be dragged into this morbid and destructive life – my life. I felt so protective over you, after all, it was me that ultimately caused you to become what you are.” He turned and rested his fingers on a nearby tree, getting lost in the corridors of his mind.

“Nothing about this life suited you. You could never come to terms with the feeding, the power, the…immortality. It wasn’t you and you couldn’t handle what you saw when you looked in a mirror. On top of that, your entire family was slaughtered. Your mother, father and brother all ripped to pieces by a monster that you were currently travelling around Europe with, of course it was all going to be too much for you, of course you broke.

“When the night of the first killings came around I…” Elijah trailed off, his fingers tapping gently on the wood as he stared blankly ahead of him, “I don’t even know. All of it felt so wrong, yet it made so much sense. You walked through the door. I cleaned you up, took you to bed. I could have almost dealt with that but what I couldn’t deal with was the look on my brothers face. Niklaus – he was, he was looking at you like he had just discovered something wonderful. In you, he saw possibility. He saw a new weapon.

“But at some point, even Klaus realised that he couldn’t control you. It was more that he didn’t know how. Your entire relationship with feeding and blood was a completely different dynamic to ours or anyone else’s we had ever met. You didn’t target people or even want to hurt them, in fact, you made it as quick and painless as possible. Every time you’d come home you were in this sort of daze, you wouldn’t respond to me when I talked to you, you just kind of…sat there. Then you’d wake up the next morning and read the papers, the list of names of those who had been found dead that morning, and you’d be in shock.

“You genuinely did not know what you had done. You were completely and utterly split into two people, yourself…and a ripper. After a while, we stopped telling you about your actions in the night and we just continued to live our lives, moving every few weeks when too many people disappeared. Your burdens became ours. And we gladly accepted them.” Elijah paused, his expression changing. The furrow in his brows unknitted and he looked, softer.

“We fell deeper in love. During the day, when the sun was high in the sky, we’d go sight-seeing across Europe. Find our way into big, lavish parties in the evening and have picnics in the woods the following morning. You began to even warm up to Klaus and he began to warm up to you, a little more than my liking I must say,” A distant smile pulled at his lips, “But you were always mine, and I was yours. Klaus asked for forgiveness for his past actions, and you forgave him. Klaus had changed since knowing you, his heart was more open in a way, and he was utterly and brutally sorry for what he had done to you and your family. You saw the change in him, you were even happy for him. Someone that could forgive Klaus Mikaelson – I thought I had met God in living form.” A chuckle escaped his lips, “You had come to do what I was not yet able to, you had moved on from the past and forgiven, you had allowed both yourself and Niklaus to heal.

“You know a thousand years have passed since we were last together properly, but this entire time I’ve carried you with me. Every time Niklaus wronged me, went against me, put me in a coffin – I thought of you. I thought of the way you forgave him for killing your family, if you could do that…then I could get over family squabbles.”

“But,” y/n calmly interrupted. As good as it sounded, she could not ignore what glared at her in the face. The reason why Elijah had to inform her all this instead of her just knowing it herself. The reason why she had not seen the man she loved for a millennium.

“But…” Elijah continued, “You can only live in ignorance for so long.”

***

“This cannot go on.” Klaus was waiting for Elijah as he walked down the stairs, drink already in hand, “It’s been too long, we aren’t making any progress.”

“Niklaus,” Elijah breathed warningly as he distantly picked up a prong and turned coal pieces over in the fire watching as the flames ate at them greedily.

“He’s right.” Rebekah’s soft voice cut the confrontation short, “He’s right Elijah, we can’t…” Elijah turned around, prong still in hand as he stared at his little sister. Rebekah was taking Klaus’s side.

“You can’t what.” Elijah quipped, returning the prong and taking a step toward his siblings.

“We can’t let this go on Elijah,” Klaus growled out causing Elijah to spin to him, his tone immediately softened, “Elijah…y/n is suffering. Every day she reads that damn newspaper and reads the names of all those she killed and yet she does not even know that it is she who drained them dry.” Klaus went on. “When’s the day finally going to come when we tell her of the murderer she truly is. She can’t live in denial forever brother.”

“So...what are you suggesting,” There was a growl in Elijah’s throat, a warning that they were to be careful what they said next.

“We’re not going to kill her Elijah we’d never do that,” Rebekah shifted from where she stood in the doorway, “No matter what she is our family, always and forever.” Elijah glanced at Klaus who was staring back with steely eyes.

“Always and forever.” He agreed. The three paused in the room, the tension drowning them all. Klaus and Rebekah versus Elijah. Mikaelson vs Mikaelson.

“You’re going to take her away from me,” Elijah murmured, “Aren’t you.”

“Elijah…” Klaus whispered, he had never seen his brother like this before, “You have to understand it is the only way to make her better, we have to give her a fresh start, we have to take it all away, the pain…everything.”

“What if I say no?”

“You won’t,” Rebekah whispered, “Elijah despite everything…you want what’s best for y/n. You love her Elijah. And that girl has given you more love than any of us wretched monsters deserve, she is a blessing. But she is destroying herself every day by being here with us…with you.” Rebekah’s voice wobbled as tears gently spilt down her cheeks. Elijah paused.

“What are you going to do?”

“If all goes to plan. I’m going to go upstairs and wake her up, tell her that we’re heading north…to Newcastle or Middlesbrough, tell her to take all her belongings with her, then place her in the care of some pub owner, then…” Klaus paused and took a sip of his drink, his eyes never leaving his sibling, “Then one of us will compel y/n to forget everything.”

“Define everything.”

“We can’t just erase parts of her memory; we can’t tell her to forget this but remember that…not this time. She’s a ripper. This isn’t just an unpleasant memory; it’s interwoven into her entire being. She is a ripper through and through; to get rid of it, we’ll be destroying an entire part of her brain.” Elijah felt sick.

“What Klaus is saying is that to fix this, to stop the slaughtering’s and murders, to kill the ripper in y/n – we have to destroy the heart of the problem.” Rebekah joined in, continuously wiping at her steady flow of tears.

“Which is?” Elijah collapsed onto a chair.

“Her inability to accept what she is. Her entire relationship with blood is completely dysfunctional, if, maybe…she didn’t know how she became like this, that to be who she is today her entire family had to die in front of her, maybe she would be more accepting.”

“So what? You’re going to make her forget that night?”

“We can’t,” Rebekah answered, “We wanted to, that was our original plan but…well we think erasing that specific memory alone would fix her ripper problem but…”

“But there is 50 years’ worth of blood on her hands. You take away the reason why she has no control…she’ll go insane with guilt. She’ll think she killed all those people for sport.” Klaus finished.

“But she doesn’t know she killed those people,” Elijah quipped, “We all know that she wakes up in the morning and is none the wiser of how those people died.

“Elijah…if we make her normal,” Rebekah moved toward him, “If we take away the ripper, we think she’ll begin to remember.”

“What if she doesn’t?”

“What if she does?” Klaus murmured. Silence settled.

“So what?” breathed Elijah, eyes moving slowly between his siblings. “What do we do?”

“Well,” Klaus shared a look with Rebekah, “We have two choices it seems. Do nothing. Allow this to go on, continue moving every few weeks, allow y/n’s list of names to grow. Or we take her up North and leave her there. Make her forget how she became a vampire and she’ll become cured of being a ripper – but, she’ll begin to remember those she killed and believe she killed them for pleasure.”

Elijah rubbed a hand across his mouth, his eyes never leaving his brother.

“And what’s option three.” There was always a third option. Klaus sucked air between his teeth sharply.

“We take her up North and leave her there. Make her forget how she became a vampire and she’ll become cured of being a ripper,” He began, “And then we make her forget the last 50 years.” Elijah’s hands began to shake, “All the killings, all the places we’ve been, every party and picnic…everything, we just wipe it clean. Give her a fresh slate, a completely blank canvas. She’ll know nothing but what she is, her name, and the year she turned.”

“But…” Elijah murmured.

“But…” Rebekah shakily sighed, “It means making her forget about us. To her she’ll have never even have heard of the Mikaelson’s, she wouldn’t even recognise us if we walked by her on the street. You two would be strangers.”

“Strangers,” Elijah repeated.

“Brother look we know this isn’t easy,” Elijah stood and moved to the fire, “But Rebekah and I have been thinking about this for a while. But we won’t go through with it without your consent, we do things as a family, it is all of us or none of us.” Klaus and Rebekah stood tense, staring at their elder brother with curiosity and hope.

Could they understand the torment in Elijah’s mind at that moment? Or even the torment he had been facing this entire time as he read the names in the newspapers, knowing just as well that y/n’s victims were his own, his family’s. He truly believed through and through that y/n was and always will be his soulmate. That even though he knew he had seen her at the worst of her worst, he loved her wholly and completely. He felt more like himself around her than when he was alone, that even though they had half a century to become used to one another, his chest still squeezed with excitement when she kissed his cheek, touched his arm, even so much as glanced in his direction.

But all in all, this made sense. Of course, the only story of Elijah Mikaelson and love would turn out to be a tragedy. Because the moment Klaus and Rebekah told him that everyone was better off if his love did not know who he was, he had already lost her. They didn’t need to ask him for consent, he would have given it no matter the case. Because in many ways he was a fool. Never putting himself first, never allowing himself to be selfish, taking the hurt and the blame in his stride – eventually becoming numb to it with time.

He agreed. Klaus left with y/n within the hour. Elijah couldn’t take it upon himself to look at her. He was many things, but he was never, ever, a liar. He stayed up and watched the fire, practising thinking of nothing, sitting in silence with his sister. Klaus had made it back home before the sun rose, he didn’t say anything, just walked into the room and joined his family.

“I hear France is lovely this time of year,” Rebekah hummed into the silence.

“If we’re lucky we can compel ourselves a boat, be there by tomorrow afternoon.”

They never talked about it. They picked up their things from that apartment in London and left the next morning without a word, it was like they were never there. Life went on, almost as if they themselves had been compelled to forget the past 50 years. They drank and laughed and partied, ran into a few complications here and there but that was it wasn’t it, their little life.

Elijah didn’t go crazy with women, but he didn’t confine to celibacy either. He just continued to live, meddling with a few women here and there. Life moved on as time forces it to, and with time Elijah healed, he grew and learnt, he became the man y/n would have loved him to be. Then again one night, and one night alone, in a sleazy bar in southern Italy in the late 1600s, her name was spoken.

“Elijah,” Rebekah hiccupped as she folded over on top of the bar, her wine glass tilted and resting against her neck, “Do you remember y/n?” Elijah turned to her, a peculiar expression on his face as he himself, was rather drunk.

“Of course, I do,” He said, a lazy smile stretched across his lips.

“Oh,”

“What? Did you expect me to say no?”

“No, no, no,” Rebekah distantly hummed, swinging herself to sit up, “I just…I don’t even know what I expected, we don’t ever talk about her.”

“No,” Elijah mumbled indistinctively, “We don’t.”

“Elijah,” She hiccupped again, “Do you ever think about her?” Elijah grinned widely and looked up, of course his dear sister would decide the best time to delve into the past was in some crappy, overcrowded inn in the roasting heat of southern Italy on a late summer’s night.

“Rebekah, I think about her every single day.”

“Really?” She whispered, barely audible over the chatter and music around them, but that all seemed a million miles away, “Do you miss her?”

“I…” Elijah sighed, “I do. Every day, every place we end up at I can’t help but almost see her there with us. I think about what she would do and say, the places she’d like and the places she’d pretend to like. Sometimes I miss her so much I…I feel it. I feel this…absence within me. And whilst all that is completely true, I also do not miss her.”

“How?” Rebekah choked, her own romantic heart aching.

“Because I believe that she is out there, and that she is happy.” Elijah himself was smiling now at the thought, “Leaving her was…” He trailed off, unable to finish, “But after that, you checked the papers with me – there were no more killings. Nothing. Complete and utter silence. I believe she’s out there, exploring the world in her own way, living her life as a vampire completely guilt-free – which is exactly what I want.”

“Wow,” Rebekah hummed into her glass, smiling at her brother’s own grin, “You still love her, don’t you?” This earned a chuckle from Elijah.

“That girl is the love of my life,” He turned to her, a slightly sad smile painted on his cheeks, “I have absolutely no doubt about it. But maybe I’m just hoping that one day fate will bring us back together. Then again, maybe we are simply destined to spend a lifetime apart. Either way, I am blessed to have been able to love her and to have been loved by her.”

“Oh God, okay, I can’t take any more of this,” Rebekah moaned after a second, snapping upright and stumbling off her seat. “Come on dear brother,” She held her arm out for Elijah which he gladly took with a soft laugh, “I don’t think it’s allowed for immortals to dwell on the past, we’ll go crazy.”

And so, the two siblings stumbled out into the boiling night where their chatter was accompanied by the faint sounds of the sea and cicadas. Ignoring the price of pain they paid for their immortal lives, they walked through the night to their temporary home – both of them knowing in their hearts that they would never speak of y/n ever again.

next part

tag list: @bcfangirlthatswhy

@superwholock-fangir1

@selena8712

@evyiione

@m-nicole-uy

@taylordrunkonwhiskey

@hemmo-hottie

@luiza-4-ever

@wtafyoongi

@elle88531

@aehnanie

@yougottalovefandoms

@mar-trash-vel

@skyewardolicitycloisdelena91

@sherlocked-whovian-1969

@the-three-dumbs

@lynn1712

180 notes · View notes

queen-of-the-vampires · 5 years

Text

take the leap

characters: stefan salvatore x reader

word count: 1,464

warnings: fluff

summary: stefan wants to try stuff that he’s never done before and asks you to join you for a day filled with fun things.

beta: she wants to remain anonymous

squares filled: a round of firsts

author’s note: this is for my own fluff bingo and if you have any requests, please send them in!

feedback the glue that holds my writing together

tags at the bottom

What to do, what to do. Boredom was seriously going to be the death of you if you didn’t find something to entertain yourself. Everyone else seemed to have something going on except you and the youngest Salvatore. There was the option of going to him and asking him to hang with you, but you were afraid of looking like a fool.

He has been your crush ever since entering his life. He was the first person you met, and even though he seemed a little hostile at first, he warmed up quickly once the rest of his friends accepted you. Being a new vampire, he offered to show you the ropes on how to fight, drink, use compulsion and everything else in between. When you messed up, he was right there to pick you back up.

After a while, your feelings grew more intense for him, and you thought it was because he was being so nice to you. It was only until you two had a night of getting to know each other that you finally realized these feelings were permanent. Not having the guts to tell him, you acted as if he didn’t make your heart race every time his name was mentioned. You wanted to tell him, of course, but he probably had so many ladies lined up, and you just weren’t his type.

So, instead of going to him, you decided to watch whatever was on TV to pass the time. There was the option of going to sleep, but you weren’t tired. Sighing, you rested your head in your right hand as your elbow sat on the back of the couch.

“Bored?” Stefan asked when he walked into the room. Just like that, your heart picked up, and you prayed that his vampire hearing couldn’t pick up your increased heart rate.

“Out of my mind,” you replied.

“Let’s do something then,” he suggested as he took a seat next to you. Turning off the TV, you turned to the vampire in question.

“Like what?”

“I was thinking about everything that is going on with the travelers, and how I’ve missed so much in terms of doing something fun. I have a bucket list if you will, and I’d like to try some of them.”

“Like a round of firsts?”

“Yeah, if you want to call it that,” he chuckled.

“And you chose me, out of all the people living here, to partake in this with you?” you gave him a hint of a smile.

“Yeah, why not?” he shrugged with a shy smile.

“Fine. We can start with the thing you want to do first. Where are we going?”

“Grab your swimsuit. We’re going for a dive,” he grinned.

“This is really high up,” you said as you carefully looked over the edge of the 10-meter-high diving board.

“Scared of heights?” Stefan chuckled.

“Scared of breaking my leg if I land wrong despite the healing,” you corrected. “So, the first thing that popped into your head was diving into water? No, skydiving, scuba diving, see if you can finish eating a 10-pound burger?”

“I’ve been skydiving, and I went scuba diving 70 years ago. And that burger thing doesn’t sound appetizing. Come on, this could be fun.”

“Could be being the operative word.”

“See you at the bottom,” he grinned before walking to the edge of the diving board. Cheers could be heard from strangers below as he jumped not once, not twice, but three times before taking that leap. He went in head first, putting his arms out as a point. He landed in the water with a big splash but successfully came out at the other end alright. It was weird to see Stefan doing this kind of thing, but he was in a good mood, and you didn't want to spoil it.

“Whoo! You can do it!” he called from below.

“Here goes nothing,” you muttered to yourself as you walked to the edge. Knowing he overcame it, you knew you could as well. Jumping on the edge, you did exactly what he did before diving off, going head first. The water seemed so scary, yet you made it like a champ. The rush you felt was like no other, and you gasped with a laugh once you came to the surface.

“You did it!” he cheered as he swam to you.

“That was actually kind of fun,” you laughed.

“This trip was meant for both of us, so now it’s your turn. What is something you really want to do?”

“You know how to drive a stick shift, right?”

“Yeah,” he chuckled. “Why?”

“Because you’re going to teach me.”

“Okay, the first rule is to put your left foot on the clutch,” Stefan instructed. Doing as you were told, you waited for the next step. “Move the gear to the left and then up while keeping your foot on the clutch.”

“You lived like this?” you asked as you did it.

“Yes, now put your foot on the accelerator before slowly releasing the clutch.” Taking a deep breath, you pressed the gas pedal, hearing the engine roar loudly. What you thought was slowly, you took your foot off the clutch, but the car immediately stalled out after jerking forward.

“Damn it,” you groaned.

“No, it’s okay. I didn’t get it on my first try either. It takes practice. Put the gear back to where you found it, turn off the car, and try it again,” he coached you through it. It took more than five tries before you started getting it right. If Stefan wasn’t there, you would have given up before you even got into the car. He was nice enough to let you borrow his car that was just too perfect to mess up. He seemed to trust you, so you knew you had to get this right. Once you got the hang of it, you were cruising around the parking lot with ease, a huge smile on your face. Stefan only taught you because of that damn smile. He never got tired of seeing that smile on your face.

“Okay,” you said once you turned off the car. “What are we doing next? It’s your turn.”

“You’re not afraid of rollercoasters, are you?”

“I can’t believe you’ve never been on a rollercoaster before,” you grinned as the coaster slowly inched up the track.

“I can’t believe the lady just let us in. One look at me, and she was granting us access,” he laughed.

“What do you expect? Look at you,” you chuckled, blushing when you basically called him attractive.

“This better be worth it,” he said as the coaster tipped over the edge, letting gravity do its thing. The ride was fast, fun, and exhilarating to be on. There was an amusement going on in a few towns over, so you thought to go over there. The last time you were here was when you were a kid in high school. Sometimes you’d sneak out just to have a day here with your friends.

“Man, that was fun!” he exclaimed once the ride stopped.

“You’ve lived in Mystic Falls for how long, and you never came here?” you asked as you two walked through the crowds to get something sweet to snack on. Stefan loved cotton candy, and he paid for two before finding a seat to relax on.

“I never had a reason to. When I first came here, it was because of Elena, and then John Gilbert happened with the device, then Katherine showed up, then Klaus right after, then the damn cure, and now these travelers. I guess I got sick of waiting,” he explained as he ate.

“Wow, exciting life,” you chuckled as you did the same.

“Well, it’s getting late, so we have time for one more first. Anything in mind?” Actually, there was only one thing in your mind, but it would cross a line. It would ruin your friendship for the good or the worst. If today taught you anything, it would be to just go for it. Try something you’ve never done before, and that is just what you were going to do.

“Yeah, actually. I know what I want.”

“Yeah? What?”

“This,” you said before planting a kiss on his lips. He was surprised at first but welcomed it after a few seconds. He kissed you back, forgetting there were a ton of people around him. They all seemed to disappear once the two of you connected. The first kiss was always exciting, and this was nothing short of it.

“Wow,” he breathed heavily after it was all done.

“Was that a mistake?” you whispered.

“No, not in the slightest,” he grinned, glad that you took that leap.

wanna be tagged? add yourself to this document! if your tag doesn’t work, find out why!

@jae-sch @choosemyname @cuddlyklaus @sotmperrie @akshi8278 @liberty01 @gh0stgurl @schwankyblock @honeybums-blog @kendall-michele @kpoplover1306-depressedgirl315 @miraclesoflove

29 notes · View notes

geeky-galpal · 7 years

Text

A Start Up List of Working Latina Actresses who reasonably *could* play Henry Mills’ Love Interest and Lucy Mills’ Mother

So I saw a few people yesterday trying to come up with actresses who might play next year’s “Mystery Woman” (who I think we are all for the moment predicting will be Princess Elena of Avalor). Anyway, I meant to do this yesterday.... but life, you know?.... so here are Latina actresses in their late 20s/very early 30s who could reasonably audition for the role.

In general, I try to keep up with Latinx Hollywood, but still this list was harder than I thought! Most of the more well known working Latinas are too old for the role, the famous ones who are the right age are OBVIOUSLY WAY TO EXPENSIVE for Once (Selena, Demi, I’m looking at you!) or currently working in large, mainstream roles (Stephanie Beatriz, Aubrey Plaza, etc).

But here’s a starting list of roughly 10 or so potentials that I came up with, mostly former child stars looking for a “transition role”, a few from edgy streaming dramas who might be interested in the stability of a mainstream network paycheck, one who is so perfect I can’t imagine anything else now. I will put this out there, in case anyone is interested or curious...

Naya Rivera- 30

So let’s get this out of the way right now, I (admit with shame) loved Glee. I love Naya and think she’s incredibly talented. I think Naya is the right age and looks a lot like Elena. She would be reasonably priced, since her reputation has taken a hit in recent years, and she’s looking for work. There are almost too many reasons why she would be perfect.

But that hit her reputation took? It was lethal. Her parting ways with Glee was brutal, ugly, and public. She also went through an awkward and unfortunate “I’m angling to be a pseudo Khardasian phase”, which would not look great for the Disney brand and probably not what they are looking for in someone who might potentially play a Disney Princess ™. And, even though her asking ticket is certainly lower than it would’ve been a few years ago, it still might be more than OUAT is looking to pay with their current budget cuts.

Still,Naya is a guaranteed headline. She’s the right age and the right look for the role. And you cannot possibly make a list of Latina actresses in their late 20s/ early 30s without her being at the top of it. So here we are.

Alexa Vega- 28

Alexa Vega is still most famous for her childhood role as Carmen Cortez in the Spy Kids franchise in the late 90s and 00s. But, her recent “comeback” adult career is very interesting to me. She did a stint on Nashville a few years back, she stared in a few low budget movies that gained headlines, but not a lot of warm critical attention. But she’s around and steadily looking for work. She’s wholesome enough and I could see Disney being comfortable linking their brand to her.

Much like Naya, her casting would bring a headline, and she doesn’t come with the same BTS baggage or relatively high asking price. She’d have to be willing to die her hair back to its original dark brown color (she’s been going blonde the last few years), but I think this has realistic potential...

Francia Raisa- 28

Francia is best known for her fan favorite role as Adrian Lee, a pregnant teenager on ABC Family’s hit teen drama, The Secret Life of the American Teenager. She also starred in the cult classic Bring It On: All or Nothing (my favorite in the guilty pleasure franchise). She’s currently a radio host, but she definitely shopped around last pilot season and might still be looking for work that will bring her back to the screen.

Seychelle Gabriel- 26

Seychelle is maybe best known for her role as Princess Yue in the (racist- but I won’t hold it against her this time) Last Airbender, but she had a memorable role in Eva Mendes’ The Spirit a few years back, and a reoccurring role on Weeds. She also was a series regular on Fallen Skies and had regular voice over work for The Legend of Korra as Asami Sato. She hasn’t had regular on screen work in a few years, but continues to guest star here and there. I’m positive she’s looking for a bigger opportunity.

Josie Loren- 30

Josie played another fan favorite, Kaylie Cruz, on ABC Family’s, Make It or Break It. She went on to have a regular role on season 7 of The Mentalist, but hasn’t worked regularly in while. She’s probably the cheapest asking price on this list? Which I could see being important for OUAT’s current financial outlook.

Christian Serratos- 26 (Never mind, I just found out her character is still on The Walking Dead)

Christian worked heavily as a tween and teenager, first on Nickelodeon shows Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide and Zoey 101, then in the Twilight series. I thought she had a lot of potential, but since I don’t watch TWD I had no idea she was currently working in a regular role (on one of the highest rated TV show’s in the country at that!). So yay for her, but she’s not viable anymore :(

Jackie Cruz- 30

Jackie Cruz has regular work on Orange is the New Black, but her character is used sparingly and a lot of that cast has branched off into other, more mainstream roles in the last few years, I can’t help but wonder if that might also interest her? She’s exceedingly talented, but I’m not sure she’s the right “look” for the show- both physically (she is super tall, and let’s be real the OUAT cast is a bunch of short actors, her signature bangs would be out of look for Elena) and in a PR sense, she’s an openly queer actress on a trendy, hot button show about prisons. I am not convinced that Disney would want to take that risk.

Diane Guerrero- 30

Diane works opposite Jackie on OITNB. She has almost the exact same pluses and minuses to her casting. Diane’s not queer (that we know of), but is an incredibly outspoken DREAM activist working on immigrants’ rights. She’s on an edgy show about female prisons. But, she also works reoccurring on Jane the Virgin and has proven to “clean up well”. So, there’s that? I guess... Much like Jackie, she has a lot of “buzz” and “heat” around her, but has yet to be able to turn that into viable, stable, long term work.

And Last, but CERTAINLY NOT LEAST....

Aimee Carrero- 28

Aimee Carrero is BY FAR MY FAVORITE GUESS FOR THIS ROLE. She has everything they are looking for- she’s the right age, the right “look”, she’s coming from ABC Family/ Freeform-- which is both under the Disney corporate umbrella and has the kind of wholesome branding that they would be looking for, she’s been publicly cordial/friendly with Lana in the past, and this is the kicker....

SHE VOICES PRINCESS ELENA ON THE CARTOON ALREADY!!!!!

You can not beat this.

She’s currently working as a supporting regular on Young & Hungry, but was poised to star in a spin off last year that never came to fruition; she’s looking to branch out into a bigger role. This could be that role for her.

Make it happen, ABC :)

Ok, that list was super detailed and so long that probably only a few of you are going to read it anyway. My apologies! My inner researcher came out to play and I couldn’t reign her back in :) But hopefully those of you who did make it to the end had fun imagining with me and maybe this will spark some excited “head castings” of your own!

#ouat speculation #ouat season 7 #henry mills #lucy mills #mystery woman #latinas in hollywood

89 notes · View notes

mbtizone · 7 years

Text

Main Character Syndrome & MBTI

I’ve been thinking a lot about why certain characters can seem impossible to type. Sometimes, it can be really difficult to type a character when the writers haven’t really taken the time to give them a concrete personality. I notice that this seems to happen a lot with main characters specifically, which seems ludicrous, doesn’t it? I mean, if we’re watching a show, we’re supposed to root for the main character. We should feel as though we have a sense of who they are. However, many main characters are very poorly written. They’re defined in terms of what happens to them. We know them by their situation and their story. But their story isn’t who they are. Often, I find that their cognition will change in order to suit a storyline, which seems to happen less with supporting characters. Supporting characters tend to be very solid in terms of cognition, while main characters are all over the place and contradictory. I find it frustrating because it’s lazy.

I am starting to believe that certain characters can’t be typed. If you can see arguments for nearly every function in a character, then sure, you can try to narrow down which ones they use most frequently and pull a type out of that, but in the next episode, you’ll probably doubt yourself or change your mind. If you find yourself in this situation, it’s probably not you. It’s likely more of a reflection of the author/screenwriter than it is of your typing abilities. I’m going to run down some specific examples of this problem off the top of my head.

Elena Gilbert: Man, Elena is rough. I’ve seen her typed as an ISFJ, INFP, ISTJ, INFJ, etc. The only thing people seem to agree on is that she leads with an introverted function. I would have to agree with that. I will say that I see more Si/Ne than Ni/Se. However, she’s extremely damaged, which may make it more difficult to type her. If you look at her life prior to losing her parents, she seemed very different, so how much of what we see is her true self and not muddied by all of the tragedy in her life? Elena is so inconsistent. She’s a giant ball of contradictions. I think a lot of people stereotype her, and, I can’t say that I fully blame them for that because there’s not a lot else to really go on. I can make arguments for both Fi and Fe, but if I were being forced to make a call one way or the other, I would probably go with Fi. Where Fi is in her functional stack… I really couldn’t say at this point in time.

In the six seasons that Elena was on the show, she really wasn’t developed very well at all. It seems that the writers relied too heavily on what other people do to her and what happens to her and not enough on defining who she is. She’s probably the best example of “Main Character Syndrome” that I can think of. She lost her parents. She’s a piece of meat in an alley and the Salvatore brothers are a couple of stray dogs. She’s a doppelgänger. Elena is a Mary Sue. I was never really able to root for her because, after six years, I honestly never really felt like I knew anything about her other than those facts. She’ll do anything to protect the people she cares about, but that’s not really a defining trait. As a matter of fact, that’s probably true of most people. She prioritizes the people who are close to her over strangers or people she doesn’t know very well. It’s hard to analyze her character and pull a personality type out of it when she’s just kind of all over the place.

Lucas Scott: Lucas is usually typed as an NF, most often INFJ or INFP. I’ve watched all of One Tree Hill more times than I can count over the years and I still find myself wavering on whether Lucas uses Fi or Fe. He can appear to use both functions at different times. He sometimes clings to his moral judgments and can become extremely critical of those who fail to measure up, but he is also good at articulating his feelings and giving speeches about them, and has ideas about the way things “should” be. I think that I see more Fi in him than Fe. I have a theory that when he appears to use Fe, it’s actually Fi. Lucas has strong ideas about the kind of person he is (or wants to be), and because he sees himself a certain way, he can take on some stereotypical Fe traits. Lucas cares about people and, for him, it is important to express that to them. I don’t think he expresses himself because he feels that’s the appropriate thing to do. I think he does it because that’s the sort of person he wants to be. It’s not really for other people’s sake, it’s for him. He wants to live up to his own personal ideals. However, when I try to look for the Te, there is virtually none in him. Honestly, I see a stronger case for Ti in him than Te. But, he obviously can’t be both Fi and Ti. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe his morality isn’t decided internally. It’s really difficult for me to decide one way or another. As I’m writing this, I’m thinking of certain instances and going, “Oh, you know, maybe he is Fe after all.” I can’t make a call either way with any real certainty, so for now, I won’t.

Now… is he Ne-Si or Se-Ni? This is an even bigger struggle for me to lock down than Fi-Te/Fe-Ti. Lucas has an appreciation of symbolism and he’s extremely insightful. He can see people for who they are and has inherent understandings about things. I don’t really see Ne in him but I do see Ni. I can see a case for inferior Se in him, but is he really Ni-dom? And, if he were Ni-dom, he would have to be an INFJ, and I’m not ready to label him Fe just yet. He’s definitely not an INTJ. If he uses Te at all (which is a big “if” for me), then it would be low in his stack. I can’t come up with a single function that he absolutely, undoubtedly uses.

Aria Montgomery: Beyond being an Fi-dom, what other functions does Aria really use? There really isn’t enough evidence to support Se, Ne, Si, or Ni. She’s defined by her relationship with Ezra, but her personality is pretty bland. She’s “artsy.” I’ve seen people use her interest in writing and photography as support for both Ne and Se, which is weak and stereotypical. She makes stupid short-sighted decisions sometimes, like having an affair with her teacher, but I don’t feel like that’s evidence of Se. I’m sure you can find Ne users who have, or would be willing to have a sexual relationship with a teacher. Doesn’t mean they’re not Ne. A repeated argument I see to “support” INFP is her love of old movies as though no Se in the world enjoys older films. All of the reasonings I’ve seen have been extremely superficial and weak. I believe this to be a result of people desperately trying to fit her somewhere, when, in reality, she is just a poorly written character. Spencer, Hanna, Emily, and Alison are all reasonably fleshed out characters. I’ve never seen Hanna typed anything other than ESFP. Spencer is mostly typed ENTJ, but I have seen the occasional ESTJ, but the general consensus does seem to be ENTJ. I’ve never seen Emily typed as anything but ISFJ. I’ve never seen Alison typed as anything other than ENFJ. This isn’t because everyone jumps on the same bandwagon. It’s because there’s evidence and consistency. Aria, on the other hand, is defined in terms of her relationships and what happens to her. Is there really more to her than that?

Dawson Leery: Sort of like a less tolerable late ’90s Lucas Scott. I see him typed as INFJ or INFP, just like Lucas. I can’t justify him being Ni-dom, though. I lean towards INFP for him because he has that strong moral code and a tendency to chastise anyone who violates it. He can be so judgmental with people when they make decisions he disagrees with. Dawson sees a lot of things as black and white. He can also be pretty selfish with his emotions. And I can see a stronger case for inferior Te than inferior Se. If someone were to ask me what type I think he is, I would probably instinctively say INFP, but if I were asked to explain why, in any kind of detail, I would probably be at a loss.

Sam and Dean Winchester: Ugh, Sam and Dean. I love them to death, but they give me such a headache when it comes to MBTI. I’ve mostly seen Sam typed INFJ, INTJ, and INTP. I definitely think that he’s a Fe-user, and I don’t think it’s inferior, so I’m more inclined to subscribe to the INFJ typing, but I’m still trying to gather enough evidence to actually do a post for him. A lot of people think he’s Fi because he carves out an individual identity from his family away from hunting, but I don’t think that argument is strong enough. Fe-users are capable of doing that. Leaving home and carving out a new life for himself could stem from Ni instead of Fi. Though, there are also times I think he might use Si instead of Ni. All of the “evidence” I’ve seen in the various typings for him that I’ve read seem flimsy and like they’re really just trying to make something fit him, so as of right now, I don’t really know anything for sure when it comes to Sam. My opinion varies episode to episode.

I see Dean mostly typed as ESTJ, ESTP, and the most ridiculous one in my opinion, ESFJ. I believe that he’s definitely Fi/Te, so I don’t think that he’s an ESTP and definitely not an ESFJ, but I’m not completely sold on him as a Te-dom, either. I’ve always been mostly torn between ESTJ and ESFP for him. I think a big problem with the Winchesters is that Supernatural has been on the air for so long that their personalities seem to go through a lot of changes over the years. Maybe it has to do with different writers coming on, I’m not really sure. They’ve also been through a lot and are far from healthy, which makes things pretty difficult as well.

Klaus Mikaelson: ENTJ or ESFP? Most days, I will declare Klaus an ESFP with absolute certainty, but every now and then I find myself watching an episode of The Originals (or an old episode of The Vampire Diaries) and second guess myself. My problem with him is that I see more of a case for dominant Se than dominant Te… but I notice more signs of inferior Fi in him than inferior Ni. I’m going to have to launch a massive character study to determine his type once and for all because he drives me crazy.

Ted Mosby: I sometimes see him typed as an INFJ, but the main argument in those typings seems to be his long-term goal of getting married, as though that can’t also be true of a Si-dom. Does his goal come from doing what is traditional and expected of him (Si) or because that is simply the vision he has for his life (Ni)? What is his motivation? There are sometimes cases to be made for inferior Se in him, though. I’m actually pretty evenly split on Ted. Let’s take the story that he’s telling his kids. Very detail-oriented. Very specific, vivid memories (which he sometimes tends to remember subjectively rather than objectively). However, he sees how all of these memories are connected to build a larger, overall picture and has a strong concept of symbolism. He’s future-focused and has a clear visual of the life he wants for himself, yet he is also hung up on the past and tends to hold onto old relationships instead of moving forward (Karen, Victoria, Robin). He even keeps all of the stuff he has received in his past relationships in his apartment because they remind him of specific experiences. He’s both a realist and an idealist. He’s grounded and his head is in the clouds. Past-focused and future-oriented. Out of every character I’ve had to decide between Si and Ni for, Ted probably gives me the most trouble.

I’m currently rewatching episodes of One Tree Hill and Pretty Little Liars in order to definitively type Lucas and Aria. After that, I’m going to try to tackle Elena and Klaus… and then the Winchesters. Ted will probably come sometime after that. Dawson is probably going to take a while, because while I loved Dawson’s Creek, I don’t know if rewatching the series is actually worth sitting through Dawson himself. I consider him to be one of the most insufferable television characters in history, so, while I find the show entertaining and I like the other characters, I always have a heavy feeling when I consider watching it again because he just annoys me to no end.

Main Character Syndrome & MBTI was originally published on MBTI Zone

13 notes · View notes