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thalfbloodloser · 3 months ago

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You bring insanity to a boringly sane fandom. I would like to hear your latest thought on ivorycest... Whatever nugget you may be nursing. If that is alright

✦ aw, thank you! you're so sweet 🐌🧡 it's very much alright - no one in here ever sends me fun stuff anymore. your ask was a breath of fresh air, anon! truth be told, i haven't been thinking about ivorycest all that much, but get ready for a HUGE text-block jumpscare because you just gave me the perfect excuse to write about them ➜

✦ sometimes it pains me to see so many folks avoiding ivorycest like the plague, because, like ranfren itself, it's so unapologetically insane that you can't really hate it. even if you try. if you have a dash of sense of humor, you'll see it's hilariously canon compliant!

i've seen lots of people argue that "anything romantic/sexual between randal and luther would be inherently out of character", which i'll admit is a reasonable concern, but it's just not true. the issue is characterization: people keep projecting human-based tropes and behavior on cryptids, and that's where the knee-jerk "eugh" reaction comes from. because yeah, randal and luther aren't going to declare their Forbidden Love for each other and then passionately kiss under the moonlit sky, nor are they going to feel guilty about their attraction and part ways with a tearful "we can't! this is wrong!". it would be completely unnatural behavior for them. all that? made for humans. and pretty basic humans, at that. for ivorycest to work, both in and out of canon, you gotta fully embrace the weirdness, see beyond humanity and forget all old expectations you might've gotten from any other couple of siblings!

from my point of view, it doesn't even feel like it fits with the rest of the "-cest"s. and not because of the possibility that randal and luther aren't even biologically related (i seriously doubt they're even from the same species) - we all know that adoptive siblings aren't any less siblings just because they don't share DNA. plus, pseudo-incest is still a thing - but because they're so, so far from human nature and from other brother/brother ships that it's almost laughable, and sometimes genuinely puzzling, to apply ANY human labels to them at all. for example, would you call luther a cannibal because he eats people? no. because it'd be like calling a human cannibal for eating cows, and that makes no sense. words mean things.

to us, at least.

coincidentally, that's half of my point.

the ivorys adress each other as "brother", sure, but you cannot look me in the eyes and tell me that they fully understand what that means or that they care about it enough to follow the moral/ethical guidelines attached to such terms. you simply cannot. most times it feels less like they see each other as family and more like they're just...roleplaying.

but if you decide to call someone "daddy", just when does that make them your father?

randal, who could (but perhaps shouldn't) be considered the most resourceful of the two, uses "brother" as both title and honorific - like one uses "sir" or "ma'am" - but doesn't seem to be overtly attached to the familial aspect of it. again, he's not a human, and, as far as we know, our siblinghood doesn't come naturally to him - much like pain, guilt, conscience and a whole load of bodily functions that he also seems to lack. luther, on the other same hand, understands the caretaking implications of being the "older brother", but that's pretty much where his brotherly-ness begins and ends. if anything, he's incorrectly using the sibling label while playing parent; just without any trauma and/or responsibility attached to it. there's also the fact that he's the most powerful entity in the household and randal - no matter how many pianos he "possesses" or how many times he shoves himself in the space between the wall and the fridge - cannot possibly overpower him, also adds to this parent/kid dynamic; hence granting luther the (almost-meaningless) title of "master" and the authority over their dysfunctional home. that still doesn't mean randal perceives him as anything but a housemate, or playdate, for he doesn't really seem to keep up the role of mischievous little brother unless he's bored (often, not always).

so they use the word, but it lacks permanent meaning. in that sense, classic incest tropes - no matter if brocon or dadson flavored - don't really work. there's power imbalance, sure, but the familial bonds needed to reinforce that imbalance simply do not exist. randal is babied because he likes to be. he likes being taken care of and likes having rules to break. it's a character he plays. luther "takes care" of him because he himself likes doing it. he likes being a parent and likes having a reason to lecture & discipline. it's a character he plays. they don't actually need this dynamic to thrive, and it wasn't imposed on them by parents/caretakers or any set of misfortunes that we know of. they just deliberately chose to partake on it.

consequently, i don't think they feel what humans perceive as familial love (healthy or unhealthy) for each other. they're simply two powerful entities - whom we can assume have been at least friends for a long time - playing make-believe. creatures who have little to no regard for humanity as a species, and are only interested in their own antics. of course they do eventually commend certain humans for their achievements, and seem to find all sorts of comfort in our art/creations/traditions, but outside of that? they see humans as fragile beings as intelectually insignificant to them as most animals are to us. randal forcibly keeps one as a pet. not far from "master" luther, who keeps two.

again, the ivorys are clearly intelligent, specially regarding their own survival. they're not behind being purposefully dense when it comes to anything human that is even slightly inconvenient to them (huh? eating the delivery man's arm when we order pizza is bad? haha, i would never have guessed!). they have the means and understanding necessary to behave (and perhaps look) 100% human, they just...choose not to. they can bend reality itself to their whims, turn themselves and others into inconceivable creatures, all while feigning absolute normalcy at the chaotic world around them (werewoofs, carpet cats with human faces, alive walls and furniture...), and you think they'd draw the line at willingly distorting something as frivolous as family hierarchy?

tch. please.

with that said, by the rules of their own game, if they were to partake in any...non-platonic activities, it would only be considered incestuous because they decided it would be - by creating the dynamic and environment in the first place. and they would simply not fucking care if it is upsetting, distasteful or imoral by human standards. and that's the ship's whole flavor - that's why i love it so much! precisely because there's no such thing as the "oh, no! i accidentally fell in love with my sibling! woe is me!" (which i also love) with the ivorys. there's also not a "normal" way to ship them, even if you're adamant about them not being related or not seeing each other as family, because they're two fucking weirdos.

their whole relationship is so tastefully bonkers that i genuinely wouldn't be fazed if they spawned another creature to be their "littlest" sibling. honestly, who could stop them? and who's to say that, in their cryptic way, they're not a married couple? or buddies into weird roleplay? ultimately, it is undeniable that they - in at least one sense of the word - love each other enough to enable each other; and to indulge on each other's silly/straight-up-criminal fantasies.

to me, there's no (human) romance, nor seduction, involved. randal knows he'll get nothing by jumping on his brother's lap and performing the most disgustingly horny hentai rip-off scenario ever. much like he'll get nothing in exchange for sweet words, flowers and chocolate. it's part of the game. he knows he'll receive only a "<3" (♥︎) - which him and luther seem to be able to pronounce out loud - or a hummed, blank-faced lecture about needing either a nap or to drink more water. if luther is having a bad day, he might even receive some sort of punishment. and those are the reactions randal wants, the normalcy (if you can call it that) he counts on. if he wanted a different response, something genuinely human, he'd have forcibly gauged it off sebastian, nyon or even nyen. likewise, luther knows better than to come too close or to grab randal by the waist, lest he get bitten or not-so-playfully snipped with scissors.

but there's intimacy. so much intimacy. on waking up to the other's figure looming over them, on physically crawling under each other's skin, on wrapping hands and claws around each other's organs and muscles and bones, on faux eyes staring into faux eyes, on a eerie smile pressed against unmoving lips, on the suspension of disbelief, on the lingering smell of copper, on the flashing lights and sappy endearments and and-

and, i suppose, on the sex too. i don't think i can picture them having human sex - really, who am i to guess what these creatures are packing in their pants? for all we know, they might as well be ken-doll smooth down there - but if they were to ever consummate their relationship sexually, i feel like it would probably be as uncomfortable, off-putting, disturbing and offensive to the eyes as everything else they do. genuinely revolting from any possible point of view - unless you're a true monsterfucker. a ritual so gross that, for us, it resembles nothing but a cacophony of unthinkable horrors molding together wetly, but that, to them, feels nothing but heavenly from beginning to end. as close to divinity as such wretched demons/creatures are ever going to get.

anyways. enough, my apologies-

the conclusion is that...me shipping these two isn't even about wishing they'd get together, because, in their fucked up way, they already are. it isn't about spiting other fans either. it's about having fun coming up with increasingly nonsensical scenarios hoping to come close to their freak ✦

#randals friends #ranfren #randal ivory #luther von ivory #ivorycest #ask answers #this poor anon is never sending me an ask again #asked for a singular thought and i wrote a goddamn dissertation #long post #txt #thalfbloodloser

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heal-the-ashes · 21 days ago

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Random PL related facts about me I've been wanting to share but never have (and that changes today). It's only two facts, but maybe I'll have more to share eventually.

One: I've consistently spelled Don Paolo's name wrong. Even after I finished all 6 main games. Guys, it was only when I went on here when I realized, Oh god. His name is Don Paolo. Not Dan Paolo.

Two: I spent about 10 real life years thinking Randall was dead. Maybe more. I only played the games this year. A family member played MM when it came out. I was too young to understand puzzles. But. But when I watched them play. They were at the end of Akbadain. And I saw the whole cutscene. All I knew was I saw a boy fall and that boy Loved Puzzles.

I never forgot him. I kept wondering what happened to The Boy Who Loved Puzzles And Fell. Who Was Also Related To Masks.

Sometime when... idk, maybe around the same time/age, my family members watched Eternal Diva.

I saw it with them, because Oh! Funny Hat Man Who Speaks Weirdly Is On A Ship With My Favorite Blue Character Luke!

And there's—(gasp)—a guy with a mask!

I thought. Guys. For the entire like decade. I thought Randall and Descole were the same person. (This is where TEoA came from btw)

And I thought Randall's name was "Randy". (Remembered only like a year ago. Me wanting to find out what happened to "Randy" (and now being able to) made me play all the games.)

However, I'd like to add what I call "the cutscene that isn't there at all," which probably was a dream or my own made-up reason for "The Boy Who Lost Randy".

Hershel indeed had the mask. My childhood brain didn't understand why "Randy" didn't give The Other Boy the mask. So, in my childhood brain's version, he did. In fact, I think it was a whole imagined cutscene where The Other Boy, after Randy's hand slipped from his, tried again to reach for him. But what was in his grasp next was not the warm embrace of his friend's hand—It was the cold, lifeless mask that doomed his friend. And going back to "the surface" as I thought it to be, The Boy Who Survived went to inspect the mask. To use it. To figure out why it took Randy's life.

And it. Didn't. Work.

Whatever it was supposed to be used for, The Boy didn't know what it was. He didn't know why it didn't work. I knew it had some sort of power—It just refused to activate.

And The Boy was so unbelievably upset: He threw the mask, being within a green-themed office with other archeological artifacts. The mask hit other items, knocked them off shelves, broke some things.

The Boy Who Survived hated it.

He hated the mask—and everything he was doing. Because there was nothing he could do to save his friend. To get answers. To have peace.

The Other Boy may have walked away from it in my childhood brain's version.

But I never did.

But I also could never play it until now. Though, whenever my friends, years and years later, told me: "Let's do an escape room!" or whenever I saw a puzzle…

I thought of him.

I thought of The Boy Who Fell.

I was reminded about how passion can sometimes lead to success or victory. Or crumbling defeat. Or loss that was too great to even imagine at a whole, wider scale.

It was only the December of 2023 that I realized I could find out what happened to Randy.

I looked up, "Professor Layton and the Mask". Miracle Mask showed up. It had to be it.

I looked up, "Professor Layton and the Mask Randy".

Randall Ascot showed up.

And I.

Found.

Out.

The Boy Who Fell... never died.

The first thing I sought to do was watch Eternal Diva. It was the first thing I had available.

And then I found out that The Masked Man was NOT "Randy". I went so, so long believing that they were the same person.

That The Other Boy grew up, adopted a kid (im sorry i didnt know the lore but i thought luke was adopted by him), and decided to go on a cruise vacation. On said cruise vacation, an evil guy showed up and was making a bunch of people disappear and fall from inside the ship. He was evil. He was bad.

But The Other Boy Who Was Now A Man With An Adopted Kid cornered The Bad Guy With The Mask. In a room on the ship, btw. The Detragiganto didn't exist.

They were almost the only ones left. They were The Survivors of the Masked Man's Game.

The Eternal Diva—the woman that the movie was named after—flew in the room, because she was a ghost, and absolutely obliterated The Masked Guy Who Was Bad.

She revealed his identity.

She revealed that he was Randy.

The Man Who Didn't Remember Because He Fell.

And The Man Who Survived All The Way Back Then was so, so, so saddened. So betrayed.

I'm quite happy. I'm happy that I can think of puzzles without thinking about The Boy Who Fell and The Boy Who Survived.

That every battle of wits was no longer a battle of life.

Oh, it sounds dramatic, but don't pity me. It's so, so hilarious to me. LMAO

I'm glad I can finally share this.

#the origins of #teoa #i'm so happy that i decided to play these games after all these years of wanting to.#i'm so glad that i found out what happened to randy and his friend. LOL #professor layton #hershel layton #randall ascot #(randy ascot LOL)#miracle mask #eternal diva #heal's ramblings #dan paolo #bc i forgot i talked about him too #I JUST MISSPELLED HIS NAME AGAIN #don paolo #sorry to all the don paolo fans out there

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nazali · 3 months ago

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Hannibal

my favourite female character: chiyoh!!!! my beautiful gorgeous girl who had both the ability and the audacity to shove will graham off of a moving train my favourite male character: will graham, again i will get into this further down three other favourite characters: hannibal lecter (unfortunately he is both funny and fascinating), reba mcclane (she is so good!! so good! she deserves better than all these morally bankrupt men), molly foster-graham (i would not shut up about her if i let myself ramble she is so kind and such a good mom and wife and she Also deserves so much better than these men. i love will to death but FUCK him fr leave molly alone. she was so cool in the scene with dolarhyde she did not need strength and superintelligence to get away from him she used everyday shit that anyone could do and it WORKED) my least favourite character: incidentally francis dolarhyde, when i first watched hannibal i was still very squicked out by nudity and seeing this fuckin guy grunting and flexing his nakedass body every five mins on my screen was A TEST OF MY RESILIENCE that i never got over my otp: hannibal/will. do people ever answer anything else for hannibal. they were my ride or die for what like 4-5 years?? i am devastated that i lost all my ao3 bookmarks for them because when i tell you i read THOUSANDS of hannigram fics. these two going canon was absolutely mind-blowing to me like i could not believe they had the balls to actually go there in this show that at the time was popular enough to be all over tumblr all the time i genuinely can't think of much i'd change about their relationship aside from Maybe being a little more overt at the end, but bryan fuller knows better than i do my notp: i was gonna say will/alana or hannibal/alana because i wasn't vibing with those storylines but then i remember people out there ship abigail with hannibal or will and that feels SO father/daughter to me that it makes me feel Discosting the character i'm most like: will graham. i will not get into the Nitty Gritty about my mental health here because that feels lowkey embarrassing to me but when i got into hannibal i was also struggling with things that had me experiencing chunks of lost time, dissociation, hallucinations, etc. this was partly a downside because hannibal-related hallucinations started to worm their way into my catalog of Shit To See BUT it was also the first time i'd ever connected with a character to the level of feeling almost like i was seeing my own brain broadcasted back to me on a screen, especially with my autism and avpd coming with hyperempathy, social avoidance, struggles with eye contact, etc. i was also, like, 16 at the time, so i hadn't yet learned how to deal with intrusive thoughts and was labouring under the illusion that i was Secretly Evil as a result of them, so will's struggle with his impulses & nature vs. him wanting so badly to be a good person were very relatable to me back then too favourite episode/season: this is cheating but specifically the latter halves of seasons 2 & 3. i'm not so big on the first halves bc they're mostly dealing with will in prison & hannibal/bedelia in italy which aren't the most interesting plotlines to me, but 2b (when will is trying to seduce hannibal & has everything with freddie lounds' 'death' and randall tier) & 3b (where hannibal is locked up and it's working its way to will getting him out) are MWAH chef's kiss to me. favourite episode specifically is the wrath of the lamb because how could it not be saddest character death: beverly katz :( i'm still sore about that every time most attractive character: chiyoh & reba from the women, rrrrghghgh probably will from the men but Specifically that fit he was rockin in the chiyoh episodes with the long black coat and popped collar and gloves that was so evil pirate looking

send me a fandom !

#asks #ask memes

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madroxed · 5 years ago

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the order (season two) thoughts.

so chotoranii asked me for my thoughts on the order season two. of which there are many. posting them here rather than in a reply so tumblr doesn’t fuck up the ‘keep reading’ break.

SO MANY SPOILERS AHEAD, OBVIOUSLY.

OK FOLKS, LET’S DO THIS. SORRY ABOUT THE WORD COUNT.

the good, the bad, and the incomprehensible.

ok SO. overall i thought this season was so much better than season one, especially in terms of production and acting.

i should start by saying, the biggest twist of this season? ME LIKING JACK AS A BLOND. i’ve been dragging that hair for months and i end up digging it? i’m so mad at myself.

ANYWAY the first three episodes? flawless! beautiful! amazing! they honestly took everything i could have listed as wanting and put it onscreen. jack trying out for cheer squad and having to stay on cheer squad to keep up the act? them finding each other almost immediately? the jokes about orgies? jack taking the knights seriously and holding on to his anger over the memory wipe? lilith and nicole? nicole in general? RANDALL AND HAMISH FAKE DATING (however briefly, seriously, i will be writing fic where they have to keep that up because i am betrayed that it was never brought up again and if you think i didn’t throw my laptop across the bed so i could run around screaming you’d be wrong)? A MAGIC HEIST?

honestly, all perfect.

............then the season started to go downhill. don’t get me wrong, there were still some excellent parts, but they were hindered by two things:

the plot jumping about too much to be comprehensible.

the fact that we the viewers are supposed to believe that randall carpio and hamish duke would not tear the world apart for lilith bathory immediately.

the first is forgivable; the first season’s plot was a simple enough device that meant it dragged a little at times. this season they seemed to not want to fall into that trap again, but in doing so threw something so big in that they needed far too much exposition because they didn’t have enough time to show it (a trait they fell into in a lot of ways, we’ll get back to that). SHOW, DON’T TELL, FOLKS. that being said, i really liked salvadore as a character, and the idea of a group of people striving to make magic accessible to all was a cool moral quandary plot.

the second is unforgivable to me, and led to the majority of my issues with the season. i understand the knights becoming members of the order (cool concept), i understand them struggling with conflicting loyalties because of it, but what i don’t understand is the fact that randall spent the majority of the season saying “let’s get lilith back!” only to back down at the first push back, and hamish was the push back. because......the order had other problems. IN WHAT UNIVERSE DO THE KNIGHTS OF SAINT CHRISTOPHER NOT PUT EACH OTHER FIRST AND SAY FUCK EVERYONE ELSE?

(jack i understand, if only because we saw so much of it last season. his loyalties are kinda flaky. i do understand his loyalty to vera; not only did she play a huge part in taking down edward last season, but the mind link thing and learning all her pain would have stuck with him. he loves a cause, that boy. also hey ho! jack was so much more likeable this season! we love to see it.)

also i just really missed lilith.

(thank fuck for nicole never giving up.)

the amount of callbacks to season one were fantastic. they didn’t just move on and leave it be, they referenced basically everyone, and seeing professor clarke and kyle again was a nice touch just to tie things together. there also being discussions about jack’s pete related trauma was great and necessary.

ok, so alyssa. i take back my post about how great it would be for her to be the villain. this was so much better. her trauma in the wake of both season one and then accidentally killing someone leading to her feeling so conflicted and lost and alone? her magic malfunctioning when it’s all she feels she has? we’ve always known she was ambitious, but to see her face straight on the idea that she may be left completely powerless and no one really listening or trying to help her except a hive mind that’s also hurting her? o u c h.

we saw this season that the real problem with the order is its motto of ‘hurry up and wait’. ‘we’ll save lilith.....just do all these other things first!’ ‘we’ll get alyssa’s magic back......there’s just more important things right now!’ it’s all so easy to see how that could frustrate someone so much they can’t take it anymore.

i’m so pleased i loved alyssa so much this season. i desperately wanted to and i’m glad they gave me that. i just felt so much for her. she just wanted to not feel so alone and so helpless and so scared that she was going to pick the wrong side again. it was beautiful.

this also meant alyssa/jack was better this season. having got the insta-love out the way last season (ugh), this season they were able to actually look at how that would play out if you took ramifications into consideration. all the problems i had with them last season were vocalised onscreen, and this new unstable thing left in its place was far more appealing to watch. they were messy and bad for each other and they knew it, but that didn’t stop them loving each other.

also: “if we get out of this, can i take you to the mall? because i really hate your jean jacket. and your hair.”

in regards to the other relationships:

lilith and nicole were adorable for the limited amount of time we got them onscreen. the slow crush to nervous dating was beautiful, and seeing lilith struggle with what getting her memories back meant in regards to that was great. we all know i thought the lilith/randall of last season was rushed, so having lilith torn over hurting one of the most important people in her life and following these feelings for someone new was lovely. IF WE GET A SEASON THREE I BETTER GET SO MUCH MORE OF THEM.

here’s the thing, putting aside lilith/nicole for a moment: the order can’t write good relationships (*with one major caveat).

hear me out.

in season one it was insta-love. jack and alyssa meet and suddenly defending alyssa is the only thing that matters to jack. it....wasn’t good. randall and lilith were thrown together with very little build up and we were supposed to roll with it.

this season we had both hamish/vera and randall/gabrielle. i would like to say that theoretically i am here for both of these. but.

hamish/vera occurred off screen. oh, sure, we had a couple scenes of them staring at each other over drinks, but that was all we got until late into the season. we were told that hamish and vera were a thing by randall when he was winding hamish up. we didn’t see it for ourselves. again, this show’s habit of telling not showing is a problem.

hamish and vera could make sense. two leaders of opposing factions having sort of hate, begrudging respect sex? i see it. from there, you can show us how it would become something more.

the show doesn’t.

we’re told they’re together. we’re told hamish is forsaking his knightly duties in favour of vera. we’re told by hamish that he’s drunk the order koolaid,

and all of this is supposed to culminate in us believing that hamish duke - tundra, leader of the knights of saint christopher, the most cunning of the wolves - would push aside everything else because he just believes that much in vera stone? to the point that he would all but abandon lilith and degrade his relationship with randall to randall being the annoying sidekick?

i woke up at two a.m. to write a note on my phone that says: ‘the greatest tragedy of the order season two is hamish duke’s character assassination.’ and i stand by that.

besides lilith’s absence for almost the whole season, it’s the thing i’m most mad about. i love hamish so much and to one-dimensionalise him in favour of a ship is...............shoddy work honestly.

so like i said. HAMISH/VERA COULD HAVE BEEN GOOD, BUT FOR FUCKSAKE SHOW, YOU HAVE TO ACTUALLY DEVELOP THIS SHIT.

randall/gabrielle was better developed. by which i mean we actually saw them interacting on screen. we got to see them begrudgingly working together, we saw him learn more about her, we heard them talk about her need to fit in somewhere. when they made the joke about being bffs? good stuff. would i like them to slowburn this shit? yes please. have them become best friends and then have those feelings be something else. i would really like that. the show just needs to.......slow down. not immediately see a single character and need to throw them into a relationship with the nearest person.

gabrielle was great this season. by which i mean, she was gabrielle, and we love some consistent characterisation. i think it’s so true to everything we know about her that she’d want to inject herself into the knights’ world; she wants to be part of the in-crowd, and right now that’s them. she’s also supremely jealous of alyssa because, to her, it seemed like alyssa had the best of both worlds. so, yes, her wanting to be around the knights and that developing into her begrudgingly liking them makes a lot of sense to me.

so, my caveat.

the relationship the order knows how to write? the knights. hamish, randall, lilith, and jack. that dynamic saved season one from being a total mess. that dynamic thrived in the early episodes of this season. IT’S JUST THAT GOOD. i said once that if the order just became greek (2007) but with werewolves i’d be happy, and the first three episodes really gave me that.

THE KNIGHTS ARE EACH OTHER’S SOULMATES, ASK ME HOW.

is this an excuse for me to complain that they gave us a hint of hamish/randall and then cruelly snatched it away and i’m still mad about it? YOU BETCHA.

is this also my way of saying there wasn’t nearly enough jack/randall this season? YOU BETCHA.

removing lilith from the equation (I’M STILL SO MAD) and then having hamish pull away from randall because..........who the fuck knows, was just a recipe for disaster.

clearly lilith is the glue that holds these idiots together.

so, vera. katherine isabelle still just steals every scene she’s in. i love her. i love vera’s characterisation. i love that she’s shamelessly ambitious but also wants the order to succeed and the world not to end. i love that she can be cold and cruel and still have such soft spots for both jack and alyssa. i love that she can be vulnerable and angry about it. i just........think vera’s pretty fucking great, tbh.

i still don’t understand why the knights - after their infiltration revenge plans go tits up - decide to just go full on order. like??????? hamish and jack barely even questioning anything???? randall must have spent most of this season feeling so alone.

that being said, when jack said to nicole and randall that he knew what they needed to get lilith back and the conversation pretty much went:

jack: you’re okay betraying the order?

nicole: for lilith, anything.

randall: i’d literally betray the order for a cookie, haven’t you been listening?

we love to see it.

OH, HEY GUYS, REMEMBER WHEN IAN ZIERING AND JASON PRIESTLEY WERE MEMBERS OF THE ORDER AND JASON PRIESTLEY BECAME GRAND MAGUS FOR A HOT SECOND???? that was written solely for me. i do not know who this show thinks its audience is, but it understands me to my core.

so...............i have zero clue where the show intends to go from here. i just need alyssa to be ok and i hope - like his friend randall - jack is willing to kill whoever the hell he has to to make that happen. (we stan randall straight up murdering someone to get lilith back and making sure nicole remains innocent and safe tbh.)

SO TL;DR: the early episodes gave me life. the show declined from there, but i still enjoyed it a lot. the order is at its best when the knights are a team, i loved alyssa’s story this season, and i have no clue what to expect from next season (if we get one). werewolf alyssa? villain jack, perhaps? we’ll see!

THIS POST PROBABLY SEEMS TOO NEGATIVE BUT HI! I STILL LOVED THIS SEASON A LOT AND I LOVE MY KIDS WITH MY WHOLE HEART AND IF YOU READ ALL A MILLION WORDS OF THIS THEN I LOVE YOU TOO.

also if anyone has any hamish/randall prompts i’ll be hanging out over here crying into my hands for the next few weeks. FAKE DATING. how dare they?!

#the order #the order spoilers #the order netflix #THIS IS.....TOO LONG I'M SORRY #i love this show so much????#but it's also a mess?????#basically my brand lbh

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mo-nighean-rouge · 5 years ago

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Gone - V

Jamie Fraser prepares to send Claire and Faith through the stones. A last-minute interference puts them all at stake.

A/N: Huge thanks to @ianmuyrray for dedicating a lot of time and patience to help me clean this up, as well as @lady-o-ren for always saying something kind.

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Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV | AO3

Previously:

Murtagh was being pulled down from Donas by two Redcoats. As they set his feet on the ground, he met Claire’s eye, his own full of guilt and shame.

She slid down from her own horse and sidled up to Jamie’s back as he tried to make himself impossibly bigger to hide her, lowering Faith to her arms.

Over his shoulder, she studied the English officers in the dim light. There was something oddly familiar about one of them.

April 17, 1746 | Scottish Countryside

“Please.” Jamie’s voice rang clear in the still morning. “Leave him be.”

Claire’s eyes flooded as she watched him march toward the scene in surrender. She pressed her forehead into Faith’s mangled curls to hide her tears.

“I’ll wager ye know who I am,” Jamie said decidedly. “Take me, and let my companions go free. I’ll no’ fight.”

The silence was deafening as each party studied the other.

“James Fraser,” the ranking officer bellowed from his mount. “Notorious Jacobite.”

One of the younger men holding Murtagh in a vice grip paled at the obvious confirmation.

“Then this could only be the Stuart Witch in your company, Mr. Fraser?” The officer continued, breaking into a dark chuckle. “It seems we’d be foolish to let any of you get too far today.”

“No!” Jamie shouted, but it was too late. He thrashed violently even as three men surrounded him. All Claire could see was the sun shining against his brilliant red hair as the men dragged him away.

The remaining soldiers approached Claire and Fergus, gripping them indelicately as they led them on a solemn march toward the camp just visible through the clearing. Even though no one tried to remove her, Claire tightened her grip around Faith’s middle until the little girl began to squirm and whimper.

Each unfriendly face they passed jeered at them, recognition of the long-awaited captives flashing in their eyes.

They were all forced into a semi-circle together, surrounded by their captors.

Claire lowered herself to the ground, hit with another bout of nausea. Little wonder, as they’d had nothing to eat since supper the night before.

“Mama?” Faith whined softly, the impatient tones of a temper tantrum in her voice.

Jamie dropped to his knees beside them, using dirty palms to check each of them over for injury. “I’m sorry. Sae sorry Claire. So verra sorry,” he whispered, shaking.

Claire palmed his cheek in return. There was nothing he could have done. They had chosen their path, knowing the consequences it might bring.

She leaned into him and together they shielded Faith, sure these were their last moments but uncertain what they might bring.

Claire barely registered the weary young man from before as he slowly backed away from his post and then dashed toward the largest tent at the edge of camp.

The commanding officer approached their huddle. “Captain Jacobs, at your service,” he sneered. “As long-sought after criminals in a losing battle, we’re certain you have plenty of information to share with us. Who knows, in the end your cooperation just may give us leave to be more lenient.”

Claire felt Jamie tense, her own breathing growing shallower. All they’d lost already, and their lives still on the line.

“Now,” Jacobs began. “I’d like to question each of you individually, starting with…” his cold eyes narrowed on Claire.

A throat cleared behind him, and the captain straightened. “Colonel.”

The colonel inclined his head as his inferior officer bowed.

“If you’re quite done, Captain… James and Mistress Fraser, I presume?” he asked them formally. He turned. “And Murtagh Fitzgibbons Fraser. And…” he tilted his head at the sight of Fergus. “Hello, young man. If you’d all accompany me to my quarters, it seems we have much to discuss.”

Jamie gave a slight nod. His face was the mask Claire knew would cover his thoughts, but he quickly rose, pulling Faith and her up with him.

As they walked, Faith dove toward Jamie and he caught her easily. Her eyes slipped closed at last, tucked against her da’s chest. It was likely for the best, as Claire herself hardly wanted to see what happened next.

________________________________________

As they ducked under the entryway of the large tent, the colonel motioned them toward a long table.

They’d need to keep their story straight. Balancing Faith’s slumbering form in one hand, Jamie ruffled Fergus's hair with the other, imploring him to keep quiet with a stern glance. Then Jamie reached for Claire, who accepted his touch, gripping his thigh firmly with her free hand.

After ensuring the tent flap was secure behind him, the colonel sat opposite them at the table. “I believe I’ve been remiss in introducing myself.” He straightened in the high-backed chair. “Colonel Harold Grey, Duke of Pardloe.”

Jamie frowned at the surname. Why did he know the name Grey?

“I’m told you’re all in acquaintance with my younger brother,” Grey continued. The young soldier from earlier stepped around a fold in the tent, flushed.

“Mr. and Mrs. Fraser, meet John William Grey.”

Surprised and a bit uneasy, Jamie and Claire glanced at each other before fully acknowledging the young man.

“Mr. Grey, pleasure to make your acquaintance again.”

“Mr. Fraser, Mistress Fraser, I trust you are both in good health.”

“Aye lad, at least my wife tells me so.” Jamie stroked Claire’s palm with his thumb.

John Grey nodded, smirking. “I suppose I should have guessed as much that night at Carryarrick, Sir.”

“As my brother reminds me,” Colonel Grey began, rubbing his temples. “He swore to you an oath of honor in exchange for his life.” He paused, looking from one Fraser to another. “It seems to fall on me to fulfill that promise today.”

“Just what will that mean, Colonel?” Jamie asked, his voice dropping to hide his nerves.

“I wonder if you’re familiar, Mr. Fraser, with Captain of Dragoons, Jonathan Randall?”

Claire’s nails dug into Jamie’s thigh as he shifted in his chair. “We’ve heard a bit in passing, aye. Most of it isna good.”

“Is he as nasty a man as they say?” Claire asked, trying to hide her emotions.

The colonel rose and fetched a decanter, pouring himself a drink before offering one to his guests. Jamie and Murtagh accepted, while Claire refused. Jamie knew she’d have a hard time stomaching ale on an empty belly.

“I’m afraid that everything you’ve heard, Mistress Fraser, pales in comparison to the truth. Allegations of abuse have followed him for years. But he always manages to shake them off before the consequences reach him.”

“That’s a shame.” Jamie swirled the drink in his mug. “But how does it relate to myself and my family?”

“We received word just this morning that Captain Randall met his end before the battle yesterday.”

Claire inhaled sharply.

Seemingly oblivious to their reactions, the colonel continued, pacing back and forth. “There was an outbreak of influenza in the camp. Terrible conditions, as you might imagine.”

Jamie shrugged, lifting one shoulder in response.

“As it turns out, he left behind a young widow with no other family to speak of. Mrs. Randall will be on her own to establish her inherited estate in Paris. She is also expecting his child.”

“I can’t imagine,” Claire whispered, rubbing her own belly underneath the table and trying not to shudder at the casual use of her friend’s married name.

“So, to conclude, I’m offering you both parole to her property in France. If you accept, you’ll leave on the next ship.”

“Mmmph.” Jamie nodded slowly, considering.

“Otherwise, I’m afraid there aren’t many options left in Scotland than the noose. For any of you.”

Jamie leaned forward, careful not to jostle Faith. “And what about my godfather, Murtagh?” he asked, his voice low.

The colonel turned his attention to the man in question. “I suppose any additional service would be to Mrs. Randall’s benefit.”

“And the children?” Claire asked. She rubbed Faith’s back.

Fergus perked up at this, looking between Claire and the colonel.

Grey cleared his throat. “As long as Mrs. Randall is willing to accommodate them, I see no issue in sending them along with you.”

“Ye should know,” Jamie warned. “I signed my estate away to my nephew. There will be no need to harass its residents.”

The colonel fixed his gaze on Jamie. “I have no desire to disturb properties that no longer belong to you, Mr. Fraser.”

Jamie and Claire exhaled together. “You have our gratitude, Colonel.”

Grey nodded. “To tell you the truth, I’ve watched many men fall over the past months. If only a few…” He cleared his throat again. “You’ll be detained here until our ship leaves in three days’ time, but you may move about the grounds as you wish. We will post any letters you wish to write before you leave. They will, of course, be read by myself first.”

________________________________________

Claire knelt by the stream with Faith in her arms, the remnant of a gooey bar of soap clenched in her palm.

“Time to get cleaned up, lovey.” She trailed a wet finger down Faith’s cheek.

Faith giggled, dropping her chin to her chest to get away. When her mother paused, she looked into Claire’s eyes and placed a hand on her cheek. “S’okay, Mama?”

Claire paused and gathered her baby tighter to her. “Yes, my love. Things are looking up for us.” She pulled back to meet her eye. “But you are safe no matter what, do you understand?”

Faith nodded, turning around and leaning back as Claire lathered her hair with soap.

“Stay close, but out of the water,” Claire reminded her gently as she started her own ablutions. She needn’t have worried though, as a quick glance over her shoulder assured her that Jamie was standing guard at the tree line.

She grimaced as she felt water hit her back. She turned around in time to see Faith standing by the shallow of the creek, splashing. She shook her head and chuckled, sweeping Faith up and spinning her around, her little girl giggling madly.

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

Claire stripped down to her shift as night finally fell over the camp. Fergus was tucked into a separate tent with Murtagh. The dour old man had scoffed at their accommodations, but Claire caught the grin he tried to hide as Jamie pulled the blanket snug over Fergus’s shoulders.

She checked on Faith one more time, snoozing soundly on her pallet at the other end of the tent. Smoothing out her bedroll, she dropped down next to Jamie, who had left on only his shirt. Even as she curled into him, he continued staring a hole through the wall of their tent.

“Ready to get some rest, soldier?” she asked, smoothing her hand over his freshly shaved cheek.

Jamie caught her hand in his, and placed a kiss on her palm, but said nothing.

Claire sighed. This was no good. “You know I’m feeling different than last time. You don’t suppose it could be twins?” She caressed her belly.

He jerked around to face her, then rolled his eyes when he caught her smug grin. “Och. So ye’re a wee jokester tonight, eh?”

“What is it?” she asked, stroking the hand she had healed for him with delicate fingers.

“I’m sorry, Claire,” he said softly.

She tilted her head. “Whatever for? Things looked dodgy there for a moment, but we’ve a way out now.”

One side of Jamie’s mouth ticked upward. “Aye, and I’m grateful for that, but once again it seems that being here has put ye in danger.”

Claire shifted to hold his face in her hands. “We’ll be fine,” she whispered. “There’s nothing we can’t do, together.”

Jamie squeezed his eyes shut. “I just canna help thinkin’ it was my fault.”

She hesitated before nodding, slowly, with an air of finality. “You’re right.”

He went still for a moment, her sarcasm taking a second to fully settle on him.

Claire shifted to drag their bodies fully together, nestling against his neck. His arm wrapped around her shoulder.

“You nearly gave up everything to make sure the children and I were safe.” She bit his earlobe. “When we get a chance to be alone,” she purred, pulling his mouth close to hers by the collar of his shirt. “You’ll find out whether I’m more inclined to punish or reward you for it.”

Jamie smiled at her and gripped her bottom. “I’ll hold ye to that.” He met her with a kiss, rubbing circles into her lower back. “I do love ye, Sassenach.”

“Mmm, you’ve mentioned that a time or two.”

He rolled to his back, folding her into his side with her palm over his heartbeat.

Claire could feel the heady tug of her exhaustion, and she was ready for sleep. But Jamie’s fingers tapping on her hip wouldn’t cease.

“Jamie?”

“Ach, sorry.” He stilled his hand into a grip instead.

“What’s on your mind??” Claire wondered.

Jamie looked at her in surprise. “Sassenach,we’re surrounded by men that have likely no’ seen a woman in months. I willna give them a chance at ye.”

“We’re 15 paces from Colonel Grey’s tent. I don’t think anyone is bold enough to try anything.”

“Mmmph. That Captain Jacobs. Dinna like the way he was looking at ye.”

Claire sighed, thumping her head against his shoulder. “Even in sleep, you’ll know if he shows up.” She scratched the back of his head, knowing his eyes would droop as she did.

His body relaxed. “Will ye wake me if anything’s amiss?”

“Of course. And I can defend myself, you know.”

“Aye.” He smirked. “But ye shouldna have to.” He pressed a kiss to her temple before letting his eyes drift shut at last.

________________________________________

Jamie’s family patiently stood to the side as Colonel Grey conferred with the harbormaster -- almost patiently.

Faith wriggled in Jamie’s arms as she rubbed her eyes and adjusted her position against his shoulder again. Fergus paced back and forth under Murtagh’s nose, causing the older man to mutter under his breath.

And Jamie himself twitched in the breeches provided to him by Redcoats. Colonel Grey insisted that tartan was outlawed and didn’t want his prisoner wearing a kilt in front of his colleagues. Jamie complied, albeit reluctantly. It wasn’t just the loss of his kilt that bothered him, nor Claire’s tartan shawl that he’d spread her out over more times than he could count. It was their last day in Scotland for an indeterminable amount of time. He couldn’t say when the next time he’d see Lallybroch or even a patch of heather would be.

But then Claire tightened her grip on his elbow, leaning her head against his shoulder. Regardless of what he was going to lose, he’d managed to keep his wife. His family. Everything else could bide.

Jamie came to attention as Grey turned back toward them. He didn’t like the look on the man’s face.

“Colonel?”

Grey’s face was drawn. “It seems that demand for passage is quite high. Only official prisoners are allowed transport.” He met Jamie’s eye. “Now, your… Fergus… I can assign parole status, but your daughter…”

Jamie felt himself begin to quake. Claire went white beside him.

“I’d be more than obliged to have some of my men deliver her to your family estate while I accompany you to France…”

“Ye said you would leave Lallybroch alone,” Jamie bit out.

“It would remain safe, Mr. Fraser, it would be a simple business matter— ”

“We go as one, or not at all. I canna…” His eyes fell to Claire’s silver ring, remembering all it represented. To leave part of his heart in another country for years… The carpet bag in Claire’s hand caught his eye.

The piece was clean, if threadbare, also provided by Grey. Perhaps it was fortunate after all that their belongings had barely covered the bottom.

“I’ve an idea, if ye’d be agreeable, Colonel.”

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

The bones of Jamie’s hand ground into Claire’s as they crossed the dock toward the awaiting ship. His other arm held the carpet bag against his hip.

“Halt,” barked the harbormaster . “We have orders from the Crown to check your cargo. They suspect you lot may try to smuggle contraband to whatever miserable place you’re headed.”

Grey nodded as the dockhands moved to pop his trunk open, but cleared his throat as they reached for the bag Jamie carried. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

The harbormaster, a fellow Redcoat, looked at him suspiciously. “And why would you say that?”

Grey leaned toward the man sternly. “I’ve checked their belongings already. I don’t imagine the discipline that would follow second guessing me is worth peering inside Mistress Fraser’s medical kit. You can only imagine the ghastly methods that pass for medical treatment in the Highlands -- dead toads, mummified crickets, and something that strangely resembles a man’s toe…” He shuddered.

“You folks are free to board,” the harbormaster blanched.

Murtagh and Fergus carried little cargo, and nothing the dockhands were willing to risk investigating.

They hastened onto the ship and locked themselves away in their respective cabins, while Grey went to introduce himself to the ship’s captain and explain their unusual situation.

Jamie watched the carpetbag wiggle as Claire undid its fastenings, followed by the appearance of a curly head.

Before Faith could react, Jamie plucked her from it and pulled her to him, embracing her so hard she squawked.

“Wonderful, Lovey.” Claire crushed herself into their embrace.

“Da is sae proud of ye, a nighean,” Jamie whispered into her ruffled curls. “I ken ye dinna understand now, but ye will someday.”

Faith raised her finger to her lips. “Shhh!”

“Yes, you were very brave.” Claire smiled. “But you don’t have to be anymore.”

________________________________________

Claire smoothed the blanket over Faith’s slumbering form, then stood up from the bottom bunk and closed the door softly behind her. She knocked on Murtagh’s door and asked him to listen for Faith.

She climbed to the deck of the ship, spotting her husband leaning over the railing in the darkness. She wrapped her arms around him from behind.

“You’re not thinking of abandoning ship are you? All this effort would have been quite a waste.”

Jamie turned in her arms and wrapped her in his own. “Nae. ‘Tis just such a beautiful a night.”

“Hmm. Any seasickness yet?” Claire turned in his embrace, her back to his chest.

“Not yet. I think my heid’s working too hard to catch up with all that’s happened.” He rested his chin on her shoulder. “And all I have to be grateful for. But what about ye?” He rubbed his hand in a circle over her belly.

“Nothing to report yet.” She shook her head. “But I have a feeling it might return with a vengeance in the morning.”

“I wish there was something I could do to help ye with it,” he murmured into her hair.

“Just be with me,” she sighed.

They looked out over the moon-lit water together, swaying gently.

“Did you ever think we’d get here?” Claire whispered. “When we took that first ship ride?”

Jamie exhaled. “No’ at all. I could scarcely imagine putting the parts of me back together to make a whole man. But ye did that.” He turned her to face him, lifting her chin to meet his eye. “Now the Scotland I knew is gone, but me and mine and hale are provided for.” He placed a hand on her bottom. “And my bonnie wife has already given me two and a half bairns to cherish.”

Claire laughed as her lips met his. Not even a week ago, she’d expected to find herself pregnant and alone with a toddler, preparing to face a man she’d let go of first physically, then emotionally.

Instead, they’d fought for each other, and their family. Though they would part one day, it wouldn’t be today. Nor any day soon, if they had anything to say about it.

epilogue to follow

#Jamie Fraser #Claire Beauchamp #Faith Fraser #Murtagh Fitzgibbons Fraser #Fergus Fraser #Gone #Canon Divergence au #Outlander #Outlander fanfic #my fic

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cry-stars · 4 years ago

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Hershel Layton and LayClaire for the meme?

Thank you so much! I’m sorry, this is super long.

Hershel Layton:

How I feel about this character:

I love Layton! I really love how, even though he’s a Sherlock Holmes-style genius and puzzle-solver, he has none of the arrogance that usually shows up in those kinds of characters. He’s gentle and kind, and always tries his best to protect others. He just has this calming effect on everything around him, somehow. I love how he shows mercy and kindness even to people that are rude to him or who have hurt him. He’s a true gentleman and really inspires me to be like him, honestly.

All the people I ship romantically with this character:

I don’t actively ship him with anyone, but I have some fondness for both Layclaire and Layemmy, the latter mostly because of my friends who like the ship!

My non-romantic OTP for this character:

Layton and all of his students/children, but especially Clive, haha… the two of them are very similar in a lot of ways, and I really love the idea of Layton deciding to extend mercy to Clive and helping him become a better person, and along the way, learning that maybe Clive also has some ways to help him as well.

My unpopular opinion about this character:

Um… I don’t think he’s an awful dad. I think he’s pretty good, if a bit distant. He’s always kind and thoughtful, and always concerned for Flora’s safety (and I assume Alfendi and Katrielle too; I still haven’t finished Kat’s game). Layton’s main problem is that he doesn’t plan on being a dad, but when someone is in need of a guardian or caretaker, he just can’t say no and jumps to helping them, perhaps without being emotionally prepared. His first instinct is to help. Like, for Flora, Layton just wanted to solve an inheritance dispute, but finds a girl at the top of the tower who has no parents, likes him, and wants to go to London with him. How could he say, “sorry, I’m not ready to be your dad?” and leave her behind?

Layton just needs to learn when to ask for help himself; he has parents and friends that could be a support system if he asked them. I think that he really tries his best, though, and there’s no way that he would ever be abusive or neglectful. I think he really should listen to Flora, of course; I love Flora to bits and I think the way he leaves her behind is awful. I just think that people need to think about Layton’s past, and how he’s trying his best to fill a position that he may never have been ready to take. It’s a grey area, for sure.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon:

I wish Layton got more closure regarding all of the horrible things that happened to him. His long-lost brother vanishes, seemingly dead. His biological dad goes to jail. His best friend returns from the dead, and they never even get a conversation together. Claire dies twice, and while they got a final goodbye, he learned that she was alive and watched her die again all in the space of one day. So many awful things happen to him so quickly, and he never gets the chance to process them.

my OTP:

Layton/therapy

my cross over ship:

Not romantic, but I love his interactions with Phoenix and Maya so much. I want to see them go on another adventure together (this time with Flora! And maybe Trucy or Pearl from AA).

a headcanon fact:

I’ve thought for a long time that Layton has PTSD, but ordinarily manages to hide it quite well. This is why he’s so reticent and doesn’t show his emotions very much, for fear of losing control, and also why he tries so hard to be helpful and understanding to others who share similar traumatic backgrounds to him (for example, why he takes Flora in, why he wants to help Clive, and why he so quickly takes Luke in as an apprentice). It started after Randall’s death, became worse after Claire’s first death, and was re-triggered for a third time after Claire’s second death and Luke’s move overseas. Layton was trying to help Clive after this by visiting him, but seeing the similarities between Clive’s PTSD and and his own, and seeing Flora and Clive’s concern for him, he was finally convinced to go and get help for his own trauma.

Layclaire:

when I started shipping it if I did:

I’ve always shipped them casually because I enjoyed the story of PL3 so much.

my thoughts:

Layclaire is one of those complicated ones for me, where I like it in canon and don’t have a problem with it, but I don’t get butterflies thinking about them like I do for my OTPs. Recently though, I got a little more invested in shipping them after reading an old post about the parallels between Layclaire and Clive’s parents. (Of course it was Clive related… :P) Basically, I don’t ship them hard, but I appreciate how they work together in the story and how they make PL3’s story meaningful.

What makes me happy about them:

I love how Claire was such a wonderful new part of Layton’s life! After playing the prequels, we know how tumultuous his early life was, and after losing Randall and having to leave Stansbury, I imagine that Hershel felt pretty lost. Claire’s bright-eyed idealism and motivation might have inspired Hershel, and likewise, Hershel’s quieter nature might have been grounding to Claire.

What makes me sad about them:

Claire’s dead…

Also, I wish we got to know Claire a little better! Maybe if we got to play as young Hershel in a similar way to playing as teen!him in Miracle Mask? I’d like to get to know Claire in the same way that we got to know teen Randall; it might make her loss more meaningful. (I know Clark and Brenda didn’t exist yet, but it would’ve been fun to see them too during a flashback!)

things done in fanfic that annoys me:

I haven’t read a lot of Layclaire fanfics, honestly, so I’m not sure. I don’t know if this is the case in any, but I’d be a bit annoyed if Claire was the “manic pixie dream girl” to a depressed Layton and cured his depression, or something. At the same time, I do think she would have helped him a lot, so I might not be too picky with this.

things I look for in fanfic:

I love fanfics that build on Claire’s character, or give her more of a backstory! Take Two, which is an AU in which Claire survives the explosion and she and Layton adopt Clive, gives Claire a lot of good backstory; she was an adopted child herself, for example. It also lets her grapple with feelings of guilt over having caused the explosion. People often let Layton feel darker emotions in fanfics, but I don’t often see Claire being allowed to have that range of emotion (although again, I admit that I haven’t read a lot of Layclaire-centric stories, just ones that have Layclaire as a part of a bigger plot). Basically, I’d like to see Claire grow as a character, and see her be allowed to feel darker emotions like Layton is allowed to.

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other:

I’m not sure… Maybe Emmy for Layton? And Claire could become bros for life with Dimitri.

My happily ever after for them:

In a canon-like universe, I’m okay with Claire dying, to be honest (although I feel bad saying that) but I wish that she and Layton had a bit more time together. Maybe if they had a week where they could talk through everything they never got the chance to? In a universe where Claire never died, I’d like to see her as a part of Layton’s other adventures, becoming Flora’s mom and being a mentor to Luke.

who is the big spoon/little spoon:

Layton’s the little spoon, I think, but Claire lets him be the big spoon sometimes.

what is their favorite non-sexual activity:

They love to ramble to each other about their projects. They’ll make a pot of tea, and sit down, and talk through what they’re excited about and what they’re having troubles with, and give each other advice. Even though they’re in separate fields of study, they always give each other new ideas. I think that they might have been planning an interdisciplinary project together on Azran technology before the explosion.

#thank you so much! I'm sorry this is so long #long post #64's headcanons #hershel layton #claire foley #layclaire #101flavoursofweird

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devientdeco · 4 years ago

Text

I’ve compiled a list of my books which may interest yall, due to things relating to murder, history, or other interesting things:

The Murder Of The Century by Paul Collins; Fascinating and, at the time, famous murder case in 1890s New York. The over-the-top and theatrical lawyer William Howe would make a fascinating walk-on role if a lawyer is ever required given his penchant for the dramatic and unusual. (in unrelated cases, he once had a witness move to Japan, and successfully convinced a jury that a trigger finger “slipped” four times)

Red Famine: Stalin’s War on Ukraine by Anne Applebaum; An excellent and quite readable analysis of the mass starvation known as the Holodomor, in the Ukraine in the 1920s and 1930s, told alongside the Soviet campaign to destroy Ukrainian identity and religion.

The Vampire: A New History, by Nick Groom; An interesting account of the history of the vampire and associated folklore prior to Dracula. Focuses mostly on England, but still an interesting book.

The Ghosts of Eden Park by Karen Abbott; An interesting Jazz Age murder coupled with bootlegging and madness.

The Berlin-Baghdad Express by Sean McMeekin: Detailing Imperial Germany’s attempts at courting the Ottoman Empire and trying to weaponize the concept of Jihad against the British, it also delves briefly into German spy-archeologists who wouldn’t be out of place in Imprisoned With The Pharaohs, like the scandalous Baron Max Von Oppenheim.

The Wolf; The Mystery Raider That Terrorized The Seas During WW1 by Richard Gulliat: In Dagon, a German “sea-raider” captures the narrator. I’m assuming it was one of the cargo ships converted into lethal raiding vessels, like the SMS Wolf; which spent 15 months at sea. I also wrote a paper for my history methods class, all about differences in newspaper accounts between the New York Times and the London Times, with regards to the fascinating SMS Mowe, which operated in the Atlantic, so I have other books about the raiding vessels if anyone is interested by them.

The Radium Girls by Kate Moore; Tells the tale of radioactive paint and the girls who licked the paintbrushes to get them fine enough for the number painting; and their inevitable horrible deaths and the lawsuits and struggles of the longest living ones.

Issac’s Storm by Erik Larson; Pretty much everything by Larson is fantastic; it’s non-fiction, but it’s thrilling and reads like a novel. This one tells the story of Issac Cline, a metrologist working in Galveston Texas, and the 1900 Galveston Hurricane, the deadliest in US history. A tale of hubris and storms.

In The Garden Of Beasts by Erik Larson; The story of the first US ambassador to Nazi Germany (from my state!), and his family in Berlin in the late 1930s. Politics, murder, and affairs with the head of the Gestapo and a Soviet agent (simultaneously!).

The Poisoners Handbook by Deborah Blum; A book about Jazz Age NYC and poisonings as well as the first Chief Medical Examiner (the corruption and sheer ineptitude of the last coroner before the position was abolished is almost comical; see the fact that he ruled a death as “assault or diabetes”). Explains in a understandable way how many poisons work, and provides fascinating cases as examples.

The Witches by Stacy Schiff; An account of the Salem Witch Trials, as well as an interesting overview of Puritan New England.

The Devil In The White City by Erik Larson; Another excellent book by Larson, juxtaposing the the 1893 Worlds Fair and the activities of serial killer H. H Holmes.

Dead Wake by Erik Larson; This one covers their sinking of the Lusitania and the activities of the U-Boat which sank it. Also covers the going’s-on of British Naval Intelligence and Woodrow Wilson.

Thunderstruck by Erik Larson; Another book of ships and serial killers and science, juxtaposing the invention of wireless by Marconi with the murder committed by George Crippen and how wireless led to a trans-Atlantic chase by Scotland Yard.

African Kaiser by Robert Gaudi; Tells the story of the fascinating Paul Von Lettow-Vorbeck and his guerrilla campaign in Africa. Featuring recon on bikes, a British Intelligence nemesis/friend, and an airship resupply mission.

The American Plague by Molly Crosby: About Yellow Fever and it’s outbreak in Memphis, TN, in 1878, and the work of Walter Reed to discover its vector.

City of Light, City of Poison by Holly Tucker; A fascinating historical incident in 1670s France, where poisonings, murder, witchcraft, and corruption amongst the aristocracy led to scandalous trials and King Louis XIV ordering documents destroyed after a mistress was implicated. Witches, poison, and intrigue!

Black Death at The Golden Gate by David Randall; An interesting account of the 1900 outbreak of bubonic plague in San Francisco.

The Splendid And the Vile by Erik Larson; An excellent account of Churchill and London from 1940 to 1941, the brunt of The Blitz.

Midnight in Chernobyl by Adam Higgenbotham; An excellent and well-written account of Chernobyl. Very easy to understand and well-written, and also provides an interesting glimpse into Soviet culture.

And finally, a fiction book that I thought might intrigue y’all;

The Devil Aspect by Craig Russell; Set in 1930s Czechoslovakia, a psychologist interviews 6 serial killers at an asylum in an effort at discovering what he terms “The Devil Aspect”. Things take an unusual turn when he experiments with drugs to unlock the unconsciousness of his patients, as another serial killer stalks Vienna. Almost like a 1930s take on Silence Of The Lambs. Very well-written, in my opinion. Has a slightly Lovecraftian-ish twist, and the asylum overall/experiments make me think of Lovecraft a bit (don’t think Call of Cthulhu, think Thing On The Doorstep or Shadow Out of Time).

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underthewingsofthblackeagle · 5 years ago

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After her marriage with Frank Randall has failed and Claire Beauchamp flees from her violent husband, she finds refuge in the house of the Fraser/Murray family in Berlin-Wilhelmshorst. But then tensions arise between Britain (which has since left the EU) and some EU member states. All holders of an English passport are required to leave EU territory within six weeks … and suddenly Claire’s fate looks more uncertain than ever.

This story was written for the #14DaysofOutlander event, hosted by @scotsmanandsassenach

“Glencoe” by dowchrisr

Chapter 2: 14 Men (1)

James Alexander Malcolm MacKenzie Fraser was born and raised in the Scottish Highlands. But the development of world history made it impossible for him to spend the rest of his life in his beloved homeland. Well-read in European history and as a keen observer of global political developments, he had guessed early on that the hard "Brexit" of Great Britain would lead the (until then) United Kingdom into an unprecedented chaos.

“Brexit” by Foto-Rabe

When the Corona Pandemic ebbed in Europe and the British Isles and travel restrictions were largely lifted, James Fraser, as head of his clan, decided it was high time to leave the country he and his family loved so much. Many people around him, especially the other 13 members of the "New Jacobites", felt the same way. Some of his friends emigrated to the Republic of Ireland, others to France or the Netherlands. For Jamie and his family another door had opened many years before. Jared Fraser, one of Jamie's uncles, had gone to Paris in his youth and (starting from the French capital) had built up a flourishing, Europe-wide wine trade. He had also opened a branch in Berlin. From there the entire business for Germany and South-East Europe was coordinated. In order to save taxes and to invest the proceeds of his business profitably despite the European Central Bank's zero-interest policy at that time, Jared Fraser had bought real estate. Among the houses he had purchased in the state of Brandenburg was a well-preserved manor house just some kilometers outside of the German capital. After his death, this part of Jared's estate had fallen to Jamie and his sister Jenny.

So it came about that on the day it was decided at Westminster that the emergency laws passed because of the Corona Pandemic should remain in force, a container ship left the port of Edinburgh for the port of Rostock. The containers it was carrying contained most of the Fraser/Murray family's movable property. The family itself, Jamie, Ian, Jenny and the children, had boarded a Norwegian Airlines plane the night before, which took them to Berlin-Schönefeld Airport within four and a half hours with a stopover at Oslo-Gardermoen. When they arrived at the airport, Felix Kloppstock, the vice manager of the Berlin headquarters, who had become a trusted employee of Jared Fraser, had picked them up in a minibus owned and used by one of the wine shops. When they arrived in Wilhelmshorst near Potsdam, the house was already prepared for them. The beds were made and the smell of roast venison came from the kitchen, letting them know that dinner was ready. They were then greeted by Mr. and Mrs. Ballin. The 55-year-old housekeeper Helene and her husband Frieder had also been hired by Jared Fraser and entrusted with the management of the house years ago. When all the Frasers/Murrays fell into their beds late in that night, they did so with one laughing and one crying eye. Laughing because they knew they were safe now. Crying because they missed their home. And James Fraser was thinking about something else entirely. He was grateful that his parents didn’t had to witness the political developments of the present day. At the same time, he was overcome with a feeling of great sadness when he thought that he would probably not be able to visit their graves in the cemetery near Lallybroch for a very long time.

“Brandenburg” by reinhardweisener

Just a few days after their arrival at their new home at Wilhelmshorst, they were to learn from the media how right and decisive their step had been. They had put the children to bed after dinner and were now sitting together in the kitchen for a while. Jenny became as white as a sheet when the radio reported that the London government had announced that it would now explicitly use the emergency laws to take action against the Scottish independence movement, which was growing bigger and louder with every single day. Anyone suspected of being part of the "New Jacobites" or their followers should be arrested and charged with high treason. Ian, who was sitting next to Jenny at the kitchen table, looked up in horror. Jamie, who had just taken two bottles of beer from the fridge for himself and Ian, turned, looked at them and just sighed.

"This is what I've always been afraid of. But don't worry, our naturalization papers. identity cards and passports are on their way. I spoke to Ernst last night."

Ernst, more precisely Ernst Neuenburger, was Under State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Economics. Jamie had met the official in 2018, when his uncle Jared took him to the ministry's summer party, introducing his nephew to the network he had been building across Europe for many years. (More than anybody else outside Scotland, Jared Fraser had dedicated his life with great zeal to the service of the "New Jacobites". Wherever on the continent he could, he had used his influence and financial resources to promote an independent Scotland with good relations to the EU). James Fraser and Ernst Neuenburger were immediately sympathetic to each other. And in the course of the day, Jamie discovered that Ernst Neuenburger was not only a competent interlocutor in economic matters, but that he had also a great affection for Scotland.

BMWi Goerckehof mit Brunnen by Fridolin freudenfett - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=62265692

"If we take the right of self-determination of peoples seriously, as laid down in Article 1(2) of the UN Charter, through the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of December 19, 1966, then Scotland must be given the right to be a State in its own right," the Under Secretary of State had said.

Jamie had nodded in agreement and then, more jokingly, asked:

"Are you secretly a Jacobite, Mr. Neuenburger?"

"No, Mr. Fraser," the politician had replied with a smile, but with a very serious undertone in his voice, "I don't think you have to belong to any special group to stand up for freedom and self-governemenrt. To be a democrat is, in my opinion, quite enough."

Neuenburger, who obviously enjoyed talking to Jared Fraser's nephew, took a quick look around.

"Why don't we take a few steps," he then said, pointing with one hand towards a path that would lead them away from the center of the festival.

"Gladly," Jamie replied, and together they moved away from the crowd. Jamie well remembered seeing his uncle Jared as he walked away, talking to a man and a woman in the shade of a high hedge, also a little away from everyone else. Jared had smiled, nodded briefly to his nephew and then immediately returned to his conversation partners.

When they had moved about two hundred yards away, it was Jamie who resumed the conversation:

"It's interesting that you say that as a German, we're only used to revolutionary sounds from French people. The French supported us in earlier centuries, but the Germans..."

"If I may say so, Mr. Fraser," Neuenburger interjected, "the Germans didn't exist then. When the French supported the Scots, thanks to the political intrigues of the French, the Austrians and the Russians, there was only a patchwork of small and tiny German countries. It was Bismarck..."

"I know, I know. But they were Germans, the King of Hanover..."

"Oh, yes, of course. And no need you remind me that the Kingdom of Prussia was allied with the Kingdom of Hanover... But you know the saying: 'You can't choose your family, but you can choose your friends'. As you may know, George August II was a cousin of Frederick William I, the father of Frederick the Great. Both George II and Frederick I were brought up by their common grandmother, the Electoress Sophie at the palace of Herrenhausen near Hanover. It has been historically recorded that the men already had an aversion to each other as children. This aversion continued later, when they became men or kings, respectively."

Neuenburger paused with his remarks when a waitress appeared with a tray of glasses filled with champagne and offered them to the two men. Both men exchanged their empty glasses for full ones and continued their walk.

"Twice it almost came to war between Hanover and Prussia. Did you know that?" asked Neuenburger.

Jamie looked at him questioningly and shook his head slightly.

"In 1731 there was a dispute between the kingdoms and the royal families because Prussia was recruiting settlers wherever possible. George II issued an edict and assembled an army on the banks of the river Elbe. Friedrich Wilhelm I, on the other hand, had 40,000 soldiers stationed at Magdeburg to defend his territory if necessary. The dukes of Brunswick and Gotha mediated and were able to settle the dispute to a certain extent. A war was prevented. But it was a cold peace. At the same time as the Scottish resistance was crushed at Culloden, another dispute between Hanover and Prussia was smouldering. After the death of the last prince from the house of Cirksena in 1744, it was disputed who would inherit the county of East Frisia. On the part of the Frisian princes there had been a contract of inheritance with Hanover since 1691, but Frederick I had received a “Letter of Expektanz”, meaning an actual entitlement, from Emperor Leopold on 10 December 1694, which said, that after the extinction of the princely house of East Frisia the county should fall to the kingdom of Prussia. The decisive factor in this conflict, however, was the city of Emden. At that time the town was politically isolated and economically weakened. The reason for this was the “War of Appelle” fought in 1726/27. This war was actually a civil war and resulted from a conflict between Prince Georg Albrecht of East Frisia and the East Frisian Estates. It was, how could it be otherwise, about the tax sovereignty. But even after their defeat, the city leaders did not give up their goal of making Emden an important economic metropolis again. Since the 'Emden Revolution' in 1595 the city had the status of a quasi-autonomous urban republic. In this - successful - revolution the city had already freed itself once from the rule of the Cirksena and, as a ‘satellite’ of the Netherlands, achieved de facto the status of a free imperial city. From then on, the representatives of the city signed all contracts and public publications according to the Roman model with ‘S.P.Q.E.’ (Senate and People of Emden). The title ‘Respublica Emdana’ and the abbreviation ‘S. P. Q. E.’ were from then on officially used by the city. Understandable that the aldermen of the town wanted to return to this freedom and independence, which they had already once enjoyed. When the last Cirksena Prince took over his reign in 1734, the city had already refused to pay homage to him. But at least from 1740 on, the Emden councillors planned to achieve their goal with the help of the Prussian King. Secretly they negotiated the ‘Emden Convention’ with the Prussians. In this treaty, Prussia recognized the rights and privileges of the city of Emden and the East Frisian estates, and in return the East Frisian estates recognized the rule of Prussia after the death of the last prince from the house of Cirksena. It was a win-win situation. Prussia left the East Frisians and their estates the liberties they had enjoyed before and in return received a land with access to the North Sea. On 25 May 1744, two weeks after the Emden Convention had been ratified by both parties, the last prince of East Frisia died. Prussia immediately asserted its right of succession. The widowed Princess of East Frisia, a relative of Friedrich II, recognised the succession of Prussia on May 26th and recommended herself ‘to the protection and generosity of the King’. Frederick II had immediately instructed his representatives to make it known everywhere that the privileges and rights of the East Frisians would remain undiminished and that no enticement of East Frisian citizens was to be feared. With this reassuring message, the Prussian soldiers in Aurich and Leer were even positively received. The seizure of possession was already completed on June 2, just one week after the death of the Prince. Three weeks later, on June 23, 1744, the entire county paid homage to the Prussian Crown.

“Rathaus Emden” by fokkengerhard

What do you think, Fraser? Did they rejoice at it in Hanover, or better, in London? I don't think so. On June 3, the Hanoverian official Voigt arrived in East Frisia with papers demanding the rights of the Hanoverians. But there the whole thing was already finished. The speed with which the takeover of East Frisia took place, made possible by the careful and secret preparation, once again put the Hanoverian competitor in the shade. One cannot avoid the impression of dilettantism on the part of Hanover. It is true that they had also reacted immediately there by sending Voigt to East Frisia on June 3, with a corresponding power of attorney, but nobody wanted to accept him or his claims officially. On June 10, the Estates very aptly informed him that the contract which had been concluded between the House of Cirksena and the House of Hanover was neither known to them nor did it concern them, since neither they nor the Emperor had approved the document. East Frisia was also supposed to have a potential for conflict for some time to come. In 1748 the disputes over maritime trade became more intense, especially with the Netherlands, but also with England and Sweden. During the Seven Years' War, however, England then needed the support of Prussian soldiers and only in the course of this did it give up all claims in relation to East Frisia."

The two men had stopped and emptied their glasses.

"Why are you telling me all of this?"

“Brunnen im Kanonenhof des Invalidenhauses, heute Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft, Berlin” by Dirk Sattler - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=62311136

"Well, you said it was unusual to hear 'revolutionary' sounds from a German. Surely, as Frederick Engels once said, ‘revolutions in Prussia are made from above’. We may not be as revolutionary as the French, but please remember that we are a very, very freedom-loving people. The history of the First and Second World Wars is well known. However, the history of the our war of libration, 1813 to 1815, against Napoleon is often overlooked. The support from the people was so great that some historians even speak of the Prussian People's War. Men and women exchanged their golden wedding rings for iron rings to support their country. The phrase ‘gold I gave for iron’ became something like a proverb. A well-known picture, which spread after the wars of liberation, shows a returning soldier. He does not call out to his wife, who welcomes him with open arms, ‘I am back’ but ‘The fatherland is free! Victoria!' And it wasn't just then. Remember that this country has been struggling for 40 years to be reunited and thus to be free. Not aggressively, but with endurance. And when the Germans in the East brought down the SED regime, it was a peaceful revolution that brought the dictatorship to its knees. What do you think, Fraser, the people here would feel for a people that is oppressed by its, shall we say, bigger neighbour?"

Neuenburger slowly began to walk again. Jamie latched on.

"Why exactly are you telling me all of this?" he asked.

"Well, perhaps I wanted to remind you that revolutionary, i.e. cataclysmic, thoughts don't always have to unload themselves in a storm of the Bastille. Sometimes it is wiser to keep them to yourself and ... say, wait for the ratification of an Emden Convention. As far as I know, a freedom-loving people will always welcome and ... support the freedom, or rather the liberation, of another people.”

Neuenburger smiled. Jamie shook his head slightly and smiled too.

"Come Fraser," the newfound friend then said, "let's go. The buffet is open."

The conversation between the two men was not without consequences. Twice, once in autumn 2018 and once in summer 2019, Ernst Neuenburger had visited the Frasers' home estate in the Scottish Highlands as a holiday guest, before political events made these trips impossible for him. But the two men's confidence in each other had grown during these weeks of walking, horseback riding and hunting together, to the point that by the end of 2020 Jamie was able to make contact with his friend in Berlin unnoticed (through previously agreed 'private' channels). Everything that happened then, that had to happen to bring the Fraser/Murray family into safe exile, happened very quickly. It had to happen very quickly because the window of opportunity to do so was, as in any historical moment, only open for a very short time.

“Schottland” by Emphyrio

On the first Saturday evening that the Frasers/Murrays spent in their new home, Ernst Neuenburger came by to deliver the passports, identity cards and naturalisation papers for all family members. Jenny invited him for dinner and afterwards Jamie and the guest went to the library to talk in private. After the two men had discussed the political situation in Europe for a while over a glass of whisky in front of the fireplace, Ernst Neubauer leaned over to his host..

"We have a question for you..."

It had been clear to James Fraser that sooner or later Neuburger would approach him with a request. He didn't see it as extortion or payment. On the contrary, he was grateful if he could do something in return for the privileges granted. He would have been reluctant to remain a debtor to his friend.

"You must believe me when I tell you I didn't plan this. I have and will continue to do everything I can to help you and your family with great joy ..."

"Speak Ernst, straight forward."

"Well, you have some skills that would be very useful to us. You speak English, perfect French, very good German. You are intelligent and a man who can keep quiet. You also have a thriving wine trade and as a businessman..."

"... I can travel anywhere without raising suspicion?”

"Right. But the most important thing is that I trust you."

The men were silent for a moment.

"Would you be willing," Neuenburger then asked, "to act as an negotiator on our behalf and travel when necessary?"

"Shall I conclude ‘Emden conventions’ for the country?"

"Maybe."

Neuenburger had to smile. What a good memory Fraser owned!

"And where would that lead me to?"

"Well, first of all, to the African continent. 116 million Africans in 31 countries speak French. And counting. Your language skills predestine you for tasks in this field. However, we would ask you to learn Spanish and possibly Portuguese as well. Then we could also send you to South America. Of course, we will provide you with a language teacher paid by us."

Again the men were silent for a moment.

"How dangerous could these 'missions' be for me?" Jamie then asked.

"Not particularly," replied Neuenburger. "You are travelling as a businessman and that causes far less sensation than the travels of a politician or a political official. There are quite a number of, shall we say, colleagues of yours who do that for us. So far, every one of them has returned. We will, of course, prepare you thoroughly for your task."

Jamie pondered for a moment, then nodded and answered:

"Travailler pour le roi de Prusse? Jes suis prest! This country has provided me and my family with freedom and a new start here. If we were not here, I would probably be in an English prison by now. It's only fair that I give something back.”

"Thanks," said Neuenburger and went on “It’s not the King of Prussia, but a democratic republic you serve. Just saying.” Then he reached into the right inside pocket of his jacket and took out a fresh passport, which he handed to Jamie.

Jamie reached for it and opened the little red book.

"Well, well, well, you've thought up a nice alias for me."

Neuenburger smiled.

“Reisepass” by Edeltravel_

Four weeks later, Etienne Marcel de Provac Alexandre, alias James Fraser, began his first trip as a well-camouflaged diplomatic negotiator.

This and other journeys were to take him first to numerous states on the African continent. He negotiated political and economic contracts with other negotiators, lobbied for the release and repatriation of citizens in difficulty and delivered oral messages whose content was too secret to be transmitted by paper or electronic means. From 2023 on, when he became fluent in Spanish, he was also send to South America. One of his last trips took him to Buenos Aires, where he signed a trade agreement. Officially, however, he attended the "Conference of Argentine and Chilean Wine Merchants". In order to make his trip as unobtrusive as possible, he did not fly back to Berlin directly, but made a stopover in Boston. There, officially, he would meet a businessman, a friend, who was planning to include the wines which Etienne Marcel de Provac Alexandre sold, in his range. But in reality, this stopover was to change his life fundamentally. But James Fraser knew nothing of this when his plane landed at Logan International Airport.

#14DaysofOutlander #Outlander #Outlander Fan Fiction #From Boston to Berlin in 14 hours #Claire Beauchamp #Jamie Fraser #Ian Murray #Jenny Murray #Scotland #Germany #Boston #Berlin #Etienne Marcel de Provac Alexandre

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waveridden · 4 years ago

Note

the only blaseball character's name i remember is the one who's last name is marijuana? so him. and uhhh throwback with aizawa

mori i don’t know how to tell you this but there are three blaseball characters with the last name marijuana. i’m just going to assume you mean randall marijuana, my sweet boy, gone too soon, so i will answer for him

favorite thing about them: randy “voted most likely to actually do something with his precognitive abilities” marijuana, actively intervening in incinerations. i don’t necessarily ascribe to the “randy intentionally got feedbacked so layna didn’t” theory but i do think he intervened with the incineration

least favorite thing about them: that he’s dead :( also bro please talk to your friends they love you

favorite line: “line” doesn’t really apply here but the best thing he ever did was hit a home run on season 4 day 20

brOTP: RANDY/LAYNA BROTP HAS RIGHTS. also randy and dom of course but they’re literal actual brothers so

OTP: uhhhh i don’t know actually! tam and i have talked extensively lately about lars being a teen so i think teen lars has a crush on randy. i think randy and emmett could be cute maybe idk

nOTP: listen not to come in too spicy here but i have really fallen out of love with the twitter rp scene so uh. That Ship

random headcanon: honestly i never liked the whole bit about like... he has a lot of cats but he’s so high all the time that he thinks it’s just one cat. i think randy has many cats and he loves them all. i think he is one of those people who measures their food down to 1/4 of a teaspoon

unpopular opinion: ok i’ve talked about this on twitter but i personally really don’t think blaseball should have kids in it, unless you are really going to lean into the inherent horror of kids being in this literal bloodsport. (and even THEN i’m not gonna go below, like, 14 years old.) so with that in mind i think any bits about randy being a teen are bad and it’s funnier if he’s like 20 anyways. also like lean out of the stoner bit just a little

song i associate with them: god i’m always so bad at these. my first thought was staring at plants by apollo ried sygmund but that’s such a fucking downer song. ask me again tomorrow i’m sure i’ll have an answer

favorite picture of them: i loooooooove the fancymancer comic about his incineration. blaseball is so fun b/c i had always assumed that incineration is a passive thing but i love the way it’s recast here.

and aizawa:

favorite thing about them: my DAD. cares a lot

least favorite thing about them: in a very very specific way, he needs to chill the fuck out. i don’t know how to explain it but he just needs, like, a massage and a couple hours in a sensory deprivation tank

favorite line: i’m super behind on the manga and i never watched s4 but the bit i’ve seen going around that’s like “i need to see them all graduate!” made me burst into tears

brOTP: i love mic/aizawa/midnight as bros tbh

OTP: erasermight and it’s YOUR FAULT, MORI

nOTP: it’s not that i Hate eraserm*c it’s that i think it is a watered down version of what appeals to me about erasermight

random headcanon: there is a difference between being able to cook in terms of skill and being able to cook in terms of, like, energy and willingness to put the time in. aizawa is a very good cook on the 0.5% of days where he is actually up for cooking

unpopular opinion: i don’t even know what the popular opinions are. uhhhh i wish ppl were less memey about him and the cats i never got that bit. i guess i have a lot of cat-related unpopular opinions today?

song i associate with them: no fucking clue. i searched on spotify to look at other people’s aizawa playlists to try and have ideas and the first one i saw was called “falling in love with aizawa” so i’m done with that

favorite picture of them: man this is SUCH a weird question i truly have no idea

#temarisnara #waveridden.ask #ty mori!!#long post

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welcometogressenheller · 4 years ago

Note

for the character asks, alfendi? or randall :)

i havent played LBMR (yet!!! ugh i really need to) so i’ll do Randall, hope that’s okay! :)

Sexuality Headcanon: gay or bi

Gender Headcanon: another one i haven't given too much thought... could be trans. could be nb. either way, i think he doesn't really care about the limitations of gender roles or clichées and just. does his thing.

A ship I have with said character: RanHen!! I like them together,,

A BROTP I have with said character: Hershel... although I also kinda ship them too but! I love their dynamic of disaster and functional... and we all know Hershel actually enjoys going on adventures with Randall and listening to him ramble!! they’re cute :)

A NOTP I have with said character: him with Angela... once again, my sexuality headcanons strike hdjshdj but yeah. the way mm treated Angela as a trophy in the epilogue doesn't sit right with me. i just don't really see them together but i don't mind either!

A random headcanon: he’s neurodivergent... i don't really want to make my own headcanons for it because i can't speak from experience for the most part but when i see people have nd headcanons for him I'm Listening... then again i have this headcanon for most of the layton characters so sdhjad... so additionally i’m gonna say he pretended to date Angela due to pressure from both their (rich) parents and because they were both figuring out their sexuality. obviously, i have this headcanon. because i’m gay.

General Opinion over said character: love him! he’s a nice contrast to the rest of the cast. he’s very likeable, relatable and unique :)

thanks for the question!!

#ask #ask meme #randall ascot #character asks #doubletrrouble

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octothorpetopus · 6 years ago

Text

SVU Needs Better LGBTQ Representation

I talk about this a lot, but I think a lot of people just hear me, as a queer person, wanting everything to be gayer.

Wrong.

SVU is a show that champions itself as a pioneer for marginalized groups- racial and religious minorities, women, and, of course, the LGBTQ community. And yet, out of over 400 episodes, only 24 have focused on LGBTQ issues.

24. Out of 400. That’s less than 7%.

And keep in mind, these are all episodes in which a queer character was either the victim or the perpetrator. Over the course of all 20 seasons of this show, only two recurring queer characters exist- George Huang and Ken Randall.

George Huang was the forensic psychiatrist on the show, appearing in 15 out of the 20 seasons of the show. However, despite being openly gay, his sexuality is a fairly minor aspect of his character and it only comes up once or twice. While this is in some ways beneficial, because it deviates from the gay character we see often on TV, where being gay is their only major personality trait, it also detracts from the quality of the representation because it feels like that aspect of his character is just there to placate queer viewers.

The only other recurring LGBTQ character is Ken Randall, Fin’s son. This is also the only same-sex relationship on the show, between Ken and his husband, Alejandro. I think the way SVU handled Ken’s strained relationship with his father was actually fairly high quality, but it plays into an overused stereotype by the media. That’s not to say it isn’t realistic and that it doesn’t happen, but it also isn’t a particularly unique storyline.

I have two main issues with both of these characters. One, they’re both gay men, which, while gay men make up a substantial percentage of the LGBTQ community, are just one element of the community. My other is that, although Huang was technically a main cast member, neither one appears consistently in every episode (or almost every episode).

I, like a lot of other people, thought we might find this representation that was lacking in those two characters in Sonny Carisi, especially in his relationship with Rafael Barba. Rumors had spun for years over Barba’s sexuality, given that he had been implied to be attracted to women, but also that Raúl Esparza is openly bisexual. So, when Carisi was introduced and we started to see the between them, it was no wonder that a new ship was born: Barisi. Whether or not you ship barisi, I think it’s undeniably obvious that there was some level of attraction there, especially obvious in the season 17 finale, “Heartfelt Passages.” At the end of the episode, after Dodds’s funeral, when they’re having a drink together, the way Barba looks at Carisi is a look I have never seen before between two people whose relationship is entirely platonic.

What followed is one of the best examples of queerbaiting I’ve ever seen-

For those of you who don’t know, queerbaiting is exactly what it sounds like. Writers will create a character that queer watchers will relate to. They give the character queer-codes behaviors, making them recognizable to queer watchers but not enough so that straight people see it. Once non-queer people start to catch on, they switch gears almost immediately, so that queer watchers are left asking themselves if they were imagining it, if it was all just wishful thinking. Often, writers will do this by putting the character into a straight relationship or creating sexual tension with a character of the opposite sex where previously, there was none. That was how SVU chose to deal with the situation.

Warren Leight’s departure as showrunning following season 17 signaled a major change for barisi. Not only was there nothing that could even be called sexual tension, they almost ceased to interact. They acted differently, spoke differently. They even dressed differently. The show started to focus more on Carisi’s relationship with Rollins, even including a storyline in season 19 in which Carisi’s girlfriend leaked a story from within the NYPD. And that was essentially the end of Barba and Carisi’s entire relationship. Barba didn’t even say goodbye to Carisi when he left.

Some people might say that this isn’t queerbaiting, it’s just people seeing sexual tension where they want to, rather than where it actually is. To that, I say this- replace one of them, either Barba or Carisi, with a woman. Would the general public look at it as sexual tension? I say yes. The trouble is, in this heteronormative society, people don’t want Carisi to be bisexual or gay, because he doesn’t fit their expectations of what that looks like. But that’s also why he would be the perfect choice. He subverts the entire expectation of what a mlm guy should be. His character was revolutionary in the first place because he was so unexpected. The cop who was just supposed to be another brash, rude, Staten Island paper-pusher turned out to be the most empathetic, compassionate, and understanding one of all. So why not make him bi while we’re at it? Peter Scanavino said in an interview, "I think it would be cool because it would kind of against type, you know what I mean? And I think it would be interesting.”

Even if we don’t find what we’re looking for in Carisi (although I hope we do #GiveCarisiABoyfriendChallenge2k19), I hope that season 21 is groundbreaking in more ways than one- it’s the longest running primetime live-action TV series in history- in its diversity as a cast. SVU promotes itself as diverse, and in some ways it is, but this would finally be a way to satisfy what SVU fans have been begging for since the start of the show.

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heal-the-ashes · 4 months ago

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Welcome to my blog! Hello! Oh, and I guess this is important: My blog will cover spoilers for all the media I talk about. I am a writer, literary editor, musician, beginner artist, beginner coder, and I somewhat consider myself to be a baker. I'm also learning French and other languages. I like puzzles and mysteries and murder mysteries. I am autistic. I like sharing quotes I make. And talking about games/characters I like, especially character analyses and the psychology behind actions and all of that. I like science and like to do extensive research on things. I am also deeply emotional though it may take me a while to show it. Evocativeness is easily achieved with me when talking about special interests. (Especially PL at the moment.) I will post various types of media [art and text] but I do not think I will post videos. The franchises I like and the specifics are below.

The Professor Layton Series: I have played all mainline games. I have not played the crossover. I have read a few books and the LBMR manga. Eternal Diva is my favorite movie. I do not dislike any character except Bronev and Bill Hawks. Most of my posts will likely be related to this series. And I will most likely get excited with ideas, for I truly do love this series and it has changed how I view the world and I am deeply thankful for that. I will be sharing thoughts about headcanons as well as canon. The Fire Emblem Series: I have played every game that has released after Awakening, and have watched Path of Radiance. I will admit I'm not caught up with FEH because I'm not interested at the moment. However, my favorite characters are the MCs of the games, and Alear is probably my most favorite one. The Kirby Series: Played every mainline game after the release of Return to Dreamland. Air Ride too. I quit Amazing Mirror and Mass Attack halfway through. Magolor is my favorite character. The Zelda Series: Played most mainline games except for the really old ones. Spirit Tracks and Phantom Hourglass I have not played either. Wind Waker I sort of played but not really. Favorite game is Breath of the Wild and I do not really like Tears of the Kingdom. Favorite character (I'm basic) is Link. Favorite mangas are Four Swords and Twilight Princess, though I only have the Four Sword one. Can't find the TP ones. The Cookie Run Series: I am a Cookie Run Kingdom and Ovenbreak player. I have played up to the Silver Kingdom and now I do not play the story anymore. Favorites are Pure Vanilla Cookie and White Lily Cookie, and yes, I ship them. The Sherlock Holmes (BBC) Series: Watched up until Season 3 and I will not watch Season 4. The Hounds of Baskerville and A Scandal in Belgravia episodes are the ones I remember most. Honestly, probably won't talk about this much, but it's something I've sort of recently been interested in. Undertale and AUs: Glitchtale and Underverse are the AUs I follow(ed?) most. I have played Undertale once and did not go back for other endings. Favorite characters are Chara and Gaster. Genshin: I have played up until Fontaine. Some of my favorite characters are Albedo and Furina. I am also into Pokemon, Mario, kind-of-sort-of getting into Persona. I also read (one of my favorite books is Howl's Moving Castle. Also watched the movie but that was at least 10 years ago.) I will also talk about other games/franchises and other things as well. Feel free to interact. And feel free to ask me for writing tips and grammar corrections. I do like doing that. Tags are the series/franchises I will most likely talk about most. In no particular order except PL is the first one.

[ Image Description: Randall Ascot from Professor Layton is smiling and gives a thumbs-up. His hand is on the right. End Image Description. ] Please let me know if I did the image description wrong. Thanks!

#professor layton #kirby series #legend of zelda #genshin impact #bbc sherlock #howls moving castle #glitchtale #undertale #underverse #cookie run kingdom #cookie run #fire emblem

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ebaeschnbliah · 5 years ago

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M O N S T E R S I N C

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... and it’s stunning similarities with Sherlock BBC

MONSTERS, INC is a computer-animated comedy from 2001, produced by Pixar Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. A modern fairytale, so to speak. I stumbled across this movie by accident while researching the ‘221b door’ tag on my blog and found an old tweet from Arwel Wyn Jones (x) posted during the filming of Series Four. Watching the movie turned out to be quite the eye-opener. :)

It’s not so much the plot of that movie but rather certain images which remind me strongly of Sherlock BBC. A lot of images, to be precise, but also some dialogues and one distinct voice. Watching MONSTERS, INC really left me speechless at times.

Related posts: The Monsters are loose (initially I’d chosen to name this post ‘Monsters Inc’ but that was before I watched the movie) Overlaps Playing with skulls (soon) Laughs or Screams, additional informations

The ‘monster post’ is waiting below the cut for the fearless …. :))))

For anyone who hasn’t seen the movie: MONSTERS, INC mostly plays in Monstropolis, a city in a parallel universe. The only places where the monster- and the human-world can connect, are the closet doors in children’s beedrooms. Here skilled monsters - the ‘scarers’ - appear at night to harvest the screams of terrified kids. Just like in the human world, the majority of the monsters aren’t evil, nor mean they any harm to the children. Monsters are actually more scared of human kids than the kids are of them. The harvested screams are badly needed because they provide the energy which is necessary to power the monster’s world. And because children are constantly becoming less easily scared, the screams decrase more and more, which means that an energie krisis threatens.

Initially the storyline for MONSTERS, INC had been a different one though:

Pete Docter's (director and writer) original idea revolved around a 30-year old man dealing with monsters, which he drew in a book as a child, coming back to bother him as an adult. Each monster represented a fear he had and conquering those fears caused the monsters to eventually disappear. (X)

The logo of MONSTERS, INC, the powerstation where screams are harvested to light the Monster’s world, combines the symbol of the eye and the letter M. I simply can’t help unsee a certain similarity with the logo for TheGameIsNow. That’s quite thought provoking, to say the least.

The two leading characters in the monster world are scarer James P. "Sulley" Sullivan and his best friend and roommate Mike Wazowski, who is also his assistant at work. A big blue, fluffy guy wearing horns and a short, one-eyed, green guy who prefers to sit in a green egg-chair …. a bit similar to the one from the stagnight scene inTSOT.

Sulley holds the top position among all the scarers of Monstropolis. With military-like training Mike takes care that his friend stays in best form.

Hey! Less talk, more pain, marshmallow boy! Feel the burn! You call yourself a monster?

The most successful scarers are celebrated like stars. Everyone knows them. They can’t go anywhere without being recognized and asked for autographs. And when they enter their company it looks like a hero parade.

Future scarers have to undergo a special training in a high-tec simulation room. Here they are taught everything of importance, including the art of scaring children most efficiently in order to get the perfect scream.

Listen to the lady in front of the surveillance screens who teaches screaming (at 01.40) …. but beware … she sounds an awful lot like Eurus Holmes ….

youtube

And this is the big boss, the chairman of MONSTERS, INC … Mr. Waternoose. He is very proud of his job, which has been passed down through his family for three generations. He acts as Sulley’s mentor and holds great faith in him as a scarer. Additionally …. he reminds me very much of Mycroft in TAB.

The monsters believe that harvesting screams is enormously dangerous, because children are deemed to be toxic, that their touch could kill them. Agents of a special task force - the Child Detection Agency - are on constant alert to neutralize any contamination with objects belonging to the human world.

As soon as anything suspicious has been detected, the ‘big bad bouncy red alert’ goes off, cameras zoom in and then CDA agents enter right through the skylights to take care of the problem. Like AGRA in Tiblisi , really! I couldn’t help a yelp watching this little scene below ….

And then ..... shaved by AGRA … sorry, by CDA, of course …. :))))

The day comes, however, when the unimaginable happens and a human child enters the monster world. And Sulley, the most famous scarer of all, is almost scared to death. I’m really tempted to call this an ‘Eurus-efffect’ ...

Thankfully, Sulley also has a heart of pure gold. He overcomes his fear - a little bit - and takes the human child home. His partner Mike is definitely not amused but helps anyway. Courageously, the friends prepare for the worst case scenario ...

Sulley, the Viking, with shield and horned helm and Mike, who seems to have ransacked the kitchen Cabinet instead. The little ‘killer-girl’ though is completely unimpressed ...

The evening starts rather chaotic, which results in some remarkable accidents … I guess I know now where the idea of shoving a big pack of cigarettes into Sherlock’s mouth comes from …. and maybe Sherlock’s spraying attack on the CIA agent in ASIB as well.

Finally the situation calms down. Sulley beginns to supect that human kids might not be toxic after all. The little girl has a real crush on the fluffy, blue monster. She believes Sulley is a big cat and starts calling him ‘Kitty’. Looks like ‘killer girl’ is a cat lover. :) Against Mike’s advice, Sulley decides to give the girl a name as well. He settles for ‘Boo’ because she likes nothing more than to scare him.

And Boo likes to draw …. Spoiler: Boo doesn’t burn down the house.

Eventually Boo gets tired. A trace of goodies (not breadcrumbs) leads the little girl to bed.

By the way: The book based on the film gives Boo's "real" name as Mary Gibbs, the name of her voice actress. (x)

The architecture of Mike’s and Sulley’s flat … the wide arch in the living room and in Sulley’s bedroom (Mike’s bedroom is never shown) … instantly reminded me of the very similar structure chosen for the 221b Baker Street livingroom set in PILOT.

What would any fairytale be without a good old-fashioned villain. In this case it’s a villain who looks suspiciously like a Chinese dragon. And naturally, where there is a dragon there needs to be a dragon slayer as well.

Randall, the dragon-like monster is one of the most wicked characters in Monstropolis. He works as scarer but holds only the second place on the company’s success-list behind Sulley. Randall’s envy is huge. He is driven by his desire to displace his opponent from the top of the list. One can safely say that ‘murderous jealousy’ is a good description of Randall’s motivation. But his plan to capture the all-time scare record, only scratches the surface of his sinister agenda.

But before it comes to the ‘slaying’, the nasty reptile tries to torture Mike, to find out where the missing human child is hiding.

Randall: SAY HELLO TO THE SCREAM EXTRACTOR! (Jim in TAB: Well, say hello to the virus.)

This is what Randall has created in a secret lab to prevent the looming energy crisis of his world … a machine to harvest the screams of children by force and not through the acting skills of trained scarers. Mike’s unimpressed answer to this realisation:

Mike: WELL, SOMEBODY'S CERTAINLY BEEN A BUSY BEE (Mycroft in TEH: You have been busy, haven’t you? Quite the busy little bee.)

That’s not a joke … and the way down to the secret lab looks strikingly familiar as well ...

Needless to say that Sulley arrives just in time to rescue his friend … but that’s not the end of the story and also not the end of similarities with Sherlock BBC.

Some nice little images in-between: a fish mobile from Boo’s bedroom in which Sulley gets tangled up in, a toy train, a toy ship and a toy plane from the high-tech simulation room. Rater similar items can be detected in Sherlock BBC as well (TST, MHR and TFP). Especially the plane reminds me of the one Eurus’ plays with near the brook.

More familiar images:

the prominent display of the letter M - often in combination with an eye

a precious littel thing ... Boo, who wears pink underneath her disguise as monster, hides in a bin

a rather ‘big G’ painted on a wall

And there are eyes wherever one looks ...

Even contact lenses can be found ...

Mike’s love interest is a lady with hissing snakes for hairs, who works as receptionist in their company ….

At one point the hero’s life is threatened by a deep fall, caused by his opponent, Randall, the nasty ‘dragon’.

Seeing Sulley’s life threatened, Boo overcomes her fear of the reptile-like monster. She attacks him violently. This gives Sulley the time he needs to get out of the critical situation.

And WOW!!! What changeable creature this villain is ……. even Jim ‘I’m so changeable’ Moriarty would be inmpressed.

Randall’s exceptional talent for any kind of masquerade is also demonstrated in a little scene involving a portrait of the company’s chairman, Mr. Waternoose.

The face of a chairman, covered by something related to a dragon … this reminds me instantly of TBB and Sir William, the former chairman of the bank, whose face had been covered with the yellow spray-paint, applied by a member of the Yellow Dragon Circus.

To their dismay, Sulley and Mike discover that Randall isn’t just a jealous colleague. What is far worse, the changeable villain doesn’t work alone. His partner in cirme turns out to be none other than Mr. Waternoose, the big boss of the company. The two of them intend to use Boo for their experiments with the scream extractor, while Sulley and Mike get banished from Monstropolis and are sent into exile .. to the Himalayas. No return expected.

There is no plane involved as in Sherlock’s case, but strictly speaking, the way in which the ‘sending into exile’ happens, can indeed be seen as a variation of ‘flyihg’ …

Snow falls at the place where they land, somewhere in the Himalayan mountains.

While the Himalayas, more precisely Tibet, is closely connected to Sherlock’s hiatus after Reichenbach, the falling snow can also be found in TAB, the place Sherlock finds himself in, as a result of his ‘going into exile’ at the end of HLV … London in the winter 1895.

And it doesn’t take long before the dark shadow of a scary creature falls over them … a seemingly monstrous creature which is covered all over in ‘bridal white’ fur ….

May I introduce you to …. Yeti, the ABOMINABLE snowman!

"ABOMINABLE"! CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT? DO I LOOK ABOMINABLE TO YOU? WHY CAN'T THEY CALL ME THE ADORABLE SNOWMAN OR...OR THE AGREEABLE SNOWMAN, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD? I'M A NICE GUY.

He is really a very nice guy and helps Sulley and Mike to get back where they came from and where they are badly needed by Boo. Randall is not amused but this time it is him who looses the game.

Yeti’s nickname was inspired by the Abominable Snowman from the 1964 animated special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (X). Knowing this, one could view that bridal-white character also as a sort of Christmas connection. :))))

And have I mentioned those horns?

Some more lovely images: a shot from the inside out of a small box (without a severed head in it though), no fire-extinguisher but it looks like one, silhouettes behind glass, safety helmets (X) and ... flickering screens ….

At the story’s finale, the simulation room from the beginning - a bedroom on a stage with a ‘fake’ victim lying in it and with a moving wall - I’m not kidding - becomes the ‘confession room’ for the main culprit. And of course, every word of his confession gets recorded. Somehow this reminds me strongly of another scene … another film … what was it again? It’s on the tip of my tongue ….

It turns out that chairman Waternoose had already been under close observation by CDA undercover agent 001 - code name Roz (not AMO). An elderly, quite steely lady, who turns out to be his superior. Waternoose gets arrested and Sulley becomes the new chairman of MONSTERS, INC.

Now the time has come for Boo to return to the human world. Sulley takes the little girl back through the closet door into her room, where they part after a big good-bye hug.

Then the closet door which leads to her bedroom gets shredded, to prevent any future contact. But Boo’s short visit to the monster world had a huge impact. It proved that a child's laugh has ten times the power of a child's scream. The energy crisis of Monstropolis is solved. From now on laughter is harvested instead of screams and the power generated this way, is enormous. Mike turns out to be best harvester for laughs ever.

Because Mike knows how much Sulley misses the little human girl, he collects and secretly reassembles the pieces of Boo's shredded door so that it can be activated again.

The End

The song "If I Didn't Have You" won the Academy Award for Best Original Song.

Mike: ♪ But I must admit it. Big guy, you always come through. I wouldn't have nothin' if I didn't have you. ♪ Mike and Sulley: ♪ You and me together. That's how it always should be. One without the other don't mean nothin' to me. Nothin' to me. ♪

Sulley: ♪ I don't have to say it. 'Cause we both know it's true.♪ Both: ♪ I wouldn't have nothin' if I didn't have... I wouldn't have nothin' if I didn't have... I wouldn't have nothin' if I didn't have you. ♪ Mike: ♪ You! You! A-E-I-O... That means you. Yeah. ♪

And doesn’t this almost sound like …. ‘just the two of us against the rest of the world’?

Hopefully you enjoyed the rather long ride. I can highly recommend this movie to anyone. It’s so much more fun watching it with ones own eyes than just reading a summary. This said, I leave you now to your own deductions. Thanks for reading that far. :)

August, 2019

#monsters inc #images #comparison #sherlock bbc #similarities

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badlydrawndrawnings · 5 years ago

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13 Suspicious Incidents (ATWQ 2.5 Thoughts)

*See today is Friday the Thirteenth*

Perfect.

Did anyone as a child read Encyclopedia Brown, or Two Minutes Mysteries? I read them both as a kid (the latter is a big yikes because I think those were written for more mature audiences) and boy, I had a love/hate relationship with them. The stories were fun to read, but I found the solutions either something I never would have know/not see because I do not posses the right knowledge or not an observant person so the clues went over my head, or went ‘So apparently me doing or knowing [X] would get me arrested and/or call a fraud.’

Examples: someone hasn’t visit his friend for days, and the Doctor guy was all ‘you the killer’ because the person knew the house was being painted because he jumped the newly painted stairs and didn’t knock on the door but the window (the friend could have smell the fresh paint). Another one had a character (not the Doctor guy) use the a different term for baking soda and realized the bakery was a front (a term I don’t think even a baker would know or hell, most people would know. The fact I forgot it myself is proof that story is just wack). Something from Encyclopedia Brown had someone had their bike stolen and he went to this one kid who gave up bike riding, and trick her to riding her bike to proof she is still a decent bike rider because her bike was still in good condition (and I’m like...maybe she just takes care of her bike?).

I honestly Kermit when I starting reading 13 Suspicious Incidents because I am not strong enough to deal with those types of stories. However, I trust Daniel Handler to not get me arrested If I existed in Lemony Snicket’s world, and continue reading while hoping I’m not the fool I was as a child.

I am still that fool, but I feel happy the Snicket World got explore more.

1. Inside Job: I figured Dagmar was replacing something while Marguerite was in the mines. But I thought it was the frames...for some reason. I didn’t think it was nails that was actually pretty smart of Marguerite’s dad. [Deep Mine: I don’t want to know what the heck Dagwood is doing but I think the natural sounds are underground animals. Also notebooks found by the museum? Kit reference?.]

2. Pinched Creature: Okay, so apparently I have never seen zinnias before in my life so I felt I learn something from this story because I had to look up zinnias. I honestly did not thought the ‘doorknob salesman’ was behind the missing newt. Also, how old is Georgina? Paltryville and their eye doctor got a namedrop due to Moxie (thank goodness Oliver never went there). Okay, maybe it’s a position assigned to a VFD member and Georgina is the latest kind of like Netflix. [Backseat: I maybe be reading it wrong, but either Doctors Sobol are the criminals or it’s Bertram. I think it’s Bertram.]

3. Ransom Note: This was the only Incident I got done to a ‘T’. If Lysistrata the dog wasn’t barking it had to be someone the dog knew and the one person who fits with the need for speed was the grandpa. The image of the grandpa and the dog sticking their heads out is kind of funny. [Quiet Street: No comment other than I hope VFD isn’t there.]

4. Walkie-Talkie: I feel this is the only time I got close to tolerating Stew he just freaking outsmarted everyone with his prank just to steal food from Jake. (I hope Jake doesn’t get the pecan muffins get stolen by Stew). It’s a cruel thing, but I actually laughed my ass off at the end. [Beneath the Street: Passageway for small lizards and amphibians huh? And goes to a mine? Nice.]

5. Bad Gang: This was all for boards for a DIY bookshelf and swords to be a pirate. You go Florence and Kevin achieve your dreams by robbing stores. Nice to know Theodora has a sister. Hm...given Theodora is always getting described with her wild hair, I wonder if TWWHBNB is the sister because ‘hair’ is a description for both women. Could be a family trait. Also, is Kevin Old a child version of Kevin the Ambidextrous? Kevin is holding a board in each hand? Did the family business died out and Kevin had no choice but to go to Caligari Carnival? If that’s the case then he was maybe proud of being ambidextrous but things change? [Small Courtyard: Dagwood and Violetta are related? I thought Violetta was a made up person!]

6. Silver Spoon: I don’t want to say Smogface Wiley is Sir, in part because of Randall’s age and I get the feeling Sir is in the same ‘generation’ as the SBG. But then again, maybe Sir is a freaking sugar daddy because his family has businesses from lumber to tube socks to melons. Either way, I guess Sir’s last name is Wiley and his first name is unpronounceable? I didn’t think Smogface stole from Randall to follow the alphabet. [Missing Pets: Are the lizards stolen by Ms. Flammarion the ones Bertram stole? Who wants these lizards in the first place?]

7. Violent Butcher: You go Lemony for (temporary) locking up Drumstick’s dad in the attic for Drumstick to escape to his mom. Honestly I was more focus on the Drumstick getting the hell out of town than caring where he was hiding. [Large Meal: WHO WAS GONNA EAT THE LIZARDS? Was it Dagwood and Violetta? Oh god, is that why the lizards were in the passageway to avoid getting eaten?]

8. Twelve or Thirteen: Gary Dorian -> Picture of Dorian Gray reference? I never read it but through osmosis I know the basic idea. I thought Chase was frame by cops I never expected the wife. [Other Name: I don’t get it like how was both sides gonna help the villain be warn.]

9. Midnight Demon: So Lemony gets seasick huh? How the hell did you survived the trip on the Prospero? I actually figure Treacle was pretending to be his sister Tatiana, but the whole wig thing...I thought he put the wig on the dog not in the basket. [Sand & Shore: Are the ships in the bottom of the sea?]

10. Three Suspects: I feel so happy that this was obvious from the get thank you Daniel Handler for giving me mercy for one case and just put a sign that reads ‘hey it’s the third brother’. But uh...’Stain’d-by-the-Sea’s only library, for as long as it lasted’...what does that mean??? Also: 20-18=0 is something I never thought I read before in my life. And what was Mimi gonna say about a woman and a man (actually I don’t want to know). [Poor Joke: I hate abandon punchlines.]

11. Vanished Message: If Lemony was an adult and living by himself, he could have pour some cereal into his mouth, chew it, and drink directly from the milk carton (I did that once with a gallon of milk wasn’t too bad it’s good in a pinch and if you need to finish the milk). I am a fool for not realizing the postcard was inside the book. Also, I can’t believe Lois is VFD and Lemony has a file that could be the Snicket File (or maybe a general file label Snicket). [Message Recorded: Okay, so T is Theodora. Is Q is Qwerty? I mean, I guess Theodora can mistaken him for a VFD member I don’t think they interact much from what I can remember of the last two books and this could be their first proper meeting.]

12. Troublesome Ghost: I never had waffles before so I have to talk Lemony’s word not only Jake’s waffles are good, but (banana) waffles in general. I didn’t expect it to be Billy Decker I thought maybe we had a real ghost in town. I’m glad he and Ms. Mann got a happy ending of sorts. [Nervous Wreck: Thanks for the message?]

13. Figure in Fog: I can’t believe Qwerty just went out and call Lemony a suspicious incident, and honestly speaking, Lemony is suspicious from an outsider POV he is bringing lots of trouble that probably weren’t noticeable before he and Theodora arrived (I mean, I get it was noticeable but no one gave a second glance). Also, I want to say the figure is Ellington because I don’t think it’s a ghost (or anyone else...). [Last Word: I’m trying to think of nine letter words but I’m drawing a blank].

#all the wrong questions #atwq #13 suspicious incidents #file under: 13 suspicious incidents #asoue #a series of unfortunate events #lemony snicket #encyclopedia brown #two minute mysteries #i mean i talk about those as well?#sorry about that #this is a text post

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