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pastelwitchling · 3 years

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Wooo, we’ve got a lot to unpack here and I’ve got a busy morning ahead of me, so let’s get started. I even have gifs this time! I loved this episode, and I already know this is going to be a long one, so grab a snack, some coffee, and let’s talk about 3x07.

Liz. Because she’s the protagonist I find it fitting to start with her, so. I loved Liz this episode. I didn’t dare skip anyone’s scenes as I’d been prone to doing for the past two seasons. I thought she was very smart, very brave, and when Jones told her that her death would be what saved him in the end, the tears in her eyes as she held that gun to Max - it was amazing. We all knew she wouldn’t hurt Max because she loved him, and you could really see on her face how badly it hurt her to hold a weapon against him at all. Well done, Jeanine, truly.

I can see now why people are shipping Isobel and Rosa. That said, I do still think they’re cuter with other people, but I like the connection between them, it’s very endearing.

Gregory’s very cute, I like his crush. I hope Maria can appreciate and care about him like he deserves.

I liked Michael and Rosa pairing up, then Isobel joining them. I couldn’t stop laughing when Michael just started hitting that car part with the screwdriver again and again, even when he saw what it was doing to Rosa’s head. I just - he’s so cute, he’s so funny. It always hits me hard how badly I’d missed my Michael Guerin, you know? It’s good to have him back.

Jones. Listen. I still don’t care, Jones is so freaking hot. Nathan Dean is really just knocking it out of the park each and every episode, I often forget that Max and Jones are played by the same person, I’m just loving him.

I did not see any of those twists coming at all. I didn’t see Jones being the Dictator, being Michael’s father?! When Michael was able to grab that sword, I thought, Oh my god, is he Jones’ biological brother?? But nope. His son. Guys. This means Michael has inherited all of Jones’ powers. So he has all of Max’s powers. That means the handprint. The multitude of fics I had planned the moment these twists came into play. You’re not ready.

One twist, which is not really a twist, that I had seen coming was that Eduardo Ramos was not the bad guy. I’ve mentioned it several times since the episode last week, but I knew there was more to it, I knew he wasn’t just a traitor, and I’m so glad I was right because I loved him and Alex together this episode.

Y’all. Is it just me, or does Ramos talk to Alex, not like another agent, but like he’s his freaking son? And I’m living for it. He’s just so fond of him and in awe of him all the time, I -

Listen. When Ramos tells Alex that he managed in a day what others couldn’t manage in months? I am dying for this acknowledgment of Alex’s genius this season!

And Alex! Oh. My. Gods. Don’t get me started. But I will anyway.

When he got angry at Ramos, I teared up. You could just feel his betrayal, the way he and Ramos both saw each other as something more. It’s like they can’t help but treat each other like family, and it made my heart swell.

Speaking of Alex’s anger, I’m sorry to be such a Marvel dork, but did his conversation with Ramos remind anybody of someone else?

Namely...

Or...

Every single thing Alex Manes says reminds me of Captain America in some way. Could he be any more of a freaking Avenger?!

Marvel. Listen. Stop wasting time and buy the rights to Alex Manes, bring him to the MCU, where he belongs. Bring Michael Guerin along. Do it, bring them home. I’ll come design a whole storyline for them. I’ve already got one. You’re in good hands, I promise you.

Also, to end the post, that brief kylex moment? Moved me to tears, I love their friendship so much.

I loved it. This episode was amazing. I can’t wait for the malex moments in the episodes to come, and I cannot emphasize how much I love the fact that every plotline in this show comes back to the Lockhart Machine. So it all ties back to Alex. Again with the Marvel dorkiness, but it feels like whenever I watch one of the individual Marvel movies, and Steve or Tony would get mentioned. You know that there’s always one storyline that connects all the others. And that’s Alex’s.

I can’t wait. Heather did an amazing job. What a real alien blast.

#alex manes #michael guerin #malex #rnm thoughts #max evans #jones #eduardo ramos #isobel evans #rosa ortecho #liz ortecho #rnm 3x07 #roswell new mexico #roswell nm #roswell new mexico s3

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triviareads · 3 years

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Hi there, 👋

I stumbled on your blog by accident (via the Bridgerton tag 😎), and I thought I’d chip into the popularity discussion.

I think it might have to do with the “Whistledown effect”. In books 1-4, Whistledown is still in business. That creates an extra dimension of excitement but also a sort of broader context of events. Whistledown’s Society Papers represent the information everyone in the Bridgerton universe knows. And the novels themselves sort of become a race against the clock to get to your happy ending before that crucial piece of information gets leaked. The latter four novels aren’t as bad per se, but there lack that form of suspense.

And yeah, the plots are somewhat repetitive. The Gregory-Hermione-Lucy triangle bears strong resemblance to the Anthony-Edwina-Kate situation. (I hereby declare I hope they cast Hermione as black, and while doing so get rid of the name…sorry it’s really not my thing. 🤫) And the Gareth-Hyacinth dynamic (“we’re partners in crime but really we’re not in love!!”) reminds me a little bit of Simon-Daphne. Eloise’s and Frannie’s plots are quite unique, but somewhat like each other but reversed. (Except Francesca was really fond of John and Phillip…not so much of Mariana 😬).

Plus…I feel you need to invest a lot as a reader to familiarise yourself with the main characters. Especially Francesca. I understand people love Franchael’s dynamic. But before reading the book I felt I barely knew Francesca. Which made rooting for her a bit difficult for me. (And I’m not even touching the topics themselves here…) As for the dynamic itself. I think especially with WHWW, it would serve the showrunners well to show how the dust settles once Francesca and Michael get together and married. Call me a prude, but I still believe in good old conversation. And especially after such a tumultuous start, it would be nice to see how they get used to living together as man and wife. And pay a little more attention to Francesca’s trouble conceiving. (I know it isn’t a sexy subject but it’s very important to talk about – both for the story and for the viewers). I thought all of that was somewhat brushed over whereas imho, they were much more interesting than that endless “will-they-won’t-they” and that slightly toxic game of attraction and rejection. That reminded me a lot of Wuthering Heights…but we all know how that one ended. 😔

Oh and finally an important change I would make: include the Bridgertons much more in WHWW! I know the whole point of the book was the seclusion in Scotland. (Yeah, I’m still manifesting Michael is a true Scot -> preferably with a beard and a kilt!) But in all the other books family was able to help or just speed things along. And I should hate to think Frannie can’t rely on the same close-knit relationships. Even if she seemingly wanted to. 😉

Well, apologies for this lengthy dissertation of my views on Bridgerton. I hope you could reflect ideas.

Kind regards,

— Thel.

P.S. Because I couldn’t sleep I came up with a (“commonwealth inspired”) idea for the background of all the love interests. Would you like to hear why it? 😊

Answer below the fold!

Hi Thel! Wow, I love this- the "Whistledown effect". That totally makes sense! I never realized how tantamount Whistledown is in leaking something near the end of every story the first 4 books, like a pattern. You're right- I guess the tension does die away with the last 4 books since there's no public reveal, or threat of public reveal, at least.

I do agree I'd like to see all the couples, if possible, after their plot conflict has been resolved, and they're living their lives, just to see how they're doing. If Bridgerton ever gets to Francesca and Michael, seeing their fertility struggles is something I'd definitely like to see portrayed, because you're right, it is an important topic. I wouldn't go as far as to compare Michael and Francesca to Cathy and Heathcliff, mostly because the genres are very different and I got the impression when I read the novel (years ago, and forcibly- thanks Honors English) that Cathy and Heathcliff's relationship is both unnaturally intense in its intensity (in keeping with the gothic genre, I guess) and there is never any happiness for them. Francesca and Michael, on the other hand, are in a very different genre (one far more known for its happy endings), and they're both people inclined towards happiness, I think. They don't luxuriate in misery the way Cathy and Heathcliff seemingly do.

I would be interested in hearing about a "commonwealth inspired" background for each of the love interests! Although, at that point in history, I do have to point out it would not be the "commonwealth" (that status only came later), but the various lands and colonies that are under the subjugation of the British Empire. But I would still love to hear what backgrounds you have in mind for the remaining love interests, and under what circumstances they (or their ancestors) came (or were brought) to England!

#bridgerton #michael stirling #francesca bridgerton #wuthering heights #ask

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frankchurchillsaysrelax · 4 years

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Malex week day three: I can explain

Five years ago Alex learned that aliens were real and that he had been in love with one for a decade. Ever since, nothing in his life was particularly normal but this, this was something else.

“Um, Alex?” Greg sounds strange over the phone; like he is really not looking forward to this conversation. “Michael is here.”

Confused, Alex leans back in his chair to catch a glimpse of his husband walking around their kitchen, smiling to himself at the rumpled appearance of a newly awake Michael Guerin padding around still half asleep as an energetic beagle trails behind him. Michael is very much accounted for and Alex tells his brother as much.

“Yeah, this one is younger, maybe a teenager. But it’s definitely him.” The sound of fabric rustling tells him that Greg is on the move. “I won’t let him out of my sight. Just get here quick.” The line goes dead and Alex is already grabbing his keys and heading for the door.

“Michael, we have to go.” He hands him his jacket and takes the bowl of cereal he’d been eating from his hands. Michael wisely says nothing as he pulls on the jacket but glances pointedly down at his boxers.

Alex nods toward the bedroom with a fond roll of his eyes before walking over to the sink and dumping out the contents of the bowl. He tries not to overthink the implications of Greg’s words and busies himself with refilling Nova’s water bowl while he waits. Michael reemerges now fully dressed and they move together out the door.

“So,” Michael sighs once Alex has backed the car out of the driveway. “What are we dealing with now?” He sounds tired and Alex’s heart squeezes uncomfortably at having to disturb the peace they’ve finally found. There’s been a much-needed break from the drama in their lives for the last few months. They should have known it wouldn’t last.

Alex reaches across the seat and grabs his husband’s hand. “Greg called. You might have a clone.”

-:-

They see the other Michael before they find Gregory. His brother was right, there is definitely a teenage Michael Guerin sitting casually outside the trading post. Alex has barely put the car into park before Michael is slamming his door behind him as he storms towards his younger self. Just once Alex wishes they could approach a situation with some form of a plan. He exits the jeep and follows Michael blindly once again.

Before either of them can say anything, the teenager is laughing with his head thrown back, a slightly hysterical edge to the action. Everything around them goes still. He makes for such a strange vision; a mirage comprised of deja vu.

“Who are you?” Michael asks as soon as the shock seems to wear off. Alex lingers a few steps back, watching the two Michaels interact, a bad feeling settling in his gut.

“What do you mean who am I?” the teenager snarks. There’s a skepticism and guardedness to him that hasn’t plagued Michael for some time. “I’m you. And judging by how old we look I’m guessing it’s not 2007 anymore.”

-:-

“Time travel?” Liz circles the younger Michael where he sits on the stool she’d shoved him on as soon as they’d walked into the secret lab. She sounds like she doesn’t believe them but if Alex is being honest he hadn’t expected her to.

“Dude, how many people know what we are?” Mini-Michael swats Liz’s hands away as she goes to poke his face. Max and Isobel stand in the corner, watching with morbid fascination.

“A lot.” Michael hesitantly steps closer. Alex can’t tell what he’s thinking.

“Alright,” Liz sighs. “Let’s assume for a moment that time travel is real.”

“I think I’m proof of that Ortecho,” Mini-Michael scoffs.

“Do you have any idea how you got here? Do you remember touching something? Where you were? If anyone else was present at the time of extraction?” If there--”

“Why don’t we let him explain, Lizzie.” Michael reaches out and gently pulls Liz back by the shoulders.

“Lizzie?

“Start talking,” Michael commands his younger self, easily ignoring his attitude. Out of all of, he would be the most equipped to deal with it Alex supposes.

“I heard about some alien artifacts out on the Navajo reservation. I thought it might be a piece of my--” He stops abruptly, glancing around the room at the four other people in the room before settling back on Michael, eyebrows raised significantly.

“They know about the console,” Michael admits.

“You mean you finished it?” Michael smiles softly at the look of wonder that takes over the teenager’s face. He nods for him to continue. “Oh, well it wasn’t the console, but then I thought maybe it was something that could help Isobel.” He glances toward where Isobel stands listening. “I’m worried about her.”

“Help Isobel, how?” Liz draws his attention back to her and Michael. She looks likes she’s starting to warily believe that this is all real.

“She’s been acting strange,” Mini-Michael whispers softly. “Max says that it’s nothing, but sometimes it feels like she’s a completely different person.”

Alex and the others share a startled look.

“I think she’s possessed or something.”

#malexweek20 #malex20 #my fic #malex fic #malex #roswell new mexico #still a mess but i'm an eastern time zone mess tonight baby #malex week 2020

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recentnews18-blog · 5 years

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New Post has been published on https://shovelnews.com/brexit-can-you-fix-stupid/

Brexit - can you fix stupid?

It takes a lot to surprise the BBC’s John Humphreys but that’s what happened yesterday morning.

Professor Anthony Seldon is an eminent historian and current Vice Chancellor of the University of Birmingham.

Michael Cockerell is a respected documentary maker and he has made outstanding programmes about the likes of James Callaghan, Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair.

As the BBC’s Today programme sometimes does on a Saturday morning, it reviews the story that has dominated the week’s output. In this case, Brexit.

Prof Seldon said: “The current turmoil in British politics totally eclipses Suez, totally eclipses everything, we have never been here before. The lengths of fixation of government on this one issue, the complexity of the problem…20 resignations utterly eclipsing Suez, Falklands, Iraq War, the country more evenly divided, more deeply divided, families, communities, churches, than on any issue. Scotland and Northern Ireland’s future in the union both up for question at the same time, the Conservative party more deeply divided in its 200 year history…”

Mr Cockerell then chipped in: “It is the most extraordinary time I have seen in British politics. One of the times which it does remind me of, in some ways. was when Jim Callaghan was prime minister and we had a huge economic crisis and we went to the IMF, we wanted a loan from the IMF to stop the country going bankrupt, we asked for a loan of three billion, that was in the old days when a billion was a lot of money and that was more than the IMF had loaned anyone but the Labour cabinet was absolutely split on this.”

Prof Seldon came back in and said: “If we get it wrong, I feel as a historian the social fabric of the country will be stretched to breaking point.”

Mr Humphreys jumped in and asked him: “What does that mean, rioting in the streets?”

Prof Seldon replied: “It could do, yes, I think this is a moment of significant peril. Imagine, for example if there is a second referendum and the country is very divided, it was pretty evenly divided at the referendum in 2016 and now the balance of voting is just the other way, think of how angry the Brexiteers will feel if there is a second referendum that goes against them, this is a moment of significant peril and that is exactly why we need to have grown up MPs thinking not of their egos, not of their ideologies but actually a novel idea of the nation at this moment of real, significant national peril, they should be thinking of the nation, not plunging the country into a no-deal Brexit.”

Mr Cockerell came back in saying: “I do think what we will be hearing from the prime minister and other ministers who support her is the national interest; but of course behind the scenes they are plotting and scheming. It used to be said that loyalty was the Tories secret weapon. It seems now that disloyalty is the Tories default setting.”

Mr Humphreys said: “Thank you very much indeed…”

Prof Seldon said: “Not very optimistic, have a nice weekend.”

Mr Humphreys had the final word: “Thanks for cheering us up.”

While the slice of Radio Four was enlightened and mesmerising, it didn’t even mention, never mind attempt to analyse the blindingly obvious. Possibly because most of the contributors are ignorant about it, the very same stark naked Emperor element was avoided during the three-hour pummelling of British Prime Minister Theresa May in Westminster during the week.

It is the orange/green factor, the Irish Question, that dominated and often poisoned Northern Ireland politics for decades; the row that frequently spilled over the border and stunted North/South relations.

Seventeen months ago the germ crossed the borderless Irish Sea, found its way to Westminster and contaminated the Conservative Party and British politics.

And Theresa May, the heroic figure of last week’s absorbing political thunderstorm, is, unwittingly responsible for it.

The problem was created by her decision to call a general election in June 2017. She was attempting to strengthen her forces in order to combat the hard Brexiteers.

The catastrophic contest produced a situation where ten DUP members hold the balance of power in Westminster, keeping her minority government in office.

Another significant consequence of the election was the removal of three SDLP MPs who would have acted as a counter-balance to the DUP and certainly would have contributed a different narrative during the past week in Westminster.

Mrs May didn’t intend it but by calling an election she brought calamity upon herself.

Last Wednesday night she cut a heroic figure outside Downing Street, speaking from her heart, without notes. There was an even more telling angle than the head-on camera shot. It was the side view, showing her slightly curved figure, utterly alone providing a statement that was being watched by probably hundreds of millions of people.

Politics is indeed a spectator sport but the House of Commons became the Coliseum on Wednesday as several Conservative MPs seemed to revel in publicly seeking out the most vulnerable zones of their party leader.

The contribution of Jacob Rees-Mogg was particularly revealing. As an educated, practicing Catholic, he would be familiar with the scourging at the pillar and the crowning with thorns.

In the dozens of contributions, it was striking how the unavoidable truth about the island of Ireland question did not feature. The Conservatives are obsessed about themselves. The Brexiteers want out of Europe at all costs. The Labour Party has amnesia about the Blair/Brown contribution to the peace process and its sole objective is to get into power.

But if Westminster is showing little appreciation of the Ireland question, the opposite is the case with the other side in the Brexit negotiations, the European Union. The remarks made by the Belgian politician, Philippe Lamberts, a member of the European Parliament’s Brexit committee during the week, make the case.

On BBC’s World Tonight radio programme on Thursday, Mr Lamberts said: “This deal is the best that is achievable within the constraints set by a number of factors, not least of all the Good Friday Agreement.

“This (the GFA) is a treaty that the UK has voluntarily signed and it creates constraints that made a clear-cut Brexit impossible actually because it is predicated on the common membership of both Ireland and the United Kingdom to the same political body called the European Union.”

“The constraints won’t change, even if there is a leadership challenge, if there is new elections, the Good Friday Agreement will stand and the European Union determination to preserve its core pillars, including the single market, will remain as well. So I do not believe that the constraints under which the agreement has been drafted will change…

“The UK leaving without a deal would of course hurt the United Kingdom. The supply chains would be disrupted; free circulation would be disrupted, airline flights would be disrupted, goods flow would be disrupted. I think than no one really knows how deep the implications would go but there are the practical implications and they would cut both ways – they would hurt the United Kingdom but also the European Union, especially those countries bordering the United Kingdom, Ireland to start with, and then the countries that border on the North Sea including my own country, Belgium. This is not a very encouraging prospect.”

When Mrs May gathered her cabinet members at Downing Street on Wednesday, she followed the logic of Mr Lambert’s arguments.

In 1995 Bill Clinton, and his wife Hilary, became the first serving US president to visit Northern Ireland to assist the peace process: in 1998 Tony Blair was guided by the hand of history to help negotiate the Good Friday Agreement. In 2011 Queen Elizabeth bowed in the Garden of Remembrance and alongside Mary McAleese, said “A Uachtarain agus a cairde” in Dublin Castle. In 2015 Michael D Higgins said in Windsor Castle, “ar scáth a chéile a mhairimid” (we live in the shadow of each other).

Theresa May’s stance on Brexit during the week was an acknowledgement (belated) of that thread. It accepts Northern Ireland is unique, that the relationship between the neighbouring islands is special and that shared membership of the European Union has helped to remove centuries old poison and distrust and change the dynamic.

On Thursday night last I sat with Sammy Wilson at his constituency office in Larne’s quiet Main Street. The previous night he said in one television interview that the European Union was intent on giving Northern Ireland a punishment beating over its decision to leave. Sammy has a reputation for delivering such soundbites.

On a personal level I’m very fond of him. Like most of his DUP colleagues he always tries to oblige when, on RTE’s behalf, I come looking for an interviewee. In this case it was a stretch because the request was for a late night insert to Prime Time.

Even though Mr Wilson had been on the go, full-on in Westminster and arrived back in Belfast a few hours before, he agreed to participate in the programme. To acknowledge his kindness, I travelled with a cameraman to be in Larne during the link up to Donnybrook.

In the minutes before Prime Time began, we were having our chat. Mr Wilson was telling me about how he wanted out of Europe. I said my respect for what the EU stands for is personal because the E112 form that brought me to Sweden for cancer treatment 20 years ago saved my life.

Sammy was telling me about the frenetic mix of meetings and interviews around Westminster the previous night and how he finally got a late night feed of chips and stuff. He is 66 now. I told him how I had a stent inserted last month so the puncture is fixed and the blow-out and car crash avoided, hopefully.

Interactions like that with the likes of Sammy Wilson, Arlene Foster, Gregory Campbell, Gareth Robinson, Jerffrey Donaldson and Diane Dodds remind me, time after time, of how much we have in common with unionists.

They enjoy conversation about what matters. Yet, as a party, the DUP has built its philosophy on principles of confrontation – No Surrender, Sell-Out, Not an Inch. Due to often bitter and sometimes violent experience, down the years, the suspicion was warranted. But nowadays, like much of US President Donald Trump’s antics, often the fear and rhetoric have little basis in reality.

The proposition that the Irish approach to Brexit shifted when Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney replaced Enda Kenny and Charlie Flanagan doesn’t stand up to scrutiny.

What changed was that the shadow of Brexit took over all agendas and that Leo Varadkar became Taoiseach the very month that the DUP became the power bloc required to keep Theresa May’s minority government in power.

In public the DUP seem to thrive on being outsiders. Their founder, Ian Paisley, had a limitless capacity to invent bogeymen. Lundy was the Church of Scotland solider who went soft on defending the walls of Derry in 1689 and the DUP can rhyme off a long line of Lundys who have attempted to sell loyal Ulster down the river since.

The Brexiteers recognise this instinct in the DUP and they make common cause in confronting the EU bogeyman. The thesis to set DUP pulses racing is the notion that Northern Ireland is about to be cut adrift from the European Union, as part of a cunning plan to facilitate a united Ireland and confine Ulster unionists to a life of subservience.

The tragedy, so far, is that unionists are not prepared to look beyond their own traditional suspicions. The Republic of Ireland they fear no longer exists. Drew Harris, the Garda Commissioner, the son of an RUC officer, murdered by the IRA, is this week wearing a poppy. The kind of Irish language provisions some campaigners were attempting to introduce in Northern Ireland do not exist south of the border yet the more creative approach it has taken to the language is allowing for more organic growth and popularity.

If there was a poll taken in the Republic in the morning and the options were push for a united Ireland or commit to a ‘live and let live’ friendly relationship with our next door neighbours, the vast majority would probably opt for the latter.

One of my happiest, most illuminating days in the company of the late Ian Paisley, was a time he spent in south Sligo. He was invited down to a peace park in a small village of Aclare; the organisers provided accommodation and lodgings for the extended Paisley family in the Yeats Country Hotel in the little village of Curry.

Ian Paisley and his family were so contented during that visit because they felt welcome, among their own and they had a sense of the commonality between the people of Cullybackey, Co Antrim, and Tubbercurry, Co Sligo.

The tragedy of the DUP’s current position is they are not prepared to explore the nature of the Brexit deal on offer to them. The fruits of the haggling between Theresa May’s main negotiator, Ollie Robbins and Michel Barnier’s European Commission team, is Northern Ireland has been offered unique status within the European Union and the United Kingdom.

Although she is on maternity leave, Ruth Davidson, the leader of the Scottish Conservatives, was quick to spot this. So too was Nicola Sturgeon, leader of the Scottish Nationalist party. Like pupils in a classroom seeing some student offered a special arrangement, the SNP is envious. And the Scottish Conservatives know the Northern Ireland concession could be used by the SNP as a stick to beat them in future Scottish independence debates.

Northern Ireland business organisations have spotted the advantages of the deal. They issued a joint statement, praising it on Friday.

Significantly the Ulster Farmers Union, too, has come out in favour of what’s on offer. It wasn’t just the organisation’s chief executive, Wesley Aston, or its former president, Ian Marshall,who is now a Fine Gael appointed member of the senate. The UFU’s current president, Ivor Ferguson, a farmer in Markethill, Co Armagh, is also publicly supporting the deal.

The chief constable of the PSNI, George Hamilton (above), has stood by his warnings about the significant problems that could flow from a no-deal Brexit.

It is also true that Mrs May is seeking to reach beyond the Westminster bubble and use public opinion and different sectors as persuaders in her tussle with Conservative MPs and the DUP.

Karen Bradley, the Secretary of State, left the Westminster chamber on Wednesday to meet business groups in Belfast. A number of meetings with business groups, using Chatham House rules (no leaking), were hosted by Ms Bradley’s team of persuaders last week.

Might the DUP change tack? If a car is heading for a wall, or a ship for an iceberg, in order to avoid trouble something has to change. Had David Cameron been offered some recognition that he might have put his finger on something when he went looking to the EU for help, Angela Merkel might not be in the political departure lounge and the Remain Camp could have won the Brexit referendum.

The DUP and Northern Ireland have indeed been offered a sweetheart deal. Not due to the European Union’s special affection for Northern Ireland but because it is the practical way to structure the withdrawal agreement, the border question included.

Now the challenge for Theresa May and others is to persuade the DUP to see the merits of the offer or at least have its MPs abstain if not back the prime minister in the Westminster vote.

Mr Varadkar has already acknowledged the realities in some of his comments at his party’s weekend Ard Fheis. He is attempting to signal that a goal of the negotiations of a future EU/UK trading partnership would see no need for a backstop or any sort of significant border.

The Brexiteers will cling closely to the DUP as their new best friends, their pit bull in the Westminster battle. Northern Ireland was used as the off-shore vehicle to fund all of the final stages of the Leave Information campaign. The DUP’s ten MPs are crucial in the Westminster balance of power and Brexit voting equations.

The package promised by the Brexiteers to Leave supporters is the UK’s right to make its own trade deals with outside countries and an EU that would only be delighted to give the UK unfettered access to its markets. If there is no border down the Irish Sea (a DUP demand), and no border on the island of Ireland (an Irish/EU stipulation), would the EU insist on checks at Calais, Rotterdam etc for Irish as well as EU goods?

That’s the thinking of the Brexiteers who see a borderless Irish Sea and island of Ireland as the formula to shift the pressure onto the EU, Ireland included. The DUP as the Brexiteers’ foot soldiers, the island of Ireland as the Trojan horse.

For the past week news bulletins and newspapers were dominated by the Brexit story. But within Northern Ireland, two highly significant developments that play into the bigger picture took place. On Tuesday night BBC’s Spotlight transmitted a programme that got little or no traction. It was about the Renewable Heat Incentive Inquiry in which the DUP, its leader Arlene Foster and the party’s modus operandi are under severe scrutiny.

Witnesses to the inquiry voluntarily submitted their email and telephone activity to the investigators and the relevant and often controversial information surfaced during the hearings. But Mr Justice Coughlin and his team may now seek a further information trawl, this time conducted by independent experts to supplement what came from the voluntary provision of information.

This may lead to further revelations but it will also take time. It is not implausible that the Inquiry’s final report, expected in March/April could be further delayed – a far from encouraging omen for the resumption of power-sharing at Stormont.

A second significant development relates to the long-planned motorway between Counties Monaghan and Derry. In the absence of a power-sharing, decision-making minister, a Stormont department had sanctioned the construction project but it was being challenged by landowners.

Sensing it might be over-stepping its remit, the department has now pulled back from the project, the legal proceedings become unnecessary as the motorway work is put in cold storage.

Northern Ireland adds to its reputation for procrastination and paralysis.

These two developments feed into the pattern of the DUP as a party locked in the process of blocking, defending, confronting, saying No. Within unionism it has no opposition. The highly influential Jim Allister is a tougher version of the DUP but he is the sole Assembly member if the Traditional Unionist Voice. The Ulster Unionists continue to be an ineffective form of DUP lite.

But if the DUP’s behaviour is spreading the notoriety of the brand, it is taking the party further and further away from power and power-sharing in its own backyard.

One is torn between two Brexit questions: Can you fix Stupid?; Is Have To the Ultimate Master?

Source: https://www.rte.ie/news/analysis-and-comment/2018/1117/1011613-brexit-fix-stupid/

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pastelwitchling · 3 years

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Malex Shrapnel teaser.

*****

Alex was in the hospital.

Those were the words Michael had woken up to, the words that had him barreling out of Max’s bedroom and into his truck, leaving his siblings’ calls to him behind.

He couldn’t remember much from their fight with Mr. Jones. He remembered Max and Isobel, and Liz and Maria, and even Gregory and Flint had fought because Alex had been there. Because Alex was always there to protect Michael.

And then they’d been separated, and the world had turned dark, and Michael had woken up several hours later with Alex’s name on his lips.

The truck’s tires screeched as Michael pulled up to a stop in front of the hospital doors, startling more than a few people.

He leapt out before the engine had even shut off, storming up to the counter and growling out one name. Manes.

The frightened nurse looked it up on the computer, casting wary glances at Michael, and muttered, “ER,” before Michael lost his mind all over again.

He ditched the elevator and took the stairs two at a time. The ER. Alex was in the ER. Michael thought his heart might stop. He was envisioning a million different scenarios as he hurried up to the fifth floor, a million versions of Alex and diagnoses and very sorry doctors with very bad news that only got worse and worse. Michael may have blown a storage door off its hinges on one of the landings.

Then he’d reached the nearly empty hall, his heart thrashing so wildly it hurt, and when he spotted Alex sitting against the wall, hugging his knees to his chest in front of the automatic doors of the operating room, the world turned still for a split second, and all Michael could hear was his own panting.

“Alex,” he breathed before running across the hall, falling to his knees beside the airman, and wrapping him in his arms.

“Alex, Alex, Alex,” he breathed into the crook of Alex’s neck, one hand in Alex’s soft hair, his other arm around his shoulders. “Baby, you’re okay. You’re safe, you’re okay.”

He pulled back, holding Alex’s face in his hands. “You –” he kissed Alex’s forehead “—I heard you were at the hospital –” he kissed his cheeks “—and I thought –” he pecked Alex’s lips and pulled him in for another hug “—I couldn’t breathe, Alex. But you’re okay. You’re safe.”

“I’m . . .” he managed, his voice barely above a mutter.

Michael’s smile faltered. He pulled back again and saw now that Alex was in an even worse state than Michael was. He had cuts along his jaw, the bridge of his nose, his knuckles. There were bruises on his cheeks and wrists, and his hair was windswept as if he’d been running his hand through it all day.

Michael tried to meet his eyes. Alex was staring ahead, his brows furrowed slightly. He didn’t speak. The look on his face was so lost, so numb, that Michael felt that familiar dread and panic since he’d woken return.

He looked up and realized the other person in the hall, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed and his eyes on the door, waiting, was Flint.

Michael looked back at Alex. “Where’s Gregory?”

Alex swallowed with visible difficulty, his nails leaving deep lines in his other hand, his knuckles white under the harsh red of his wounds as he tightly clasped his hands together.

“Critical condition, he –” Alex shook his head. “I was almost shot. He pushed me out of the way. Kyle’s doing what he can – please, Guerin, stop asking me, I don’t . . .” he trailed off.

Actually it was more like Alex just couldn’t finish. His mouth opened and closed several times on a silent sentence.

So Gregory had saved Alex, and as a result, he’d ended up in emergency care. Michael watched Alex stare into nothingness, the guilt and self-loathing evident in his face. Michael knew he shouldn’t be here. Knew he shouldn’t be touching Alex the way he was, knew he shouldn’t have kissed him the way he had. They weren’t a couple, and Alex and Forrest had only recently broken up, and Alex still couldn’t completely look at Michael after his relationship with Maria.

Forrest had been avidly fond of Alex and painfully aware when it came to Michael, and when he’d realized that Michael and Maria had dated, Michael remembered the look of outrage and confusion the historian had dealt Alex. A look that clearly screamed; And you’re still hanging around this guy because . . .?

After Forrest had left, unable to watch as Alex threw his own sanity away for the sake of keeping Michael happy, something had broken, and Alex had come to realize that the way he’d been treated actually wasn’t okay, and every bit of anger and disappointment he’d felt and stored away came leaking out, bit by bit, every day since then.

That was months ago. And yes, Michael knew he shouldn’t have been here for Alex now, but it was months ago. Alex may not have wanted to see him, but Michael was going to die if he had to be away from him again.

So instead of leaving this time as he knew he ought to, Michael nodded wordlessly, sat down beside Alex, and slung an arm around his shoulders. He gently pulled Alex in against him after some hesitation, and the airman moved as was wanted of him. But his eyes never closed, and the tension in his shoulders never faded, and his nails kept digging into his skin.

Michael pressed his lips to Alex’s hair, but Alex didn’t seem to feel that either.

Hours passed as they sat in the cold, Max, Isobel, Liz, and Maria having arrived to check on Alex and sit with him in shifts. Alex didn’t lift his head or answer any questions beyond a simple shake of his head or a nod, after which he would turn his face into Michael’s shoulder with furrowed brows, as if he was suffering a constant headache.

“Leave him,” Flint muttered, his arms still crossed as he looked at his brother. “Just leave him.”

Liz glared. “We want to help.”

“You can’t help,” was all Flint said.

They soon realized that Alex wasn’t going to go home or get any rest or have any food, so when Liz settled on getting Alex a fresh change of clothes and a first aid kit to clean up his wounds, Isobel was there at his other side, her head on his shoulder.

Michael dozed off once or twice, his head resting on top of Alex’s, and he’d wake to find Alex idly playing with the hem of his shirt or resting his palm against Michael’s chest, feeling his heartbeat.

“You cold?” Michael asked him at one point well after midnight. He wrapped both arms tighter around Alex, running a hand up and down his side. Alex didn’t answer, staring into nothing. Michael tried not to be worried by the emptiness in his gaze, or the furrow in his brows as if he was seeing something Michael couldn’t.

*****

I’d really like to take my time with this piece, but I also really wanted to share a bit of what I’ve written so far with y’all.

#michael guerin #alex manes #malex #malex fic #malex fanfic #malex fanfiction #roswell new mexico #roswell nm #malex angst #malex fluff #michael vlamis #tyler blackburn

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