#this isn’t a shot it’s just mind boggling to me how some people genuinely do not believe this comes down to being a business

[wmnylander]

looking at the leafs fanbase & realising that most people have never watched a team sport before becoming a leafs fan and finally realising that’s why people act the way they do.

[ramblingguy54]

“Everything’s changed, since you came here...Being around you makes me do stupid things and I wish it didn’t!”

This moment really surprised me in showing not just Amity Blight’s vulnerability, but especially Luz’s emotional sensitivity, too. Amity has a lot on her plate, in terms of baggage, from many regretful acts growing up underneath the abusive environment of her parents. However, that isn’t to say Luz isn’t without any kind of grief either, considering this kid is going through quite a lot currently, as well. Luz isn’t sure when she’ll see her mother again, felt seriously guilty at first about Eda’s curse overtaking her at Season 1′s end,  and still doesn’t know how to exactly go about confessing the truth of her real whereabouts, which was the entire conflict of Grom Night’s plot surrounding Luz’s dramatic internal conflict. Luz’s greatest fear was her mother not understanding and being greatly hurt by her lying about summer camp, where she stayed in a more dangerous reality.

What seriously crushed me about this line of dialogue above from Amity is how she wishes Luz didn’t bring out this kind of inspiration to do super impulsive things from herself. This obviously isn’t so much a matter of Amity saying, “I hate you, Luz.”, rather I took it as Amity inflicting loathing sentiment upon her own self esteem. Amity has done a lot of things she’s not proud of whatsoever, which can definitely be seen through her treatment of Willow and how it was ripped to shreds by her parents demands for a great period of time, until Luz came along. Amity isn’t used to feeling so free to have a sense of self, let alone having some definition of happiness. Before Luz appeared, a good chunk of Amity’s life was ruled by manipulative, uncaring, and toxic parenting on how she should live. She was never allowed to have an actual carefree childhood, due to her being born a Blight getting saddled with unfairly high expectations of deemed “perfection”.

Luz is the complete polar opposite of how she has lived in contrast to Amity’s lifestyle. Luz wasn’t expected to become anything spectacular by any means necessary. Granted, her mother was gonna send her away to a summer camp as an attempt to try getting Luz’s more wackier nature under control, but to be fair it was also another way for her to try getting the kid to make actual friends. Regardless, my point is, Luz was able to live an all around normal life, whereas Amity had to immediately follow shallow standards set from the get go in a society full of unfair ideologies surrounding magical abilities. Amity meeting Luz, this kid who was so optimistic, endearing, and Hell bent on becoming a Witch, was such an alien concept to her, overall. Amity has been so used to living a life of obedience where, like her parents constantly beat into her mind, that a Blight must never show weakness to anyone on the Boiling Isles, so for awhile this was the mantra this kid followed at the expense of having genuine friends.

Every time Amity saw Luz in public it reminded her of the person she truly is buried underneath all the bullshit her parents threw onto her. A kid who simply wanted to become a Witch through hard work, determination, and have loving companionship, too. It’s why Amity was so terrified of Luz rejecting her in Grom Night because after everything that has happened she feels, “Do I deserve to be happy or loved? I’ve hurt people in the past and brutally cut off my best friend, Willow. Who would ever want to be with a person like me?”, which was plaguing her thinking throughout that entire day, until Luz helped pick her back up to take on the dark shape shifting blob of nightmares turned real.

“It’s okay I-I-I do stupid things around you too, Amity...”

There’s a lot of poetic truth to Luz’s statement here on her connection to Amity. After all, in Grom Night she willingly took on the ceremony upon herself in Amity’s place because she wanted to help her out that badly, despite having next to zero knowledge about how dangerous this tradition actually is in their world. Even after being filled in on the deadly details of how important it is to defeat the creature, Luz still didn’t waver in her determination to combat the nasty creature. Luz has unintentionally caused Amity so much trouble in the past, where she wanted to help with something very serious for a change because she knows there’s real compassionate kindness inside of her. Luz may have started to run away when her worst fears became manifested from the creature about her mother, but Amity rushing to help her out made them both inspired to defeat it together. It was the best way to explore their blossoming respect and love.

Luz did all that for Amity because she wanted to and not outta some obligation from an unfair code of Blight honor. Amity isn’t used to seeing someone go this far out of their way to help her this passionately, given she’s most likely accustomed to other peers at Hexside either fearing her, or outright being bitter about that ranking as a top student. Amity didn’t know what to make of Luz’s intentions for awhile in Season 1, due to this super self conscious behavior of conflicted inadequacy. She had a set path on her way to becoming a Witch suddenly interrupted by someone who reminded her of something Amity thought was out of reach, her happiness. While Amity felt so oddly happy about someone wanting to be there for her, it also tore the kid up inside emotionally because those regrets gnawed away at her. One could say Amity was “content” in living life of solitude away from those, like Willow, who actually care for her well being.

Luz, however, completely threw a wrench into those plans for Amity breaking her free of the mental shackles set by undermining parents. It drove Amity up a wall in the best and worst ways. On one hand, she’s deeply thankful for what Luz has helped her through in confronting bigger emotional issues, yet is still greatly confused on what it all means in the long run. Does she get a second shot at having real friends through her own decisions? Is she worthy of being loved? Is it not too late to change for the better at last? Can Amity live a life that isn’t ruled by her parents? Yes, of course she can. It just boggles Amity’s mind still that there’s someone who’s willing to go so far for her happiness this drudges up insecurities of guilt for past mistakes. Some part of Amity still thinks those moments define her, so to see Luz try to apologize wanting to make amends for the library incident in this episode’s story makes her feel, “Why are you apologizing to me? I’m not worth giving the time of day to, Luz.”. All of that gets undermined with an act of love by Luz to help get Amity her job back, by taking on deadly trials to accomplish this goal.

This moment between them carries so much layered weight.

[420pogpills]

hi! I think your stance on build mart is very valid! I don't think there's anything wrong with talking about how to improve games so that everyone enjoys it.

however, I do have to say, as someone who spends my entire life on the MCC reddit, most of the time it's the fans that get a bit overly toxic and exaggerate how many people dislike build mart. someone did a stats post where they analyzed the reactions of MCC participant toward build mart for the past few MCCs and it was about 40% disliked it and 60% were either neutral or enjoyed it. but it's really easy for people who watch creators who don't like build mart to say that the majority of people don't like it. shubble said on Twitter that there's been build mart discussion in the MCC discord and most people don't have strong feelings, and of course not everyone will talk about it publicly, but I would still argue that most people are pretty neutral, and they like it depending if their team is good at it.

this is a long way to say that criticism of games is valid, but so many ppl, and unfortunately a lot of dsmp fans, are overly toxic. Quig made a statement about death threats and Scott and Noxcrew are getting so much harassment about being biased towards Dream for not getting rid of build mart, or saying things like build mart will never be removed because Scott is good at it. and then of course, this type of behavior reflects badly on Dream, even if it's not his fault that people are toxic.

oh thank you!!! ❤️ i don't ever tend to contribute to mcc discourse because i really don't know what i'm talking about lmao especially in game mechanics so i was a bit worried about posting that but since this is coming from someone who seems to know a lot, i appreciate your ask so much!!! 😁

yes i absolutely agree there's a massive issue with toxicity in the fandom. and people will make things seem a lot worse than they are, like how you said it's give or take 40% of participants who say they dislike it, which is less than half. and i also know that not as many people hate buildmart in the same way dream or sapnap do for example haha, but my issue is that they do dislike it THAT much. and it isn't just them who do, there's a good handful of people who just genuinely feel awful about it, and that's what bothers me.

my problem doesn't lie with a majority disliking a game, my problem is with there being a number of people, even if it's an insignificant number, who feel so discouraged about the game that it genuinely takes away all joy that they may be feeling in the moment, or it drops the mood and morale of the team as a whole. even dream himself said that if build mart isn't rotated out or changed up for the next mcc, he probably won't participate, and i just think that's a massive issue with a game - that's not just dream disliking a game. that's someone genuinely not wanting to play a game that badly that he'd rather sit out a whole tournament, despite previously telling us that it makes him feel like a kid at christmas. that's why i think the current build mart is an issue :(

obviously anyone who isn't great at building isn't going to love the game, but i feel like every game should basically have a chance for someone to enjoy it in some form. and this opinion stands for every single game!!! there's pvp games that other people really dislike because they're better at building/problem solving/etc, and i think a lot of games could be revamped in some form to give everyone a fair shot of enjoying themselves! 😁 i hope that makes sense hehe

people who send death threats to anyone at all don't even deserve to have their opinion considered or listened to, so i just ignore those people. because i know if they think it's acceptable to do that - it means there is absolutely not a single thing they can say that will hold any form of intelligence. the fact that anyone does it, and especially over a minecraft tournament - a FREE minecraft tournament - is mind boggling. i don't think that's an issue with toxic mcyt stans though - that's an issue with genuinely immature and rather brainless individuals who think a death threat is ever acceptable, and i believe they would do it to anyone, in any setting. it happens in every single fandom, over the smallest and most insignificant things. it's just a goddamn shame it happens so much in this one. 😞

[popculturebuffet]

Ducktales Finale Review: The Last Adventure! or So Long and Thanks for All The Ducks

Hello all you happy people. The day we’ve all simultaneously waited for and dreaded is here. The grand finale to a five year journey.. and for me an almost one year journey of covering season 3 as it came out. It was thanks to this show i’ve been able to make money doing what I love. Without it I never would’ve found my patreon Kev, and I never woul’dve had the solid focus to keep going as long as I have. And I never would’ve had all you lovely people reading my work. Thank you for that. I hope you’ll stick around even though the series is gone, I love you all. But as the sun sets on this series I have one last episode of the season, and the series to cover. I won’t be doing it in my usual recap style due to it’s sheer length and scope, but I promise you if you join me under the cut I will break down eveyrthing I can about this final adventure, it’s huge, awe inspiring twists.. and it’s heartwarming conclusion. It’s everything you could want from a finale short of a Grandma Duck Cameo, and i’ts under the cut with full spoilers. Seriously if you do not want any spoilers TURN BACK NOW. I’m opening with probably the biggest spoiler of the finale. 

I Think She’s A Clone Now You were warned. So.. Webby is Scrooge’s Clone, made by FOWL as part of a decades long scheme to find the papyrus of binding, and raised by Beakly to keep this precious child out of their sinister clutches. I have hundreds of reaction images, several for what the fuck.. none of them seem sufficient.. ALL OF THEM together like some megazord of what the fuck are not sufficient for how much this reveal caught me off guard. It caught ALL of us off guard. I’m sure even those who called it still were suprised that’s the direction it took. I think we all expected her parents died by FOWL, or her parents were FOWl with Pepper being one of them, or anything else. So naturally it took around 14 drafts, and me going the fuck to sleep as I had stayed up to watch the finale and thought I could just smoothly transition into writing the review despite there being a LOTTTTT to unpack.

Even after the recharge though this took a bit of doing... so now i’ve done it... what’d I think? Whelp....

I liked it. I like it the more I think about it. Even the problems I had with it just kinda melted away as I thought about it. I understand if you do not. This twist will not be for everyone, it changes Webby’s character and story entirely, ruins tons of fan theories, and in general is batshit even for a series that in the same finale, turned Manny into a shout out to Gargoyles, complete with Keith “My Body is Ready” David. This series is genuinely batshit and loves it, but this is a LOT to ask dramatically, a lot to rewrite expectation wise and a lot to thinka bout. There’s a reason besides sleep deprevation it took me a whlie to fully grasp how I felt. So if you don’t like it fine, but i’m going to make my best case. 

Starting with something that made me realize I fully like it: It dosen’t invalidate Webby’s charcter. The one little problem I had left was “Well dosen’t Webby having the McDuck bloodline mean she couldn’t be specail if she wasn’t a McDuck? That sure the rest of the cast are specail but you can’t be really important without it?” Honestly.. no. Webby is who she is not because she’s a McDuck.. but because she’s Webby. She got her martial arts and mystery solving skills through Beakly and being raised. She had intate talent sure.. but as we’ve seen with the boys through the whole series, talent has to be honed. Skill has to be earned and learned.  Webby worked hard to research other civilizations, worked hard to hone herself into a deadly fighting machine with her mother’s help, worked hard to be every bit as cool as her idol who turned out to be her biological dad. She earned her badassery, her wisdom and her courage SQUARE. 

And more than that she’s her own person. Her adoptive parent and biological parent are both paranoiacs afraid of betryal, unwilling to trust, and slow to let anyone in. By all accounts Webby should be the same.. but she’s not. Oh sure she has some paranoia and is willing to slit some throats, she was raised by the world’s best spy and is the daughter of the world’s greatest hero, that was never going to be gone entirely. But at her core she just wants to trust people. She just wants to love them and be loved. And.. that’s why her family loves her. Because she’s the kindest, the warmest and the best of them. They love her because she’s Webby and that’s she’s family, they could care less who she’s related to. All it really changes is how Scrooge acts around her and that gives us fans tons to work with. 

It’s also expertly revealed, which helped ease us into it. Webby is just as shocked and confused as we are and is seriously hurt, which makes her vulnerable to the villains. Kate Miccui deserves a goddamn award for voice acting and if their isn’t an award show for that their should be. While she’s been fantastic with Webby all series long this is her finest performance, going from Webby’s usual self, to all the hurt she goes through.. to her quitter moments at the end, calling Scrooge dad and giving out a little noise that makes it clear as Beakly tries to leave, that no.. she’ still her family.. she’s still her mom and she’s not going anywhere. 

As for the concept being a bit ridiculous yes it is.. but so is this universe. This universe is entirely insane in the best fucking way possible: I mean.. look at this final group shot. 

We have an old man whose somehow still alive simply because he was too busy to die, an inventor whose cloned himself multiple times so clones are fesable and is probably a clone himself given how the last finale went, an awkward armored superhero and his biotech filled girlfriend, a small boy robot weapon of discretion who put his head on his brother’s body, a no longer headless manhorse former harbinger of the apocalypse with the silky voice of keith david as one big homage to gargoyles, a lesbian living shadow and her sister, a superhero who based himself on a fictional character and his boyfriend/sidekick who by all accounts should be dead by now, a lesbian military superheroine from the moon, STORKULES COCKBLOCKER OUT OF MYTH, his moong goddes sister, two adopted family stunt pilots, a bunch of super intelligent mice, an odd duck whose kinda sorta dating a giant shrimp, his cousin with super luck powers, my globetrotting boys, an immortal treasure hunter and in the family proper: a former spy turned adopted mom of a clone, a woman who lived on the moon for a good decade, a man who once trapped everyone in what would essentially be the plot of the mcu’s second best work by pure accident, a blue boy whose piloted a plain, captained pirates, and has his own talk show, a green boy whose ran a multi-trillion dollar company, nearly destroyed all of time and space and is under investigation for fraud, and a red boy who has a hulk-esque rage filled embodiment of all his suppressed emotions, whose fondest wish was tall legs, and who can easily take out a giant magica supermachine with some fancy wiring. So the richest duck in the world having a clone daughter, while divisvie and what not.. is far more plausable than we give it credit for. As are her new sisters who Id in’t forget but are part of the whole twist. 

So yeah, I like the twist and my nitpick is more that despite having a full season to set it up.. they saved it for the last episode. Instead of BUILDING on Webby’s desire to know more about her family and having the twins show up earlier.. it’s all shove into the finale. It’s a well done shoving but there’s so much that could be explored with Webby being Scrooge’s daughter, so much that futzes with the regular family dynamics and we don't’ get any of it. Sure it was probably saved for a possible season 4 but they treated this season as the last. Manny being an apocalyptic man horse voiced by the uber sexy keith david, and no I will not stop bringing that up even outside of it’s own section and why yes it is getting it’s own section, is the kind of revelation you can leave for one last episode. “One of the main cast is a clone” really isn’t and that’s disapointing. 

Especially since thinking back to life and times.. Webby IS a lot like Scrooge was before circumstance hardened him. She’s tough, resourceful.. but also has a peppy spirit to her. It adds interesting shades to her character, where she zigs where Scrooge zags, how much of it is her upbringing with Granny versus his with his parents, how much did Beakley play into it. There’s A lot to dig into and given I have most of the series left to review, I will get to dig into it, and there’s a lot to be explored in fanfic so if I wasn’t already planning a massive one before I sure as fuck am now. So it’s not a bad twist nor bad we get to write the future.. but I do wish the crew THEMSELVES had done more with it. Still my bar for “not fucking up the entire show” is pretty low after Star Vs ended with her committing implied genocide to stop a genocide and How I Met Your Mother ended “But the real journey was in how much I want to bang, bang bangity bang I said a bang bang bangity bang your aunt robin now your mother conveniently died”. I can handle “This twist is kind of weird but also really intresting.” If the twist isn’t for you, as I said i get it. This is my opinion. Now for the thing I won’t shut up about. 

I LIVE AGAIN:

Look i’ve made no secret how thirsty I am for Keith David nor how much of a national treasure I rightly believe him to be. He’s one of my faviorite voice actors, with a mind boggling number of awesome rolls, mostly recently as a fowl mouthed coffe cup encouraging a teacher to sabotage his rival teachers breaks on close enough. Even if I didn’t like Gargoyles, which I do, i’d have an entire section talking about that Manny reveal. 

Manny was already objectively one of the best parts of the show, a hilariously weird addition that was also relatable as he just wanted to fit in. I did not know you could make him better. Then they gave him Keith David’s voice and revealed he’s one of the four horseman of the apocalypse, but doesn’t want to end the world he just wants to be a normal dude, AND turned him into a shout out to the last part of the disney afternoon they hadn’t touched, my favorite part of it and a show i’ve been sitting on watching in full for far too long. Motherfucking Gargoyles. 

But given how unique it was for the Disney Afternoon and how much Disney had no desire to ever reference or use the franchise, still no fucking clue as to why they are sitting on money here, I expected it to be sadly but understandably left out. Instead they made Manny into an expy for them, gave him the voice of their leader Goliath, the voice of an angel, and had him say “I LIVE AGAIN” complete with the utterly transcendent theme song. Seriously give it a listen. 

So yeah I couldn’t not mark out at this. Amazing fucking stuff and almost as unexpected as the clone thing and easily my second faviorite part of the fiinale only NARROWLY topped by the curtain call. Which we’ll get to. Keith David took his time getting to this series but they saved the best guest voice for last. Utter tremendous. 

Huey Season?: I”ll save more of this for my breakdown as the season as a whole but yeah while the finale as a whole was good.. I do feel Huey got short changed. He got PLENTY of development this season, and some REALLY good scenes with Bradford.. but ultimately he got overshadowed by the Webby thing. it just never quite felt like Huey got a real resolution to his character arc the way his brothers did. He still got some REALLY good moments, his “Just cough up the information Bentina!” was one of his finest and Danny Pudi did his best. The BUILDUP was good but hte payoff was non existant and easily the weakest part of an otherwise triumphant finale. I feel the final plot was ultimately just a bit too jam packed to really have Huey feel vital to it the way Dewey was to the Della arc and Louie was to his own arc. Both tgot big emotional payoffs in his finale but the most I could gather here was he accepted adventure? I guess. It just really feels off, like I missed the payoff to everything when it’s probably just nonexistent and that bothers me a lot. In a finale that was almost all hit.. this was easily the biggest misstep. I don’t have as much to say here on it.. but that’s because it’s really that simple: they gave Huey’s arc a ton of build up in this last episode and some of his others, really made him into Bradford’s good counterpart.. then just sorta.. forgot it because “oh shit Webby’s scrooge’s daughter kinda need to pull focus here”. Had they given this arc at least one more episode, we might of had time for it. Granted i’m not sure how much they could get away with but we clearly needed at least one more episode and what they chose to jettision, the climax to Huey’s story.. was way more important than they clearly thought and i’m heavily disappointed. 

Bradford’s Big Hole Speaking of payoffs the missing mysteries payoff.. is a mixed bag. I expected all of them to combine some how into some elaborate plan I just wasn’t seeing. In hindsight it does make sense that wasn’t it: Bradford hates overcomplicated schemes, so his would be incredibly simple and require as few moving parts as possible. It still dosen’t stop the fact that the big plan to cap off the entire series built over a season... was to build a giant stygian hole of non existence to throw people into. 

Yes really. Instead of using the Payprus to write them out of existance, if carefully worded or try doing it all at once or anything practical.. Bradford just plans to shove everything he dosen’t want in the world anymore into a hole.  Look i’ts not like it ruins the episode, there’s still tons of tension from him holding Scrooge’s loved ones over his hole and threating to throw them into it’s gaping void. And it’s foiled by a 12 year old just.. shutting it off. Like I get him leaving an off switch on, that’s just common sense.. but why wouldn’t he have a remote or something to turn it back on? one with a password or something to lock it. There’s something inherently underwhelming about as series ending plan that can be summed up “hope no one shuts my unguarded hole. “

The finale does make for it by using the missing mysteries all in VERY clever ways. In fact every episode in the season had some sort of payoff here. It’s what makes up for how baffling the main plan is: every other thing, from the missing mysteries to the guest stars has lead up to this one moment, this one final adventure. Which leads me too

An Hurricane of Payoffs:

So from the top Challenge of the Senior Junior Woodchucks!: Isabella Finch herself ends up being VITAL to the story and to Bradford’s backstory, as does Junior Woodchucking as a whole. Quack Pack!: Gene is the fuel for Blot’s glove.. though he also fucks off right afterwords.. never to be seen again or help out at any point...

Double-O-Duck in You Only Crash Twice!: This was the most unexpected and elevated the episode in hindsight for me as what seemed like a waste of time.. wound up setting up the first part of the finale, and the final battle with Steelbeak, and in clever ways with Steelbeak using the intelliray on himself, Launchpad muttering the map in his sleep via his smart self and Dewey remembering the base layout. 

The Lost Harp of Mervana: Used as a lie detector for that heartbreaking interrogation scene. 

Louie’s Eleven: Introduced Daisy setting up Donald’s plot which i’ll get to. 

Astro BOYD: My baby boy comes back for this episode! He also gets one of the best lines of it “I’m a Head!”. That is the most ralph wiggum the boy has ever been. I’m so proud. 

Rumble For Ragnarok: Okay I was wrong nothing from this one comes back. Still a great episode. Same with the trickening. Both are VERY stellar episodes though, so I give it a pass. You can’t give a nod to EVERYTHING. 

The Phantom and the Sorceress: The Blot and Super Sayian God Super Sayian Lena, as well as Lena’s character development from said episode.  They Put a Moonlander on the Earth!: Launchpad helping Penny realize her purpose.  Forbidden Fountain: Jeeves is un-babied as a trap Let’s Get Dangerous!: Drake and Gosalyn Return, and Solageo’s Circut ends up being vital to the climax.. in the strangest and funnest way to say possible but still. It counts.  Escape from the Impossibin: Beakley’s near breakdown at the idea FOWL has come back. It was already heartbreaking and the first adventure had made it even more so.. but now it’s out and out DEVISTATING. The one thing after her daughter is not only back.. but SHE’S the reason he’s in Scrooge’s life and home and her giving up SHUSH has now left her wide open. 

The Split Sword: Probably the best out of all of these as it ends up directly playing into the climax in an awesome way i’m saving for Bradfords New Gods: Storkules shows up. Okay so that every episode claim bit me on the ass. Also when did these two meet? I mean probably at end of spear of selene but the more important question is WHY DID YOU ROB  ME OF THESE TWO MEETING AT ANY POINT IN THE SERIES. 

The First Adventure: Naturally the Payprus comes back as Does herons needling bradford to stop denying what he is. 

Fight For Castle McDuck: Suprisingly the blessed bagpipes ended up being VITALLY important. And giving us sexiest man alive infinity years running Keith David for an episode.  Last Christmas; Santa Cameo

Beaks in the Shell: Gandra being taken and the Lost Library being setup for this episode. 

Lost Cargo: The Stone of What Was. And Credit where its due what FELT like simply a filler episode with a tantengal connectoin.. ended up probably being one of the most important episodes. Fair play. 

Life and Crimes: Magica turning Bradford into a non sentient bird, like what happened to her brother.... proving once again this episode really REALLY needed as subplot attached to lead into the finale or something. 

Bonus Round: Pilot payoffs by the pound. Seriously Scrooge and Donald’s last lines to each other, the badass return of “I’m a Pilot”, more on that in a minute, and even other smaller call backs like “Keep Getting Up” and webby sucessfully getting some juice to Louie’s pride. All top notch stuff and it really makes the finale FEEL like one with all this coming back full circle. So i’ve hinted at it enough, let’s bring on the bad guy. 

The First Woodchuck

We’ve had some mixed payoffs so let’s get to one that’s just out and out excellent. Bradford Buzzard.. is the best villian the show ever had. Now I will give the caveat that my favorite forever and always will be

You know it, I know it. But Bradford is the best genuine threat of the series, with Marc Evan Jackson perfectly balancing his menace and genuine evil.. with his steadfast believe that he isn’t evil, and his calm, controlled business demeanor. It’s one of the best performances of the show and he deserves all the credit for it and after seeing him in supporting roles for his career, even if his role as Kevin on Brooklyn Nine-Nine is fucking awesome and I’m sad that show is ending, it’s nice to see him step into a big meaty role as the big bad and utterly nail it. 

And the finale.. pays eveyrthing off with him, apart from the plan itself perfectly. Starting off him being revealed as Isabella Finch’s grandson... was  a stroke of genius. I didn’t expect her to come back in play but it gives perfect reason both why he knew about the mysteries.. and why he’s like this. 

Like Scrooge did with his nephews, niece and daughter, Isabella dragged Bradford all around the world seeing the unseen, thinking it was fun. The problem was... Bradford HATED it. He hated every minute of it, like as one post pointed out Rusty Venture from the Venture bros, and felt he should be in school. He wanted a normal life and a normal world and not.. this waking nightmare. So to him, fixing the world, stopping this sort of thing is the only way and that doing so is a good thing. His problem is how he adapted to it.

We see that best in his mirror images, the people he’s in direct contrast with and the show knows it. Starting off with the one he’s not like at all is Scrooge. Part of what makes Bradford perfect is he’s Scrooge’s evil opposiite. The Luthor to His Superman, The Joker to his Batman, the Green Goblin to his Spider-Man, the Iron Monger to his Iron Man, the Sinestro to his Green Lantern. Both come from a long line of adventure but while Scrooge embraces that and loves it, Bradford hates it and wants to destroy it. One is energetic and always ready, the other’s calm, calculated. And one sees what he is.. and the other dosen’t. Simple as that.

But his other mirror’s are more like him, moving onto Huey. Their both woodchucks, both prefer caution and planning, and both want to make some sense of a nonsensical world. Both want to feel safe when they constnatly don’t. One’s prone to panic attack the other’s calm. But what makes Huey the better man... is that he accepts the world is the way he is. It goes all the way back to terror of the terrafirmains. While he was all for adventure he started his doubting things, not beliving things were real.. because the reality that there are some things you just can’t prepare for, just can’t know, and you can’t be always ready.. it shattered him. He nearly let himself die rather than live knowing what’s out there. Webby pulled him out of that, literally and figuratively.. and he never went back. Sure he still tries to have an order to things, still breaks when his structure’s broken.. but it’s gone from a paranoid fear of the unknown and weird to embracing it. To relishing in finding unsolved mysteries and new clues to unlock, to finding new things to explore. He went from seeing this chaotic world as something to run from, to embracing and studying it. To loving it the way it is the way his family loves him for who he is. Bradford.. denies reality belongs the way it is and wants to force it into what HIS idea of it is Superboy Prime Style. The world isn’t waht he thought it should be so he’ll MAKE it that way. Huey grew as a person.. while his arc didn’t have a full payoff.. it still pays off here by showing what he COULD’VE been. had he let his earlier fear and his always present neurosis drive him like Bradford has. Let his big brain make him think he knows what’s better for EVERYONE instead of using it to genuinely help people. Bradford lacks the boys heart and empathy and that’s why he fell. Huey had his family backing him, his best friends coming to get him, and his brothers ultimately rescue him. Bradford.. threw his only true ally down a styigan murder hole. 

Finally.. we have the one that’s not brought up directly.. but is very much there. Donald. While the two don’t interact hardly at all... it’s VERY fitting that Donald is the one Bradford picks to threaten Scrooge with. Like Bradford... Donald grew to hate adventure, he wanted to get as far away from it as possible and took it from his boys for as long as he could. Granted that was in part Bradford’s fault, and that was an INCREDIBLY clever twist: it dosen’t make him entirley responsible or anything that robs the moment of it’s imapct, Della still chose to take it out by herself, she still lied to Donald and she still got lost all by her own decision and impuslviness. But it fits perfectly into it: Bradford’s horrifying smile when Scrooge gets taken away from saving her is even WORSE now with full context, and it still fits that knowing about the project.. he’d want to set it up to screw up Scrooge’s life. I don’t think he sabotaged the rocket or anything, too obvious and something Della would’ve mentioned by now.. but he knew it was unfinished. 

Back to the parallel the diffrence is once again.. change. Donald let go of his hate of scrooge and his past and realized it wasn’t all bad. He let himself grow as a person after a decade of bitterness and anger. But most tellingly and poignantly is Quack Pack... both had a chance to make a world that was safe, normal and what they always wanted. Both out of terror of the danger of this world.  Thing is.. Donald’s was noble. He feared for his kids, his sister, his uncle.. loosing one again and any of them at all. He wanted a normal life to be safe, to hide from that.. but it’s not what THEY wanted or who they are. He accepted that’s not how the world works and how it does.. is still pretty great. And his growth shows: he’s ending the series planning to go off with his girlfriend globetrotting, KNOWING things might not be safe, but diving into adventure, having accepted it as part of him. He even finds some new family and takes in two girls who badly needed a home. He learned to accept things how they are... and Bradford refuses, not beliving in this world as it is and vowing to force it into the way he wants it to be. 

And it’s that inherent selfishness.. that makes Bradford the Cartoon Supervillian he desperatley claims he isn’t. Bradford dosen’t care how many lives it takes, how much worse it makes the world, or how many people he has to stab in the back... the world WILL be “normal”. Bradford cares for no one and nothing except his own ambition. He kills Heron despite her loyality, and his own clones who loyally served him.. simply because their chaos too. No one or nothing else matters, not how they feel, not their right to exist.. only HIS vision. If he wanted to keep the world safe he’d be more of a hero, if still throughly a bastard... but he dosen’t. He wants to make it “normal”. He wants the world the way he thinks it shoudl be and damn anyone else and perfectly represents all the old assholes like him today who refuse to accept something diffrent or against the norm because “that’s how it’s always been”.  Like those real world assholes.. Bradford is wrong. The Duckverse is beauitful how it is in it’s chaos and risk and love. And he just can’t see it because it’s not what he WANTS to see. 

And that’s why I also love the Sword giving him big, black and red classic villianous monster, slowly mutating him as he fights the duck family. Because that’s his inner strength: he may deny he’s a villian but he’s forcing his will on others, refuses to see the world as it is for selfish reasons, and is willing to kill his own friends and allies if it means getting it. He’s the bad guy. And while he denies it to those around him... it’s clear from the fact the sword is working for him that he KNOWS IT, he knows he’s a villian and this is just what he wants but is so up his own ass he can’t SAY it or admit it. And in the end he’s fully beaten by the fact that his forcing his will on everything’s what’s unnatural: While his plan was ingenious, have scrooge sign a contract agreeing never to adventure again, since he’s right Scrooge would solve nonexistance it’s the same reason “launch hulk into space” only resulted in a smarter, more skilled hulk coming back with a space army to get revenge. He just didn’t bank on the inherent rediclousness of the unvierse: family really is the greatest adventure of all.. and the papyrus accepted it. It was the one thing he coudln’t palnf or because he can’t see the woirld how it is.. and that’s why he lost. He was so confident how he saw the world and how he worked was the only way... another way beat him. 

His fate.. was also awesome and endleslly apporirate. Being mocked by the other villians who while less capable aside from Magica, at least admit what they are and what their doing.. and turned into a Vulture for Magica, left to be a mindless lackey in tons of chaotic schemes for the rest of his life. It couldn’t of happened to a nicer jackass. Okay three more sections to go. Let’s go.

Come Sail Away, Come Sail Away, Come Sail Away With Daissssyyyy

Donald’s leaving for a long, romantic adventure with Daisy is the perfect capper to Doanld’s character. Donald started the series hating adventure: blaming it for della being gone, his rough times during it, and wanted to escape it in the boat and keep from loosing his kids to it. He felt like a looser for not having reached his dreams or properly provided for his nephews, when really he did his best and still raised three wonderful kids. A bit overproective, god yes.. but despite his grief and anger he still got through ten years with them on his own merits, hard work and determination. 

As the series went he reconclied with his past, realized Scrooge lost something too and that blaming him soley when it was Della’s choice was just taking his anger out on the one person he had left to take it out on instead of embracing his only family left, accepted Storkules as his friend (JUST his friend), accepted adventure through quack pack realizing that while it may be weird, dangerous and sometimes stressful for him... it’s what his family love doing and they should be who they are instead of who he wants them to be, and finally.. accepted himself by finding Daisy, someone who loves him for who he is, and literally and metaphorically understands him and turned right back around from dumping him to save him from a giant monster she roared at. He’s finally at peace. 

And that’s why leaving. Not forever, He , Daisy, and his girls will be back in a few months or even a month. It’s very clear this is a vacation.. but it’s one  he’s earned.  He’ll always love his boys, his surrogate daughter/cousin, his sister, and his best buddy launchpad. But it’s okay for him to want to form his OWN family, to spend time with his future wife and show her the world. To make his own story for once instead of sharing it. To find his voice. 

I also find it very poetic that a story that started with Donald raising his nephews like their dad.. ends with him adopting two more children. Two kids whose lives had been misrable: rapidly aged in tubes, deemed failures, constantly bellittled by the closest things they have for parents, so desperate for answers they’d kidnap their own sister and betray her trust and do things they know are wrong, And all this.. for nothing as their  Dad kills their mom, bad as she was, and plans to kill them. And Donald’s first thought when given the chance to have a kid free time to himself, with no guilt having earned it? To take these girls in, start his own family, if Daisy’s cool with it mind he thankfully clearly called to talk this over first, and give them their own. Because that’s who Donald is, a good man whose finally earned his happy ending and the life he always wanted.. and accepted who he always was. An adventuerer, a loving fiance.. and  dad. 

The Real Hero: One last one before the bonus round and a quick one. The Launchpad Scene.. was one of the shows best. His arc in this episode of thinking he’s not a hero.. made sense. He’s been plenty heroic.. but his boyfriend is a martial arts and gymnastics savant and one of his three best friends has a giant suit of armor and is a genius. But the payoff made even more: He may not be the strongest, the most skilled or the smartest.. but he has the heart of a hero. He’s always been the kindest, most trusting, most friendly one of the main family, a guy who never gives up, even when he should, never surrenders and loves everybody. And that’s why he’s inspired so many people: Fenton to not give up after his firing and keep going, leading to his path as Gizmoduck. When Drake was lost, his fllm gone and his mentor seemingly dead (In fact skulking around the sewers like an evil ninja turtle), and his future unclear... TOLD HIM he could be Darkwing, that he could become the hero they both ihdolized and the inspiration to kids he wanted to be by his own bootstraps, and he gave Gosalyn faith in darkwing and hope at at time she had none. He also gave those mice their freedom. Not as poignant but you try creating the rescue rangers and see how far you get. I’ve lost a lot of chipmunks and mice that way. 

Launchpad’s last stand makes up for his lack of being in the season during the final  half. Launchpad realizing that despite his quirks he’s just as noble, valuable and wonderful as his families, both of them. And that he is a pilot. Sure he gets the gizmoduck armor.. but the armor isn’t what makes hi ma hero... i’ts being launchpad that makes him a hero. Loving adopted dad, wonderful partner, best friend... and a pilot

Bonus Round:

Okay this is just stray stuff from throughout the episode I didn’t have several paragraphs worth of material on before we get to the final thoughts. But it had so much good I can’t not talk about it. So...

Gyro calling Little Bulb BOYD’s brother. My heart wept. So sweet. As was him fixing his son at the end. BOYD has the two loving families he deserves.. and the brother he deserves.. and the brother he dosen’t deserve who will probably also is skulking around the sewers like an nafarious ninja turtle as the series ends. 

Gosalyn fixing up Darkwing’s outfit for him. Awwww. Adopt that child you coward. Also if they don’t base the reboot on frank’s work here, I will riot. 

“Just cough up the information Bentina!” that was just pure comedy gold especially the sheer fear radiating off him. Also right. 

Manny’s “I can explain” and , once he has silky smooth keith david voice going “Come on man I just want to live my life.” That man is a legend. 

Dewey and Louie just not talking the “you kids stay behind shit” pointing out both their stake in this and how they’ll just go anyway and him proudly accepting it. Given the kids turned the tied of things a lot, good call. 

Dewey and Don Karnage singing their own background music as they air joust. Hell yes. 

Pepper got a promotion! Goodf or her... it’s meaningless now but hey she has a partner in both senses. 

Speaking of pepper she had the best line of the episode “He’s a grown man who has the strength of a baby!”. Only Amy Sedaris could’ve given that delivery just the perfect way she did. 

The Funzo’s opening sequence was dynamite, from how well set up it was as an infilfration, to Webby having learned how to scam free drinks (Louie was so proud), to Lena cheating for her sister at DDR, to Scrooge paying full price.. it was wonderful> The payoff was also great as rather than be mad her special day was used as part of an elabroate spy operation.. she’s giddy. Because of course she is. Two specitic  bits that get their own items

The Cabs came back one last time! It dosen’t effect my now finished retrospective, but after spending all that time with them it was nice to see them for what will probably be the last time for some time. 

The whole scene where Della finds out about the trip. Just all of it. Her casually and accidentally choking daisy TWICE, Fethry, who sadly did not get an episode this season, being the one to blab about it and only realizing it .. after repeating that they told him not to, and Gladstone who not only was casually winning at Skeeball while his cousins both got pissed at it, relateable as hell, but then awkwardly escorting his baby cousin out of the situation. 

“Satstically with Hubert gone one of us should be pancking but WHO I ASK YOU WHO?” As if I needed more evidence they were perfect for each other. 

Lena just.. slumping over after Dewey finally has her drop the cloak. Comedy gold. BOYD scanning her later likewise so. 

The second best line and line read of the episode goes to Louie/Bobby Monihan. “That is not comforting, I do not want to die”. He couldn’t of summed up Louie in one line any better. 

Ludvwig was a national treasure.  Not only did I squeel internally when it turned out he was alive but the explination for it was hilarious as it was batshit, and him just causally revealing Webby’s origin was fucking amazing “Ill give you all a moment ot process” The acomplanying “bless me bagpipes” was also amazing. 

I do wish we found out where FOWL went but it was probably to leave the remains all free to come back as villians of the week. Frank outright said they had a tailspin sequel episode ready to go.

The Webby and June fight was a masterpiece and I REALLY need to do a top 12 fights list someday. 

Lena connecting with the new twins , having pretty much the same background of being created by a villian for shitty reasons. 

“one is silver and the other is “ “Flintheart glomgold!” they should consider a teamup. What’s a little brainwashing between friends?

“We’re sisters’. No you and violet are sisters, Webby is your girlfriend your both just in denial. I only say this because Webby also thinks Della and Penny are just friends and I feel she simply dosen’t know what being gay is or again is in denial. They’ll get there. Plus it feels like Lena just didn’t want to loose her and would say anything which is valid. 

Curtain Call and Final Thoughts:

The Curtain Call was the perfect way to end a spectacular finale. Each bit of it’s a masterpiece, and every character gets one last awesome, heartfelt and hilarous goodbye with the camera and ending how it should: on our five most important characters, in a circle, together, smiling, freefaling into the next adventure. I”d have it no other way and any other series finale credits and last moments will now pale in comparison. 

So the finale as a whole is messy, some bits aren’t resolved as good as they could’ve been, Huey go the shaft, and it REALLY needed another episode leading into it to help take the pressure off. While it needed 90 minutes for the plot it had to tell, it needed more to build up to that and while the season was tight with episodes they BADLY needed one more they didn’t get or even a subplto to help take the load off this episode. 

But even with that... it was an utterly awesome finale on par with other recent standouts like “Let’s Fight to the End”/ “Thank you For Watching the Show” (Both feel like finales to me but in diffrent ways), “The Future” and the whole arc leading up to it, both parts of “Heart” and “Nice While It Lasted” . It was heartstopping, heartrending and heartfelt and ended the show as it should be: with over the top insanity, big reveals, a hell of a final battle.. and a focus on family. It’s not the perfect finale, and I defintely need more ducktales.. but it’s still a classic one and one of the series finest hours.. literally in this case. 

I.. am going to miss this series. I went into it before but it’s thanks to this series I make a living. If you’d like to contribute to that, I have a patreon, patreon.com/popculturebuffet, my next stretch goal is a darkwing duck epsiode a month so  kick in a buck won’t you? and take comissions so if theres an episode from the first two seasons that’s not part of the season 1 arc (I’m almost done there) or Lena’s story (already being paid for that) feel free to shoot me a line to comissoin it for five bucks an episode. 

But more than that it was an excellent well crafted show that took a franchise I love and updated it for a new generation. My nieces love it, I love it, and I will always love it for that. Young or old, this show as phenominal, it was stupdendous.. it was a duckblur. It will remain in my heart for probaly the rest of my life among such shows as Steven Universe, Parks and Recreation, The Venture Bros, Letterkenny, DBZ Abriged, and so many more that have touched my life. It was simply the best. And i’m going to miss it. Thank you for reading this, i’ll see you at another rainbow, if not one quite like this.

Next on this Blog: Duck week continues after this review took two days to complete. Sorry about that. Our heroes head to castle McDuck and Dewey is forced to face the consequences of his actions, while Scrooge yells at his dad , his dad yells at him and his mom is the most precious thing tha’ts ever lived. Also Launchpad in Donald Cosplay. And it won’t stop there as till saturday the rest of the week is all dedicated to Ducktales as I finish up the Della and Lena arcs for season 1 and get started on Lena’s last three episodes. So if you liked some ducktales, stick around. And once again.. thank you. 

[horsesarecreatures]

Book review - The Mafia Hitman’s Daughter by Linda Scarpa

The Mafia Hitman’s Daughter is a book that I liked a lot more than I thought I was going to. Around here, everyone is obsessed with the mafia. The town where I’m from is one of the the main ones where The Sopranos was filmed, and most people genuinely do have family that was in the Italian mob at one point or another.  My mom’s boyfriend’s last name is Fischetti and he is a descendent of the Fischetti Brothers. One of the first times we went to his parent’s house his mother was gleefully pointing at photos of old relatives on the wall and saying, “This one was a made man, oh and this one too, and this one was a capo, and that one was a capo as well!” So that’s why I thought I wasn’t going to like the book; people tend to glorify the mob and it gets annoying. But the book wasn’t like that.

The book is the memoir of Linda Scarpa, Greg Scarpa’s daughter. Greg Scarpa was a hitman suspected of killing up to 120 people for the Colombo crime family and his nickname was “The Grim Reaper.” He was also an FBI informant for years. One might think that he’d be a violent man towards his family because he was so violent on the streets, but he was quite the opposite. This guy genuinely loved his kids to death. But, that is not to say that they did not suffer because of him. Linda talks about how many family friends/associates of her father went missing over the years, and when she started piecing together that he was probably the one killing them it was devastating. Someone also shot into her car with her infant son in it while aiming at her father’s car ahead of hers. Then after her father died years later no one was left to protect them anymore, so her brother Joey was  murdered even though he wanted nothing to do with the mob. Linda talks about how she felt that she was never able to express grief over his death because she knew that her father inflicted the same type of pain on many people. I felt bad for her because it’s clear that she carries around a lot of guilt and trauma. 

The overall impression that I got was that although Linda still loves her father and can forgive the pain he caused herself and his family, she knows it’s not her place to forgive him for the crimes he committed against others. In her own words,

“I love my father, and I always will, but I have anger and resentment towards ‘The Life.’ It’s a life of horror - filled with nothing but misery, death, and nightmares. The life destroys everything around you.

When you marry someone in the mob or are conceived by someone in the mob, there is really no way out of it. You lose people you love. There is so much pain you can’t get over it. I live with the pain everyday, as do the family’s of my father’s victims. But I don’t expect tears, nor do I want sympathy.

When I was a child, the man I knew was very loving, affectionate, caring, and protective. As I got older, I knew what he was. I knew he was in the Mafia, and I knew what he did. But I still loved him. I didn’t agree with the things that he did, but he was always there for me when I needed him.

He was like Jekyll and Hyde. One minute, in the house, he would be this big teddy bear that would sit there and watch Wheel of Fortune with us - we’d all guess the letters - and Family Feud. I mean he would play video games with us, laugh and joke around. He was so sensitive when it came to us. 

But when he left the house to be the person that he was in the streets, he was completely different. He could walk out of the house and go shoot someone. I could hardly believe some of the stories i heard. I told myself he couldn’t have done those things. But he did…

It still boggles my mind. I can’t figure out to this day how he was able to be two different people - if not more. I haven’t been able to make sense of any of it. I’m still tormented by it, because there’s the person I love and want to remember. Then I hear all these things, and I get angry…”

The writing in this book isn’t beautiful but it is extremely honest. And aside from her own accounts and recollections, Linda also includes passages from her mother, relatives, friends, and children of other made men. I found all of their stories to be fascinating and I would recommend this book. Another interesting aspect was how the FBI used Scarpa not just for information but also to do dirty work for them. For example, they sent him to torture some Klu Klux Klan members because they couldn’t locate the bodies of these civil rights activists, and Scarpa did and found the location of the bodies. 

[afreakingdork]

Jessica Jones Season 3 A.K.A. Morality

I genuinely believe that the writers of Jessica Jones season 3 have no idea what morality is supposed to mean or how it applies to basic situations. We can start on this, of course, with the friction between Trish and Jessica. The series starts with Jessica doing everything she can to keep ties severed with Trish, while Trish tries in vain to chase Jessica down like a puppy so they can ‘team-up’ like old-new times with Trish’s shiny new powers. Episode 2,  “ A.K.A You're Welcome,” paints a more full picture by showing Trish’s side of the conversation. Overall, the whole thing falls so flat for a variety of reasons. I can applaud Trish’s dedication to really honing her craft, but even this is something she tries to hold over Jessica. She offhandedly remarks that Jessica could train once in a while and hints often at her inferred superiority because she actually wants to be super, or she has the right attitude to be super, or she has the actual drive to be super. All of which, paired with Rachael Taylor’s insufferable acting, makes seeing Trish feel like nails on chalkboard every single time. Trish doesn’t understand that her store bought powers and being a hero aren’t something to play around with or have moral superiority about, but she refuses to listen to anyone or even reason. It’s mind boggling because while, we know Trish has always been jealous of Jessica’s power, she of all people should know about what Jessica has been through. They were sisters against the world their whole lives, Jessica doing her best to protect and support Trish from her mother’s abuse and Trish full well knowing Jessica is basically alone in this world, not to mention all the time and everything else that she lost to Kilgrave. Jessica is a wounded soul and her powers have everything to do with that, but all that just goes out the window because Trish wants powers and Trish thinks she knows better and the show is happy to say both Trish and Jess are equally bad. Even in the end when Trish finally realizes she is the bad guy, she has to go off the deep-end and then even further into the pool before the show will even let her admit it and then it gives no time for the weight of this statement to take affect and instead just moves on.

However, let’s move back to respective family histories, there’s a line that really enraged me in episode 5, “A.K.A I Wish,” where Gillian says “I'm sick of people throwing away friends and family like there's plenty more where that came from,” because Trish and Jessica won’t talk out their issues. There are some things that you can’t come back from with family and friends, especially when they aren’t willing to move their opinions on it. There are plenty more people that you can become friends with or even make your new family (it’s called found family and is huge especially in comic books) because it’s insanely toxic to stick with someone just because you’re related to them or have been friends for a long time. It’s really hard to play along with this sentiment, especially when in episode 6, “A.K.A Sorry Face,” you have Trish and her mom, Dorothy, really go head to head about Dorothy’s abuse towards Trish. Trish’s whole life has been shaped by her mother’s abuse. She never had a moment to think for herself because Dorothy was always controlling every second of it and it was the reason Trish has resorted to drug use and relapsed multiple times, but the moment Trish, justifiably so, tries to mention this her mother flips out and still has the gall to make it about herself. When Dorothy storms out you can see that from Trish’s weak attempts to roll back on it, again a completely justifiable comment, that the show thinks that Trish is in the wrong here. Sure, Dorothy’s points on Trish’s flippant attitude towards her own safety were, in my opinion, needed; Trish is heading down an insane path where all she can see is the glory of supering and can’t see how dangerous or miserable it is (which is crazy because she’s been Jessica’s sister basically their whole lives and seen all the horrific shit Jessica has had to go through, but I’ll get to that later). Good and bad aren’t so black and white, and this show refuses to play with that. Just because Dorothy and Trish have the most precariously stable relationship now, doesn’t mean Trish isn’t still allowed to be upset about the lifetime of verbal and physical abuse she’s had to endure. 

When you compare that matter to Trish telling Jessica that she needs to get over being upset that she shot her mom, it adds a whole new layer of ‘what the actual fuck?!’ to Trish that the story isn’t particularly interested in delving into. The story seemingly wants you to agree that both Jessica and Trish are equally at fault for what’s happening. Jessica is being too callous and gatekeeping Trish, while Trish is acting rogue and playing like being super is fun. It’s insane because we see Jessica already struggling with her mother’s influence. She was already destroying herself in season 2 because her mother was evil, but also she was the last vestige of her family who still happened to be alive. In her last moments, Alisa was going to turn herself in to the police and imparts on Jessica that being a hero is worth it. It’s almost comical looking back on it now, seeing how holier-than-thou Trish has become, and knowing that she shot Jessica’s mother in cold blood because she believes it was right. Sure, Jessica doesn’t seem to have told Trish the full details of her mother’s turn in those final moments. The show fails morality yet again, when even the question comes up in conversation between Jessica and Trish, Jessica only goes so far as to say ‘it was my mother.’ Jessica completely neglects to mention that her mother turned good in her last days after getting a taste of heroics and instead plays the ‘she was my family and you didn’t give me a choice in whether or not I should keep them’ card, that makes no sense to the total overarching argument to who is in the moral right. You can say that Jessica is a terrible negotiator when it comes to getting her point across verbally, and you’d be right, but that isn’t what the show is trying to illustrate and it’s beyond irritating.

This piss poor morality spread and infects other characters in season 3 also. We have the manifestation of morality with the introduction of Erik, who gets a physical response to evil. Nothing has bothered me more than when Malcolm scores a 3 on Erik’s bad-o-meter. Malcolm is grappling with the bad things he has done for Jeri because he thought he could justify it with the money and experience he would get now to fund him fighting for justice later, but even that wasn’t enough. Long before Erik pinged Malcolm as bad, Malcolm was already trying to atone for what he had done, physically might I add, he should have gone to the hospital for peeing blood after getting in a car accident to get a drunk driver off the streets. It makes Malcolm physically and mentally ill and he even takes time off work to consider his position and this is the moment that he pings a 3 (and, not to mention, Trish doesn’t ping at all)!? How can someone who feels guilt, knowns what he’s doing is wrong, and even takes a break to take a look at himself ping at all on the scale when Jessica is supposedly so good that she is anti-bad-dar for Erik and acts like aspirin for his bad guy headaches?! To add insult to injury, Malcolm cheats on Zaya with Berry because he’s... struggling with maybe becoming evil for some reason, but only long enough for him to immediately roll back and work as a double agent for Jeri so he can actually help Jessica put Sallinger away. Even that is short lived, when he just comes clean and quits to clear his conscience and starts to atone. It’s like the show realized that the tension between Malcolm and Zaya wasn’t enough of a morality issue and they had to have Malcolm do something extra bad to justify, again, that both parties are equally wrong in the matter. In the end though, they end up just reinforcing multiple times that Malcolm was the bad guy and Zaya never had an issue. Progression is a good thing, right?

Malcolm and Zaya are at each other on the ethics of lawyering, something that was handled much better in Daredevil and even that show had it’s faults, but nothing will enrage me more than Jeri’s line in episode 7, “A.K.A The Double Half-Wappinger,” of “...it is not our job to assess guilt or innocence.” While that is technically correct, there is a huge glaring problem with how the show is using it. The show is obsessed with the alleged portion of Sallinger’s guilt, in that he is so smart he leaves no evidence behind and is always multiple steps ahead of investigators trying to find a mistake on his trail. Only criminal defense attorneys do not decide if the client is innocent or guilty. While that is Jeri’s position as Sallinger’s attorney, this type of attorney's concern is whether there is sufficient evidence to prove that someone has committed a crime since the jury or judge will be the one’s actually deciding the verdict. The thing is, especially based on her past history with Jessica, is Jeri does have this information, albeit not as evidence, but she still tries to proceed as if Sallinger is still innocent until proven guilty. It’s a complete implosion of Jeri’s character when she already is grappling with everything falling apart with her ALS and Kith. It’s mind boggling to think this is the same Jeri who entrusted Jessica in episode 1, “A.K.A The Perfect Burger,” to take her life when she can no longer make the choice herself due to her illness. Jeri then goes on to declare war on superheroes, for what? Short term retainer of Sallinger could distinguish her firm from it’s accused ties to powered people, but long term she knows he is in truth a serial killer and having taken his case knowing so will destroy her firm a million times more than Peter Lyonne’s suicidal statement ever did. She feels like supers are undermining her as if Jessica is trying to take advantage of her ALS and make her look weak? This is a far cry from the Jeri Hogarth that was accused of murdering her first wife or the Jeri Hogarth that was ten steps ahead to blackmail her partners from trying to force her out of the firm she helped build and get her fair share. This isn’t the Jeri we love to hate, this is just hatred to put more pressure on Sallinger’s inane hatred of super people. She’s somehow, even though she never showed interest and expressively talked back to him when he was spouting his drivel, bought into the weaker man philosophy of supers having cheated to better positions in life and has, in her mind, made her whole existence of failures hinged on them trying to make her feel weak. An unfathomable turn for her character indeed, but this is a show that thinks that digging up dirt on someone and releasing it to try to get with their wife is equivalent at all to a man pushing his wife into an open marriage to cheat and skimming money out of their dead daughter’s non-profit foundation. Jeri should have told Kith no question. I don’t think she should have done it the way she did or for the reasons she did, but we are operating on a 20% bad scale vs. an 80% bad scale. Also, Peter Lyonne was such a shithead that he would rather kill himself and blame Jeri in the process than deal with a little jail time for being a fuckface. Crying that he should have had his chance to tell Kith like he was planning on it. Through Laurent they insinuate that the show absolutely makes Jeri out to be the monster in that situation. It honestly makes me think these writers need to take a course of morality or even just watch a few episodes of The Good Place so maybe they could have a real actual human opinion on what is good and bad. I’m worried about them.

[girloikawa]

carry on youtuber au

baz starts out as a cover artist, occasionally posting his own songs (he does violin stuff too)

but eventually he gets recognition and people are like “who is this person?????” so baz does a few q&as

oh BUT THEN he reveals that he also has so many other interests (books, movies, planting, coffee, Controversal Topics) that people want him to do other types of videos

and that is what starts baz on the long road of his channel basically being an everything bagel where he does a bit of everything and people find it very chill

agatha and baz become friends over their mutual love of gossip in the community (as long as they’re not apart of it)

(because baz and agatha and simon and penny aren’t problematic)

which brings me to agatha, she’s one of those channels that keep everyone updated on the drama and the shitty stuff that happens on YouTube as long as regular media

very opinionated, this gal is, so she shares her opinion on...everything

though, sometimes she’ll do a q&a and do her makeup and talk about fashion or what she’s into at the moment

she’s basically angelika oles

penny’s a booktuber!!!

she mostly reads and reviews fantasy books, as they are her favorite, but she’ll also do those videos where it’s like “i just read a shitty wattpad romance story, let me rant” or “my top ten favorite ya pairings” or “tier ranking every harry potter character because life has no meaning”

now, simon, the babe, he’s (and you cannot fight me on this) basically jenna marbles

his videos are so random and spurratic, he doesn’t even plan what his next video is, and he’s the youtuber

i would also like to point out that simon probably totally has adhd and would talk about it and his experience with it

his most popular videos are of him baking. he’s like (and hear me out) very good and very bad at it. like, all throughout the videos, everybody’s holding their breath’s like “oh no this is going to turn out terribly” because simon being in the kitchen is like a horse babysitting a dog, it’s a mess, however the end product is always perfect and amazing and by the end everybody’s drooling behind their screens

simon is also widely conceived as the weirdest straight guy ever. like people (from just looking at him) think he’s just So Striaght but a very Cool Straight Guy who people wouldn’t actually mind being around

simon has the most subscribers (the majority being that they find him funny and see him as a friend, the minority being people who think he’s Hot As Hell and okay yeah he’s a good person too but have you seen those freckles-)

then it’s baz because he actually started first and his following has been a journey, then agatha (she’s the newest, and her subscriber rate is growing rapidly), then penny (booktube is a small community sad face)

penny n simon are irl best friends and penny was the one who convinced simon to make a channel bc he needed something to help let out his energy, “plus it’s a little fun hobby”

snowbaz now :)

simon has followed baz from pretty much the beginning. he saw his cringy covers, his development as a songwriter, and the walls built around baz crumble over the camera

baz...well, he’s one of those people who think simon is Hot As Hell, but he also genuinely enjoys the videos. at first, baz was like “I’m not watching him, everybody watches him, and I’m different” so he always avoided the recommendations youtube gave him of simon’s videos (but it was also bc he didn’t want to confront that he was very attracted to simon)

and then, one fateful night, agatha sent baz a link to a video called “coming out” and under the link she wrote “youtube angel!”—that’s their nickname for simon—“shocking the world!”

baz click click clicked because hot guy is lgbt+????? and baz watched the video, commenting “proud of you” or something along those lines, and then he watched so, so many more of simon’s videos

simon, a boy who just came out as bisexual, just had his youtube hero comment on his video where he came out and is like !!!!!!

simon’s sexual awakening is baz

also, simon breaks the internet with that video, because he isn’t striaght and that’s so mind-boggling to everybody. but there’s always that one group of people who are like “i saw this coming. do you not remember that one time simon showed his socks and his jeans were cuffed-”

simon replies to baz’s comment and is like “oh my god thank you so much. you’re like my actual favorite youtuber” like a fucking Nut and people see that and say “omg collab” because they’re both relatively high status youtubers and their collab would be Powerful

then, summoning all his courage, simon dms baz on instagram with just a simple “hey, a lot of people are saying we should collab lmao”

“i’ve seen that” “heh uhm yeah” “maybe we could get to know each other and see if that would be a good idea” “yes! i’d love that”

and they do. they get really close and stuff,, but people don’t exactly...see that

you see, on twitter, they get in millions of arguments. people genuinely think that they hate each other to some extent, when in reality, they’re swooning at the sight of the three dot bubble

baz, on twitter: “you cannot tell me that people actually enjoy sparkling water. it’s trash, move on” (they had an argument over it, privately, and baz is making it public to cause a rise out of simon bc he finds angry simon cute)

simon, in response: “yo I’m throwing you in the trash as we speak. fuhhhck u”

so, when they collab for the first time, everybody at home is just like *shocked pikachu emoji* they end up doing a video where simon bakes baz’s mom’s recipe of cherry scones with baz. it’s kind of a big deal bc both simon and baz don’t want to ruin baz’s memory of his mother

in the end, baz tears up and gives si a big ass hug because they’re perfect, simon. i love them, thank you. the fans start shipping. hard. it’s simon’s highest viewed video

that surprise hug is also what makes simon realize that his feelings are much deeper than attraction and surface level forms of knowing someone

on baz’s channel, they were going to film a video where they talked about their experiences being queer, but then simon realized that his biggest, most prominent example was staring at baz’s jawline, so he had to be like “uhhh, actually, I’m not really comfortable with that yet” which is part true. instead, they do a video where they have argumentative discussions, like on twitter but in depth and with less insults

anyways, they receive pretty positive feedback on the videos, people enjoy them, so they decide to do more. also, they both live in LA, so it’s actually pretty easy to do them, plus they have a diverse area to do them in

also, i think it’d be nice to mention that simon will sometimes do twitch streams of him playing minecraft and then he puts edited versions on his channel. it’s worth mentioning because during this one stream, he ends up slipping up and saying “we talk a lot, actually. and i—i like him a lot” about baz, then he blushes like hell because i really just said that and it’s live oh god

all the while, baz and simon actually just start hanging out (without hiding behind wanting to do a video). one meet-up, they go to disney world and halfway through baz is like “uh, should we be filming this?” and simon gives him a smile and replies, “no” because that moment is for them and them only + the fans who see them together and ask for a picture/just take pictures of them being like a couple

their next collab is a bit of a fun one. behind the scenes, pen, ag, si, and baz all become friends, because of that one time baz came over while penny was there and he barely payed attention to simon, too busy talking to penny. anyways, they do a big four person collab where agatha basically teaches them how to do makeup

on penny’s channel, it’s book related. they have to do a look based on the synopsis’ of each other’s favorite books. baz gets simon, simon gets agatha, agatha gets penny, penny gets baz. baz: “snow, you’re holding it wrong. it’s like this” simon: *stares longingly at the brush that gets to touch baz’s face*

on agatha’s, the video is just titled Teaching My Friends To Do Makeup (ft. idiots who test my patience). they all suck. majorly. well, by all, i mean simon and penny suck at makeup

on baz’s, they do a trivia of sorts. if they get a question wrong, they have to skip a product. simon: “oh thank god less work” agatha, deadpanning: “i think i might kill him”

on simon’s, they have agatha and penny go against simon and agatha. si and pen being the ones who have to actually do makeup because, according to agatha, “since you decided to bitch so much, you guys are doing our makeup” “but-!” “nope, I’m Peak Brains of us all so I call the shots” “you’re not even-” “shut up” Everybody (and by everybody i mean the fans) is actually glad that they got to see simon doing baz’s makeup, because it’s literally them just being so flustered the whole time

the collab stuns everybody bc: “they’re all friends??????” plus, some people start calling them the Four Fucks because at one point penny says “fuck you, fuck you, fuck you, and most importantly, fuck me” after simon flinged a bunch of eyeshadow on her

okay so agatha and penny are just like: “these idiots need to get together already” because it’s very obvious that they like each other. like the eiffel tower in paris, you can’t miss it. everyone watching the videos also sees it, so you can imagine the comments

during one of si’s live-streams (he’s playing the hunger games minigame on minecraft), the chat goes wild because baz pops in. he plans on surprising simon with a picnic (he just thought that they could go into simon’s backyard or the park that’s a few miles away), but it was pretty spur of the moment so he didn’t think about simon doing a stream. and to be honest, simon’s stream was also spur of the moment, so it’s not like he made sure to tell baz about it

“simon! hey, i let myself in!” baz called from the front doorway. the chat is freaking because: “is that baz???” “omg baz has a key to simon’s house!!” “are they dating???” simon kind of just freezes up and starts sputtering as he reads the chat and tries to reply to baz

of course, baz doesn’t understand that simon doesn’t want baz to go into his office/room with his computer, so he does go in and as soon as he sees the livestream he’s like: “oh, uh, I’ll go” and simon unfreezes and goes “no, no, stay, I’ll just be a bit” “do you want me to...leave the room?” “you can watch if you want” (baz wants) “okay, sure” so simon pretty much shows baz how to play minecraft

i never finished this, do i?

[handlewithkara]

@leighlew3 

You say that as if that isn’t something Kara does consistently for people. And was that the same episode where Kara, after watching Lena die and hearing about Lena being twisted to evil rather than a) rushing to Lena to see that she’s okay or b) immediately starting to plot to getting Lena away from the people who might hurt and twist her instead went with c) telling Lena that she was done with her bullshit. 

And after doing that did Kara a) collapse on the floor horrified that she had to call Lena a villain or b) go home to hang with Alex and J’onn and joke about candy left by Myxy? 

I for one think Melissa Benoist is a professional, who tries to create powerful moments even with bullshit material. If you told her to act in love with a tree stump, she would portray that. I don’t think that she has any secret agenda to tank or favor a pairing. => I think she was asked to portray “in love with Mon-El”. I think she did this to the best of her abilities. IMO it is beyond me how anybody could look at her performance in 2x22 where Kara sobs as Mon-El’s pod is leaving or her breakdown at the thought of Mon-El dying in 3x02 and somehow think that she was somehow NOT bringing her A-Game. As such I do think that “how Kara acted with Mon-El” being a good measuring stick for “how Melissa portrays Kara in love”. And that included tons of things like jealousy, like acting nervous and awkward, and tons and tons of little physical fuzzing around (again compare Kara standing two feet away when Lena got poisoned in s3 to Kara always being all hands over Mon-El when he was being poisoned)

I also remember that when Mon-El was gone, she acted pretty much every episode till he returned with an undertone of melancholia even happy moments like seeing the recital of little girls dressed as Supergirl => but then again she also had the backing of the writing then for just that. 

I don’t see this kind of melancholia for Lena in the episodes after Kara told Lena off. I’m sure eventually Lena will show up again and Kara will again try to get her to not be evil. Because that’s what Kara does. She takes care of her friends (as we just saw with Nia) and she tries to stop ppl from being evil even the less deserving like Rhea or Livewire. 

Sure, the next episode could come around and retcon that and tell us that Kara has been suffering, but I don’t see that in her performance (for example in the scene where she is psyched that Dreamer took down a Dominator). 

The reason I bring him up is because

1.) You people bring him up by comparing William to him

2.) Because you people misrepresent how Karamel came to be

You act like Alex somehow mind-controlled Kara into dating Mon-El and now William. What I’m pointing out is that this is just not true. Lenastans have always claimed that Kara having an interest in Mon-El came somehow out of the blue after Alex brought up the option, but that just FLAT OUT ISN’T TRUE. 

For starters, the first time the topic was brought up it was Eliza and she told Kara that Mon-El liked Kara (not that Kara liked Mon-El back). And what was Kara’s reaction? First laughter, then blushed cheeks, then the camera gazes lovingly at Mon-El on her behalf at how handsome he looks. What does Kara then do with this information? She asks Mon-El whether it is true. But Mon-El denies it and says something dickish. He then collapses and she fuzzes over him. He then kisses her while sick. She leans into the kiss, closes her eyes and opens her mouth before it happens. She later wants to quizz him about the kiss and he denies remembering it, she bites her lips furiously (twice!) and looks upset as she walks away. 

===> Come one, if this was for a ship you like, you would have no problem identifying that Kara might, just might have been interested in Mon-El before Alex said just that to her. (aka Kara’s beloved sister correctly identifying Kara’s behavior)

==> I wouldn’t have to keep talking about Mon-El if you guys didn’t keep up saying things about him and how Karamel came to pass that flat out aren’t true. 

It boggles my mind how you can claim that “Kara took a long time to warm up to Mon-El” when Kara and Mon-El were sleeping and living together after half a season (and again, Kara almost instantly drafted Mon-El into her home and her job), yet it took Kara three years to let Lena in on her secret. How long did it take for Lena to show up at game night versus how long did it take Mon-El or Wiliam?

Again, Kara was positively smiling at the date suggestion before Winn or Alex brought it up. Characters talking to a character about their feelings is a popular short hand, not a sign that a person is being pushed into a relationship. Kara is not some automaton who can forced into sleeping with Mon-El, enjoying it, having a relationship with him, declaring her love for him just because at some point Alex said something. Just like now she’s a grown woman who can decide for herself whether William is something she wants to pursue or not (especially since we know that Kara can go against Alex advice, a season 1 callback btw). 

Sure you can point out that it’s a lazy writing trick for a character to discuss their feelings with other supporting characters and thusly explaining the character dynamics for “the stupid people in the back”, but you know, Supergirl isn’t exactly high literature. And be honest, how long would have I have to look till I find Lenastan fanfics where third party people notice feelings being there or even scheme to get them together? It’s a trope. Doesn’t mean that the show wasn’t dropping plenty of hints that Kara had a thing for Mon-El long before third party characters spelled it out for the audience that that was going on. 

Again ship what you want, but don’t LIE about other ships and characters, especially not while not using the anti tags, without expecting to be called out on it. (I was browsing the William Dey tag)

You genuinely think that the chance of a relationship turning out badly because somebody sent a couple of overenthusiastic texts is higher than hooking up with a person who SHOT AT YOU? And who LOCKED YOU IN A CAGE SO THEY COULD STEAL FROM YOU?

You do realize that “did it because of a betrayal” is probably like 90% of the excuses made by people who murder their spouse for cheating on them?  Aka the LOOK WHAT YOU MADE ME DO argument?  “X betrayed me”, “X provoked me” are NOT excuses for violence. And note how “but poor X had a bad childhood, he can’t help himself” is exactly the kind of excuse abused people make for their violent spouses? But WILLIAM is the one who is too horrible to have a relationship with and who would send a bad message as opposed to “Lena attacks Kara physically and gets rewarded with romance, isn’t it ROMANTIC and so EMOTIONAL how violent and destructive she becomes over Kara betraying her, clearly this was proof of deep love”?

Again, ship what you ship, but don’t start the conversation on how other ships are morally inferior especially when it’s just a big fat case of pot calling the kettle. 

=> ship and let ship is the way to go, but that’s the whole thing, saying that William x Kara is toxic and a bad message and that he is just as “problematic” as Mon-El (again, in the William Dey tag!) is NOT letting other people ship what they want, it’s passing judgment and trying to make them look bad.  

[jeannereames]

A lot of people on here joke about Alexander being “crazy” or “insane”, and I know some people hold the belief that he was an insane monster (I even saw an article titled “Alexander the Monster” which basically made Alexander out to be worse than the devil lol). I was just wondering what you think regarding Alexander’s mentality/sanity and why do you think some people believe that he was this crazy psychopath. Btw, I just finished reading Becoming and I loved it!!!!

First, thank you! I’m glad you liked the novel! Now, on to the question…

When people talk about “crazy” Alexander, it usually falls into two different categories. One subset is that Alexander went crazy with grief after Hephaistion died; I’ve argued against this elsewhere, so won’t again here in any detail.

Another subset claims he became megalomaniacal, pointing for proof to his “Persianizing,” including an attempt to introduce proskynesis (the bow before the Persian Great King that Greeks viewed as due only to gods), his desire to be deified, and a penchant for dressing up as various gods (Dionysos, Herakles, and even Artemis).

That tendency isn’t just on Tumblr; similar accusations are made in academia under the maxim that, “Absolute power corrupts absolutely.” (Lord Baron Acton)

Yet that’s the cynical take. I think how one views the world (and human nature) has something to do with how one interprets Alexander’s behavior. We must recall that Alexander lived in a society where kingship was seen as divinely bestowed, and carried with it certain religious obligations with regard to one’s subjects.

Remember, not just anybody could be king of Macedon; one had to be an ARGEAD: e.g., from a specific family (gens). They were descendants of Herakles, and so of divine descent. This is different from the Successors who followed. Alexander was raised as a prince; Ptolemy, Antigonos, or Seleukos were not. The importance of these heroic ties can be found in the stories that popped up later, making Ptolemy a bastard of Philip (and thus an Argead), or the later Seleucid claim of descent from Apollo. And we know the Molossian royal house claimed descent from Achilles.

Again, not just anybody can be a king. One has to be special by ancestry.

Being born to the purple doesn’t necessarily make one any less of a dick. We’ve plenty of evidence to the contrary. (Demetrios Poliorketes? Pyrrhos? Antigonos IV Epiphanes?) But it does instill a different awareness of one’s place in the world.

Modern cynicism forgets just how seriously ancient people took religion. On his deathbed, among the last actions Alexander forced himself to perform until he literally couldn’t get up, were morning sacrifices to the ancestors and gods, on behalf of the Macedonian people. I think that says a lot not only about his own religiosity, but his sense of himself as a conduit between his people and the gods. The proper performance of religious rites were central, not just to his success, but to the survival of Macedonia. In our modern world, it can be hard to connect to this somewhat archaic notion.

In addition, the stories of him visiting hospital tents after battle, personally writing letters to his officers, talking and joking with his soldiers, marching with them, eating what they ate, and dressing as they dressed, all point to somebody who understands the principles of leadership, as opposed to just bossing people around. Some have argued that he lost that as time went on, but he was still out marching with them in Gedrosia (despite a collapsed or partially collapsed lung), so I’d argue he did not. The helmet incident (where he poured out precious water brought to him, because the rest of his men didn’t have any) is an exemplar of his continued understanding of what solidarity meant. It may have been as calculated as hell, but that’s not the act of a madman or megalomaniac. Also, just because it was calculated doesn’t mean it wasn’t genuinely meant. He was trying to keep his men alive, not let them give up.

Did Alexander, over time, turn into an arrogant little shit? Almost certainly, given his mind-boggling achievements, and the fact the Greeks never touted humility as a virtue. But I don’t believe he was a narcissist or had taken leave of reality. Such characterizations are simplistic, played for pop approval and laughs, or because it’s too much effort to look under the surface.

I do think he was struggling desperately to figure out how to govern such a vast, international empire, and not in some Tarn-esque “Brotherhood of Mankind” way. He never (personally) lost a battle, but uniting Eastern and Western ways of rule was a puzzle he never solved. THAT was his great failure. F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote, “Show me a hero and I’ll write you a tragedy.” And that’s where Dancing with the Lion will eventually head. Alexander’s story is, ultimately, not a triumph, but not because he was crazy or a Macedonian Hitler.

I’d also point out that people who oversimplify Alexander as either a demon or demented, are buying, hook, line and sinker, the moral narratives of the ancient authors, especially of Plutarch, Curtius, and Justin, but also Arrian and Diodoros. These are not neutral accounts. We must be careful of their biases.

All that said, I don’t want to excuse Alexander’s war crimes (and I don’t know what else you’d call some of what he did). But even those were not the actions of a “crazy” man. They were brutal, but considered (which may be worse).

Razing Thebes sent a message of what happens when a city foreswears an alliance multiple times. Rounding up and killing Greek mercenaries after Granikos sent a message to others serving under Darius (an attempt to peel off some of Darius’s more dangerous support troops). Razing Tyre (and Gaza) sent a message about what happens when resistance defies certain “rules of war” (Tyre’s treatment of the heralds). The burning of Persepolis was not a drunken frat party gone wrong; it was a political statement. Note ALL moveable wealth was gone and it happened just before they left, plus it destroyed the place where Persian kings were crowned, preventing one from emerging in Alexander’s wake. (Not that Bessus cared, nor Spitamenes after him). Philotas fell victim to a real conspiracy (even if he wasn’t part of it), not a CIA file (contra Badian), and the Proskynesis Affair was an attempt to regularize court procedure not institute worship of Alexander. The murder of Kleitos was, indeed, a drunken brawl, with no good excuse, but was followed by (I think) genuine remorse, even if he accepted the forgiveness of the troops because he needed to.

Even the choice to enter Gedrosia wasn’t the decision of a madman, but of one whose logistics were legendary for working…except when they didn’t, because of an uprising and monsoon behind them that was unplanned for. It was a FUBAH, not a foolish choice. He was looking for a trade route linking India and Mesopotamia. Notions that he just wanted to one-up Cyrus and Semiramis misses the point.

The so-called request to the Greek states for deification is problematic as to just what he asked, versus what was later said (remember, we’re hearing about it from Athenian demagogues who hated him). The claim to be the son of a god was not megalomania or a shot at divinity, but an affirmation of hero status; being the son of a god didn’t necessarily mean one was immortal one’s self. As for precedent, his own father had put a statue of himself alongside the 12 in his final parade, plus there’s a heroōn (hero shrine) built above Royal Tomb I at Vergina. That’s either Philip buried there (my own personal opinion), or his father Amyntas III. The Spartan general, Brasidas, received hero cult from Amphipolis after his death, but Lysander accepted it from the Samians will still alive.

Alexander outstripped every one of these by no small measure, and seen in context, his claim to be a son of Zeus-Ammon is not some bizarre, out-of-left-field assertion. If Lysander was a hero, and his father Philip, then what did that make Alexander? And the inflated “Final Plans” were about 50% invented by Perdikkas to get the army to vote them down.

Alexander did terrible things and we need to let those terrible things stand—call them out and recognize them. Yet when I look at his behavior, even in his latter years, I just don’t see the horrific corruption of, say, the Trump administration, or of Vladimir Putin’s Russia, or Xi’s China. At some level, I think Alexander still saw himself, and struggled to be, a “Philosopher King.” He just didn’t know what that meant anymore.

I think, by the end, he was lost. Macedonian kings were expected to win wars and provide loot. Alexander did that to a degree no Macedonian monarch had ever before achieved. He was the Energizer Bunny of Macedonian kings. His own men (and culture) had created a monster. No wonder he felt betrayed by their “indiscipline” on the banks of the Hyphasis. “But I gave you even more than you ever dreamed of!”

Indeed, he did. That was the problem. They made him turn around. When his army “defeated” him, he wasn’t sure who he was any more, or what he was doing. I see a lot of his career after as a scramble to re-define himself. He’d conquered all this territory at a relatively young age. Now what was he supposed to do with it?  Ruling is a lot less glamorous than conquering.

He’s perhaps the greatest military mind who’s ever lived (tied with Subutai, Genghis Khan’s general). He was also an exceptionally inspirational leader. But that “ruling schtick”? It got in the way. Appointing Hephaistion chiliarch was among his smarter decisions, even if Hephaistion died on him too soon. It was tacit recognition that he needed help. I’ve joked that Hephaistion’s appointment amounted to, “Here, you figure out how to make this whole thing work; I want to go conquer more stuff.”

Once he lost Hephaistion, he became a boat without a rudder. But as noted, his mourning was not beyond the pale. The only difference is that he had the money (and authority) to impose his wishes. As a former bereavement counselor, I wrote an article called “The Mourning of Alexander the Great” that deep-sixes misconceptions about mourning and Alexander’s behavior.

Was he “crazy”? No. Was he the devil? I’m sure the countries he invaded thought so. Was he a megalomaniac? Almost certainly not. Was he an arrogant asshole (especially when he’d been drinking)? Almost certainly so. But his arrogance sprang from an odd mix of massive, early success mixed with deep insecurity spawned by his upbringing.

I find him fascinating precisely because he’s not a simple read. He’s not Donald Trump. He’s not Adolf Hitler. He’s not even Caesar, or Napoleon. He’s intensely complex, which is, I think, the source of his continued fascination.

I’d advise those who read about him to allow for that complexity. Avoid simplistic readings, even while not white-washing the really ugly side of his career.

[migleefulmoments]

“she had to know she was making a sacrifice and all that comes with it. Not the same as a rape victim. gross comparison” I’m the one who initially made this analogy and it’s not what I meant AT ALL. I don’t mean the emotional pain is similar, some online bullying vs. sexual assault aren’t even on the same wavelength. I mean THEIR comments are similar. They blame her the same way people tell women they deserved unwanted attention because of what they were doing/wearing. Way to twist my words.

Like I can’t tell if they genuinely believe all of that or if they’re just that oblivious and/or dense. I was comparing them to victim blamers. That’s what they do.

**********************************

Your point was clear-Nonnie was either obtuse or purposefully trolling to stir things up. I will add that most of their followers are teens. The point might have been lost on them. 

Let’s start by with your original ask and my response:  

Anonymous Asked: “M put herself in the spotlight “dating” D. If she didn’t want that attention, she would have stayed in the background” this has the same energy as “you chose to wear that, you deserved to be catcalled”. Mia STAYS in the background for the most part. Posing on a red carpet gives us no insight into who she is. They literally seek her out on her friends socials. And they met well before his career took off so no, she probably didn’t expect it to turn into this

Me: Their attitude- that Mia deserves to be attacked and criticized because she fell in love with a man who then became famous and whom they have a crush on makes my skin crawl. It is like the “wear a short skirt and you deserve being raped”. It’s also how they justify their abysmal behavior. They went on to argue that Mia deserves criticism but Abby isn’t dating a famous man so she didn’t deserve the “awful attack”.  They like to bring up the Fame is Other People (X) interview Mia gave in 2016 where she says she never imagined herself with someone famous. They still ridicule her for not leaving Darren the minute he started getting famous.  It’s so fucked up.  

Now their conversation today

Anonymous asked: They're comparing people saying M chose to forgo privacy when she "fell in love" with D to people getting accused of deserving rape for wearing short skirts. Uhhh...NOT THE SAME THING but ok. I personally don't condone hating on anyone (I never publicly disparage M for example, despite my private thoughts) but by tying her life to a public figure, whether for love or not, she had to know she was making a sacrifice and all that comes with it. Not the same as a rape victim. Gross comparison.

cassie1022 answered: Nonnie, I’m not even surprised they went there. They’re vile, just like their kween. I don’t hide my feelings about M and I’m not going to, she absolutely knew what she was getting when she signed on to be D’s beard. She WANTS the attention, and as she’s a narcissist, she doesn’t care if it’s positive or negative attention.

Personally, I’ve decided I don’t care enough to look at their blogs anymore and when I get their mean as hell Anons, I’m blocking. They claim we’re obsessed with their blogs when they literally dissect every post we make. Someone’s obsessed. It’s not us.

notes-from-nowhere answered: Hold on. Why are we talking about M as if the notoriety had fallen on her head all of a sudden? It’s not because of D if she is known by others besides her parents. It’s because she pushes herself in front of him every chance she gets. She take away from him every merit often by making things looks like they come from her brain (Hedwig first for example) and she jumps on the red carpets even before he does. She shares her whole life through social media. D’s accounts, her friends’s accounts, enablers’s accounts. Her fake accounts. She tags in her posts every celebrity that crosses her path. Her only job in life seems to be open (and never close) social media accounts.

What are these people even talking about? Now we reached the point of denying even what she does so she can fits better their theories?

This is hilarious. I swear.

leka-1998 answered: Poor girl, forced to do all this.

I don’t even want to waste time thinking about how ridiculous it is that this behavior isn’t surprising.

flowersintheattic254 answered: I’m appalled at the comparison. God her fans are hypocrites. She wants notoriety via any means fair or foul and then screams victim if it’s questioned.

It’s the same argument that she is above criticism because she’s woman and therefore isn’t accountable for her actions.

Let’s remember V day. Nobody told her to get high with B in the PR house and post those pics. You reap what you sow. People smell fakeness and she reaks of it.

***************************

One thing I learned very quickly when answering anons is that due diligence pays off. Responding to an anon’s summary of what someone else said can backfire if they misrepresent what was said. If the anon reports something untoward was said- whether by design or by mistake- and I spent 2 paragraphs berating that statement that was never said then I am the fool. Taking 5 minutes to read the post myself has paid off many times and every time I have taken something I know nothing about at face value- it’s bitten me in the ass. Had any of the ccers bothered to actually read the post they would have realized that Nonnie misrepresented the point. They still would have written something angry and pretended to be so “shocked” by how “vile” we are but at least they would have had a shot at not being the fool.  

--------------------- My comments in Italics; they are in regular font 

Cassie:  

Nonnie, I’m not even surprised they went there. They’re vile, just like their kween. Nobody has ever said anything on my blog that could be construed as Mia is our kween. I don’t really understand the value of bringing up things nobody said as part of one’s argument. It’s proof of how desperate they are to be right and how easily they bend the truth to fit their needs. They wouldn’t know how to be authentic and honest if their lives depended on it.  

I don’t hide my feelings about M and I’m not going to, she absolutely knew what she was getting when she signed on to be D’s beard. She WANTS the attention, and as she’s a narcissist, she doesn’t care if it’s positive or negative attention. It’s hilarious that Nonnie claimed she doesn’t disparage Mia publically as part of their argument as to why they are better than us but Cassie being the charmer that she is, responds with “I don’t hide my feelings about M and I’m not going to”.  I could argue that Cassie knew what she signed on for when she started her crisscolfer blog-she even shares her cc beliefs on her Twitter!  

She WANTS the attention, and as she’s a narcissist, she doesn’t care if it’s positive or negative attention I find it so odd that Cassie is diagnosing Mia with mental illness yet just yesterday she was raging that Metaloma and I diagnose Abby. Hypocrite much? It is mind-boggling that she believes Mia is a narcissist but can’t see that Abby actually is. I bet the Abby-less Crisscolfer fandom will find Mia isn’t nearly as narcissistic and evil without Abby to write the storyline and talk about her nonstop. 

Personally, I’ve decided I don’t care enough to look at their blogs anymore and when I get their mean as hell Anons, I’m blocking. They claim we’re obsessed with their blogs when they literally dissect every post we make. Someone’s obsessed. It’s not us. Not reading my blog was a critical mistake because she would have realized that Nonnie was misconstruing the comment. Did someone claim they are obsessed with our blogs- I certainly didn’t- or is this another one of those claims that never happened?   

---------------------

Notes:

Hold on. Why are we talking about M as if the notoriety had fallen on her head all of a sudden? Nobody is talking as if notoriety had fallen on her head all of the sudden. Notes would have really benefited from reading the original post because neither Notes or I have a clue what post she is responding to.  

It’s not because of D if she is known by others besides her parents. It’s because she pushes herself in front of him every chance she gets. She take away from him every merit often by making things looks like they come from her brain (Hedwig first for example) and she jumps on the red carpets even before he does. I love the trope that she jumps in front of him on every red carpet because it proves how willing they are to outright lie to get their message across. She literally stands with Darren in front of the photographers for a couple of seconds at the end of Darren’s allowed period. Darren poses for dozens of photos and we see 2 or 3 pics of Mia and Darren-that is hardly jumping on the carpet before he does. As for taking away every merit- omg give it up. This is one of the dumbest tropes the fandom hangs on to. Mia WAS Hedwig before Darren was -the Halloween picture is around somewhere. Mia didn’t make the statement her friend did. We know the ccers don’t understand friendships but when they get pissed about the Hedwig comment they should refer to this post (X) where they declared “Just like I 100% stand with @ajw720,” and “I support @ajw720, I don’t believe Mi@rren is real and you cannot silence us!!!!”. Friends say things about other friends to connect with that person and show support. They weren’t trying to diss Darren. They never intended rabid Darren fans to even SEE the post-it was intended for their friends and nobody else.   

She shares her whole life through social media. THIS IS my FAVORITE comment of all. WTF? Where does Mia share her whole life through social media? Cuz I’d love to see it! The fact is, you are lying...you’re just outright lying. Mia shares nothing via social media. She stopped her Twitter when she quit playing music and she has a private IG account.  

D’s accounts, her friends’s accounts, enablers’s accounts. Her fake accounts. She tags in her posts every celebrity that crosses her path. Her only job in life seems to be open (and never close) social media accounts. Darren’s accounts? If Mia had control of Darren’s accounts, Mia would be plastered all over it but in reality, neither Darren nor Mia is active on public social media and they certainly aren’t sharing their lives. Nobody uses their friends’ accounts to plaster themselves. God, this trope is so stupid. Enabler’s accounts? Who the hell are her enablers? Where are these enabler posts just full of Mia’s every move? Her “fake accounts” is the best one though. Here we have some random person trolling the cc fandom and they Eat. It. Up. FetusMiarren hasn’t posted since August 11. Who the hell closes social media accounts? The reality is that Abby spent all day every day talking about MIa. The only person promoting Mia full time was Abby. The reason Notes believes that all these accounts are Mia sharing her whole life is because Abby stalked those accounts and then talked about each post for days. 

What are these people even talking about? Now we reached the point of denying even what she does so she can fits better their theories? I ask you the same question “What the hell are you talking about?” If you had actually taken the time to read the original post instead of working yourself up to a red-faced, foot-stomping rant, you would know what I was talking about and avoided this ridiculous, off-topic rant-fest. 

This is hilarious. I swear. Back at ya! 

--------------------- 

Flowers: 

I really love Flower’s response:  I’m appalled at the comparison. God her fans are hypocrites-I’m not sure how we are hypocrites because of a valid comparison.  

She wants notoriety via any means fair or foul and then screams victim if it’s questioned. Mia didn’t make the comparison- I did. Mia doesn’t know me, she didn’t dictate I made the comparison by “any means foul or fair”  

It’s the same argument that she is above criticism because she’s woman and therefore isn’t accountable for her actions. Wait...who in the hell made the argument that she isn’t responsible for her actions because she’s a woman? I’ve seen a lot of fake arguments like this in the last 3 days. Again, I don’t really understand the value of bringing up things nobody ever said as part of one’s argument. It certainly doesn’t lend credibility. 

Let’s remember V day. Nobody told her to get high with B in the PR house and post those pics. You reap what you sow. People smell fakeness and she reaks of it. Aaaaannnndddd she wraps up her comment with one of the fandom’s favorite gaslight moments- Valentine’s day with Ben.  

[peachymhaechan]

“Trust me, it isn’t just for the camera.”

Genre: fluff, babey !! nothin like a good ol idol au, am I rite, laid ease??

Warnings: bad words (like everything else I've written ever lol)

Pairing: Taeyong X female idol reader

A/N: junior year is almost over, thank god. I am so tired. writing this was such a good break from studying for my ap exams and cramming for finals. thank u, Taeyong. also, im working on something for the superhuman comeback, stay tuned, yall :)

you had been a model for sm for a few years now

well within your first year you had gained so much popularity that you became the company’s most hired model and had received a nickname from your employers and fans

you were their Golden Girl (hhhhhffk listen,,, we been knew I ain’t creative), and everyone was dying to work with their Golden Girl

most notable for your bubbly personality and striking looks, every employer was fascinated by your ability to pull off any look 

very similar is lee Taeyong, another artist signed to your company

with his stark beauty, it was no understatement to say that you would not have minded working with someone as pretty as him

so, when your manager told you about an upcoming project where you’d be working with Taeyong and a few of the other nct boys you were #sh00k to say the least

“wait..... WHAT?!” was all you could say in response to your manager telling you the good news

“Yeah, I know. I know how long you’ve wanted to work with him. Well, get ready. For this photoshoot they need you to have bubblegum pink hair, and.....” 

for the next few days, you tried to mentally prepare yourself for what was about to happen

yeah, you guys were signed to the same company but that doesn't mean you saw him all the time

you had only seen him once, and that was when you had just become a trainee and were walking through the halls to try and find the recording studio on the third floor

you accidentally went into the dance studio and found yourself interrupting a dance practice for nct u

“Sorry, I have to find someone in the recording studio, where-” 

“You’re fine, don't worry about it! If you go out this hallway, make the next left turn and it should be the second door on the right,” Taeyong said, giving you a small smile 

that was the ONLY interaction you had with him, but boy even when covered in sweat was he gorgeous

and you got to WORK WITH THAT 

the day finally came where you got to work with him yayayay

you woke up at 4 am after having only 1 hour of sleep, thriving

you got up and took a quick shower, did your skincare routine, and changed into comfy clothes for the day

on your way to meeting your manager you grabbed a few coffees for the staff as a thank you for the opportunity

you met your manager at the company building and it started to hit that 

//ohmygod this is really about to happen//

your manager tried her best to calm your nerves but damn, you were not having any of that

scrolling through Instagram, you anxiously awaited the company van that would take you to the photoshoot set

when it pulled up after about twenty minutes of waiting, you and your crew piled in and then you heard your manager tell the driver to hold the van for a few more minutes, seeing as Taeyong and his people were running a little behind

that only made your heart beat even faster

hgjaonfnwnw anxious from waiting, you just wanted to get it over with and rip it off like a bandaid

five minutes later, you saw three people walking over to the van

one of which was wearing sweats, sneakers, a hoodie, and a mask

you automatically recognized who that was despite the baggy clothing and half hidden face

oh fuck oh shit

one of the other two men talked to your manager, who had gotten out to speak to taeyong’s manager and the other person there

Taeyong climbed into the van and made eye contact with you in the back row, spotting the empty seat beside you

“Is this seat taken?” he asked, nodding to the spot right next to you

you felt a blush creep into your cheeks and your throat started getting closed up from nerves

so all you could do was shake your head no

he sat down and gave you a small smile, then started yawning and stretching out his arms

you had one extra coffee left from earlier and you figured it’d be a great ice breaker maybe 

“I have an extra coffee from a coffee run I went on earlier, do you want it? It’s not super hot or anything, but its still a little warm, and its caffeine,” you said and his eyes immediately lit up

“Oh, yes please!!” 

you grabbed the last cup from the drink carrier and gave it to him, and he thanked you right away

“How did you have enough time to go on a coffee run this morning?” Taeyong asked in shock

“I got up at four and am running on one hour of sleep,” you explained, not even trying to seem like you have it together

that's what its like being a hot mess, babey !!1

“That’s not good, you need to get more sleep. Were you out late last night with your schedule or something?” 

concerned mom? yes

“I was out until about eleven pm, yeah, but in all honesty... I couldn’t sleep because I was very nervous to meet you.” 

bro you need to get some sleep and get your filter back in place

bc when you get no sleep?? a bitch has NO filter whatsoever

Taeyong was genuinely surprised that you were nervous to meet him

“Really?? You were nervous to meet me?? Why, am I really that scary or something??” 

“Its not that you’re scary, exactly, but... I have wanted to work with you for a very long time, and it still hasn’t fully set in that this is my reality.” 

he nodded after you spoke, and it seemed to both impress and confuse him

no matter how popular him and his group got, he never got used to having people look up to him

and to hear it from someone as successful as you, someone he has constantly seen in the media for so long?? mind boggling

it kind of made him nervous tbh

before he could reply, the managers and everyone piled in and the van started moving to the photoshoot set

as soon as you guys left the company building, your head leaned onto the window and you passed tf out

when you woke up, Taeyong was tapping you on the shoulder and telling you that yall got to the set finally

taeyong’s face greeting you when you woke up? shocking, but not an unwelcome sight

“Alright, we need to get you guys into hair and makeup, then we will send you both over to wardrobe and they'll make any last minute touchups and then you can get to work. Sound good?” your manager told you two, and when you both nodded, she immediately directed you to the makeup studio

your artists were very excited to work with you, which made everything much more pleasant

“The feel we are going for with this shoot will perfectly fit your aesthetic and your features, I’m so excited!!” and “You’re naturally this pretty? And after only one hour of sleep? Oh my god, my under eye bags are permanent and it looks like you don’t have any at all!” or the occasional “I wish I could be as stunning as you without even trying...” 

it sounded like Taeyong was going through the same thing, as you could hear some of the other makeup artists gushing about his sharp features

“Wow, your eyes are so beautiful!” and “Your smile is stunning!” and “I wish I was half as pretty as you are!” 

you could tell it made him a bit uncomfortable because he sat there with a :} face 

(unrelated but: that face looks like the grinch lowkey, ok sorry for interrupting lol, back to the fic)

you two made eye contact in the mirror and you could practically read his mind

I want this to stop, they’re making me uncomfortable, oh my god. 

to which your eyes said, Same here, and I am used to dealing with this on a daily basis.  

luckily, they finished putting shadows and liner on your eyelids, and then they sent you to the hair department

for hair, they teased and curled your hair, giving you a tired and just woken up look

well, a styled just woken up kind of look

Taeyong came in halfway through your hair and all they had to do for him was throw some gel in his and make it a little messy and he was good to go

by the time you made it to wardrobe Taeyong was already on set and getting individual pictures for the concept

they threw you in clothes, and by clothes you mean a men’s oversized white button up, short shorts, and a bright red bra

and before you could even leave to head to the set, they made sure that the first few buttons were undone on the shirt

to say you felt a lil bit exposed and cold was an understatement

the second he saw you, Taeyong had a glint in his eye and he couldn't stop staring at you

naturally, that made you blush and get really self conscious

?? wot

“Hello, I am your photographer for the day. This shoot is supposed to be sort of a couple, romantic fashion shoot, so I hope you two know each other very well and are comfortable with being close to one another. Do you two have any issues with that?”  

you both looked at each other, 

and then lee Taeyong, 

while staring dead in your eyes, 

said

“No, sounds perfect!” 

bitch

what the fuck was that supposed to mean ?! 

“sounds perfect” uhhhhhhhhhhh lemme get a mcfuckin explanation 

he gave you a small smile before you managed to get out, “No issues here.” 

that only made him smile more

njsdncvcaehcfabcafcb bitch!! you were whipped for him already

“Great! Let’s get started, then. Y/N, I will have you stand over here, and...” 

let’s just say that the photographer had you two start with basic stuff, like you two standing next to one another with Taeyong putting his hand on your shoulder and things like that

it quickly escalated though, and he had you doing things like laying your legs across his lap and running your hands through his hair

“Sorry if this is a little too intimate for you,” you whispered into his ear during another shot, where you were draped over his sitting form and your hand caressed his cheek

“Don’t apologize, it’s not. If anything, I’m a little flustered to have someone as pretty as you staring at me the way you are, Y/N, even if it is just for the camera,” he told you, shifting so that you were turned with your back to the camera and chest flush to his, your hands delicately placed on his upper arms, his hand resting on your lower back and you staring up at him

faintly you could hear the photographer say,  “THIS IS IT, THIS IS THE ONE!”

“Trust me, it isn’t just for the camera,” you mumbled, not able to filter yourself due to sleep deprivation

you thought he didn’t hear you, but then a smirk formed on his face and you knew you #fucked up

the end of the shoot was arriving, and there were a few more pictures the photographer had in mind, but he wanted to let you guys do your own thing and see where it ended up

“You guys can do what you want for these next few pictures, just do what feels naturally and I’ll angle it well.” very encouraging, right

making use of the pieces of furniture on the set, you decided to lay on the bright red couch and Taeyong looked down at you from behind it

“I couldn’t hear what you said earlier, can you say it again please?” he asked, trying to fish a confession out of you

Oh, Mr. Lee Taeyong, it won’t be that easy. 

“Hmmm, what do you mean?” you asked, purposefully trying to be as close to him as you could, so you sat on your hips to the side more and pulled him down so your hand rested on his cheek and your face was //right there, you could feel his breath on your lips//

(the photographer would have fainted there if he could get away with technical time theft while on the job)

taeyong’s breath hitched and a blush crept onto his cheeks and you knew you got him

ladies and gentlemen.... we got ‘im

even still, he tried to get it out of you

“Well, I thought I heard you say something under your breath before the photographer spoke to us,” he coyly explained, sitting down and pulling you onto his lap

at that point it became a game of who could get the other to blush more

and lemme just say, mama didn’t raise no lil bitch, so you were NOT about to lose

grabbing both sides of his face in your small hands, you leaned in and whispered, “I hope it’s okay that I’m going to kiss you now.” 

his eyes went wide, and then he said, “MORE than okay.” 

and the next thing you know, your lips were planted on his and the photographer was sobbing genuine tears

“THIS IS PEAK PROFESSIONALISM, OH MY GOD, IT’S BEEN YEARS SINCE I’VE WORKED WITH MODELS AS GOOD AS YOU TWO, OH MY, THIS IS THE SHOT THAT WILL MAKE IT BIG, I’M-” 

of course his enthusiasm made you start giggling, and you could feel Taeyong smiling into the kiss

when you two broke apart you leaned your forehead on his and stared into his eyes

“I think we both know what I said earlier,” you told him, throwing your arms around his neck

“Good, because I hope we are both on the same page,” he said, smirking slightly

“And that is?” 

and all he did in response was kiss you again, but this time not smiling from the photographer’ s goofy remarks

the photographer gave the okay after he got that shot and told you two that he wish he’d gotten to work with you sooner

the ironic thing here is that you and Taeyong wished the same thing

you headed back to the dressing rooms, hand in hand, getting stares from the staff but not caring much

or at all, really

#bad bitch club: RISE

“I hope you know that as soon as those pictures get released, people will assume we are dating, right?” you said, wiping the makeup off and combing through your hair

you quickly ducked into changing room, throwing on the clothes you were wearing when you arrived

you heard him chuckle from the other little makeshift room

you exited your changing room and found him waiting for you

“Why let them assume when we could tell them the truth ourselves?” 

and somehow, despite the crazy hectic schedules you both had, 

and all the crazy ups and downs of being in the public spotlight,

a few months later, when the magazine finally hit the shelves and the cover image was you two kissing each other and looking like the happiest couple in the world,

when you got invited to an interview to discuss the inspiration for the images and the experience of working with each other, 

you two walked in hand in hand, smiling brightly and looking like your average couple that was in love

and when asked if you two were dating, 

you replied, “Yes, and it has been the best few months of my life so far.” 

:) uwu

[girloftheglade]

Felix Hugo Fraldarius: Masked Beauty

Synopsis: Felix begrudgingly attends a masquerade ball the monastery hosted for their students. He runs into one of his only friends, Laia, who’s not as eager to be around the crowds of people and noises, either. 

Notes: Laia isn’t a fully fledged OC, but I always imagine her in my head when I write with Felix. Imagining a character also helps me to give them a look and personality depending on what kinds of scenarios I want to write. I hope you enjoy nonetheless. :)

I can’t believe I actually had to come to this stupid party, Felix thought, wishing so desperately that he could escape from all these “festivities”. Who in their right mind thought a masquerade ball would be fun? What was the point, anyways? People were sure to recognize each other, even when hidden behind a mask. By their stature, their mannerisms, their voice. Throwing a ball just for the fun of it instead of focusing on getting some training in irked him deeply.

“I need a breather,” he said to himself as he slid his hands through his unruly hair, making his way into the cool night. He set his hands onto the railing of the balcony, breathing in the fresh air, the wide open space and expanse of stars in space helping to calm him.

“What’s the point of all this?” he muttered. “I’d rather be shut up in my room than being crowded by too many eager people.”

“Do you really think that way?”

Felix froze as his eyes drifted towards the figure next to him. A girl stood beside him, her face concealed behind a simple mask adorned with small blue jewels. Her jet black hair cascaded down her back like a blanket of night, her dress a deep blue with crystals lining it like shining stars. How had he not noticed her standing right next to him?

“Not one for crowds?” he asked, trying not to sound awkward. Another reason he hated social gatherings: he didn’t know how to initiate small talk.

She let out a small laugh. “I guess you could say that. I don’t mind it too much, but sometimes all the noise and happenings make me feel uneasy.” She tucked her arms against her chest. 

“You and I can agree on that, then,” Felix said. “Is a ball really necessary, though?”

 “All the students have been training so hard,” she said, as if it were a matter of fact.

“And what does that have to do with throwing a party? They’ll reap their rewards with their victories in battle.”

“Not everyone thinks the way you do, Felix.” He nearly felt his soul leave his body. He recognized that voice and the way his name rolled off her lips. He should have recognized her from the start! What was wrong with him?

“Laia?” Laia broke into giggles, tipping her mask down ever so slightly so he could get a better glimpse of her blue eyes. 

“Took you a minute, didn’t it?” Felix flushed bright red and promptly turned his head away. 

“Why didn’t you just tell me who you were?” he asked.

“I just wanted to talk with you as you would any other person. That was probably selfish of me. I’m sorry.”

“It wasn’t selfish, it was just…” You made me feel like an idiot.

“You do know that complaining all day won’t make this ball go away though, right?”

“Stop acting like some sort of know-it-all.”

“I’m simply telling you the truth of it all.”

“Well, you standing here away from everyone won’t make the noise or crowds of people go away either.”

“I know,” Laia answered softly. She toyed with her gloved hands, a habit she’d never broken. “You clean up nice.”

Felix snorted. “Hardly.” He was dressed in dark pants and a white-button up. His mask was a black velvet with white detailing, but he kept it in his hand. He refused to wear the stupid thing when he walked in and suddenly he felt like the center of attention. 

“I bet Mercedes and Annette tried to get you all dressed up, didn’t they?”

“They wouldn’t let me even breathe. I finally told them to just pick out a simple outfit for me. If they even dared to touch my hair, retribution would be in place.”

“They just like dressing people up. They don’t mean any harm Felix.”

“I don’t care. I don’t dress up. I train.”

“You could use some training in the manners department.” He shot Laia a venomous glare, but she only continued to laugh. 

“You know, when people are near me, they usually end up trying to stay as far away as possible. You, for some odd reason, do the exact opposite.”

“Well, I’m not exactly like all the others. Does me being around you bother you for some reason?”

“It does," Felix answered. "It’s weird. I keep wondering what makes you follow me around like a lost puppy.”

Laia stared at him in silence. He kept waiting for her to speak, but when she finally did, he wished that he would have spoken up first.

“I’m sorry for causing you such an inconvenience,” she answered, her voice cracking. Through the holes in her mask, Felix saw tears forming in her eyes. “Guess I’ll be retiring to my room. Goodnight, Felix.”

He didn’t even have time to interject as she bolted back into the ballroom. “Laia!” he yelled. “Wait!” He followed her trail. She’d disappeared into the crowds of people, and panic began to settle into him. She said she’d be going to her room, but was that a lie so that he’d be led in the wrong direction? He didn’t know. He didn’t know, and it was driving him nuts!

Felix pushed back more people, grateful that him not caring about other people’s perceptions of him proved useful for once. If he were a tried and true noble, his lack of manners would reflect poorly on him. “Laia!” Out of the ballroom and past the Goddess Tower. Past the dining hall. Around the stables. Sprinting to the dormitory.  He came to a stop near the greenhouse when he noticed an odd-looking object on the ground. When he bent over and picked it up, he realized what it was: a high-heeled shoe. Laia’s. Part of him wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it all, but the other part of him was just too infuriated at himself to care, and he continued running towards the dormitory.

He’d reached the walkway to see Laia slumped over crying on the steps outside of her room. Guilt sliced through him with pain more intense than being ripped open by an actual blade. Slowly, he approached her, cradling her shoe in his hand. I know you’re the worst person alive--well, other than the Boar Prince--he thought--but you can show a little kindness to the person who somehow sees some goodness inside of you. Maybe he was cold and bitter, but he wasn’t cruel. At least, not to the people who didn’t deserve it.

Felix knelt down beside her, clearing his throat. “Laia--”

“I thought you were sick of being around me,” she spat. He flinched at her tone. He’d never heard her when she was angry. 

“I never said that.”

“It can be easily implied, Felix,” she answered him as she lifted her head, her eyes searing with hot anger. “I just wish that you would have told me sooner that I was nothing but a lost puppy driving you up the wall.”

“I didn’t mean for it to come out that way.”

“Oh? How was it supposed to come out?”

Felix took in a deep breath. “Yes. It’s true that sometimes it irritates me when you follow me around. Because I have no idea why you do. Like I said, most people keep their distance. They have their distaste of me. But then you’re here, actually trying to become someone that I can call my ally. You’re so intent on being friends with me, earning my trust. It just boggles my mind. Is there something you see in me? Surely you don’t have an ulterior motive.”

“Maybe it’s just because I see more underneath you than what you try to portray.” A hint of a smile showed on her lips. “I know that you can be cold and abrasive. It’s not that I agree with those things, but I understand why you’re like that. You always have your reasons for when you dislike people. I just don’t try to take it personally. But I’m not one to allow myself to be stepped on. I think it’s the same for you.

“You have a kind heart. You always look out for the innocent. You’re always doing everything you can to better yourself. I’ve never seen anyone have the drive you have. It’s always inspired me. I wanted to be like that…” she whispered. Felix’s face was growing red again. 

“You don’t have to go on a whole rave about me.” He ducked his head and bit his lip. His heart was feeling that warm, aching feeling again. “But thank you.”

The two remained silent as they sat on the steps. Laia had since taken off her mask, Felix’s tossed onto the pavement beside him. The light breeze ruffled their clothes and drifted along their skin.

“Um, is that…?” Felix lifted his head to look at what she pointed to in his hands. 

“Oh. Yeah. It’s your shoe.”

Laia hid her face behind her hand. “Well, that’s embarrassing.”

“Would you like it back…?”

“...Please.”

Felix shifted in front of her, and Laia’s eyes went wide. “Wait, what are you doing?!”

“Putting your shoe on,” he said.

“Um...I can put it on myself.”

“Wow. I didn’t know that.” She bit her tongue and glared at him. Now you're being a know-it-all, her gaze read. “Your dress is probably heavier than it looks, isn’t it? You don’t have to bend over to try to put this stake back on your foot. I’ll do it.”

“Thank you. My dress is actually kind of heavy. And my mascara must be all over my face...don’t tell me it’s all over my face, Felix.”

“You look like someone spilled their pen ink all over you.”

“Ugh, Felix!”

He couldn’t hold back his own raspy laughter. “Give me your foot.” Laia lifted her leg and pulled the fabric back just far enough so he could slip the shoe back on. Felix gently held her leg with one hand, and with the other, he maneuvered the heel back on. “There. It’s all fixed now.”

“Everything but my makeup.”

Felix shook his head. “I kindly help place your devil shoe back on your foot, and you have the audacity to complain about your makeup?”

Laia doubled over in laughter, tears smearing the mascara even more. But in the moonlight, with her glittery, star-touched dress, shining blue eyes, and genuine smile on her face, she still looked as immaculate as ever. Hearing her laugh made Felix’s heart do weird things in his chest. But it was the best sound he ever heard. Seeing Laia happy was something Felix secretly decided he wanted to make happen a lot more often.

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Michael in the Mainstream: Aladdin 2019

I think that the Disney remakes are a lot like the direct-to-video sequels of a decade or so ago; they may not be as good as the original, but I think they do have their merits and some are even good. People all too often seem to write them off as lazy rehashes, and I won’t deny that some are, but I frankly see this as no different than the numerous versions of Shakespeare’s plays put to screen. If a director has an interesting vision on how to retell a story I love, I’ll give them a shot. Heck, I gave The Jungle Book a shot even though I dislike the original film and was pleasantly surprised by how good it was. On the other side, though, we have the remake of Beauty and the Beast, which was a complete and utter travesty. And in both cases I think it boiled down to what was changed and what wasn’t. The Jungle Book altered quite a bit – Louie’s species, Kaa’s gender, the ending, no stupid vultures – and ultimately was a more entertaining story to me because of it, as it kept the same basic framework while twisting stuff around. Beauty, on the other hand, did so little different aside from making Lefou more entertaining and charismatic than Gaston that it just fell flat; I SAW all this before, and done better, so why should I care?

I bring all this up because, obviously, I had mixed feelings going to see Aladdin. Aladdin is my absolute favorite Disney movie and has been since I was a kid, and Robin Williams’ Genie is one of my all-time favorite characters in anything, so this movie had quite an uphill battle to impress me. Combine that with the lackluster trailers and some iffy drama behind the scenes involving brownface (which I should note was corrected in reshoots after this came to light), and I was really hesitant in seeing this. But see it I did, and with my expectations basically being “I’ll like Will Smith but I don’t know about the rest,” I must say… I was just blown out of the water by how genuinely good the film is.

Now, of course, I still think the original animated film is best. But this remake does what I think any good remake or readaptation of a prior work should do: it tells me the story I love with some new twists and turns added in. Obviously there’s no mind-boggling revelations that change the course of the entire story, but I appreciate a lot of the flourishes they added in. Case in point: the film opens up on a ship, and a sailor played by Will Smith sets up the movie as a story he is telling to his children. As we are already well aware Smith is playing the Genie, this is sort of a clever shout out to the heavily implied idea that the merchant at the start of the animated film is just Genie in one of his forms telling us a story. The fact they decided to keep that bit in and expand upon it a bit filled me with hope that wasn’t lost as the movie continued.

In general, all that they added to the plot was welcome. I loved Jasmine’s haindmaiden friend Dahlia, I loved the expansion on Jafar’s backstory, I like how they changed Jasmine’s motivations from wanting to run away from the palace to wanting to go out and get to know her people better… it all made the story feel a lot more fleshed out and engaging. They even make no one recognizing that Aladdin is Prince Ali make sense! However, I have to say not all of the changes work perfectly. Jasmine gets her own song, for instance, and it is a very good and powerful song, with its reprise late in the movie being one of the best scenes hands down. The issue is the song doesn’t really mesh well with the rest of the soundtrack, and it does stick out quite a bit. Still, this is a borderline nitpick.

What isn’t a nitpick is Jafar. Jafar is the most mixed bag in this film. While I do like that they made him a lot less obviously evil, and I like the backstory they gave him and his reasoning for wanting power, and basically a lot of his characterization… Jafar just doesn’t feel much like Jafar. He’s a great villain but he’s not a great Jafar, and I think the big problem is that Iago has been utterly neutered. He’s not the snarky, angry, mouthy jerk that Gilbert Gottfried played; here, Iago is just a smart but sadly stereotypical talking parrot played by Alan Tudyk, marking the second time Disney has wasted this talented man playing a useless bird. With Jafar having no one to bounce off of, he just feels a lot less impressive, and not helping matters is his showing in the third act, where he loses a lot of the fun and theatricality that movie Jafar had. He doesn’t even turn into a snake! He doesn’t ruin the film, but Jafar really does feel like someone they should have polished a bit more.

The rest of the cast fares a bit better. Jasmine’s actress Naomi Scott is one of the standouts among the cast, with her gorgeous singing voice and beautiful dresses really selling you that she IS Jasmine. I actually prefer her to the animated one, honestly. The same I sadly cannot say for Aladdin, because while Mena Massoud does a good job and brings a sort of awkward charm, I don’t think he quite matches up to the original Aladdin. The rest of the ensemble cast is pretty solid as well, but I’m sure there’s one man you really want to know about: Will Smith.

Will Smith had some big shoes to fill here, and even he knew it. He was playing a beloved character by a beloved actor in a remake of a beloved movie, and more than just that, he was playing the character that honestly makes the movie work as well as it does. People were writing him off before the movie came out due to how weird the CGI looked, but at the end of the day… Will Smith steals the show. Smith’s Genie is everything you want out of a remake of a character: a fresh take that stands on its own while respecting the original. He doesn’t just ape Williams’ performance, he adds his own spin, turning the Genie into basically a magical dating coach and wingman for Aladdin (which has lead to numerous jokes about how this is really a remake of Hitch). It works really well, and Massoud and Smith play off each other very well. What really sells Smith is definitely the scene where Aladdin, now a raging jackass on an ego trip, tells Genie he isn’t going to free him. Where Williams’ had the Genie react with resentment and bitterness, Smith’s Genie reacts with the most crushed, sad response; he is just genuinely hurt and is so sad to see a guy he considered a friend turn out like all the masters before him. This little change there easily made Smith’s Genie every bit as good as Williams’ in his own way.

This movie is a lot of fun, and I hate how everyone just wrote it off before it came out. Even I did that, and that’s something I need to work on correcting; these remakes, no matter their quality, do have some level of artistic merit to them, and regardless of your feelings there is nothing wrong with them existing. If this had been a shot-for-shot remake like Van Sant’s Psycho, I’d have more of a problem, but this movie was someone else’s view on a story I’d seen before. I hope Disney uses this movie as a template on how to properly do their remakes as opposed to Beauty, because this really was everything I could have wanted from one: fun, enjoyable, good expansion, good changes, and while not as good as the original it is good in its own right.

[jovialyouthmusic]

Charlotte’s Choice

A Royal Romance AU Fanfic

22 All’s Fair in Love and War

Constantine fights to keep control under Anton’s roof. Brad and Hana assist.

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22 All’s Fair in Love and War

The shooting party disbanded after the King’s guardsman had been found badly wounded, shot in the chest. The air ambulance came to take him away and all the guests went back to the Castle. The birds were retrieved and taken either to the kitchens or to the gamekeeper’s shed to hang. The    evening dinner was still to go ahead, along with the King’s announcement of the next two suitors to be dropped. The guests were told to stay in their rooms before the dinner so that an investigation could be made into the accident. Anton’s security guards roamed the corridors, and no-one was allowed to move around without Anton’s approval. 

At first Charlotte was invited into Anton’s suite, but the King insisted that she be allowed to go to keep him company. He also insisted that Bastien’s men be allowed to move freely and assist with the investigation.  Anton personally escorted her to Constantine and tried to go in with her, but the King made it plain that he wanted only Charlotte to enter and called for Bastien too.

‘Are you alright my dear?’ he asked as she entered, pale and shaken. He sat at his desk, the paperwork from last night sitting there, either finished or yet to be looked at. Although it was late summer, a fire burned in the grate of the elaborate fireplace, a small fire that gave out a little heat.

‘I – Yes Father, just a little shocked. It’s terrible, poor Martin. He’s in a serious condition and hasn’t regained consciousness since Bastien was with him’

‘I daresay Severus will clear it all up’ he said calmly ‘Accidents happen at these shoots’ Quietly he handed her a piece of paper. Written on it were the words the walls have ears. She looked at it and he gestured to the fire, so she screwed it up and threw it into the flames.

‘Tell me what happened’ he commanded, indicating that he was going to write more, and she went over the events of the morning. He paid little attention, writing and occasionally interjecting neutral comments. She went on until he finished writing, and he handed over the paper, saying ‘let me get you something to drink my dear’ He busied himself clattering teacups and bringing out a tin of biscuits while she read.

Have gone over papers. He understands very well but cannot support all he approves. Some matters must be sacrificed to make a good balance and stay within budget. He does this to appear generous but could not sustain the country like this. He tries to impress me, but I see through him. He would be a despot. Charlotte’s eyes widened and he gestured for her to throw that into the fire too. Eagle eyed, he noticed her bracelet.

‘That’s a pretty piece of jewellery my dear, have I seen it before?’ He asked

‘It is beautiful isn’t it?’ said Charlotte ‘Anton gave it to me, he said it belonged to his mother’ The King scribbled again He means to impress you. Be wary.

‘It’s a fine piece, he must feel affection for you to give you something so beautiful’ but Constantine shook his head as he spoke. Whatever I say is the opposite when I shake my head. I nod for the truth. ‘Lord Severus has made a fine job of the official papers, he would make a good ruler my dear’. Again he shook his head.

There was a knock on the door, and Bastien entered. The King raised his hand to him and made a gesture that meant nothing to Charlotte but was obviously some sort of code, as the guard nodded. She threw the notes on the fire and watched the two men holding a conversation with hand gestures and nods while talking about something totally neutral. Her mind boggled at the complexity, realising that they were well practiced in their code.

Charlotte elected to stay with her Father as she was sure Anton would find a way to keep her company otherwise. She was genuinely frightened as Constantine would not tell her all the details of his assessment of what was going on, and Bastien left to do whatever damage limitation was necessary. She wanted to send a message to Drake but surmised it was too dangerous. The afternoon dragged on but an hour before the dinner was due to begin, security was lifted, and Charlotte went back to her room to change.

Earlier, Bastien talked to his second in command out in the open away from listening devices and spies.

‘Just how did Martin manage to get injured during the shoot? Did one of the guns go off target?’

‘It wasn’t a shotgun wound Sir – whoever shot him was using a handgun. The sound may have been masked by the shoot’

‘Do Anton’s men have this information?’

‘I don’t know Sir, they are not being very co-operative’

‘They will probably find out from the hospital. I trust you sent a team to guard his room?’

‘Of course Sir, we had two men go from the team at the Palace so we’re not short of manpower here’

‘Apart from Martin’ said the older man grimly ‘He did manage to pass on a memory stick before he lost consciousness and told me the password. It has an up to date floor plan of the castle, as far as I can tell, but why that was worth him getting shot, I don’t know’

The dinner went remarkably smoothly considering there had been a nasty accident and everyone had been questioned. Constantine looked better than he had for some time, thought Charlotte. It seemed that he thrived on intrigue and conflict. He announced that Milo and Rashad were the two suitors to be dropped from the race, leaving Maxwell, Anton, Brad and Drake. Only the last two remained to be tested as to their attention to detail with official paperwork, and it was Brad’s turn that night. Up until the time Charlotte retired to the study next to her bedroom, Anton was especially attentive. Charlotte did not get a chance to talk to anyone else without him hovering at her shoulder, and she felt stifled.

Anton escorted her back to her room and kissed her hand on the threshold. At last with a huge sigh of relief she shut the door on him, leaning against it, sliding to the floor exhausted. She had only managed a few glances at Drake and missed him more than she thought she could – all she wanted was to feel his arms around her, bury her face in his shoulder and weep tears of tiredness and frustration. She pulled herself together and changed out of her evening dress, wearing jeggings and a t shirt with a soft cardigan.  She had not been able to wear the chain Drake had given her, instead tucking it inside her bra, and now hung it around her neck, holding it in her palm and feeling its warmth.  It was not long before there was a soft knock on the door and Brad entered. She immediately felt comforted by his presence, his broad shoulders and square jaw inspiring feelings of stability and ease.

‘Hey Princess, how are you bearing up?’ he asked, concern in his pale blue eyes that seemed so much warmer than Justin’s, a little crinkle at the corners showing his temperament. She sat in the swivel chair, face in her hands scrubbing at her own eyes with weariness.

‘I feel terrible’ she admitted ‘Anton has barely let me breathe – he’s so charming but I feel stifled.’ She looked at him ‘Have you heard how the investigations have gone?’ He shook his head.

‘Not really, Anton’s men haven’t been very forthcoming and now they seem to be playing it down, saying he must have been hit by a stray shot. I don’t even know if he’s regained consciousness’ Charlotte sighed.

‘Well there’s not a lot we can do, and we have these papers to go over before I can get to bed.’

‘Here’ let me take a look’ said Brad, and started to shuffle though the files. The next hour or so was spent sifting through and analysing. Although he wasn’t familiar with a lot of the subject matter, he was able to see some of the diplomatic problems with a fresh eye, and had a very practical approach to financial matters and a keen sense of how to balance the books. Charlotte looked at him with surprise.

‘I can’t begin to imagine how you manage to understand some of this without being familiar with it’ Brad shrugged.

‘It’s a question of being objective to start with, then considering how it might affect the people in question. I’ve had a variety of jobs over the years and I guess it’s made me well rounded’

‘Well I’m sure Father will be impressed, but you really should have made an effort to mess things up’ she smiled ruefully. ‘The reality is I think you’d do well as Consort’

‘But you want to follow your heart, and I have no wish to be responsible for running an entire country’ he said, smiling sadly ‘To say nothing of my – involvement with Olivia. There’s not long to go, do you know how you’re going to handle your announcement?’

‘If I did, I wouldn’t be saying it out loud to anyone’ she said ‘I’m in a difficult position as you know. The next week is going to be crucial to Cordonia’s future.’  

‘Well changing the subject, I’ve heard a lot about  the parties at the Beaumont estate – it looks like we’ll get to have some fun before it gets serious’

‘I hope so’ she said wearily. ‘Thanks for helping me tonight Brad, I really should turn in now’ As she stood, Brad cast an eye over the vase of flowers on the windowsill.

‘Those have a really heavy scent’ he said ‘It makes my head hurt just sitting in the same room’ Charlotte looked at him in surprise.

‘That’s interesting’ she replied ‘There’s an even bigger arrangement in my bedroom, and I woke up with a thumping headache this morning’ Brad frowned, his brow furrowing and his dark blonde eyebrows crinkling.

‘Can I see?’ he asked, and Charlotte led him into her room. He stood next to bouquet and inhaled, instantly recoiling ‘Wow that’s strong’ he said ‘I would move these into the study before you go to sleep’

‘It’s rather heavy’ she said ‘I don’t think I could move it on my own’ Brad put his hands to it and lifted cautiously.

‘I can do it – open the study door and I’ll take them through’ Charlotte did as he suggested, and he moved the flowers with some effort. ‘I would crack the window a bit to air the room out too’ he said. He thought for a while, and went over to the desk. He wrote something down on a piece of paper and handed it to the Princess. Just in case it’s deliberate, have security move the flowers back in to your room in the morning. Charlotte’s eyebrows rose as she read it, and her hand went to the cartridge hanging rounder her neck, holding it for comfort. She nodded, and Brad held out his hand for the paper, crumpling it up and putting it in his pocket. They embraced, and Charlotte relaxed into him, grateful for the comforting contact, feeling the solidity of his broad chest, the warmth of his body. He was not Drake, but he was reassuring nonetheless. He squeezed her tightly, sensing her need. They broke contact and he smiled at her.

‘Thankyou Brad, she said wearily ‘I think I’ll sleep well tonight. See you tomorrow’ she briefly kissed him on the cheek and he left, bowing slightly.

 Charlotte woke to a soft tapping noise, and blearily rubbed her eyes to look at her phone to see that it was 5am. She realised that the noise came from the window, and went to see what was causing it. In surprise, she saw Hana on the balcony, finger pressed to her lips. She quietly opened the door and let her in. Swiftly her friend led her to the en suite. She turned on the shower before speaking.

‘Lottie, I’ve come to talk to you privately and liaise with Constantine. I had to be sure we aren’t heard’ Charlotte nodded and Hana continued ‘Your father thinks Anton will try to discredit Brad and Drake in some way, so be prepared. One of his aides was seen tampering with the papers Brad worked on. Tell me, how did he do?’

‘Very well’ said the Princess ‘I was impressed, he’d actually make a good job of it – but he doesn’t want to be Consort’ Hana nodded.

‘As long as we know what he’s capable of that’s all that matters. Tell me truly Charlotte, who do you want to rule with you?’ she looked into her eyes searchingly ‘You can tell me Lottie, I’m on your side – more than your fathers’, though he’s more sympathetic than you might think, darling’ Charlotte drew a deep breath, tears coming to her eyes.

‘Oh Hana, I daren’t. I daren’t say it until I’m in front of the Court, I can’t risk it, not for anyone – not even for who I want’ She bent her head sorrowfully and Hana took her hand, supporting it palm up. Charlotte looked up to see her looking at her intently, then back down at her hand. Hana traced the letter D on her palm, and the Princess burst into tears, nodding vehemently. Hana drew her into her arms and held her tightly until she quietened down.

‘I have to go Lottie. I’ll keep your secret – from everyone, nobody will hear it from me’ she said earnestly ‘We’ll find a way, I promise. I have to go now – take care my sweet friend’.

With her early awakening, Charlotte was able to dress quickly and go down to breakfast before Anton could intervene and serve it in her study. She had no trace of a headache and remembered to ask the member of the King’s guard in the corridor to move the flowers back into the room, tidying up a few fallen petals afterwards. She also left a window open in both rooms and left the adjoining door ajar. Anton entered the dining room to see her already there, sitting with Olivia and Hana. She caught the merest trace of annoyance on his face as he entered, but he quickly recovered and came up to greet her.

‘Good morning Charlotte’ he said, reaching out as if to take her hand, but although she put down her fork, instead of taking his hand she picked up a napkin and wiped her lips, taking just enough time that his hand hung in the air awkwardly before he took it back ‘I trust you slept well, Princess’ he bowed slightly and she smiled.

‘Thankyou Lord Severus, I did’ she replied ‘I feel refreshed. I was telling Olivia about the wonderful ride you took me out on yesterday. I hope to show her and Hana how beautiful the countryside is here. Would it be possible to take a couple of mounts out this morning?’ Anton looked surprised at Charlotte’s boldness in taking control of the situation, but he couldn’t turn her down.

‘Of course, I’ll join you if I may’ Charlotte put on an apologetic expression.

‘Oh Anton, I was hoping to catch up with Hana, have a sort of ‘girls only’ outing’ she said, pouting slightly. She saw him stiffen, but he bowed again.

‘But of course. I’ll send word to the stables. I do think you would be wise to take a member of security with you though, I would be only too pleased for one of my men to accompany you’

‘I wouldn’t think of putting you to the trouble. It would be just as easy to take one of the King’s Guard, and we have I have a female guard in mind to keep the theme of girls’ outing’ Charlotte said sweetly. Anton’s face darkened briefly.

‘But of course, whatever makes you comfortable’ he replied ‘But all the same I feel I must insist on having a member of my security detail follow – at a discrete distance out of earshot of course’ Charlotte sighed.

‘It’s very thoughtful of you Anton’ she ‘and of course security is very important after the unfortunate events yesterday. If you can assure me your guard will stay at an appropriate distance, how can I refuse?’ Anton bowed and walked away, leaving Charlotte to talk to her friends.

Drake chose Brad’s company that morning, knowing he had managed to have some private time with Charlotte the night before and wanting to know how she was. They walked out in the formal gardens, cautious to be out of earshot of Anton’s staff.  The Englishman told him of the flowers with the heady scent.

‘It may be nothing, but I suspect Anton of trying to lower Lottie’s resistance to his charms’ he said wryly. ‘You’ve seen how he’s monopolised her company. She did well to get out and away with Hana and Olivia this morning’

‘Yeah’ said Drake ‘It’s my turn to go help her with paperwork tonight – how did that work out for you?’ Brad made a wry smile

‘Better than I thought I would, it’s not difficult I think. I would say you should find your own way of coping with it, there’s no absolute right or wrong way to go about it. As long as you balance the books and keep as many folk happy as possible you’ll do just fine.’

‘Thanks my friend’ replied Drake ‘I wasn’t sure about you when Olivia first brought you over, but it’s been a pleasure getting to know you. You’re a man of many talents and handy to have around in a crisis’ Drake was referring in part to the accident the previous day ‘Bastien told me Martin’s not regained consciousness just yet. He’s got a couple of the King’s Guard outside his room in case anyone tries anything suspicious.’ Brad grinned at the Duke’s praise, then his face fell when he heard about the guardsman

‘What do you think of it all?’ he asked ‘Why and how did he get shot? I could see it wasn’t a shotgun wound so why are Anton’s men insisting it was?’

‘I don’t know, and Bastien’s trying to get to the bottom of it all’ replied Drake ‘I don’t trust that man an inch’

‘Did you know Anton much before all this?’ asked Brad. Drake shook his head

‘No, he didn’t have much to do with Court when he was younger, his father kept him away. He around the same age as Charlotte, Olivia and I, but we never got to know him.’

At that moment, Drake saw Bastien making his way toward them. He hailed him, and Bastien got close before he spoke.

‘Walker, Lord De Montfort, there’s been a development. You’d better come with me, I need to show you something’

[yvesdot]

trans city of ember??? Go on :3

I’m assuming everyone knows the City of Ember series, because how could you not, but unfortunately a lot of Younger Folks do not know it without having had the book recommended by someone else who is older or something, and also a lot of people saw the film and have no idea what the series is actually about.

Ember is a dark, dark city under a naturally black sky, lit only by streetlamps that are starting to flicker and go out for hours at a time as a result of a breaking Generator. Upon graduating, Lina Mayfleet is assigned the job of “Pipeworks Laborer” and Doon Harrow is given the job of “Messenger,” but the two switch immediately– Lina loves running around and exploring the city, and Doon believes he can fix what’s happening if only he finds out more about the mysterious Generator by the river.

Obviously one does not simply write a book by copying another book, but City of Ember is one of my greatest unused inspirations. So I have decided, since technically someone asked, to list precisely what would be included from the original series and what would be new.

from the series

age group

I’ve actually not written much (or anything, as far as I can recall) that falls under the ‘middle grade’ lens. This is maybe because I write so much romance, but still, I’d like to give younger ages a try– especially because not much is being written about gay and trans people for kiddos. More now, but still. I also love middle grade apocalypse type stories– don’t lighten the plot for the children!!

apocalyptic city

I love the actual city of Ember. I love the darkness, the streetlights, the patched-together feel of the buildings, et cetera. Now, the good news is that this is actually somewhat subjective, seeing as I didn’t feel the same vibes at all from the film (which is a literal adaptation of the book), but basically I like the idea of this flatly lower/middle-class society living in barely-functioning apartments.

romance that isn’t romance

I actually really like the grey-area romance in a lot of middle-grade books, by which I mean some hand-holding and nothing else. So the MC has a Something with the trans girl she’s befriending. (Didn’t feel like Ember had a romance? My point exactly.)

strict roles

I love this concept, and since it’s going to be transed in my version, you can imagine how far it will go, but I love things like assigned jobs and government-edited schooling and whatnot. The idea that you know at an extremely young age what you’re ‘supposed’ to be. It’s odd to me that Lina and Doon never questioned that they’d want a different job later in life… leading up to the things I would change!

brand new

controlled families

Even when a dystopia doesn’t say it, everyone is Required to be Cis and Straight. So obviously we’re going to have a The Lobster-esque situation where people, by a certain age, must be matched up to a person of the ‘opposite’ gender so they can, you know, receive their government-assigned home and have children. If they’re not matched, they get matched by some government-assigned matchmakers. Maybe I should add ‘low tech’ to the list of things I love about Ember.

rebels in disguise

I just wanted to talk about the Lesbians Next Door; one of them is still married, the other one’s husband died from a previously-curable illness a while ago. They hang out in the latter’s apartment a lot; our MC sees them around a lot and gets into a are you one of us situation later on.

gender-specific roles

You know what really, genuinely, absolutely boggles my mind? That you can point to any dystopia, literally any one, and they’ll likely not only have strict factions, jobs, etc etc, but also gendered dressing. Here are several examples of worlds in which clothing is furiously gendered, but gender roles/differences are almost never acknowledged: The Giver. Divergent (Amity, specifically, in this shot.) Fahrenheit 451 even has a male-only fire squad. Everyone is dressed the same except for one change: gender.

I know a lot of other fellow trans people liked apocalyptic and dystopian fiction as kids for the exact reason that they, too, felt like they were being boxed into narrow paths they couldn’t make themselves follow ‘properly’. So, like I said, this trope has officially been transed.

The main plot is that MC sees a ‘boy’ who looks very odd, and she realizes it’s because said ‘boy’ has long hair, which is actually not allowed. Turns out this ‘boy’ is a trans girl, and she’s obviously not having a great time (whereas MC, being just sort of questioning, doesn’t know what’s making her so uncomfortable yet.) So MC and MC2 switch places in their horrific government assigned jobs, because when MC puts her long hair up in a bun, she can kind of pass for a young guy, and MC2′s long hair makes her look like any other girl once she’s in MC’s uniform. Things progress from there, but nothing much has been planned yet (hence MC/MC2…) 

I do like the idea, though, and something will likely come of it eventually. Thank you so much for asking!

[imagine-loki]

Maelstrom

TITLE: Maelstrom CHAPTER NO./ONE SHOT: Chapter 9 AUTHOR: wolfpawn ORIGINAL IMAGINE: Imagine helping Loki leave his physically and emotionally abusive girlfriend. You treat him with kindness and respect, and with time, as he falls for you, you teach him that love isn’t supposed to hurt. RATING: Mature NOTES/WARNINGS: Trigger Warning - This story is going to deal with emotional and physical abuse by a female abuser to her male partner. 

Sonnets are posted at the bottom of the fic for reference Maelstrom - a situation or state of confused movement or violent turmoil.

Cara sat in the gardens, flicking through her book looking for just the perfect sonnet. She could not find the perfect one to fit her current mood.

She was exhausted. Work was difficult at present, for whatever reason the Norns had felt the need to create madness in the realms. It seemed what cases she got were complex and often mind-boggling. So a few hours quiet and reading in the sun was all she wanted.

Lying against a tree, she closed her eyes and enjoyed the sunlight and the gentle breeze.

‘Oh.’ On hearing another voice, her eyes shot open. ‘Hello.’

‘My Prince.’ She bowed her head slightly, though part of her was unsure of how to act, as it had been a few weeks since the end of everything to do with Lucia and this was her first interaction with Loki since the day everything came to light. ‘Is everything alright?’

Loki cleared his throat. ‘Yes, I had just planned….’

Cara looked at his hand and realised he had a book in it. ‘Oh, I have stolen your spot, I assume.’

‘Yes….well, no, it’s not really “mine” per se, just…’ He stopped speaking.

‘It’s fine. I’ll find somewhere else, you deserve to have some modicum of peace and quiet.’ She smiled.

‘It’s okay.’ Loki turned and began to walk off before stopping and facing her again. ‘I never thanked you.’

‘You don’t have to.’

‘No, I do. I...I never even told you what happened that day, the day it all came out.’

‘You don’t need to.’

‘But I...’

‘If you wish to tell me, then, by all means, I will listen intently. So long as you are not worried that I will rush off and tell everyone.’

‘One thing I noted being repeated several times through everything, Johann and Eir never stopping saying how you reported everything officially without ever even implying it was me, not once in anything was I suspected of being the being you were referencing.’

‘I respected your wishes.’

‘Thank you.’

‘Any time, My Prince.’

Loki looked at her for a moment before biting his lips. ‘May I?’ He indicated to the seat she was sitting on. Immediately, she made room and he sat beside her. ‘I spent that night thinking of everything. How she treated me, how you said I deserved better, how I felt around her compared to when I am around...and I realised you were right. I made my decision. The next morning, she came in and started talking about how she expected me to propose, how she wanted it done which, I should mention everything was against what my position would allow, you know how it is, you are of the same area of the court.’

‘She wanted flamboyant and everyone forced to watch I assume? And I guess she had the ring chosen too, something extravagant and gaudy.’

‘She wanted my mother’s wedding ring.’

Cara looked at him with uncertainty. ‘The one she is wearing at present, what with her still being wed to the Allfather?’

‘The very one.’ Loki confirmed. ‘It has jewels not native to this realm, or many others, sapphires they are called, very rare.’ He inhaled deeply. ‘I was told to tell my mother, tell her, not ask, that if she loved me, that she would want me to be happy and that giving me that ring was how to make me happy, somehow.’

‘Norns.’ Cara shook her head. ‘Not half prone to being manipulative, is she?’

‘It was my limit.’ Loki confessed. ‘My mother loves that ring. My father went to Midgard for the rock for it, that’s where it comes from. He had it made specifically for her and apparently, by all accounts, made an absolute blundering fool of himself proposing to her. She smiles every time she looks at it. It’s not the most valuable ring in the realms, not by a long shot, but she loves it.’

‘That is beautiful. No one could ever, with any respect for her, make such a…..”request” as that.’

‘No.’ He toyed with his fingers and fidgeted a lot. ‘I told her no, that there was not going to be a proposal either, or an engagement, none of it. She did not take it well.’

Cara took his hand and looked him in the eye. ‘I think that is something of an understatement.’ She stated solemnly, causing them both to laugh. ‘You did the right thing, you were incredibly brave to fight her on that. You can be happy now.’

‘I have started doing things of late, things I used always like. It has made me so much happier in myself again.’

‘Good, you deserve such.’ She smiled.

‘I must confess, however, that I miss speaking with you of different literature and other matters.’

‘You do not have to be injured to seek my company for such things. In fact, I would much rather you were not injured and sought my company.’ She stated.

‘What sonnet would suit today?’

‘Forty-Nine.’ She stated without thought. Loki took only a moment to consider it before nodding, acknowledging the poignancy in it, all things considered. ‘What about you, have any stuck out with you of late?’

‘One-forty-seven.’ He smiled slightly.

Cara frowned as she recalled the one in question, when she recited it to herself, she nodded slightly and gave a small smile ‘You are moving on with life, that’s good. I hope you find what you are longing for.’

‘How do you do that? How do you genuinely care for others as you do? So many pretend to care but you, you do and you can see it.’

‘Someone is happy is of a mindset that they would like others to be happy. What would I gain from wishing ill on others?’

‘I wish I was more like you, minus the dress of course.’

Cara snorted slightly before erupting in laughter at his words. ‘Sorry, that’s just too funny, it’s brilliant.’

Her laughter startled Loki for a moment. ‘I...You thought that that was funny?’

Cara ceased laughing. ‘Was it not meant to be?’

‘I...It’s just...’

‘You’re more used to people laughing at you?’

‘Well, yes.’ Loki confessed. ‘Especially now.’

Cara took his hand again, having realised he craved the positive contact and rubbed it kindly. ‘No one deserves that, especially you.’

‘You are too kind to me.’

‘I have to be because you are not being kind enough to yourself. You need to change that. Love yourself, love who you are. It must be hard not to for you are an incredible being.’

‘I fear you are a terrible liar, kind though.' Loki looked at her hand on his. ‘This feels so different, every time you have touched me, you are so different to how…’

‘That is because I would never willingly harm you. I genuinely care for your happiness and wellbeing.’

Loki swallowed. ‘I have to go.’ He rose to his feet and scarpered off without any further explanation, leaving Cara utterly baffled.

*

Loki watched as everyone danced around the room jovially. It had been almost half a year since Lucia was forced to face justice for her actions and lies. In that time, he recovered a lot of his self-worth, mostly due to Cara advice.

He saw her often but only allowed himself in her company when he knew he would not embarrass himself, which was infrequently.

It was at a festive event when finally he worked up the courage to talk to her again. Cara was sitting next to her sister and Thor when he approached. He could see she was more than a little bored. He walked over and gave a polite smile. ‘Mind if I join you?’

‘No, please.’ Cara all but jumped out of her chair to make room for him.

‘I am getting the feeling that Cara would converse with Hela herself rather than stay here listening to us any longer.’ Sif scoffed.

‘I would like to speak with the Goddess of Death, I would imagine she would be highly fascinating to converse with.’ Cara stated nonchalantly, Thor and Sif looking at her as though she had said something utterly mad. ‘Oh go back to arguing as to which of you is the bigger fool, such topics are wasted on you both.’ She ordered with a smile. ‘Do you think we will be honoured in Valhalla for having suffered them in this life?’ She asked Loki, the kind smile she always seemed to wear in his presence was bestowed on him to him once more.

‘I hope so, it can be the only thing to stop me shoving an apple in his mouth whole some days in hope of silencing him, if only for a moment.’ Loki responded.

‘I am not a pig.’ Thor growled, rising to his feet and leaving to go to speak with his other friends, Sif in tow.

Cara leant towards Loki to be sure they were not overheard. ‘I would dispute that, he can be an incredible bore.’

Loki, who had been taking a drink from the chalice he had brought to the table with him, was left coughing and spluttering as he laughed, mid drink, at her comment. It took several minutes for him to breathe right again afterwards. ‘Sorry.’

‘It should be me apologising to you.’ Cara rubbed his back, having clapped it a few times in his coughing. ‘I should not have said it.’

‘I am glad you did, even if my body tried to clock out because of it. That was brilliant.’

‘Well, so long as you forgive me.’ Cara blushed slightly.

‘There is nothing you could do to make me feel the need to forgive you.’ Loki had barely finished saying the words before he became very interested in his own hands. Do...Would you care to dance?’

Cara was slightly taken back by his asking such a question. ‘Yes.’

‘Really?’ He gave a nervous smile as he rose to his feet and extended his hand to her, she took it and the pair walked onto the dance floor, ignoring anyone that may have been looking at them.

‘I promise I am better now.’

Loki could only laugh, recalling the only other time he had danced with her. They were a lot younger then and Odin had forced him and Thor to dance with Tyr’s daughters, but Cara, not long a teenager, was nervous and scared and fell over Loki’s feet and her own, more than once. The only reason she did not fall flat on her face in front of a room full of both Aesir and foreign gentry was because Loki caught her. That was the one and only time he had danced with her. ‘We will see.’

They were flawless. Loki had always been graceful in every manner, dancing was no different. Cara had not allowed herself to dance publicly again until she was certain she would not embarrass herself again but she rarely danced. Neither paid any attention to anyone who may or may not have been paying them any heed but they had been noticed, by their family and by many others. For Loki and Cara, they only danced their dance, looking at one another the entire time they did so.

Even after the song ended, the pair continued to look at one another, neither saying anything to the other. It took several moments before Loki noticed Thor in his peripheral vision, looking at him as though it was some incredible new discovery before him. Loki’s reaction was to focus on Cara once more before taking her and in his and raising it to his lips, giving it a faint kiss while looking into her eyes. ‘You are incredible.’

Cara blushed, realising it was a significant step in being more positive. ‘All I needed to do to do better this time was not fall.’

Loki chuckled slightly. ‘Cara…’ He bit his bottom lip and looked her in the eye. ‘Can...If…’ He sighed and looked at the ground. ‘Nevermind.’

‘Talk to me, Loki.’ She pleaded.

‘I can’t.’

‘Please.’ But he just walked away and out of the ballroom.

Disappointed, Cara walked back to her seat and said nothing to anyone.

Sonnets

Sonnet 49 (Cara's choice) Against that time (if ever that time come) When I shall see thee frown on my defects; Whenas thy love hath cast his utmost sum, Called to that audit by advised respects; Against that time when thou shalt strangely pass, And scarcely greet me with that sun, thine eye; When love, converted from the thing it was, Shall reasons find of settled gravity; Against that time do I ensconce me here Within the knowledge of mine own desert, And this my hand against myself uprear To guard the lawful reasons on thy part: To leave poor me, thou hast the strength of laws, Since why to love I can allege no cause.

Sonnet 147 (Loki's) My love is as a fever, longing still For that which longer nurseth the disease, Feeding on that which doth preserve the ill, Th' uncertain sickly appetite to please. My reason, the physician to my love, Angry that his prescriptions are not kept, Hath left me, and I desp'rate now approve Desire is death, which physic did except. Past cure I am, now reason is past care, And frantic mad with evermore unrest, My thoughts and my discourse as madmen’s are, At random from the truth vainly expressed; For I have sworn thee fair and thought thee bright, Who art as black as hell, as dark as night.