#oh to be 15 again and go on a grand magic adventure with your found family and prince of darkness
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When Zatz says The Thing™
#maya and the three#maya and the 3#maya y los tres#maya and the three spoilers#maya y los tres spoilers#zatz prince of bats#chewieblog#animationedit#dailywoc#tvedit#original#oh to be 15 again and go on a grand magic adventure with your found family and prince of darkness#yes i binged this in a day#yes i cried my eyes out#we exist
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CIX Hyunsuk 'Mission Mistletoe'
Request from WATTPAD!
Request a oneshot here!
Prompt number:
15. Avoiding the Mistletoe at all costs, however, everyone is trying their best to get their otp there.
Pairing - Hyunsuk x Reader
Genre: Fluff
CEO AU!
Word count: 2.6k
MASTERLIST
You’ve got mail
You’ve got mail
You’ve got mail
Grumbling, you paused your Netflix movie and propped your laptop onto your lap, wanting to be free from work for a least a few hours.
READ: IT IS OF UTMOST IMPORTANCE
You clicked on the email, from none other than the person you really wanted to punch right now.
Good evening Miss Y/N,
I miss you, come back to the office and stop leaving me with these idiots.
Your boss.
IMPORTANT!
Miss Y/N,
I know you got my email. JUST COME MY GOD IM BORED AND IM IN NEED OF SOME COMPANY.
Your boss.
FOR FRICK’S SAKE THIS IS IMPORTANT
Y/N,
I sent Jinyoung to come and grab you, don’t you dare say no.
See you soooonnnnnnn!
the love of your lifeeeeeeee
“YOON HYUNSUK!!!!”
Your doorbell rang and deciding not to answer it, you snuggled deeper into the blankets. Not wanting to leave your comfy bed.
Knocking.
Doorbell ringing.
A ding from your phone.
CEO Hyunsuk 🤡
Open the door for Jinyoung or else im telling him to break it down
You
Hyunsuk wtf do you want Im tryna rest before i ACTUALLY HAVE TO GO BACK TO WORK TOMORROW!
CEO Hyunsuk 🤡
Just come here now!!! It’s chaotic here i wanna cry
You
For fucks sake…..
You owe me!
_____________________
Hyunsuk was ecstatic when you popped your head inside his office, standing up as fast as he can and dragged you inside. His hands were on your shoulders, shaking you.
“THANK GOD YOU’RE HERE. Wait, why are you wearing PJ’s? WAIT THAT’S NOT THE POINT!”
You crossed your arms and glared at him. “Mr. Yoon, I want to know why you called me here at-” you looked at the clock and you closed your eyes, feeling the anger build up. “2 am in the morning. Why am in my PJ’s? IT’S BECAUSE SOMEONE CALLED ME AT THE WORST TIME!!!! I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU!”
“Stop calling me Mr. Yoon we have literally known each other since we were kids.”
It was true. You and Hyunsuk were part of the Elite, a group filled with only the richest families of the world. People outside of the Elite view them as modern-day Kings and Queens, with some of the families in governments. While others view them as stuck up bitches who got lucky in the past. Even in the Elite, there are ranks. Your family was one of the lowest, barely surviving in the cutthroat economy. While Hyunsuk’s was one of the highest, and it didn’t help that his whole family was blessed with looks.
The company, Complete In X was where your parents had met Hyunsuk’s parents, and history was made. It was considered mind-blowing, the products created. It not only allowed for recreation, but for changing parts to create a new overall story. Hyunsuk had become the CEO, and along with his other friends, created a new target, video games.
You had dabbled in computer science and data collection, finding an interest in video games. It wasn’t until you needed an internship did Hyunsuk reach out to you. After chatting over coffee, the internship turned into something more. To be a personal assistant to Hyunsuk as well as the design planner for corporate parties.
You didn’t think that it would have a small downside.
“Y/N as I was saying, thanks for coming. First, how do you control those children? Because I know for sure I can’t at all.” You rolled your eyes. This, this was the downside.
“Hyunsuk, those children you are talking about are your friends. Also just get them some food and they should be fine. They are human and need a break as well.” He nodded and looked out his window through the blinds. His friends, his teammates, were bouncing around the office. He smiled and you felt your heart race.
Somewhere along the months of working with him, you scummed to not only his looks but his kindness, the soft side of Hyunsuk. And man did you fall harder than what you were supposed to.
No other words were spoken to each other after Hyunsuk introduced the planning of a corporate Christmas dinner, you immediately get to work.
Hyunsuk looked up every few moments to admire you sitting on the sofa, typing furiously. Even when you were in PJ’s he found you cute. You looked up for a moment and he quickly retracted his eyes to his computer screen. You giggled quietly and went back to work.
A moment between you two that lasted forever.
But behind the blinds, a group of boys were planning a mission that should have been done six months ago.
“Mission Mistletoe is in effect!”
____________________
Christmas music played from the speakers, the air smelling like peppermint. As you were spreading the chocolate onto a baking sheet, the doorbell rang.
“Y/N! Open up!”
You rushed to the door, being engulfed in a comforting but cold hug. “Hyunsuk! What are you doing here? Don’t you have a business to run?”
“The next conference meeting isn’t until the day of the corporate dinner.” He shut the door behind him and took his gloves off. You had retreated back to the kitchen, where the music had started yet again. He followed, practically drooling as he saw freshly baked cookies on the island.
“So, how’s the planning coming along?” He bit into the cookie and groaned. Your baking was to die for.
You faced him. “It’s going well, I just need an updated guest list of who is coming. Also, does gold and red work well for corporate colours?”
He nodded. “I’ll ask BX to get you that list. Run the colours through with Seunghun, I heard he wanted your opinion to add navy blue. The boys also wanted to add mistletoes as well for some reason. Saying that they wanted to get a specific one true pairing to come true.” He shrugged and ate another cookie.
Your face became heated and you turned back to put the chocolate in the fridge, trying to cool your face at the same time. “Mistletoes huh? Well, I say no. I mean although mistletoes are part of Christmas, this dinner is also for organization and agreements. What I’m saying is that we need to look professional. And on the navy blue, I’ll make the curtains it.”
Once Hyunsuk had left, you plopped down on your bed, taking a deep breath.
Just what did the boys want to do?
_____________________
“Seunghun that goes there. Jinyoung stop putting mistletoes everywhere I said no! BX where’s that list? Yonghee my goodness stop throwing glitter everywhere!”
Five days nearing the corporate party and everything was under control.
Well almost.
You had ordered poinsettias to put on the small pillars, but you didn’t realize that BX was allergic to flowers. So you had to return all of the flowers and to your dismay, not all of the money was returned. After apologizing profusely to Hyunsuk, he smiled and decided to keep some of the flowers, regardless if anyone was allergic or not.
“Suck it up and chug some allergy medicine!” was what he said.
BX ran into the room at the exact same time Yonghee threw glitter into the air, sprinkling it directly onto him.
“Yonghee!”
The tears were becoming too much, as you doubled over in laughter. The rest had stopped what they were doing and started to join in.
Laughs echoed around the room, the sun starting to set creating a hue of colours on the glittered floor and BX’s hair.
“Okay okay, Yonghee clean up the mess. I have an idea for the glitter. BX hun I’m so sorry but I need that list, glammed up or not.”
Grumbles came from Yonghee, but he quietly obliged, signalling to Jinyoung to hide at least three mistletoes somewhere your eagle eyes would not see.
But someone did notice, and with a smirk on their lips, they knew what the boys were planning.
“Mistletoes huh? Someone wants drama.”
_______________________
The dinner was in full swing. Yonghee fixing his collar while BX was fixing any mistakes on the powerpoint, quickly rehearsing the game once more. Seunghun was covering Jinyoung who ran around the ballroom to stuff extra mistletoes, making sure to avoid any contact with you as you were doing final preparations and trying to calm Hyunsuk down.
“Mr. Yoon-” “Hyunsuk….just call me Hyunsuk woman.”
You rolled your eyes but obliged. “Okay, Hyunsuk. You will be fine, the presentation will go smoothly. I double-checked and printed out extra copies if needed. Just breathe in and out.” You demonstrated how to breathe and Hyunsuk couldn’t help but laugh. He grabbed your wrist and pulled you closer to him, his lips ghosting over your ear and his breaths making you shiver.
“Thank you Y/N, for everything.”
He let go and you bowed, shakily moving towards the clatter of people surrounding the middle of the ballroom. Jinyoung snickered as he popped out beside you, making you yell in surprise and smack him.
“Ow ow ow! STOP IT Y/N YOU’RE FINE!”
“Don’t ever scare me! You know how easy I get scared!”
He smirked and moved away from Y/N, bowing dramatically and tipping an invisible hat. “Oh you haven’t seen the grand finale.” and Jinyoung walks towards Hyunsuk, whispering in his ear.
You tilt your head in confusion. “This is not a circus!”
A clink of a glass and the whole crowd goes silent.
“Good evening. My name is Yoon Hyunsuk, CEO of Complete In X. I would like to express my gratitude for your attendance tonight. As you may have known, it is a corporate Christmas dinner, but also a way to introduce a project my colleagues and I are in the process of making.”
Hyunsuk beckons his friends to take their place near the projector, with BX starting up the powerpoint and the game.
“if you look at the screen that is descending, we have immersed ourselves into the video game realm. A game that is popular such as League of Legends or A Chinese Ghost story has given us the idea to create our own version. We introduce Spirit Kingdom, an adventure filled with magic, kidnapping, seduction, and romance.”
BX opens up the game and the screen goes dark.
[START]
“WELCOME TO SPIRIT KINGDOM. UPON ENTERING,
DO NOT WAKE THE KING.
DO NOT STEAL THE PRINCESS.
DO NOT SEDUCE THE QUEEN.
MOST OF ALL,
CATCH THE KILLER.”
“As you can see, a character is already put on the castle grounds, and the narrator will explain the backstory as the person may change their character or move them around.”
BX moved the character around while Hyunsuk talked, all eyes on the boys. You looked in fascination, the graphics were clear, no glitches in sight. Detailed and engaging. You smiled and started to clap while others followed. It looked like everyone was enjoying the preview as you were looking around. You gasped as you saw the CEO-in-training for Treasure Alchemy, Choi Hyunsuk, walking towards you.
“Good evening Miss L/N.” A chaste kiss to your right hand and a smile to die for.
“Good evening sir.”
“Nonsense. Call me Choi Hyunsuk. We are the same age are we not?” you nod and glance your eyes at Hyunsuk, his eyes already on yours. He smirks and you panic, diverting your eyes to the man in front of you. Hyunsuk follows your eyes and scowls when he sees him. Out of all days, why today?
Nonetheless, Hyunsuk takes a deep breath and regains his stance, glancing at BX who has customized the character to his liking and is entering the Elves of Forest.
“So Miss Y/N, let’s take this conversation somewhere quieter hm?” You looked at Choi Hyunsuk, who held out his hand. Hesitant, you glance at Yoon Hyunsuk, but he is occupied with finishing the presentation. Clasping your hand’s around Choi Hyunsuk’s, he leads you to the balcony. The cold air nipping at your arms.
“As I was saying, Miss Y/N, why are you still working for that kid?”
You snapped your head at Choi Hyunsuk. “I beg your pardon?”
“That kid has barely started University, and yet he’s already managing a company. Watch, all his hard work will go down the drain.” Choi Hyunsuk stretches his arms, leaning on the balcony. “Let’s talk about this game he created. Or should I say copied? The ideas? Unoriginal. the graphics? Hurts my eyes. Overall, I would never purchase the game, nonetheless play it even if it was free.”
You clenched and unclenched your hands. Just how dare he. “And I suppose Choi you can do better?”
“Hm?”
“I know you heard me? Or is it because you’re scared of losing to a guy three years younger than you?”
He looked in your direction and grabbed your wrist. His lips nearing yours “Why would I be afraid, I would have the mastermind behind the company.”
“Whatever do you mean?”
Choi Hyunsuk smirked. “I know little Hyunsuk doesn’t make these ideas, how else was the company in top shape? It’s you Y/N, and I want you.”
You placed your other arm as a shield to protect you. “Never will I work for you Choi Hyunsuk.”
He smirked. “I’ll get you. One way or another.” He presses a kiss to your cheek and walks to the door, facing you once more.
“Be ready love, you won’t know what’s coming.”
Shaking your head, you ran back to the ballroom in time for the closing announcements. Drowning a glass of water taken from a worker, Hyunsuk looked in your direction. It seemed as though time had slowed down, both of you in a trance as if the glitter Yonghee sprinkled a few days prior that still lingered was like magic. Clapping interrupted your daydreaming, someone tapping your shoulder as Hyunsuk held out his hand for you to take.
You smiled and placed your hand in his.
“I would like to say a special thank you to Miss Y/N. We met when we were kids, and have become great business partners. Without her, I would be a mess right now.” He laughs and everyone else does too.
You smile at Hyunsuk and was about to take your seat until Jinyoung quickly grabbed the mic. “LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WE ARE NOT DONE YET. What you saw, of course, was the main point of this dinner but we couldn’t say this is a Christmas dinner without a little magic and holiday cheer.”
“Jinyoung what the hell are you doing? This isn’t part of the program.” you hissed at Jinyoung, ready to smack him. But Hyunsuk stopped you, rubbing soothing circles onto your back.
Jinyoung winked. “Live a little Y/N.”
The audience was confused, what does he mean by Christmas cheer?
“I have a little magic trick for you all. I just need you all to count down from three okay?”
“THREE.” You braced yourself for the worst, gripping onto Hyunsuk’s hand.
“TWO.” Hyunsuk smirked at Jinyoung, shaking his head slightly.
“ONE.” Yonghee cheered and pressed a button
The screen ascended and mistletoe hung from the ceiling, found in people’s pockets. Glitter was thrown everywhere. Mistletoes everywhere.
“MISSION MISLETOE IN EFFECT! L/N Y/N AND YOON HYUNSUK JUST KISS ALREADY!”
Your eyes widened in horror.
“BAE JINYOUNG!”
Hyunsuk laughed, a mistletoe descending above you both. The audience notices and starts to chant. You blush and try to hide your face while he brings you closer to him.
“Y/N, you probably won’t believe this but, I’ve been in love with you since we met.” and he takes your lips in a breathtaking kiss.
You wrap your arms around his neck and push your body flush to his, foreheads touching and smiles all around.
You had to thank Jinyoung, in that if he didn’t secretly place mistletoes almost everywhere, the stars wouldn’t have aligned that night.
#woop woop woop woop another prompt done#requests are still open until december 6th!#CIX#Hyunsuk#Seunghun#BX#Jinyoung#Yonghee#CEO au#christmas prompts request
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Masterlist
Birthday Fics (Members)
October Birthday Fics - 2018
Weekly Prompts
October 13th
October 20th
Secret Santa Fics 2018
Monthly Prompts
November 2018
Peiskos (Harr Silver)
December 2018
First Snow (Byron Wagner + Birthday Fic)
Birthday Fics (Suitors)
Ikemen Revolution
Lancelot Kingsley (January 11)
Enchanted
Harr Silver (December 12)
And So It Began
Samurai Love Ballad: Party
Shingen Takeda (December 1)
Untitled
Requests
>IKEMEN SENGOKU<
Nobunaga Oda
1. Angst + Sengoku setting
The Cost of War
His Favorite “Toy”
2. Angst (Protecting MC backfires) - Breathe Deep (TW: Character Death)
3. Jealous!MC - Midnight Confession
4. Smut Prompt List #4 - Tangled Limbs (NSFW)
5. Angst Prompt List #75 - The Ashes of Us
6. Fluff + Smut Prompt
Endgame (NSFW)
What He’d Never Lose (NSFW)
Mitsuhide Akechi
1. 50 Types of Kisses Prompt - Knightly Etiquette
2. Fluff Confession - Outsmarting the Kitsune
3. Dom!Mitsuhide - All Tied Up (NSFW)
4. Smut Prompt List #40 and #46
Library Mischief (NSFW)
Into the Fox’s Den (NSFW)
5. NSFW Headcanon - A, D, J, K, M, O, P, S, X, Y
Masamune Date
1. Fallen Out of Love - Five
2. Fluff/Angst Prompt List #56
Captive (TW: Angst, Suicidal Thoughts, Character Death)
Rainy Day, Soft Tears
3. Word Prompt List (Apricity)
Sunshine and Goldfish
Warmth
The Warmth of Winter
4. Drabble Prompt List
Adventure and Terror
The Dragon’s Woman
The Bad Boy
what it means to be brave
5. Smut Prompt #42
The Dragoness Unleashed
Moan for me
Mitsunari Ishida
1. Fallen Out of Love - An Oblivious Genius
Ieyasu Tokugawa
1. 50 Types of Kisses Prompt - Fracture In The Veil
2. Fluff + Angst - For Her
3. Angst - To Never Love Again (TW: Character Death)
4. Slave Trader - Foreign
5. Angst/Fluff Prompt List #99
Her
Untitled
6. Angst.Fluff Prompt List #25 - The Sound of Loving (TW: Violence, Blood, Fighting, Injury)
7. Smut Prompt #58 - Better than Curry (NSFW)
Kenshin Uesugi
1.Angst + Fluff - Shutting the Princess Out
2. Hurt + Comfort Nightmare - Your Shield
Shingen Takeda
1. Secret Training Fluff + Smut - To Punish a Princess (NSFW)
2. SFW Headcanon - B, V, Y
Sasuke Sarutobi
1. Smut Prompt List #6 - Hold On (NSFW)
Kennyo
1. Smut Prompt List #50 - Distraction (NSFW)
Group
Azuchi Warlords with a Child: - Oda Forces vs A Small Child
Other Pairings
Hideyoshi/Mitsuhide
1. Smut Prompt List #23 - A Cup Full of Sake (NSFW)
Masamune/Mitsunari
1. Smut Prompt #39 - A Touch of Cinnamon (NSFW)
Nobunaga/Hideyoshi
1. Kisses Prompt - Safe in Your Arms
>IKEMEN REVOLUTION<
Ray Blackwell
1. Lapdance
HC: Untitled
Fic: More Fun
2. Drunk Confession - Is That A Confession? (NSFW)
Sirius Oswald
1. Fluff + Playing with baby
Gentle Smiles and Lullabies
Play Time
2. Smut Prompt List #15
Dirty Little Secret (NSFW)
3. Fluff/Angst Prompt
I will always protect you
Hunger Pains
4. Drabble Prompt List #40 - Letters
5. Slow Dance Prompt
Fleeting moments
Shall We Dance?
Let’s Dance
6. Smut Prompt #41 - Help Me Forget (NSFW)
7. Fluff Prompt
The Perfect Gift
Iris
Fenrir Godspeed
1. Angst + Fluff (MC is Hurt) - Just Keep Living (TW: Blood, Bruise, Injury Mentions)
2. Angst/Fluff Prompt List #94 - Initiate
3. Angst/Fluff Prompt List #82
Breathe (TW: Mention of Death, Mental Torture, Amnesia)
Breathe Alright
4. Fluff/Angst Prompt - Distance
Seth Hyde
1. Getting Jiggy with Seth (OW; NSFW)
2. Angst/Fluff Prompt List #33
Later
Bullet Holes at a Dance
Lancelot Kingsley
1. 50 Types of Kisses Prompt - A Kiss So Desperate
2. Wedding Day + Consummation - A Night to Remember (NSFW)
3. Smut Prompt #14 - Don’t let go (NSFW)
Jonah Clemence
1. Fluff (catching MC dancing) - Peek-A-Boo
Edgar Bright
1. 50 Types of Kisses Prompt
The Meaning behind Each Kiss
Light of My Life
2. Angst in Magic Tower - Tarnished Glove
3. Smut Prompt: Drunk on You (NSFW)
Kyle Ash
1. 50 Types of Kisses Prompt
Best Medicine
Wordlessly
Untitled
2. Fluff/Angst Prompt List #1
She’s not yours
Bad Medicine (TW: Angst, Depression)
3. Angst Prompt List - Rancour
Zero
1. Married prompt - First (NSFW)
Oliver Knight
1. SFW Headcanon - A, E, H, K, O, P, S, W
Harr Silver
1. Wedding Day + Consummation (NSFW)
My One And Only
Untitled
2. Smut Prompt List #9
Starved For Your Touch (NSFW, TW: Choking)
Ether (TW: Vampire Bite, Blood)
Amon Jabberwock
1. Angst/Fluff Prompt List #17 - Can I Stay? (TW: Light mention of abuse)
2. Smut - Mine and Yours (NSFW)
3. Angst Prompt - Mad King
Group
Cuddles and Sex Headcanon (NSFW)
Argument Headcanon
Lance/Sirius/Harr/MC Birthday - Birthday Celebration
Period Headcanon
Lance/Sirius/Harr/MC Competition - A Competition for Your Hand
Angst/Fluff Prompt List #94 (Kyle/Fenrir/Mousse/MC) - Medical Meltdown (TW: Angst, Character Death, Blood)
Smut Prompt List #49 (Dean/MC/Dalim) - A Twin Affair (NSFW)
Sirius/MC/Seth - Daffodil
Mousse/MC/Kyle Smut Prompt #8 - Three’s a Set (NSFW)
Ray/MC/Lancelot Smut Prompt #26 - A goodnight story (NSFW)
Other Pairings
Ray/Fenrir
1. 50 Types of Kisses Prompt - Untitled
2. Thursday (NSFW)
Jonah/Mousse
1. Smut Prompt List #31 - Take it Off (NSFW)
>MYSTIC MESSENGER<
Jumin Han
1. Prompt List - What Am I Without You (TW: Major character death, Depression, Denial)
Zen
1. Angst in Apartment Scenario - Close Call
2. SFW Headcanon - M
Vanderwood
1. Prompt List - Good to be Home
>THE ARCANA<
Asra
1. Jealous Female SO - Untitled (NSFW)
2. Angst/Fluff Prompt List #86 - Don’t be scared, I’m right here
>MIDNIGHT CINDERELLA<
Alyn Crawford
1. Fluff + Angst - Nemesism
Sid (Lloyd Grandier)
1. Smut Prompt List #22
Get on your knees (NSFW)
Hey Jealousy (NSFW)
Nico Meier
1. Of the Dark
2. You’ll always be safe with me - 1 & 2
Rayvis Harneit
1. Drowning in You (NSFW)
>SAMURAI LOVE BALLAD PARTY<
Hanzo Hattori
1. Lost A Bet - We bet and you lost
Group
Smut Prompt List #8 (Saizo/MC/Yukimura) - Three way confession (NSFW)
Other Pairings
Saizo/Yukimura
1. Smut Prompt List #31 - You heard me. Take. It. Off. (NSFW)
2. Prompt - Drunken Nonsense
>SEVERAL SHADES OF SADISM<
Minami Kira
1. Fluff/Angst Prompt List #53 - Lost and Found
Mei Tarantino
1. Fluff Request - Grand Piano
>MR. LOVE: QUEEN’S CHOICE<
Lucien
1. Smut Prompt List #20 - A Steamy Bubble Bath
Gavin
1. NSFW Headcanon - B, C, E, K, Y (NSFW)
2. Surrender (NSFW)
Victor
1. Word Prompt List (Irusu)
Not Tonight
Irusu
2. 50 Types of Kisses - Refuge from the Rain
>KISSED BY THE BADDEST BIDDER<
Ota Kisaki
1. Smut Prompt #40 - Be My Muse (NSFW)
Soryu Oh
1. Angst/Fluff Prompt #1 and 3 - Till Death do us Part
>IKEMEN VAMPIRE<
Napoleon Bonaparte
1. Smut Prompt
Let Me Hear (NSFW)
The Perfect Shot (NSFW)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
1. Fluff Prompt - Music when you can’t sleep
Arthur Conan Doyle
1. Fluff/Angst Prompt
Haven
Together
2. Smut Prompt - Bound (NSFW)
Vincent van Gogh
1. Fluff Prompt - Velvet
Theodorus van Gogh
1. Fluff/Angst Prompt - Confess to Me
William Shakespeare
1. Fluff Prompt - My World
Comte de Saint-Germain
1. Distracting work with kisses - Kissing Instead of Working
2. Smut Prompt - Something Sweet (NSFW)
3. Smut Prompt - Letters to You (NSFW)
Vlad
1. Fluff Prompt - Snip
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2019 fic recs
it’s been a long time since i did a fic rec list so i put one together with some of my favorite fics from this year (and then forgot to post it for a month oops). i’ve been reading in a lot of fandoms so there’s a bunch of variety in this one. also because i read a ton of cap marvel fics earlier in the year, i’m going to do a separate list for those
[1 Coco, 5 Good Omens, 1 Lucifer, 5 Marvel, 1 She-Ra, 3 Steven Universe]
Coco
Work of All Saints by anistar_e (210k): Her mother sends her a letter, after. We cannot help you, Imelda, it says. You are the consequence of your actions."This is not my fault!" Imelda shouts.-Imelda Rivera (b. 1899 - d. 1969), a story that includes but is not limited to: the finest music school this side of the Santo Domingo, three traveling musicians and the mess they made of love, the twice-cursed assassination of Venustiano Carranza, all the patron saints, and ninety-six ways a man can try to cross a bridge. (A masterpiece of character, world-building, development, just everything you could possibly want from a fic and a novel, it is a grand epic that is personal in scope, truly spectacular)
Good Omens
A Stone’s Throw from Jerusalem by RC_McLachlan (Aziraphale/Crowley, 2k): "Are you honestly going to make me listen to bebop in my final moments?” [Absolutely beautiful with just the right amount of aching heartbreak and pining, and this acute awareness that they live on different scales than humans.]
damn.nation, now available on itunes by anistar_e (10k): When lowly tempt-pusher Amphora (formerly of Stairwell 7B North, before she Fell,) gets the notice that end times are nigh, she gleefully quits her job and cancels her Netflix subscription and takes her place among the legions of hell. // This, it turns out, was a bad plan. [The character work is so strong, she paints such a clear vision of Amphora and it’s very easy to fall in love with her. This is the best example of outsider POV of OTP that I’ve seen.]
Salinity (And Other Measurements of Brackish Water) by drawlight (Aziraphale/Crowley, 3k): It's an odd thing, getting on after the End of the World. Crowley takes to sea-watching. [This fic reads like poetry, it’s absolutely beautiful with a very good central metaphor. Also Crowley cooking.]
stars, hide your fires by fishycorvid (Aziraphale/Crowley, 3k): He can feel the pull of the riptide, even in water like this, only a few centimeters deep. The constant, assured call of the ocean: you came from me, and, one day, you will come back. Crowley smiles to himself at that, the water rushing insistently against his fingertips. He hadn’t come from the sea, of course. But he doesn’t think he’d mind much if he had. / “Crowley.” / He goes still at the sound, eyes falling closed. [Beautiful missing scene, I love the emotions and the imagery and the descriptions of the Pacific Northwest and how this fic is just them.]
vintage demon art, vape pens, & other treasures by kyrilu (Aziraphale/Crowley, 1k): Love, Anthony J. Crowley is aware, is a very foolish thing. He’s seen humans do stupid things based on love or lust, whether it’s tacky Disney movie themed weddings, internet catfishing, or matching couple shirts. [I love this, it’s formatted as several short vignettes about the pair and how Crowley very much doesn’t feel love - except he does, he loves an angel. It’s delightful and beautiful and poignant.]
Lucifer
And There Was Light by ariaadagio (Lucifer/Chloe, 143k): When Lucifer Morningstar is found half dead in the desert, Chloe Decker is determined to find out why. The problem is ... not even Lucifer knows the answer. As Chloe's world is flipped upside down by incontrovertible evidence of the divine, Lucifer grapples with feelings of violation and futility. God's meddling has started a chain reaction, but to what end? Deckerstar. Fits with canon through S2. [I love this beautiful masterpiece of a fic. Excellent characterization, spectacular plotting, and a very delicious slow-burn, this fic deals with Chloe finding out Lucifer’s divinity while Lucifer deals with fate and free will and having his wings again.]
Marvel (Misc)
Adjectives Assemble by SugarFey (26k): Natasha wants to find that rare edition of The Master and Margarita before her rival at the Russian language bookstore does. Kate is distracted by the cute barista next door. Carol and Jessica dance around each other. Maria just wants to keep her business afloat without being bothered by pesky police officers or high school art teachers, no matter how polite they may be. Another average day at Adjectives Assemble. [Multiple ships and POVs, lots of awesome ladies dealing with feelings and trying to save an indie bookstore, it’s just a delightful fic to read.]
in oakland by hupsoonheng (Sam/Erik, 11k): in the summer of 1998, the good reverend wilson is shot dead, and darlene wilson runs away from her grief all the way to oakland, california, taking her oldest with her. sam hates her, he hates oakland, and he definitely hates the pretty-eyed neighbor boy who's been volunteered to show him around. it's up to him to make the most of his new situation, but he might need someone to push him. [Not a pairing I ever expected to read, but it’s handled so well, the development of their friendship and then love over the course of a single summer in Oakland as teenagers, like cinematic magic, I couldn’t help but cheer for them.]
Morning Glory by capsicleonyourleft (Tony/Steve, Carol/Jess, 2k): There are a great many things Tony loves about Steve Rogers. His propensity for getting up at the asscrack of dawn, however, is definitely not on that particular list. [Domestic fluff with cute moments, good characterization, and character dynamics that nail them.]
One of the Basic Skills of Civilization (Eddie/Symbiote, 1k): Eddie attempts to civilize the Venom symbiote. [Eddie tries to teach Venom manners by way of Miss Manners. Things don’t go as planned. It’s hilarious and sweet and has a great joke about Amazon]
we were emergencies by gyzym (Clint/Natasha, 37k): It's not about being unmade; it's about remaking, one aching step at a time. [This fic is a classic in the fandom and it’s truly stunning. The way it handles trauma and trust and love is phenomenal, you learn to live with it but it never goes away, and it’s truly the best Clintasha fic.]
She-Ra
plays well with others by Cosanova (Adora/Catra, 4k): Catra may have left the Horde, but that doesn't mean she's ready to join the Rebellion. [Did someone ask for awkward villain redemption? I love this fic and the way Catra navigates the people of Brightmoon and figuring out her feelings for Adora.]
Steven Universe
I Want to Understand by CoreyWW (gen with Steven/Connie and Amethyst/Peridot, 59k): After stopping the Cluster, Peridot must face her next challenge: adjusting to life on her new planet and learning about humans that populate it. Knowing just how out of depth Peridot is, Steven enlists Connie's help in getting Peridot used to humans and acclimated to Beach City. Considering Peridot has no social skills whatsoever, this goes about as well as you'd expect. Funny episodic "Peridot in Beach City" adventures about how Peridot changes over time. Diverges from canon after The Answer (Though by coincidence, the premise of story basically makes this "Log Date 7 15 2: The Series") [What makes this fic so good is the characterization and dialogue. It’s very accurate and the chapters themselves feel like they could be from the show. I especially love the development of Connie and Peridot’s friendship, in addition to Peridot’s own growth and self-reflection.]
Favor for Your Four-Chambered Heart by anistar_e (Jasper/Lapis, 77k): "I don't get it," she says flatly. / "Don't get what?" / "You said we needed to be in peak physical form. What for?" / "Oh!" Peridot perks up. "For harvesting." [Never Let Me Go AU.] [Jaspis isn’t a pairing I considered reading for until I came across this fic and it blew me away with how good it was. This fic hurts, the themes of freedom and self-determination in a world where your only purpose is supposed to be to die for others are beautifully handled, and I love the way all the relationships are written, dynamic and complex and messy. People make mistakes but they’re allowed to grow and become better, and it’s really just so good.]
Set Me Free by cym70 (Lapis/Peridot, 23k): Being roommates gives Lapis and Peridot a lot of time to get to know each other and, despite their rocky history, they might just be able to make something entirely new. [A gorgeous, in-character fic about Lapis healing and falling in love with Peridot. The dialogue is so good, you could really hear their voices, and I love the careful development of their relationship. My favorite Lapidot fic.]
#my current fandom reading trends towards su and she-ra so expect more of those in the future#and maybe i'll find the motivation to write again#i sure hope so anyway#fic recs#monthly fic recs
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To Be or Not To Be (Famous)
“Would you like to be famous? In what way?”
James shows Lily how to get to the kitchens.
4240 words | ao3
By the first Friday night of term, the 6th years were already drowning in homework.
“I just wanted to be well rounded!” The cry sounded from behind a stack of books at a study table deep within the library. Lily’s hair was half falling out of a bun as she ran her finger down a long list of assignments. “Potions pre-reading, Transfiguration pre-reading and question set, Charms practicing and three-foot theory essay, Arithmancy problem set, Ancient Runes four-foot translation and analysis, Defense pre-reading, and History four-foot essay, all due before next Thursday - plus Prefect duties. I’m never going to be able to finish!”
“Imagine how the 7th years must feel,” Mary muttered, deep in her Transfiguration book.
“Who cares about them?” Marlene huffed. “I’m already ready to die and it’s only been a week.”
“Imagine when we’re the 7th years.”
All three girls shuddered at Mary’s comment. Lily shook her head and shifted her books around. “I can’t think about next year. The only reason I can even think about next week is because it’s when all of this is due. Ok, I’ve already finished the Arithmancy questions and the Ancient Runes translation and I have the analysis outlined, and it’s too close in here to practice Charms...maybe I’ll outline for the History essay.”
“Mind if I join you?”
Mary smiled up at Remus as he approached their table, moving her bag to make space. “Make yourself at home!”
“Yeah, we’ll be here for the rest of the night if Lily has anything to say about it,” Marlene rolled her eyes, betraying her cheerful tone.
Lily stuck her tongue out at her friend. “If you want to wait and do everything on Sunday, be my guest.”
“I know, I know. It’s just - what a first Friday back.”
“N.E.W.T.s got really intense really fast,” Remus observed.
“Exactly.”
“Where’s the rest of your band of merry men, Remus?” Mary asked. “Don’t they have homework, too?”
“Oh, they always wait until Sunday.”
Marlene sighed loudly and shot a sidelong glance at Lily, which she pointedly ignored. “Remus, what’re you working on, the History essay?”
“Unfortunately. You?”
“Same. We can compare notes.”
“Speaking of notes,” Marlene said, “Mary, can I copy yours from Divination yesterday?”
“Yeah, sure, here you go.”
They were soon engrossed in their work, breaking the silence only to trade comments and ask clarifying questions about each other’s notes. Lily finished outlining the overlaps between Muggle WWII and Grindelwald’s attempted takeover of the wizarding world and was about to move on to filling in her Ancient Runes analysis when out of the corner of her eye she caught another 6th year approaching the table.
“Prongs, what’re you doing here? You do know this is the library, right?”
“Very funny, Moony.” James dragged over a chair from another table and sat on it backwards, his legs splayed and his chin resting on the chair back. “What’re you all working on?” He wrinkled his nose at their overlapping answers of “History”, “Ancient Runes”, and “Divination”. “That sounds miserable.”
“It is ,” Marlene groaned, dropping her quill and tipping back in her chair.
“Don’t you have any homework?”
“Evans, it’s Friday .” Lily merely looked at him, one eyebrow raised, before he huffed, rolling his eyes and continuing. “I do my assignments on Sunday . It’s practically the 11th Commandment.”
“Funny, I must’ve missed that sermon.”
James snorted once and they fell back into silence. He barely lasted 10 minutes before tipping forward on his chair to bump the table. “Do any of you want to go get a snack, then?”
Lily looked up, brows furrowed. “Where?”
“The kitchens, Evans, duh.”
“We really should be getting back to the common room, actually,” Remus observed.
Mary looked at her watch and immediately closed her notes. “He’s right, curfew’s in 15 minutes.”
“Thank God.” Marlene was quick to shove her work into her bag and stand up, stretching and twisting to crack her back.
James hovered as they packed up their things and trailed behind them as they left the library. “Oh, come on Moony - Padfoot and Wormy won’t come with me and I’m famished .”
“Nah - we shouldn’t press our luck so early into term.”
James huffed and Lily considered her own stomach, dangerously close to rumbling out loud. “I’ll go.”
“Really?” James looked beyond hopeful and she rolled her eyes.
“Yeah, why not? I could be hungry.” As though by magic, her stomach growled loudly as she spoke.
Remus smirked but his amusement shone through. “Just don’t get caught.”
“Yeah, and bring back a pudding,” Mary added.
“We’ll bring back six,” James said, looping his arm through Lily’s and pulling her down the corridor.
“I’m coming, I’m coming!” Lily shook herself free and adjusted her bag on her shoulder. They soon left their friends behind as she followed James in the direction of the Entrance Hall.
“So...you’ve never been to the kitchens before?”
“No, I actually have no idea where they even are.” James grinned to himself, and Lily nudged him with her elbow. “What?”
“Nothing.”
“It’s not nothing, come on,” She smiled playfully and he reached up to rub the back of his neck.
“I never thought I’d be taking Lily Evans on her first adventure out-of-bounds.”
“Oh? And how would you know if I’ve never been out-of-bounds?” He just gave her a look and she scoffed. “I’ve been out after curfew before.”
“Prefect patrols don’t count.”
“Oh my God, that’s not what I meant! I’m not completely lame. Plus sometimes it’s easier to just leave the tower when Marlene and Diane Clearwater really go at it, you know?”
“Why don’t they like each other?”
She shrugged. “Diane’s friends with a bunch of purebloods from other Houses - you know how it is.”
“Ahh. Yeah.”
“I mean, I know it’s all bollocks, but - it can still be annoying sometimes, too. It gets old.”
“I bet.”
They grew quiet as they neared the Entrance Hall. It was the first time they’d really been alone since term started, and Lily wondered if James was thinking about that, too. They were getting along better this year, not that they’d really fought that much before. The ease of friendship may or may not have had something to do with the sudden absence of a certain Slytherin in her life, though Lily would never admit it. And anyway, she had noticed that James hadn’t been written up at all yet this term, so perhaps she could just attribute it to his turning over a new leaf - maybe.
“Where are we going, anyway?”
“I told you, Evans, the kitchens.”
“You know what I mean.”
He shushed her as they came around the edge of the Grand Staircase. He pulled her close to the edge of the bannister, his gaze sweeping the wide corridor. When he was sure that the coast was clear, he took her elbow again and hurried down the stairs.
“Are we going to the dungeons?”
“Unless you know somewhere this corridor leads that I don’t.”
“Don’t be cheeky, Potter.”
“Don’t be thick, Evans.”
She rolled her eyes as he led her deeper into the dungeons.
“This is close to the Hufflepuff Common Room, isn’t it?”
He glanced back at her, one eyebrow raised over a grin. “How do you know where the Hufflepuff Common Room is?”
“Prefect.”
“Oh, right.”
He stopped in front of a large still life of fruit hung on the wall. “Ok, tickle the pear.”
“Is that a dirty joke?” She eyed the painting warily.
“Evans, the Marauders never joke where food is concerned.”
She turned to stare at him. “The Marauders?”
“You know, me and my mates!” He beamed proudly. “Sirius, Remus, Peter, and me. We’re the Marauders.”
“Does anyone actually call you that?”
“Well, no, not yet - but we’re getting there! Now will you just tickle the pear already?”
The pear turned into a doorknob under her touch, and the painting swung in to admit them. He followed her through and she barely had a chance to take in the large room, the roaring fireplaces and four long tables, before they were surrounded by dozens of elves, waist-high and wearing tea towels embroidered with the Hogwarts crest.
“Master Potter, Master Potter!”
Lily smirked. “Come here often?”
He blushed but shrugged it off. “Maybe a few times.”
“So these are, um…?”
“Oh, House Elves. Everyone, this is Evans.”
She was greeted with a quick chorus of her name. One elf in particular wearing a cap in addition to his toga, a little paper boat that wouldn’t have looked out of place in a Muggle burger joint, stepped up to the front of the throng. “How can we be helping you tonight, Master Potter? Miss Evanses?”
“Hullo Twinky. Evans and I are starved.” James turned to Lily, who was staring at Twinky’s hat. “What did you want to eat? Sweets? Sandwiches?”
Within seconds the House Elves had produced trays of everything James suggested, from puddings to chips to thick, meaty sandwiches. Lily’s eyebrows nearly disappeared into her hair as she looked from tray to tray, trying to make a decision.
“Could you lot just wrap up some of everything?”
James’s question was quickly answered as several pages were held up for them. They put everything into James’s bag so as not to crush them under Lily’s books, and were soon back out in the dungeon corridor.
“That was - wow!”
James chuckled. “I know, the first time we found it we were there for nearly an hour eating everything they put in front of us. Sirius and Peter threw up after.”
“So those are House Elves? I’ve heard of them, but I’ve never seen one in person before.”
“Yeah. It’s brilliant - they’ll bring just about anything you could ask for.”
“Do you think they like serving wizards?” Lily wondered aloud as they reached the Entrance Hall. Instead of answering, James grabbed her elbow for the third time that night, this time in a vice-like grip. “Ow, Potter, what are you--”
“Ah yes, Mr. Potter, and - why, Miss Evans, of all people!” Lily gasped as Professor McGonagall appeared from around the Grand Staircase. “What could you possibly be doing out of your common room after curfew?”
Lily merely gaped, dread pooling in her stomach, as Professor McGonagall waited for an answer, her mouth a dangerously thin line.
“Lily heard I wasn’t back in the common room yet at curfew so she came to get me,” James volunteered quickly. “As a Prefect, of course.”
“Of course. And what, pray tell, were you still doing out wandering the corridors?”
“Just lost track of time,” James grinned as though nothing was wrong. “You know how it is.”
“Indeed.” Professor McGonagall’s gaze swept back to Lily. “Miss Evans, is this true?”
Lily swallowed and James pinched her elbow, hard. “Yes, Professor. We were just heading back to Gryffindor Tower now.”
“Very well.” She paused, looking pointedly at the gleaming hourglasses displaying each House’s points. “I trust that it won’t happen again, Miss Evans, and that I won’t need to take points from my own House tonight?”
“Yes, Professor.”
“Go on, then. I’ll see you both at breakfast tomorrow.”
They ran up the stairs, not daring to speak until they had reached the third floor.
“Bloody hell, I thought we were dead for sure!” Lily gasped.
“Language, Evans! Blimey, are you really that out of shape?”
“Shut it, you.” Lily walked slowly down the corridor, holding her arms over her head to relieve the stitch in her side. “We’re not all bloody quidditch players.”
James just grinned, following her up another flight of stairs. “It’s a good thing it was McGonagall who caught us - she loves you.”
“She favors you lot too, and you know it. You’re right though, anyone else and we’d have had a week’s detention.”
“It probably wouldn’t have been that bad. You’re a Prefect, after all.”
“True.” Lily mulled it over for a moment, then asked “Do you use Remus like that, too?”
James frowned. “I didn’t use you--”
“No, I know, that’s not what I meant. Does Remus - have you been able to get out of trouble before, since he’s a Prefect, too?”
“Nah, he’s never let us. Takes the Prefect thing pretty seriously, he does. He was so bloody proud after he got that badge.”
Lily ran a hand through her hair, thinking about all the times she had wondered about Remus letting his friends slide. “He’s a good Prefect. He deserved the position.”
“He didn’t think so, at first.”
“Why not? He was the obvious choice!”
James almost began to speak, then stopped. Lily looked over, and his brow was furrowed as he looked down at his feet, then around the stairwell. “He just - doesn’t always think highly of himself, I guess. It’s - we’re just - I guess it’s just our age, you know? Some people are just like that?”
She nodded, remembering countless times that she and her roommates had bemoaned some personal flaw or other. She never really thought of blokes having the same issues, but she guessed she didn’t really know that much about blokes, anyway. The ones she knew the best were the ones in her year, and she liked to think that they weren’t a good representative minority, not to mention Severus.
“I hope you told him otherwise.”
“Oh, we did! We might’ve taken the mickey a bit at first, but he knows how we feel - he really was the best for the job.”
They continued up to Gryffindor Tower, and Lily was just thinking about how nice it would be curling up in her room with their snacks when James stopped dead in front of the painting of the fat lady. “Oh, bugger.”
“Hmm?” Lily looked up and frowned at the empty frame in front of them. “Where is she?”
“Must’ve gone on a midnight visit, now that it’s past curfew.” James dropped his bag on the floor and slid down next to it, his back against the wall. “Guess we’ll just have to wait until she comes back.”
Lily groaned, joining him on the floor. “I just wanted to go up and have a snack and go to bed.”
“Sorry, Evans. Speaking of snacks, though - sweet or savory?”
“Hmm...savory.”
He was quick to pull a sandwich from his bag and hand it to her. She could smell the turkey and cheese through the wrapping and inhaled deeply. James snickered at her and she ignored him, pulling her Transfiguration book from her bag and flipping it open to next week’s section.
“More homework?”
She nodded. “Might as well, if we’re stuck out here.”
“I guess. Have your Defense book?”
She handed it to him wordlessly and settled in to read, taking a large bite of her sandwich. They read for several minutes, and he spoke up as she swallowed the last bit of crust.
“You’re going for seven N.E.W.T.s, right?”
“Yeah. You?”
“Eight.” She could hear the pride in his voice and the smirk on his face before she even looked up.
“ Eight ?”
He nodded. “Transfiguration, Defense, History, Charms, Arithmancy, Potions, Divination, and Care of Magical Creatures.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Lily mentally reviewed her classes so far, realizing that Potter was indeed in most of them, minus Ancient Runes. “What do you want to do after school?”
“Honestly? I would love to play professional Quidditch until McGonagall retires, then take over teaching Transfiguration here.” James was staring determinedly at a fixed point in the Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook, and Lily could have sworn she could see a blush creeping up his neck.
“Famous quidditch player I can see but I have to admit, I can’t exactly imagine you teaching.”
“Transfiguration is my best subject - I’m top of the class!” He objected.
“It’s not your lack of skill that has me questioning you, you prat. It’s more trying to imagine you being responsible for hundreds of children,” Lily said wryly. “You’re not exactly the perfect role model.”
He grinned, shrugging. “I can be responsible when I need to be.”
“I’ll believe it when I see it.”
“Yeah, yeah. What do you want to do?”
“I told you already, eat and go to bed.”
“Very funny, Evans. You know what I mean.”
“I think I’d like a job at the Ministry, maybe in Muggle relations, or legislation.”
“How noble of you.”
Her eyes narrowed, but his face wasn’t serious. “It does affect pretty much every aspect of my life in this world.”
“I know. Sorry.” He paused, cracking his knuckles as she looked at him. “I just meant - it’s a good cause. It would be good for you to go into that.”
She looked back down at the textbook in her lap. “Thanks.”
They both read for a few more pages until James spoke up again. “I’m sorry, too, about, erm...last year.”
“Last year?”
“You know what I mean.”
Lily looked up and he was staring at a fixed spot in the textbook, color rising again in his cheeks and neck.
“Yeah. I know what you mean.”
“We shouldn’t have done that - not for no reason. It was mean. And I’m sorry for what he said to you.”
She was quiet for a moment before answering. “He would’ve said it eventually either way.” The corridor suddenly felt oppressively quiet beyond their low voices and she looked down, twisting her sandwich wrapping into a tight ball. “Maybe it was better this way.”
“Evans.” His voice was serious, and his forehead was wrinkled when she looked up, his gaze ready to catch hers. “No friendship should end that way. No one deserves that.”
She glanced down, then back up at his intent face. “I know. But still. I needed to know.”
He nodded, blinking quickly all of a sudden and looking around the corridor. “Yeah, I guess you did.” He glanced back at her, his eyes full of sorrow. “I’m still sorry, though.”
“Thanks, Potter.” She thought that might’ve been the most sincerely she’d ever said his name, and it was still just his surname. She wondered idly if they’d ever really be on a first name basis, but found that it didn’t quite bother now her in the same way that it seemed to matter when they argued.
It felt like a long time that they looked at each other, but Lily knew it was only a few seconds before she cleared her throat and went back to her textbook. They kept reading in comfortable silence until the fat lady finally came back to her frame, tutting at them for being outside after hours.
“Thanks for taking me,” Lily said as they climbed into the common room.
“It was fun. Thanks for covering with Minny.” James paused, sorting through the packages in his bag and handing several to Lily.
“I guess I should get this stuff up to Mary and Marlene,” She said, taking the puddings and heading for the girls’ stairs. “Well - goodnight.”
He grinned slightly and made for his own stairs. “‘Night, Evans.”
“So? Did you have fun? You were gone an awfully long time.”
“At least let me get in the door before you start the Spanish Inquisition, Mum.” Lily closed the dormitory door behind her and dropped her bag on top of her trunk. Mary and Marlene were staring at her expectantly, their roommates already in bed behind closed curtains. “ Yes , I had fun, ok?”
“Why were you gone for ages? Remus said the kitchens are just under the Great Hall, it shouldn’t have taken you that long. Make any broom closet detours?” Marlene waggled her eyebrows suggestively.
“Hardly. The Fat Lady wasn’t in her frame when we got back so we had to sit in the corridor and wait.”
“Oh.”
“You had a good time though?” Mary prompted.
Lily nodded. “It was fun, seeing parts of the castle that I’ve never been to. The kitchens are massive, and there are so many house elves! Oh, and we almost got caught by McGonagall! Well, I suppose we did get caught, but Potter said that I had caught him out of bounds and was escorting him back here.”
Mary snickered. “I can just see the look on Minny’s face, thinking you of all people were out after curfew.”
“I thought she was going to go spare. Lucky she bought Potter’s story or we’d have definitely lost points.”
“So what’d you do while you were stuck outside the common room?”
“Studied and talked a bit. Did you know he’s going for eight N.E.W.T.s?”
Marlene nodded. “He told me when mum and I were at his house in August.”
“Why didn’t you say so?”
“You never asked.”
“He’ll be at the top of the class if he does well,” Mary said. “He’s already getting good marks in Divination.”
“That’s absolutely absurd,” Lily muttered.
“He’s really quite good!”
“No, absurd that anyone can do well in Divination at all, because it isn’t real. Maybe he’s just good at making things up.”
Mary snorted. “You’re a witch who goes to magic school and you don’t think Divination is real?”
“I’ll believe it when I see it.”
“Hang on, hang on, I think I’m getting a vision!” Marlene swayed back and forth on her bed, one hand up in the air and the other hovering over her closed eyes. She began to speak in a light, willowy voice. “I see...I see...a redhead...and a boy with messy black hair...walking down a country lane...holding hands...and kissing !”
“Oh, my god,” Lily rolled her eyes, unwrapping a piece of treacle tart and taking a large bite. “You’re totally convincing me!”
“Here Lils, I’ll read your tea leaves.” Marlene grabbed an old teacup that Lily had left on her nightstand that morning and ran to dump the remains in the sink. She stood in the doorway staring into the cup, twisting it this way and that. “Yep, you’re definitely going to fall for James this year. Says so right here in the cup.”
“Potter and I are just friends!”
“Friends who just sat in the hallway talking for an hour!”
“Merlin’s pants, it’s not like we could get back into the tower! We were stuck! And if those are the only qualifications then I guess I’m destined for multiple marriages because I can’t tell you how many hours I’ve spent talking to Remus in the corridor on patrol.”
“Remus doesn’t count, he’s just a friend.”
“That’s exactly my point!”
“Ok but Remus isn’t in love with you.”
Lily sprayed crumbs across her bed, coughing on another bite of tart. “In love with me?”
Marlene’s eyes were round, her hand clapped over her mouth. “I wasn’t supposed to say that.”
“Marlene if you don’t explain yourself right now I’ll hex you into next week.” Lily cleared her throat of the last dry crumbs and pointed her wand at her friend.
“Oh come on, no way did you not know he has a thing for you.”
Lily glanced away from Marlene to Mary’s bed. “Yes way, how was I supposed to have known that?”
“He asked you out last term, we were all there!”
“That wasn’t real, he was just trying to egg Severus on even more.”
“I’m not so sure.” Marlene sat cross-legged on Lily’s bed, knocking her wand out of her hand. “The lads were all taking the piss the whole time I was there, teasing him about fancying you.”
“Absolutely not,” Lily said. “They were not. Oh god, I need a smoke.”
Mary dug a pack of cigarettes out of her trunk and passed it around, Marlene holding out her wand for a light. “What’s so hard to believe about this?”
“It’s James Potter . He’s…”
“Fit? Intelligent? Funny and fun to be with?”
“Yes - maybe - and a huge prat!”
“He’ll grow out of that,” Mary said sagely, blowing smoke out of the side of her mouth.
Lily groaned and took a drag. “Sure he will.”
“We’re only 16, we have ages to grow up.”
“He’s going to need ages.”
“Why not just give him a shot and see?”
“Because I don’t even fancy him anyway! Just because someone has a thing for me doesn’t mean I’m obligated to go out with them.” Lily grabbed for the ashtray on her nightstand and haphazardly flicked her ash into it, barely missing her bedcovers.
Mary shuddered. “Imagine if it did, you’d be with Snape right now.”
“Ugh!” Lily fell backwards onto her pillows and Marlene patted her knee.
“You know that’s not what we mean. I’m just saying he’s not that bad.”
“I know he’s not that bad. He’s an idiot and a bully but he’s just a privileged little boy. I know he’s not a Death Eater. But I still don’t fancy him just because we’re kind of mates sometimes, and I don’t have to go out with him just because he might ask me.”
“I know. I’m sorry.”
“I know,” Lily blew out a long stream of smoke and reached out to lace her fingers with Marlene’s on her knee. “Me too. I think I’m just tired.”
“Me too,” Mary groaned. “Let’s go to bed - I think we’ve earned it after all of the homework Lily made us do tonight.”
“Ha ha, very funny.” Lily rolled her eyes but grinned, taking one last drag of her cigarette before stubbing it out and getting ready for bed.
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@sqvalors tagged me in this writing meme and as I have nothing better to do on this not-so-beautiful sunday, let’s have at it
1) How many works in progress do you have?
a LOT but currently I only have two active WIPs: my festivebastion fic and my H/D Big Bang fic for next year. (once festivebastion is done with I want to go back to the space AU, which I initially wanted to finish before the end of the year...)
2) Do you/would you write fanfiction?
I write a shitton of fanfiction. :’’’’D I don’t think I’ll ever stop tbh.
3) Do you prefer paper books or ebooks?
I prefer paper, but I read both kinds. I’m slightly pickier when it comes to physical books? I’m not a big fan of hardbacks because they’re so big and bulky and often really heavy...I’d like to be able to read a book without being in pain from holding it. and if the font is too tiny/too packed in a paperback it’s harder to read, where with ebooks I can just...CHANGE THE FONT SIZE. it’s like magic! I love it. I have a few books in paperback that I hunted down in ebook form because the thought of reading a book the size of a brick in tiny and tightly packed font is making me want to cry. some books (romance) are ebook only or digital first so those I’ll read digitally anyway.
4) When did you start writing?
when I learned how to write :’’’D I started Writing Seriously as a teenager, though, shitty poetry, short stories and novels, so I guess I’ve been Actively Writing for the past...17 years? give or take.
5) Do you have someone you trust that you share your work with?
Yes! I have a small handful of betas. But also, if it’s fanfic, it goes online sooner or later? my original fic so far hasn’t seen any other eyes but mine but it’s not for lack of trust, it’s because none of it is at a stage where it’s ready to meet other eyes.
I don’t really suffer from the whole “but what will other people THINK” thing that I’m given to understand a lot of other writers do? The only exception to this is gift fics for fandom exchanges and the like, where I’m writing something specifically for a person. In those cases, like with any gift giving, I’ll worry about whether the recipient likes it. But in general, in the grand scheme of things? yeah, no. My betas will give me feedback on what’s working/not working, and once the fic is out in the world it’s out of my mind as well, so. if people like it, it’s great. If they don’t, well then I don’t care? *shrugs*
6) Where is your favorite place to write?
at home. these days I do most of my writing on my ipad (gdocs app or scrivener app) which means I’m on the sofa and very comfortably so. I also write on my desktop when I feel like it or if I feel like I need a more Serious Business Vibe. I have tried the whole going to coffeeshops to write thing and tbh...I don’t like it. It’s too noisy (and also just the kind of noise I can’t stand) so it’s more stressful than anything else. If I were to leave the house to write, I’d go to a library.
7) Favorite childhood book?
I read so many books as a kid, omfg, but enid blyton’s books definitely. Not all her books are translated to Icelandic, I don’t think, but I’m familiar with five different series (wiki tells me those are the riddle series, the secret seven, famous five, five find-outers, and the adventure series). my favourites were the adventure series, the riddle series and the famous five, and to nobody’s shock and surprise george of the famous five was my FAVOURITE EVER, because george was a girl who was a boy.
nancy drew and the hardy boys series!! I felt so betrayed when I found out that “””carolyn keene””” and “””franklin w. dixon””” were pseudonyms for a bunch of different writers, but at the same time I was like WELL THAT EXPLAINS A LOT. because much as I loved those books? ALL THE DAMN INCONSISTENCIES AND PLOTHOLES BUGGED THE HELL OUT OF ME. not all of them were translated to Icelandic, either, but I read as many as I could get my hands on (going to different libraries, I had only four nancy drew books myself and two hardy boys books). looking at wikipedia, the nancy drew books I had access to were all originally published in the thirties and early forties (there’s...so many books omfg I remember the series being like...15-18 books or so? I remember being told that at after a certain number the books were “written by her daughter” as an explanation for why they were so “different” aka why they were so terrible, wiki now tells me this is because the books were revised to change the character WOW) and the hardy boys books I had were from the 60s and 70s (also...so many books omfg there weren’t as many hardy boys books as there were nancy drew books in the libraries I frequented so I guess I always thought there just hadn’t been as many??? but there are. so many). ANYWAY. I am very pleased to find out that I (by accident?) managed to mostly avoid the shitty nancy drew books and mostly only read the ones where she’s a bamf. good good.
I also liked the little house on the prairie books. and a series about a emily who grew up to become a writer, which I later found out was written by the same author who wrote anne of green gables (I hated the anne of green gables books just fyi). and for some reason i was massively attached to the two books of zilpha keatley snyder I managed to get my hands on. they were kinda spooky books. the entire goosebumps series? i am still traumatised by some of those. oh and, there were a shitton of books by Icelandic writers I absolutely loved, but that none of you will have heard of...
8) Writing for fun or publication?
both? I wouldn’t write if it wasn’t fun, and I do write so other people can read it eventually. It goes for both fanfic and my original stuff. Only difference is really that with fanfic I have full control of the “publishing” process :pp
9) Pen and paper or computer?
both, but primarily computer. I haven’t written longhand since...I’d guess it’s been at least 5 years. I do some plotting and note-taking in hand though, and especially when it comes to plotting I like pen and paper because it’s more flexible. I keep thinking I should try to write longhand again but then I’d have to type it up and ugh :’’’D
10) Have you ever taken any writing classes?
nope. I like the idea of doing a 1 year MA in creative writing sometime, though. I think it could be a lot of fun.
11) What inspires you to write?
everything and nothing.
I’m tagging @ruffboijuliaburnsides, @actualkatebishop, @pipariperho, and anyone else who wants do to this. :)
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Uncommon OC Questions, P2
Read part 1.
Continuing the character exercises to flesh out Inan Lavellan, Abigail Hawke, and Liara Tabris. I passed about a handful of these, but still a good questionnaire. Original meme can be found here.
1. A little-known talent of your OC?
Inan – Blackwall teaches her how to whittle one-handed after Trespasser. She makes lots of little wooden halla’s.
Abigail – She is very good with children, like so amazing. She was always looking after her younger siblings, and she just has a way with kids.
Liara – Leliana has told her she’s very graceful, like a dancer even though she’s had no training.
2. What trait does your OC like best about themself? (Eyes, guitar skills, random bird facts, etc)
Inan – likes her eyes and loves being a mage
Abigail – she enjoys looking good – putting on make up, styling her hair, mix and matching her wardrobe.
Liara – she likes her hair and her knife skills. She’s very proud she taught herself.
3. How many pillows does your OC sleep with?
Inan – one
Abigail – so many
Liara – sometimes none, though she’s been assured that’s not good for her.
4. Is your OC good at keeping secrets?
Inan – if she feels it’s justified.
Abigail – she can keep them, but she’d rather no one came to her with them. She just doesn’t want to have to deal with it.
Liara – she is terrible at it.
5. Your OC's worst habit?
Inan – she ignores her own needs/wants to a detriment.
Abigail – beats herself up over the people she couldn’t save.
Liara – undervalues herself.
6. Does your OC prefer tennis shoes/sneakers or flip flops?
All: prefer comfortable, hardy boots that they can do their work in, though Abigail appreciates it when she can find ones that are functional and look nice.
7. What is your OC's opinion on body modifications?
All: I mean… sure? If you’re into that.
8. Your OC is given a full-ride scholarship to any college they could want to go to. Where do they go and what do they major in?
Inan – would learn everything she could about lost elven culture or history. Probably study in Tevinter.
Abigail – would have Fenris pick a subject so he could learn something new about something he’s interested in through her. Does matter where.
Liara – dance in Val Royeaux
9. What chore does your OC hate the most?
Inan – meeting dignitaries
Abigail – laundry
Liara – fighting darkspawn
10. Would your OC prefer to live in the city, the suburbs, or the country?
Inan – in the forest or among ancient ruins. Someplace with mysticism and history.
Abigail – she has grown to love the city
Liara – in the country, somewhere quiet and secluded where she and Leliana can live out their lives in peace.
11. Is your OC a blanket hog?
Inan – absolutely
Abagail – both her and Fenris hog the covers, so their nights end up in an unconscious tug of war.
Liara: No
12. Would your OC play by the rules in a fight or take cheap shots?
Inan: “What’s at stake in this fight?”
Abagail: “I can play by the rules so long as my opponent does the same.”
Liara: “Of course I’d follow the rules.”
13. Does your OC have a widow 's peak?
pass
14. Happy birthday! What kind of present would your OC want?
Inan: An eluvian that leads straight to Solas.
Abagail: A quiet day at home with Fenris.
Liara: A day with Leliana.
15. Something that grosses your OC out?
Inan: walking throw a spider web
Abagail: dirty dish water
Liara: getting sprayed with blood.
16. Your OC is suddenly on an adventure! Where do they go and what do they do?
All: No adventures, please. Just a nice place to rest with the love of my life would be grand.
17. Is there a real person that looks like your OC?
I did a quick google search, and I found one I like for Liara.
18. Something that makes your OC laugh without fail?
Inan: all of her friends
Abigail: most of her friends
Liara: Alistair or Leliana
19. Something that makes your OC cry without fail?
Inan: thinking about what might befall Solas
Abigail: “Why would you ask such a fucking insensitive question? Kindly fuck off, please and thank you.”
Liara: thinking she’ll never be able to share her life with Leliana the way she wants.
20. An obscure/ridiculous fear your OC has?
Inan: has too many real fears to worry about ridiculous ones.
Abigail: waking up one day to find everyone she knows and loves are gone and it’s her fault.
Liara: talking to people
21. Does your OC have any type of disability, whether it be mental, physical, etc?
Inan: she loses half her arm
Abigail: none
Liara: none
22. Does your OC get frustrated when people forget to close the door behind themselves?
Inan: she’s not used to having door, so… no
Abigail: yes
Liara: whatever
23. What is your OC's first memory?
Inan: Looking into her Keeper’s eyes.
Abigail: Giggling as her father throws her into the air.
Liara: Running around her home in the alienage being chased by her parents.
24. Something you like that your OC would hate?
Inan: all the time I spend indoors at the computer
Abigail: all the layers I wear
Liara: pumpkin pie
25. Your OC is going into battle/on a mission! What song is their anthem?
pass
26. Does your OC have good or bad posture?
Inan: good
Abigail: bad
Liara: she has no idea
27. Most despicable thing your OC has ever done?
Inan: let Celene die to put Briala in power
Abigail: tbd
Liara: allowed Morrigan’s Dark Ritual
28. Is your OC a conspiracy theorist?
Inan: does “everything is set up against the elves” count?
Abigail: no
Liara: does “everything is set up against the elves” count?
29. Someone does something awful in front of your OC. How do they handle it?
Inan: threatens them with a fireball
Abigail: is ready to smack some sense into whoever she needs to.
Liara: pulls out her knives
30. What is your OC's favorite drink?
Inan: red wine and herbal tea.
Abigail: ales
Liara: tea
31. Does your OC prefer to sleep in a warm or cool area?
Inan: warm
Abigail: cool
Liara: warm
32. Would your OC like you if they met you?
They are all self-inserts, so I hope so!
33. A song that reminds you of your OC?
Inan: “Titanium” post Trespasser
34. Is your OC a nail biter?
Inan: no
Abigail: no
Liara: yes
35. What is your OC's favorite quote?
pass
36. Your OC's favorite fashion era? (20's, 70's, etc)
pass
37. Does your OC get excited when they get mail?
All: as long as it’s personal mail and not save-the-world related.
38. Random thunderstorm! How does your OC react?
Inan: finds someplace she can watch
Abigail: Uses it as an excuse to spend some quiet time at home.
Liara: “Oh, great.” Looks for shelter.
39. A strange talent of your OC?
repeat question
40. Assuming your OC doesn't have them already, what superpower would they want? If they do already, would they change it, keep it, or get rid of it?
Inan: she wishes she knew more healing spells
Abigail: If there was some magic that could keep all her loved ones safe, that would be nice.
Liara: cure for the blight
41. Does your OC like/make puns?
All: don’t make them, but don’t mind them.
42. What kind of shampoo does your OC use?
Inan: uses an herbal tea-like concoction as a rinse.
Abigail: soaps from the city market.
Liara: on the road, there are plants the Grey Wardens have told her to use. If she can’t find them, she just uses water and a comb. Otherwise, Leliana usually has soap for her.
43. Your OC wakes up with a coin super glued to their forehead. How do they react?
Inan: sighs and goes to find Sera
Abigail: Half annoyed, half amused. “Okay, whose bright idea was this?”
Liara: starts freaking out that someone in her group doesn’t like her
44. Can your OC sleep if there's any kind of light?
Inan: actually prefers some kind of natural light, like the moon or stars.
Abigail: prefers total darkness, but rarely gets it. She sleeps all right regardless.
Liara: light doesn’t bother her at all, but she needs have some kind of noise going on, like crickets or snoring or people talking.
45. What kind of self-esteem does your OC have?
Inan: pretty high
Abigail: less than she puts off
Liara: low
46. A word that your OC can't stand?
pass
47. Does your OC fold their clothes, hang them up, or just leave them in the basket/dryer?
Inan: folds her clean clothes, and puts the dirty in a hamper.
Abigail: hangs clean clothes, leaves her worn clothes in a pile by her bed. Eventually, she goes through them and decides what’s dirty and what can be worn again, and throws the dirty stuff in a hamper.
Liara: on the road, she tries to keep her dirty and clean clothes separate in her pack. Sometimes they get mixed up and she just washes everything. When not the road, she can’t shake the habit of living out her pack, and Leliana eventually hangs them up for her.
48. Would society call your OC a good guy or a bad guy? What would they say they are?
Inan: really isn’t sure. She’s done some good things as Inquisitor. But considering she put Briala in power at Celene’s death, the events of the Conclave, and impending war with Solas… she isn’t certain how she’ll go down in history.
Abigail: She fought to protect her city. She wants to do good, but she’s sure there’s people who see her otherwise.
Liara: good guy.
49. Your OC's most prized possession?
Inan: Solas’ necklace.
Abigail: a lock of hair from Fenris.
Liara: a locket from Leliana.
50. What is your OC's happy place?
Inan – the atrium at skyhold
Abigail – relaxing in her bed
Liara – anywhere with Leliana
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"This is going to sound wanky," says Max Minghella over the phone from Los Angeles, "but I really love stories about women. If you go to my Netflix, the sections that they recommend are ‘Thrillers with a Strong Female Lead,' ‘Comedies With a Strong Female Lead,'" he continues. "I find women more interesting to watch on a lot of levels, and I like the idea of being involved with something I would watch."
We are discussing Hulu's adaptation of The Handmaid's Tale, which, aside from the odd short, marks Minghella's first project as an actor since Into the Forest (2015). "I took a couple years off acting and was mostly producing for those years," he explains. "I found I wasn't very good at it—it's not a skill set that I possess."
It was, in part, the quality of The Handmaid's Tale that lured the 31-year-old North London native back in front of the camera. Based on Margaret Atwood's alarmingly prescient 1985 novel, the 10-part series takes place in a fictional future America, a totalitarian patriarchy in which every individual is relegated to a specific role. Offred, the show's narrator played by Elisabeth Moss, is a handmaid—a walking womb assigned to an elite commander and his wife who are unable to have children. Minghella's character, Nick, is a driver, another low-status member of Offred's commander's household. Or at least, that's what he claims to be. He might be a spy for a group of rebels or, worse yet, a double agent reporting on the commander and his associates. "I feel like he's true to the Nick in the book, but at the same time, he's investigated and looked at more thoroughly," Minghella notes. "It's Lizzy Moss's show, 100-percent, but we all have very, very interesting arcs. They gave me a lot of weight and some juicy stuff. I felt like it was one of the more challenging acting things I've gotten to do."
EMMA BROWN: I read that you wanted to be a music video director when you were a teenager.
MAX MINGHELLA: That's 1000-percent true. I think I still want to be a music director as a grown man.
BROWN: You sort of are now, aren't you?
MINGHELLA: I've done one music video. I don't know if that makes me a music video director, but it's a medium that I love. I'm obsessed with the power of music and image together. There's also something about music videos that are incredibly glamorous—there's a fetishistic aesthetic to them that you don't really see in movies in the same way. You get away with indulging imagery, and there's something very melodramatic about them, which I love. I think a lot of people love music videos, but I think the business model for them is probably quite complicated at this point. When I grew up, there were music videos on television all day and now I have to go on Vevo. [laughs] It's a different time. But I feel like there's a bit of a resurgence, which is nice—those Kendrick Lamar videos are great.
BROWN: I also read that you decided you wanted to act after you saw This Is Our Youth in London. Was that the production at the Garrick? Who did you see it with?
MINGHELLA: Yes, it was. I saw every cast. That was the most significant passage of my youth, no pun intended. I think there were four casts in total, and they were all incredibly patient with my fandom. I sort of stalked that play, I would say. Between the ages of 15 and 17 I lived in that theater. I went to as many shows a week as I could. It definitely shaped me as a person, for better or worse. I really became religious about it. I'm still quite religious about it. They just did it again on Broadway and it was a very emotional experience for me to see it again. I don't think there's any piece of writing that I've engaged with more heavily than that. There's something quite nostalgic for me hearing any of those words.
BROWN: I remember the production at the Garrick. I was very excited because I was about 14 and Freddie Prinze Jr. was in it at one point.
MINGHELLA: Oh, I remember. Freddie Prinze, Chris Klein...
BROWN: Hayden Christensen, Jake Gyllenhaal. Have you met Kenneth Lonergan?
MINGHELLA: I have. He's had to endure lots of letters and coat-pulling. [laughs]
BROWN: I know that you're working on your first feature as a director, Teen Spirit. When did you decide that you wanted to try directing films?
MINGHELLA: It's something I've wanted to do for a really long time, to be honest, and have swung at a couple of times. I probably wasn't ready in lots of different ways. This movie that I'm about to make feels like the most personal and in my taste of anything I've tried to take a shot at. I'm excited that this is going to be the one that I'm getting to make.
BROWN: You wrote the script as well. Was it easier to write after already having written a film, The 9th Life of Louis Drax [2015]?
MINGHELLA: No, this is still really fucking difficult. I've been working on it on-and-off for eight years and if you read the script, you would find that very embarrassing. [laughs] It's quite a tricky thing to pull off, and I don't feel like I've gotten there yet. I hope I will magically before we start shooting principal photography. I think there are some really exciting elements to it, and I've been very, very blessed with the people who have come on-board to help me make it, so I'm going to rest on their wisdom and talent and hope it carries us through. It's going to be an interesting adventure.
BROWN: Was there a moment where you felt, "It's not done, but I'm ready to show it to people and start the process of making it?"
MINGHELLA: Never! But you also have to remember that if you don't do that at some point, nothing will ever happen. But, like any writer, it's kind of awful having to let other people read it. I don't take pleasure in that at all. I'd love for no one to read the script and just show them the movie, but unfortunately that's not how it works.
BROWN: Who was your first reader, the first person you gave the script to?
MINGHELLA: I work with Jamie Bell, who is a rock in my life. He's a great friend and a very patient support, and I don't think this movie would have gotten to this stage without him being a soundboard and putting up with all my neuroses. He was probably the first person to read it and was a massive influence in shaping the story.
BROWN: Did he give you good critical feedback?
MINGHELLA: Completely. He's been intrinsic to the creative process on this film in particular. I've tried to woo him for other things to help me on, but I think this was the only one he had any interest in. [laughs] But it's been very helpful and I definitely rely on that. I'm an only child and so I over-rely on my friends to lend their support.
BROWN: Are most of your friends in the film industry?
MINGHELLA: I wish the answer was no, but it's probably yes.
BROWN: I know you grew up in North London but went to Columbia. What made want to attend university in the States?
MINGHELLA: That was genuinely born from not finishing [high] school. I didn't finish college [either], but at the time, I hadn't finished school in England, so I didn't have the qualifications to go to university in England unless I went back to school. I was 21 at that point, so it would have been slightly eccentric. The most logical way to continue my education was to do it in America and just take the SATs.
BROWN: What made you want to go to university at all?
MINGHELLA: Honestly, probably the guilt of having very academic parents. I think they were slightly ashamed. I've always been a terrible student, but they really hoped that I would be better, and I kind of hoped for them. It was, in retrospect, an apology, probably, for being a high school dropout and becoming an actor young and naively. But I'm so grateful for the experience—whatever motive I had to go, it definitely was a great thing. I made key relationships in that time. It also rescued me from a lot of bad career decisions.
BROWN: Did your parents have grand dreams of you being a doctor?
MINGHELLA: I don't think so. They were fine with me pursuing the things I like; I think they were hoping that I'd be a more well-rounded person, which makes total sense. But I've only ever been interested in one thing, and at a certain point, I gave up trying to be interested in other things. We just have to accept who we are and I'm a film nerd, for better or worse.
BROWN: So you took a break and tried producing and screenwriting. What made you want to return to acting?
MINGHELLA: I wasn't anticipating it at all. It was a script [The Handmaid's Tale] that was sent to me by a lot of people I trusted. In my life, I've made a lot of decisions on my own and have ignored wisdom from other people, and I wanted to change that. When they unanimously felt like this was a good idea, I read it quite seriously and I understood why they were excited about it. It all felt quite organic. I didn't have to force myself to be excited about it; it was something that I really thought had a lot to say.
In the [first] script, my character, Nick, had maybe one or two lines of dialogue. It was a very small piece of the ensemble. But I was very taken by the writing and I just wanted to be a part of something that felt very substantial and worthwhile, and it turned out that there was more to do with the character as well, which was nice. But ultimately it was about respect and the people involved, who were all very esteemed. I was very grateful that it was something they were willing to give me a shot at. I thought it was really quite a special piece of material. It proved to be even more special once we started making it, so I felt very clever by Episode Five. I was like, "I knew this was going to be good." [laughs]
BROWN: Do you remember your first time on set?
MINGHELLA: I remember the first thing I did as an actor. I was an extra in Sense and Sensibility [1995], and I got cut from the movie. [laughs] I think I got cut quite a few times as an extra, but that was the most memorable first experience I had because I was very young and excited to do my first part. I was a beggar or something.
BROWN: Did you over-act?
MINGHELLA: I probably wasn't very good. I probably found some way to fuck it up. I remember when I started acting officially I was unbelievably green. My first audition tapes were just horrendous. I think the first audition I ever did officially was for Pirates of the Caribbean [2003] and the casting director sent the tape to my parents without a note, just to say, "Maybe he's not cut out for this and you should try and talk him out of it." I definitely learned on the job.
BROWN: I always wonder, as a young actor, how you balance taking parts that you believe in with getting exposure and doing roles that will lead to other roles.
MINGHELLA: Well, I've been absolutely shit at the latter, as you can probably tell from my CV. I've never been good at strategy. But I'm not remiss about it. I've never taken a job as an actor that I wasn't 100-percent sure I wanted to do. I've never had to think about whether or not I wanted to do something, and there have always been a lot of factors to that. I don't think I'm an actor who's driven by character, to be honest. I don't think I'm like, "Oh, I'm not sure about this story, but I love this role." That's never been my process. You look at the quality of the script, the quality of the filmmaker, and then the actors you're going to be spending time with. Increasingly as I've gotten older, I'm much more interested in what the reality of the shoot is going to be versus what the result of the shoot might be. I'm so bad at guessing what's going to be good and what's going to be bad—there doesn't seem to be any correlation between things that are within your control. At this point, I just go, "Will this be fun to make? Will I like going to work? Will I be excited to go to work?"
BROWN: Has being behind the camera—as a producer and when you directed the music video—made you more nervous as an actor?
MINGHELLA: No, not more nervous. One thing it's been great for is stripping away a lot of my ego. When you have to cast movies from a producer's standpoint—when you've been on the other side of casting sessions—you just get a completely different perspective on what that process is of getting a job for an actor. You realize how completely impersonal it is. If anything, I think it's made me a lot less sensitive. So much of this is logic and business, and it's got nothing to do with whether people are good or not. Unfortunately, I think that's one of the last things that gets factored in when you're assembling a cast.
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When you wish upon a star
Two Traveling Lanes
When you wish upon a star
"When you wish upon a star, makes no difference who you are. Anything your heart desires will come to you."
How many of you of a certain age can hum that tune without thinking back to your childhood? Chances are, you grew up with "The Wonderful World of Disney" every Sunday night on the TV. It's aired almost without fail on broadcast TV weekly since 1954. The name changed occasionally, as did the types of movies and cartoons Disney aired, but that haunting theme song from Pinocchio was a regular in most opening scenes.
Disney is for more than kids. Daughter Julie and I go as often as we can.
The newest addition to Walt Disney World is Toy Story Land at Hollywood Studios
The song instantly transports me back to my family's white farmhouse in western Kentucky, where all seven of us kids would gather around the TV set and that haunting Disney melody while Mom cooked supper (yes, that's what we call dinner in the South) in the kitchen nearby. It was a bittersweet time. Sweet, because we got to see our favorite mousketeers and state-of-the-art Disney movies; sad, because the Sunday night blues were a reality, even for elementary school kids in the 1960s.
Disney without children? Oh, the horror!
When people -- mostly men, it seems -- ask why I still enjoy going to see the Mouse in Orlando every month or so sans children, I hearken back to those distant glimmers of childhood. My memories of Mickey, Minnie and the gang were a magical part of childhood, a fantasy I relived when my own children were born and I was re-introduced to the magic all over again.
When I visit Disney World and hear that music and see the action characters I loved as a child, it reawakens an ancient part of my soul that otherwise would have been long lost to deadlines, health worries and laundry. Whether he's viewed in high definition or grainy black-and-white newsreels, Mickey has been a part of my life as long as I can remember. And when you grow up on a rural Kentucky farm, the magic he instills lasts a lifetime.
Some might argue Disney is even better without kids. If you've ever dragged a 2-year-old on a hot, day-long adventure outdoors, you probably remember the temper tantrums and frequent meltdowns. When's the last time that happened to an adult friend of yours? If you answered "recently," you might wanna find a new friend circle.
Perhaps that's why I see people 20 years my senior still lolling about the theme parks, gathered at spots where they play old 1950s-era cartoons and display vintage memorabilia. If you're lucky, you never outgrow the kid in you, even if it manifests only at Disney.
Teresa and daughter Julie love all things Mickey
More to Disney than kiddie rides
Though you may not be interested in roller coasters or sitting through the 20th viewing of "It's a Small World," there are plenty of places to enjoy Walt Disney World as a grownup without children in tow. Here are my favorites, in no particular order:
Shows and musicals. Just watching a few live shows each time you visit the parks more than pays for your ticket, considering the cost of stage shows elsewhere. We caught Hollywood Studios' Fantasmic! performance recently and found it an awe-inspiring mix of fireworks, music and live action featuring nearly every Disney character in the story book.
Few things in life spark as much joy as seeing this sign.
We caught part of a nightly Star Wars spectacular at the same park, and Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage remains one of my favorites at Hollywood Studios. Festival of the Lion King is a roarin' good time at Animal Kingdom. These just skim the surface. A quick glance on the Disney app shows dozens of daily stage shows at the four parks.
Cinderella's Castle is gorgeous at Christmas time
Parades and fireworks: Every park stages a nightly grand finale of sorts, whether it's the Electrical Water Pageant at Magic Kingdom or the IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth at Epcot. I don't usually stake out a spot for hours like some guests, but do try to snare a spot 15 minutes or so before the show to ensure I can see more than a tree limb. Magic Kingdom also has a nightly fireworks show at 8 p.m. that can be seen from everywhere.
Concerts: Disney spares no expense in bringing big-name acts to its parks, usually Epcot. That's the park that features seasonal specials like the International Flower & Garden Festival, Food & Wine Festival and Arts Festival. Looking at the upcoming lineup for March through June 2019, we'll get to see Journey former lead singer Steve Augeri, the Marshall Tucker Band, Night Ranger, Ambrosia, Rick Springfield, Air Supply and Christopher Cross, to name a few. At the annual arts festival in February, Broadway singers perform in sunny Orlando while snow blankets New York.
You'll see giraffes and more on the Kilimanjari Safari tour at Animal Kingdom
Animals: One of my favorite attractions at any of the parks is Kilimanjaro Safaris, where you ride in an open-air Jeep of sorts through land with free roaming lions, giraffes, elephants, zebras and more.
Disney has created a 110-acre wildlife reserve that's home to 34 species living in picturesque open plains, shady forests and rocky wetlands. I've taken the 18-minute tour several times and each time I see a different animal up close. I'd like to go back after dark to see the savanna animals in a whole new light. Night travel was once off limits to visitors, but Disney recently installed lighting to mimic the setting sun and rising moon, giving you a rare glimpse into animals' nocturnal behavior.
Epcot's World Showcase: You can travel around the world to 11 countries with a short stroll around the World Showcase Lagoon. You'll think you're actually in China, Norway and Italy with the attention to detail Disney has put into recreating these countries at home. Eat some Mexican cuisine before
We enjoyed an authentic Belgian waffle and other international cuisine at Epcot's Food & Wine Festival
cruising down the Rio Grande. Watch a 360-degree, Circle Vision movie of China and Canada, or watch a live stage show about the American experience. Epcot also ventures to space and undersea with its rides and large aquariums filled with sharks, sea turtles and thousands of tropical fish.
I could go on and on, and I usually do, but you get the picture.
This big-horned animal walked right by our safari vehicle
Disney has waaaay more to love than just the time-honored Dumbo ride and swirling teacups. It has plenty for people of all ages, and that's probably why it's the No. 1 tourist destination in the world year after year. After all, toddlers don't make vacation plans. Adults do.
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#Disney#Disneyforadults#Disneyinspiration#DisneyOrlandotraveltips#Disneytravel#Disneywithoutchildren#SpecialeventsDisney#Travel
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GoT Re-Watch: Fine-Toothed Comb Edition
Well, this is it, I guess. One of the most infamous episodes of the whole series. Rightly so.
EXTRA WARNING: this recap contains discussion of a rape scene, as well as more discussion of the relationship between Tommen and Margaery.
5.06 - Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken
Let’s get this out of the way right now. The title of this episode is cruel mockery, referencing not just the words of House Martell but Sansa’s “you cannot scare me” line, which must be interpreted in light of the events that follow. Namely, repeated rapes and abuse to the point where Sansa does not care if Myranda kills her. So cruel mockery at best. At worst it’s self-justifying bullshit meant to promote the ludicrous narrative of “hardened woman making a choice” over and above “prominent underage female character raped for shock value.” Which, one, the rape and abuse is still every bit as bad if it happens to a “hardened woman,” and two, still doesn’t mean the plot made sense, was necessary, or was handled well.
This episode has a previously on. It ends at 1:48.
It also includes juxtaposition of Sansa saying, “I expect I’ll be a married woman by the time you return,” Littlefinger saying, “[Sansa’s] suffered enough,” and Ramsay saying “I’ll never hurt her.” Joke’s on us! Ramsay’s going to rape Sansa by the end of the episode!
(4:00) I’ve always found it bizarre how slowly Arya does this work. I think it’s meant to show care, but good lord, she’s an inefficient mortician’s apprentice.
(5:41) We can also see with this “What are they doing with the bodies?” mystery that the writers have elected to drive Arya’s story with external tension (what’s behind the door? Why is the Waif so hell-bent on kicking Arya out?) rather than internal tension, as Arya struggles in alternately abandoning and keeping her identity.
(7:03) Okay, so there’s a bit of a hole in the story the Waif tells Arya - a young Westerosi girl knows enough about the Faceless Men to want their help with her stepmother? She, a noble Westerosi girl, had the means to seek the help of Braavosi assassins? It’s not super plausible. (More plausible for a rich merchant family that interacts with Braavosi on the regular.) Now, this is absolutely, transparently meant to appeal to Arya Stark’s desire for vengeance and her love of grand adventure stories. Unfortunately you could drive a truck through this hole, and I’m having trouble believing that at approximately thirteen/fourteen (I think that’s how old show!Arya’s supposed to be, though Tommen’s age-up really throws everything into chaos - as far as I can tell he overtook Arya), Arya isn’t picking that up. Either the hole, or the fact the story is tailor-made to her tastes.
It’s a minor case of “only one smart person on screen at a time.”
(8:21) We’re back to this, are we? The Faceless Men of the books don’t hit Arya for lying badly, not as part of standard training for beginners. They give her a list of tells and a list of exercises to help her learn to control her face, and give her regular, structured practice trying to spot a liar’s tells. Only after Arya lies about killing a man for her own reasons and gives her biggest tell (chewing on her lip), does the Kindly Man hit her. Once.
This is child abuse here to be dramatic, is what I’m saying.
(8:44) Arya is pretty much the only character who doesn’t magically know Roose Bolton killed Robb.
(9:28) Go Arya, rejecting these terrible teaching methods! Truly, this scene was written for two reasons: one, to exposit that Arya did not hate Sandor (something she had to be told by a man), and two, to show Arya getting hit several times.
(10:52) Tyrion here has casually fessed up to kinslaying, and Westerosi Jorah, who should have knowledge of that particular taboo, has no reaction for us. I suppose this is an early example of kinslaying only affecting the plot at convenient times.
(11:51) Is anyone going to mention the reason Jorah is in Essos? That little slaving incident? Fleeing the country a step ahead of the death penalty? How about the bit where Jeor thought that death/the Watch was an appropriate punishment for his son’s crimes? No? We’re just going to have woobie Jorah make sad faces? Okay then.
My issue’s not that Jorah’s been changed per se, because goodness knows I don’t think Jorah’s one of GRRM’s best characters. It’s why the showrunners changed him and how. All the writers saw in the story of a middle-aged man exiled for enslaving others, creeping on and attempting to control a teenage girl, was an unrequited love subplot.
(13:21) This extra here knows that it’s time for Arya’s plot to advance, and so he’s walked up to her for no particular reason and started spouting exposition. The writers are capable of better.
(14:21) I resent the fuck out of the fact that the child abuse apparently did teach Arya how to lie. That is not how education works. And even if it did work, is that really an excuse for beating a child?
(15:27) Deaths: 1. Arya’s kill. And I am counting that to her, since her lies induced the girl to drink something she did not know would kill her.
(17:02) What a waste of effort by the props department. I’m sure this set, properly lit, would be stunning. As it is, I can hardly see a thing. The music here is lovely and eerie, though.
(19:27) While we’re talking creepy, though, this speech from Jorah about how he regards Dany as a goddess is creepier in its mundanity than any damn hall of dead faces they’ve shown us.
(20:22) Tyrion’s undermining of Dany’s ambitions here is also making me uncomfortable. Whether it’s “Targaryens are famously insane” (again, there’s a difference between Dany angsting about it on her own terms and Tyrion informing the audience of this as fact), “doesn’t mean she’ll make a good queen,” or here, “so a woman who has never spent a day of her adult life in Westeros becomes Queen of Westeros, that’s justice?” it’s pretty blatantly priming the audience to think, wow Dany needs Tyrion. Needs Tyrion. Not just “a good Westerosi advisor and support from at least one major House.” Tyrion.
(20:27) Tyrion’s also being used as a mouthpiece for audience opinion pretty blatantly, much as he was back in season one with the Free Folk. It’s jarring, because GRRM is very careful to include those moments of values dissonance, such as Tyrion’s utter disbelief that women can contribute to political decision-making, and his dislike of democracy.
(20:39) Much like Valyria snuck up on these two last episode, here they have been snuck up on by pirates. They totally weren’t waiting out of shot, otherwise in plain view. Don’t even think such silly things.
(21:39) Oh-ho, dick joke. This scene was written around the joke “Tyrion might be a little person, but he has a big dick!” The “cock merchant” is not the only way Tyrion could survive this encounter, either: there’s the canon use of a grotesquerie.
(24:10) “The city has changed since you were here last.” You know what would have conveyed this fact much more elegantly than this clunky bit of exposition? Exactly what was going on before Lancel started speaking - shots of Littlefinger walking through the city looking apprehensively at the armed, black-clad Sparrows. I think this is here to remind us that Littlefinger knows about Lancel, but the plot in King’s Landing is going to get a bit confused.
(25:13) “House Tyrell won’t tolerate this insult.” Oh, Littlefinger. You’d be surprised! Loras is going to be in custody until the day Cersei blows him up.
(26:02) “If war comes to Westeros, will the knights of the Vale fight for their king?” This seems to be the question Cersei urgently summoned Littlefinger to answer. And this, well, it’s not something you drag someone halfway across the continent to answer. Littlefinger was sent to the Vale to ensure exactly that. It kind of defeats the purpose to drag Littlefinger back to the capital to ask him this again. Better to send someone there to report on him.
(26:24) Cersei drinks: 1.
(26:38) Why on earth tell Cersei this? It seems to be a means for Littlefinger to send the forces of the Vale North without the Lannisters on their backs. If only there was some enemy of the Lannisters trying to retake Winterfell at this very point of the plot, giving an excuse for military incursion into Northern lands! Perhaps some persistent Lannister foe marching down from the Wall?
(27:08) “Marrying his son to the last of the Starks gives Roose Bolton far more legitimacy in the North than an alliance with a hated southern house.” This is 100% true. But this smart political show has seen no further than this in their rush to write a prominent female character being raped for shock value. Literally nobody in the books believes that a genuine Stark would willingly marry a Bolton post-Red Wedding. They all come to the conclusion that the Stark is fake, the marriage is forced, or both. And then a great many Northerners do something about it. Logically, Cersei should be asking “why would Sansa do this? If she wouldn’t, then how did it come to pass?” This is not a complex train of thought. It is well within Cersei’s intellectual capabilities. (Wouldn’t trust her to come up with good answers, though.)
(27:15) “I would counsel patience, your grace,” says Littlefinger.
(27:39) “That is why it is critical to strike soon,” says Littlefinger. So, if you were wondering about the editing process or the amount of thought that went into justifying Northern plotlines…you can stop. They can’t keep the plans consistent for thirty seconds. Literally. Thirty seconds.
(28:31) Littlefinger asks to be named Warden of the North for his hypothetical services. Again, this is something even (maybe even especially) book!Cersei would not agree to. Even she can say to herself “Petyr Baelish, Lord of Harrenhal, Lord Protector of the Vale, Warden of the North…hm. Too much power.”
(29:15) Who else thought that there was something skeevy going on here when Trystane interrupted Myrcella’s concerns by kissing her without waiting for any sort of indication of yes, and indeed while she was mid-sentence? I don’t think that’s what the showrunners were going for, though…
(29:46) And again, were we supposed to take this as young love when Trystane won’t answer Myrcella honestly about how many other girls he’s walked through the gardens with? A good response here would be “a few, but you’re the one I’m walking with now” or something like that, not the dissembling he gives her. Genuine affection would best be conveyed here by honesty. This seriously looks like a reasonably experienced young man pressuring an inexperienced teenage girl into a commitment she’s not ready for.
(30:15) Alexander Siddig and Deobia Oparei just completely wasted here too. Sorry guys, you’re too good for this mess of a plot, you’re bringing something dangerously close to atmosphere and sensible motivations to this scene!
(30:24) Didn’t mention it before, but there’s some serious geography failure here. The landscape Jaime and Bronn are travelling through is gorgeous, but it’s also a very unconvincing Dorne. It’s all the more noticeable because they went from the bright sunshine and warmer filters of Sunspear to grey, green, and fog.
(30:59) You know it’s a desert city because right there, right there, is a donkey carrying a bunch of bananas.
(31:19) Just in case you didn’t see the donkey with bananas before, here it is again! It’s exotic. Isn’t it great how the plot goes to all these exotic foreign-ish locations? It’s worth mentioning again because we know the show is capable of far better work - compare the gorgeous establishing shots of Braavos, Volantis, and Meereen to this crap.
(31:53) These masked individuals walking through the gardens in broad daylight certainly are not very suspicious. Seriously, do they think this will fool anyone for a hot second?
(32:00) Likewise these two masked men. Completely legit. Definitely regular guards.
(32:32) Check out Trystane’s non-reaction to Myrcella identifying Jaime. He barely blinks and just casually strolls up behind her. He’s acting like this is a normal introduction, and not, you know, what the fuck is the fucking Kingslayer doing here in a Martell guardsman uniform unannounced. Again, this is how you can tell this storyline was rushed and botched - the showrunners did not put even a tiny bit of effort into thinking “how would Trystane react to this?”
(32:51) In more contrivance, Jaime and Bronn have been in possession of these uniforms for how long now? And they did not think to maybe wash the blood off. It’s not one of the classic scenarios where someone grabs a stolen uniform under time pressure; they got these a while back and had ample opportunity to launder them. They did not, because the plot demands Trystane sees the blood. (As if the fact Jaime and Bronn are there in fake uniforms isn’t suspicious enough already.) Can’t say what’s shoddier, Jaime’s plan or the writing.
(33:10) It’s Attack of the The Sand Snakes. And you better believe I’m thinking of what MST3K said - they just didn’t care.
I am absolutely serious when I say I have seen high school theatre productions with higher choreography values than this. I know they only had about a day to film this scene, but here’s the thing - the showrunners prioritised the rule of cool (filming in this beautiful historical site) over filming a good action scene and ensuring the plot that made it to screen made sense. It’s shocking, I know, but when there’s a fight scene the audience tends to focus on the combat, rather than the gardens in the background obscured by quick cuts and motion blur - and yet while people might pardon the coincidence of two separate parties trying to kidnap Myrcella at once, they won’t look past the fact this happens in broad daylight.
This becomes a sadly common feature of the show, prioritising “cool” over the bread-and-butter mechanics that cool things must be built on.
(34:28) Note how Areo Hotah is surrounded by a bunch of loyal guardsmen, unmoved by Obara’s “yay revenge!” appeal.
(35:05) Bronn says, “You fight pretty well for a little girl,” and Tyene launches herself at Bronn screaming. Truly we are getting some strong female characters in this plot. Also worth mentioning is that I don’t think Bronn’s casual sexism is supposed to affect our view of him, much like his casual racism earlier in the season. He’s down-to-earth and cracks wise! Why ruin a character like that pointing out the fact that he’s racist and sexist?
(35:33) The leader of this carriage has called a halt.
(35:41) Olenna Tyrell immediately makes a crack about how King’s Landing is smelly and asks why they stopped. I too am asking why they stopped. It looks like they stopped literally so Olenna could say that King’s Landing is smelly.
(35:52) Much like Bronn, Olenna’s reference to “pillow-biters” isn’t supposed to prompt us to reexamine anything. Olenna is consistently and casually homophobic, but since she expresses it with jokes and dismissiveness rather than labelling homosexuality perversion, we’re still supposed to like her and laugh at the jokes.
There’s a similar thing going on with Olenna and sexism. Much like Olenna loves her grandson whilst casually throwing out slurs about gay men in general, Olenna loves and educates her granddaughter whilst demeaning, condescending to, and occasionally threatening other women. If this was deliberate, written with full awareness that Olenna is homophobic and sexist, and her tolerance for gay people and women in politics extends only as far as her family tree does, we’d have a pretty excellent character on our hands here still. As it is, what we have is an unacknowledged double standard.
(36:00) Renly and/or Loras is gay: 1. Been a while since I had to bring this out for reasons of people being homophobic! It’s the verbal version of Loras’ affair with Olyvar in season three: Renly was gay, so of course he had sex with a lot of men.
(36:14) “She wants to drag our name through the dirt. Put us in our place.” I’d be more sympathetic if Olenna hadn’t planned the murder of one of Cersei’s sons, and Olenna and Margaery together hadn’t planned the rape of Cersei’s other son. These two Tyrells aren’t exactly blameless, here, they’ve done plenty to Cersei personally - so why are we seeing this scene of Olenna and Margaery being all indignant that Cersei’s successfully imprisoned one of their family members? What a nerve Cersei has, wanting the woman who is raping her son, along with the family who gives her the platform from which she achieved the ability to rape Cersei’s son, out of power.
It’s fine to criticise Cersei for being bad at governing, and for targeting Loras as a means to get to Margaery, but this depiction of Cersei as somehow unreasonable just for wanting Margaery nowhere near Tommen is disgusting. The depictions of sympathetic and unsympathetic characters in this arc depend on the writers’ refusal to acknowledge that Margaery raped and abused Tommen. Accept that, and this arc changes drastically.
(36:37) “Put the pen down, dear, we both know you’re not writing anything.”
There are two layers of stuff going on here, one good layer, one bad layer. The good layer is in pointing out how Cersei is imitating her father’s techniques for controlling meetings with pretty much zero success. The bad layer is in how, unexamined, sexism plays into Olenna’s ability and willingness to call it out. Cersei is doing the same job as Tywin was back in season three; she has every bit as much reason to write things as Tywin did. Not only does Olenna use the reductive dear to address the Dowager Queen, Cersei gets no benefit of the doubt.
(36:42) Woman called slut/harlot/whore: 1. (Calling Cersei a tart counts.) Let’s look at how this conversation has gone thus far.
OLENNA: You ever going to speak to me?
CERSEI: I didn’t invite you.
OLENNA: You’re not even doing anything important.
CERSEI: That’s a bit rude.
OLENNA: Whore.
We’re supposed to find Olenna funny because she just called Cersei a slut. Witty.
(37:23) “Do you expect our alliance to continue after you’ve thrown our future into prison?” Do the writers expect us to look past the fact that Olenna murdered one of Cersei’s sons and arranged the rape of the other? Yes! Yes they do! Olenna shot first in this little confrontation of theirs.
I just find it utterly bizarre that we’re supposed to be on the Tyrells’ side here. I can understand being on Loras’ side - dude’s done nothing but practice with swords and have sex with Olyvar in the past few seasons, certainly nothing he deserves to be thrown in a dungeon for. But while he’s been having a good time, his grandmother and sister have been up to some seriously shady things, as bad as anything we see Cersei do. One premeditated murder and several strategically planned rapes, against Cersei’s abuse of the justice system. I can understand preferring Margaery and Olenna’s competence (though we haven’t seen Margaery even try to do any governing) over Cersei’s incompetence, but I fail to see much morally better about these two in show-verse.
(37:43) Ah, the Lannister-Tyrell alliance, bringing peace to a war-torn country. Not in the books, on account of a lot of survivors being outraged at the atrocity committed to bring an end to the bulk of the conventional fighting. In the show the surviving Northerners and Riverlanders (well, I think, but the Riverlanders may not exist this season) just put their feet up for a season or two.
(39:01) Loras refused to leave Renly’s bedside even as Stannis’ army closed in? That sounds like a scene I would have liked to see.
(40:15) The High Sparrow went and boned up on legal procedure specifically for this, I guess. Dude’s got talent!
(41:15) I understand the logic of bringing out Loras’ lover to testify against both him and Margaery, but again there’s a plothole. It’s called he-said-they-said. Both Loras and Margaery managed to lie just then with perfectly straight faces; all they need to do is continue lying. The queen and her brother. Both are of good reputation. Their word should be preferred.
When Cersei was stacking Tyrion’s trial, in both versions, she brought out a whole bunch of real incidents to make the central falsehood go down easy. She made sure she proved means (Pycelle’s testimony), motive (well-documented animosity between Joffrey and Tyrion), and opportunity (lots of wedding guests saw him handling the chalice). One random saying “I saw Tyrion poison the cup” could be ignored. It’s the same here, or it should be. One random saying “oh no, I totally had gay sex with Loras” can - and should - be ignored.
(41:37) Olyvar here says he squired for Loras.
(42:21) Cersei says outright that Loras’ and Margaery’s word should be preferred to Olyvar’s account.
(42:25) Which is where the “smoking gun” comes out. It’s supposed to be a smoking gun. It’s more confusing. Olyvar already said he squired for Loras, a task which involves dressing him. It is utterly unsurprising that he would have seen Loras naked or nearly so. The only surprising thing is that nobody says, “uh, High Sparrow, you do know that squires help people dress, right?”
Again, this is an obvious patch job. The showrunners so wanted Margaery to rape Tommen, that they couldn’t adapt the flimsy adultery charge Margaery was originally on the hook for. And hey, they could make the Sparrows topical by having them persecute a gay man, too! That saves them having to adapt Loras’ subplot!
(42:30) So there we are. Loras lied barefaced about his relationship with Renly, only showing the slightest bit of disquiet (good job, Finn Jones!), but as soon as Olyvar mentions he saw a thing he could have seen in the normal course of his duties, he loses it and flings himself across the room.
(42:50) Indeed, bearing false witness before the gods, as we shall see, is far more serious than adultery and murder.
(43:09) Yeah. I feel real bad for Margaery, being dragged away from the child she raped while attempting to use the connection between them she manipulated into existence, and just terrible for Olenna, watching her plan to have a child raped backfire due to the efforts of that child’s mother. My sympathies here are firmly with Loras and Tommen.
(43:15) Sansa is still proactively sitting in her bedroom doing nothing. The writers literally cannot think of anything else for Sansa to do except get raped.
(44:08) Myranda here just says that Ramsay gets bored easily. This is clearly a callback to the fact Ramsay hurts women when he’s bored. We know this number of women includes Myranda.
(44:34) We get the names of some of Ramsay’s other victims here. They don’t matter. No, seriously, they don’t matter. They will never matter to this show. They are mentioned here to demonstrate Ramsay’s cruelty and nothing else. They’re sketches of women that exist only to be brutalised.
(45:40) “And how long have you loved him, Myranda?” This is presented as perceptive on Sansa’s part, but the audience really, really needs to remember that last week we saw Ramsay threaten Myranda with death if she got boring.
(45:58) “I am Sansa Stark of Winterfell, and you can’t frighten me.” That is a bald statement of identity and power, and it is almost immediately undermined. Undermined in the worst way possible. That sentiment is raped out of her. Nothing else would do.
(47:06) The writers keep doing it, too. Ramsay says Theon’s to take Sansa’s arm, Sansa immediately says no, because obviously she’s in charge of her body and gets to say whether someone touches her and how, right? They are building up Sansa’s agency in these few minutes only to cut everything out from under the viewer. It’s a cruel punch line to a worse joke.
(47:16) Could do without things like “you think I care what he does to you?” Book!Sansa would, and I feel pretty confident in saying that because of how she reacted to Joffrey’s death. Book!Sansa has violent thoughts from time to time, but when faced with violence and the suffering of human beings she more often moves to alleviate it, and is horrified by it.
(47:55) This set of the godswood is also stunning. Just saying.
(49:08) A shot of Myranda here, in a cleavage-exposing black dress. I’m sure any contrast with Sansa’s long-sleeved high-collared white dress was coincidental. Good thing this show isn’t having any Madonna-Whore complexes, hey!
(49:29) Nothing but praise for Alfie Allen’s acting.
(50:09) Of course, the minute Sansa says, “I take this man,” Ramsay gives us a slasher smile. Oh, poor Sansa, what a huge mistake she has made!
(51:21) While it makes an amount of sense for Ramsay to mention Tyrion, I do find it distasteful how the conversation detours off. Yes, even for ten seconds. We have the obligatory ableist remark from Ramsay (we didn’t understand Ramsay was evil, you see), and three (short) sentences from Sansa on Tyrion’s merits. Leave it at “he was kind” and don’t reemphasise something we already knew. If this is going to be Sansa’s plot (and it shouldn’t have been), this scene must put Sansa first and foremost. This it fails to do.
(52:20) Here Theon becomes the focus of the scene, as Ramsay directs Theon to stay and watch, appealing directly to Theon’s emotional pain at watching this violation. Ramsay’s done talking to Sansa, and she’s now just another means for Ramsay to demonstrate his control of Theon. The last dialogue of the episode emphasises how this is causing trauma to Theon.
(53:46) It’s not like I don’t get the logic of cutting to Theon’s reaction. It makes perfect sense to show Theon’s reaction to this…if the story is first and foremost about Theon. As it was in the book.
The problem is that this was billed as Sansa’s story, her plotline was mutilated to get it to this point, and at this critical moment the show looks away and puts the emphasis on someone else.
Rape: 1.
And now I recommend going to watch MST3K’s take on Attack of the The Eye Creatures, because that’s a far more enjoyable example of “they just didn’t care,” and the riffers actually know when the movie’s depiction of sexuality is awful.
Game of Numbers S05E06
For such a lousy episode, there’s not much to count.
Deaths: 1. Arya’s kill.
Rape: 1.
Consensual sex: 0.
Woman called “slut/whore/harlot”: 1.
Man called “slut/whore/harlot”: 0.
Renly and/or Loras is gay: 1.
Cersei drinks: 1.
#anti got#fine toothed comb edition#cw: violence#cw: rape#cw: abuse#talk about failing a spot check#couldn't have picked a lovelier day to film a night scene#season five
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What's on your bucket list?
You win three free vacations. Where would you go?
New York City
Chicago
Seattle
London
Paris
Africa
Italy
China
Alaska
Hawaii
Australia
Zion National Park
The Grand Canyon
Japan
You win a $500 shopping spree at three stores. Which stores would you pick?
Kmart
Goodwill
Kohl's
Claire's
Michael's
Barnes and Noble
Forever 21
rue21
Hot Topic
Aeropostale
American Eagle
Hollister
Macy's
Sleeping Tiger Imports (a store that sells Bohemian/hippie things)
You win three prizes from this list. Which three would you choose?
dinner with your favorite celebrity
tickets to see your favorite band in concert
a solo vacation to New York, plus money to spend (you would go by yourself)
a camping trip with friends
a road trip with friends
a free make-over
a free cruise vacation
a mother who loves you
a time machine
fairy wings so you can fly
for someone who has died to come back to life
courage to tell your crush you like him or her
an unlimited supply of shoes
a chocolate cake
If you could choose to have three supernatural abilities (from this list), which three would you choose?
the power to read minds
the ability to fly
super-human strength
a time machine
a teleportation device
invisibility
the power to heal
the power to raise the dead
a money tree
the power to disappear at will
the ability to never have to sleep
to never have to eat or again
to live forever
You win gift certificates to three restaurants! Which three do you choose?
Arby's
Steak 'n' Shake
Denny's
McDonald's
Burger King
Wendy's
a Chinese buffet
a sushi bar
an Indian restaurant
Subway
Taco Bell
Chick fil A
Sonic
Applebee's
Oh no! You must pick three dares. Which three do you choose?
you have to post a page from your diary on the Internet
you have to share one of your secrets on facebook
you have to kiss your crush
you have to go on a blind date
you have to jump off a bridge (with a bungee cord, of course)
you have to tell your crush you like them
you have to apologize to someone
you have to let your best friend read your diary
you have to stand up to a bully
you have to report something to an authority figure
you have to complain to a manager at a store
you have to dance in public, on your own
you have to twerk
you have to make all your texts public, for all to see
You are playing Truth or Dare with friends. Which three truths would you..
..pick? (and then answer the question!) (You can actually answer as many as you wish. :) )
Who do you have a crush on?
What was the name of your first crush?
What are your dreams?
How do you feel right now?
What is something you wish someone would say to you?
Are you hurting? If so, what hurts?
What medical conditions/diseases do you have?
Are you ok? If not, what do you need?
Do you love yourself?
What is your deepest, darkest secret?
Are you keeping a huge secret from someone? If so, what is it?
What was the most traumatic and/or painful thing you've been through?
What do you need right now, or what could you use more of right now? Pick 3:
courage
peace
joy
love
friendship
to forgive yourself
to forgive someone else
freedom
rest
reconciliation with someone
to tell someone how you feel
a hug
healing
relief
I want to be more...
loving
caring
beautiful
encouraging
active
organized
spontaneous
free-spirited
bold
courageous
responsible
outgoing
adventurous
forgiving
all the things you would like to own.
a swimming pool
a big screen TV
a gym membership
a coffee maker
a treasure chest
a time machine
a teleportation device
an invisibility cloak
a magic potion
a love potion
a teddy bear
two million dollars
a vehicle
a money tree
statements that are true of you. I wish I knew what it was like to....
fly like a fairy
be invisible
live my dreams
be loved by someone
have a mother who loved me
have someone to share my heart with
be loved by everyone
trust
be loved
be popular
be rich
be famous
be a cat or dog
I have been labeled...
a free spirit
a trendsetter
kind
beautiful
a leader
a good friend
creative
unique
artistic
talented
gifted
carefree
energetic
adventurous
competitive
boisterous
shy
quiet
imaginative
complex
practical
simple
plain
amazing
caring
loving
gentle
generous
accepting
things you are against.
hate
inequality
injustice
bullying
Christians having their rights taken away
religious persecution
abuse (of any kind)
racism
harassment
hierarchies in churches
judgmentalism
isolation
loneliness
people forcing their wills onto others
things you are for.
equality
love
equal rights for all
joy
peace
freedom to live your life and follow your dreams
freedom to live a pleasant, worthwhile life without hate and persecution
standing up to bullies
speaking out about injustice
raising awareness about injustice
facing one's problems instead of running away from them
the freedom of speech
the freedom of religion
Truth
-
You’re an avid runner
You live 3+ hours from the nearest urban area
You’ve never eaten a hot dog
You’re in your 30s
You are not a talkative person
You have white curtains in your kitchen
You’re happy with where you’re at in your career
Grilled salmon is one of your favorite foods
You’ve been to 15+ countries
You’ve never seen a real gun outside of a museum
You have a dentist appointment coming up soon
You’ve been to a ski resort
You are multilingual
You have a Boston accent
You have acne-prone skin
You’ve commissioned a custom piece of art
You’re married
You volunteer at a hospital
You have a prominent jawline
You don’t like ketchup
You don’t like mayonnaise
You haven’t been to a movie theater in over a year
You love where you live
You’d rather cook a meal at home than go to a restaurant
You don’t have any cousins
You enjoy reading mystery novels
You enjoy reading about other cultures
You’re an atheist
You had a fully vegan meal for dinner last night
You’re a redhead
You play the piano
You are currently experiencing physical pain
You love to spend time with your family
You think chewing gum is gross
You have lived overseas
You are a woman
You don’t have any pets
You believe it’s important to give back to your community
You have a famous relative
You loved school when you were a kid
You never wear shoes inside your house
You are a morning person
You have a degree in a STEM field
You prefer wine over beer
You prefer oysters over lobster
You’ve never been pregnant
You have an Apple Music subscription
You regularly visit an esthetician
You’ve lived in 5+ different cities
You have an autoimmune disease
You’ve been to a library in the past week
You’ve used a grocery delivery service
You have short hair
You’ve had a stalker
You still keep in touch with your childhood friends
You listen to a lot of podcasts
You’ve lost a loved one in a car accident
You own a boat
You never wear eye makeup
You use an at-home teeth whitening kit
You met your best friend through work
You’ve never used Snapchat
You don’t remember the name of the first person you kissed
Your favorite cuisine is Thai
-
Appearance
Your hair is red.
You dye your hair.
You have green eyes.
You are very pale.
You are very petite.
But you are still kind of curvy.
You are 5'5.
You weigh less than 110 pounds.
You straighten your hair.
Many people tell you that you're attractive.
Birth
You were born in April.
You were born in the Spring time.
You are a Taurus.
You were born towards the end of the month.
You were born in the nineties.
You were born specifically in 1993.
You were born in the USA.
You were born on the East Coast.
You were born specifically in Pennsylvania.
Your parents were married when you were born.
Childhood
You almost died at a very young age.
You were a very quiet and shy child.
You moved across the country when you were young.
You were made fun of all throughout your childhood.
You loved Pokemon as a kid.
You played with dolls.
You had a teddy bear that you brought everywhere with you.
You had babysitters a lot.
You loved Hilary Duff.
Nothing really bothered you when you were young.
Drinks
You hate alcohol.
But you drink on occasion anyway.
The only kind of alcohol you tolerate is
You're addicted to soda
Your favorite soda is Mountain Dew
You hate Root Beer
You love chocolate milk
You love smoothies
You love Starbucks
You love Arizona iced tea
Education
You went to a religious preschool.
You went to two different elementary schools.
You were never a very good student.
You found it hard to pay attention.
But you managed to graduate highschool on time.
You graduated highschool in 2011.
You were in choir and band in highschool
You were a music major in college.
You lived in a dorm room for your freshman year of college.
You never graduated college.
Family
Your parents are still married.
Your parents argue/fight a lot.
Your parents had you in their late thirties or early forties.
You only have one sibling.
You have an older brother.
Your brother is a successful/famous musician.
You and your sibling are two years apart.
Two of your grandparents are still alive.
You have six first cousins.
You have a ton of other cousins, some of whom you've never even met.
Hobbies
You love to sing more than anything else.
You are in a rock band.
You play piano.
You play flute.
You're good at drawing.
You love to play The Sims.
You love Instagram more than any other social media.
You love doing your makeup and wear it every day.
You have a YouTube channel.
You don't have a ton of friends, but you're okay with that.
Job
You have worked in food service before.
You have worked at Panera Bread.
You have worked at a Mexican restaurant.
You have been a cashier.
You have been a barista.
You have been a secretary.
You have worked at an optometry office.
Your family owned/owns a business.
You have worked in a call center-type place.
Your dream job is to be a successful musician.
Love
You had your first crush in sixth grade.
You are mostly straight.
But you are a tiny bit bi-curious.
You had your first kiss when you were fifteen.
You lost your virginity when you were sixteen.
Your longest relationship was five years or more.
You have been manipulated in a relationship.
You have had seven boyfriends/girlfriends in the past.
You have had sex with three people.
You have kissed the same gender before.
Music
Your favorite music genre is alternative rock.
You also love hard rock and metal.
You love show tunes from musicals and such.
You don't care for country music.
You usually don't care for rap either.
Your favorite band is The Used.
You love EDM.
You are a musician yourself.
Music means so much to you.
You prefer more modern music than older stuff.
Opinions
You are very liberal.
You HATE that Trump was just elected president.
You voted for Hillary.
You are pro-choice.
You are for gay marriage.
You are for equal rights for everyone.
You are very much against guns.
You seriously wish there could just be world peace.
You believe in God
You are for the legalization of marijuana.
Pets
You have cats.
You've had a dog before.
You've had hamsters before.
You've had a ton of fish before.
You've had frogs/tadpoles before.
You've had hermit crabs before.
You've had sea monkies before.
You would love to have a pet hedgehog.
You've had a huge aquarium in your home.
You love animals.
-
Do you like the same girl's names as me?
Bianca
Skye
Harper
Eliana
Madison
Skylar
Aurora
Anica
Jade
Claire
Ellery
Allison
Jessica
Lydia
Do you like the same boy's names as me?
Denver
Dylan
Deklan
Storm
Skylar
Scott
Ryan
Brennan
Simeon
Jedidiah
Maverick
Ezekiel
Asher
Alan
Do you love the same things as me?
running
dancing
worship
reading
creative writing
painting
singing
friendship
Jesus
sushi
chocolate
strawberries
macaroni and cheese
pasta
School
Your favorite subjects are/were English and Art.
Spelling was your favorite subject in elementary school.
Your school colors are/were red and black.
You hate/hated school for the most part.
You were homeschooled for some time.
You loved college.
You always bring/brought your lunch to school.
You've been on the track team.
You've been on a dance team.
You didn't get to do everything you wanted to do athletic-wise.
You've been in a musical.
You've never had detention.
You were always very shy.
You HATE math.
Do you like the same things as me?
long, deep talks with a friend
sesame chicken
pie
roller coasters
holidays
fashion
photography
taking selfies
writing in calligraphy
writing in a journal
music
typing
spending time in nature
camping
Have you been to the same places as me?
Chicago
Seattle
The Space Needle in Seattle
Disney World
The Sears Tower in Chicago
Belfast
London
Bath, England
Galway, Ireland
Kentucky
Michigan
Ohio
California
Mount Rainier National Park
Have you shopped at the same stores as me?
Kmart
Kohl's
Michael's (for craft supplies)
Claire's
Wet Seal
Forever 21
Deb
Limited Too/Justice
Target
Fred Meyer
Ross
rue21
Goodwill
maurices
Have you visited the same websites as me?
Meez.com
facebook
Pinterest
Myspace
GenerationGirl (discontinued now)
Girlspace (discontinued now)
Mamamedia.com
nick.com
disneychannel.com
swagbucks.com
youtube
pandora.com
amazon
StumbleUpon
Have you listed to/can you relate to the same songs as me?
"Ain't it Fun" -Paramore
"Where is the Love?" -Black Eyed Peas
"Wish You Were Here"- Avril Lavigne
"My Redeemer Lives" -Hillsong
"Desert Song" -Hillsong
"Fight Song" -Rachel Platten
"We Are" -Kari Jobe
"Soar"- Meredith Andrews
"Change" -Taylor Swift
"Mean" -Taylor Swift
"Believer" -Kutless
"Something in the Water" -Carrie Underwood
"Glorious Unfolding" -Steven Curtis Chapman
"Like You Promised" -Amber Brooks
Have you read/ do you like the same books as me?
The Daughters of the Moon series by Lynne Ewing
"Let's Get Lost" by Adi Alsaid
The Anne of Green Gables series by L.M. Montgomery
"Soundless" by Richelle Mead
"China Dolls" by Lisa See
"Dreams of Joy" by Lisa See
"To All the Boys I've Loved Before" by Jenny Han
"The Notebook" by Nicholas Sparks
"Seriously Wicked" by Tina Connolly
"The Probability of Miracles" by Wendy Wunder
"Lies We Tell Ourselves" by Robin Talley (REALLY good)
"The Memory of Light" by Francisco X. Stork (REALLY good)
"The Final Quest" by Rick Joyner (nonfiction)
"Jesus Calling" by Sarah Young (devotional)
Do you listen to/like the same music artists as me?
Avril Lavigne
Taylor Swift
Paramore
Hillsong
Casting Crowns
Beyonce
Carrie Underwood
Meredith Andrews
Kari Jobe
Jesus Culture
Misty Edwards
Jenn Johnson/ Bethel Worship Band
Evanescence
Cascada
Are you....
spiritual?
artistic?
creative?
easygoing?
gentle?
joyful?
energetic?
passionate?
kind?
unique?
quiet?
softspoken?
introverted?
double-jointed?
gifted?
prophetic?
skilled?
talented?
flexible?
young?
honest?
humble?
small?
American?
Christian?
broken?
wounded?
empty?
afraid?
terrified?
disorganized?
fashionable?
usually always late?
crushing on someone?
hated by someone?
abused?
lonely?
hurting?
bait?
attractive?
optimistic?
a realist most of the time?
caring?
sweet?
Have people described you as...
a free spirit?
a trendsetter?
a leader?
amazing?
creative?
unique?
special?
gifted?
young-looking?
not right in the head?
smart?
a risk taker?
kind?
beautiful?
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Star vs The Forces of Evil: Hidden Truth | Chapter 6: Timeless, Part 1 - Lost Princess
Five hundred years ago…..
Princesses of Mewni were always a rambunctious lot, all bumbling around like squirrels who had just eaten too much sugar. Sometimes the castle-maids would find them in the closets playing hide and seek, or in the gardens picking flowers. Sometimes they would be practicing their magic with Glossaryck.
Not this princess however.
Anima, daughter of Arcadia the Bold, was anything but bold. You’d never find her roaming the gardens, exploring dusty corners of the castle, or expecting adventure behind every nook and cranny. She didn’t need any of that, because all her adventures were happening inside her head. She was a dreamer that only rarely and unwillingly woke up to a grey and boring reality. Her mother had very little understanding for her passion of daydreaming. In fact, no one did. Mostly because she was just like a little mouse- silent and hidden even in plain sight. Her family considered her childhood to be lifeless and boring, but while other kids were making trouble, she found a silent corner in the castle in which she took a journey to a fascinating lands.
Uncertain what to do with her, her parents decided give her a few olden books. They wanted her to become interested in Butterfly’s heritage. Or so they hoped. What they really did was give her some new best friends. Lots of them. Suddenly, she didn’t spend time wandering through some obscure places. Instead, she took sanctuary in the castle’s library. Unaware of the riches this place held, she dipped down to the fascinating events of the past.
One late evening, she was digging through book after book like a Grand Carnivorous Mewnian Worm, until her eyes caught the chapter about one of her predecessors - Skywynne, the Queen of Hours. Anima had never really lived in the present, always imagining what might have been and what could be. But the revelation of Skywynne changed all of that. Instead of imagining the possibilities, she now might actually be able to make them into reality. And so, without even realizing it, her obsession with time began to run deeper and deeper into her consciousness.
Her parents soon realized the grave mistake they had made. While before she was hiding in plain sight, now she was hiding literally - the library became her new home. And they liked that even less. They first started slowly, just taking her away from her books. But her reactions were getting worse all the time. She was simply refusing to leave the library, to leave the books, to leave her own perfect world. However, they didn’t account for her hidden affability. You see, when you force an animal into a corner with no place to run, it will fight back. Not Anima. She realized that this situation would require cunning thinking. And so, she played by their rules, did what she was asked for and didn’t ask any questions of any kind. She was, finally, the perfect little princess her parents wanted for so long.
Until she reached the age of 14.
The wand was what she needed for her plan. Maybe it should have been obvious for everyone since the moment she took over it - a grandiose piece of jewelry turned into an ordinary gray metallic stick. Perhaps her mother would take some precautions, but Anima’s smile took her guard down and she hoped to the three moons that her daughter would get better with the help of Glossaryck. Except he knew from the start that she was no ordinary princess. In fact, he had his doubts if she even was a princess at all. Her connection to magic was laughable and her interest in it outright pathetic. Or so he thought.
When it was apparent that familiar books were no longer safe surroundings, she digged deeper. With the wand finally in her possession, she quickly (and equally insufficiently) learned a pretty simple spell. Simple for a person that actually wanted to learn it, that is. So when she went into the library to create her own personal study area to which no one would have access but her, she almost managed to burn the whole place down. Glossaryck couldn’t believe his own eyes.
“What are you trying to accomplish here, Princess?” he asked.
“Nothing that concerns you. Or anyone else for that matter.”
“I see. Perhaps I should leave you alone with your wand, yes?”
“That’s the first useful thing you’ve ever said to me.”
“Ah. Well, normally, I would. You are to Butterfly family what that bug over there is to Mewni.”
“Ew!”
“But you see, the thing is, letting you run around with your… hmm, stick, would be like giving weapons to a toddler.”
“Did you just compare me to a toddler?!”
“Maybe, maybe not. I mean, what’s certain anymore? Look, Anima, my job is to teach you how to use magic. But seeing as you don’t care one bit about it, I won’t force you.”
“Good.”
“With that said however, I do like your mom, so I will take your wand away for the time being…”
“What…?!”
“... And I’ll help with this little magic trick of yours.” Glossaryck not only restored the burned books and demolished parts of library, he also created a hidden room behind one of the regals. Only he and her could see it. “I believe this is what you wanted, correct?”
“I still don’t give a damn about magic.”
Glossaryck measured her from top to bottom. “Hmm, indeed, that much is obvious.”
“I don’t-”
“Yes, yes, I’m sure that’s fascinating. The bottom line is I’m keeping the wand for the time being. Have fun with… whatever it is you want to keep doing in there.”
“Hmpf!”
At last, she had her own private, secluded space, where she could study whatever she wanted without interruptions. Well, that was the idea anyway. She lived so long with just herself that she’d completely lost connection with the order of the real world. And out there, when a young, beautiful, if somewhat distant and cold princess started to turn into a young woman, that tended to attract boys. And even though she lived most of her time in her own parallel universe, which made the whole teenage romance stuff a heck of a lot difficult, it didn’t made it utterly impossible. And where there is possibility, there is also probability.
The name of this probability was Prince Balderen of House Moth. He was the prototype of a typical teenage and royal prince - arrogant, full of himself and not taking “no” for an answer. His parents spoiled him to no end and somehow forgot to mention that people aren’t items to collect. So when he first laid his eyes on her, it was as if he found the perfect toy. He was so fascinated by her that he completely ignored the cold, unwelcoming breeze that she left in her wake. From this point forward, all his life goals shrinked into a single point - her.
Coincidentally, Anima too had only one life goal. And she was going hard after it, like a herd of warnicorns, while not giving a crap about anything or anyone. Glossaryck was constantly keeping an eye on her and he noticed a somewhat troubling development - her fascination with time was slowly turning into an obsession. But he also saw something else in her - potential. Potential that'd be shameful to leave to waste. It would be hard, yes. But he was confident that if he could influence her just a little bit, she could turn into one of the greatest Queens of Mewni.
However, this plan would require for her to leave the palace, if only for a short time. He'd need to come up with a plan that'd be interesting enough for her to take interest in. Something equally cunning as her.
It was Autumn and she had just turned 15.
“Anima.”
“Oh, it's you again. Did you come to congratulate me to another uselessly spend year like my mother did?”
“I didn't even realize you had a birthday.”
“Liar.”
“OK, you got me.”
“Great. Now leave me alone.”
“As you wish. I will just take this wand and…”
The wand. Unfortunately for her, she learned that without it she wouldn’t be able to do anything. And she hated that.
“No, wait.”
“Yes?”
“Can I have it back?”
“No.”
“What do you mean by no? It's mine!”
“Um, no. It belongs to Princesses of Mewni. There isn't one here to speak of and the only thing keeping you here is the royal blood flowing in your veins.”
“I am the princess!”
“Is that so? And what is exactly that you did for this kingdom, princess?”
She was angry, but she couldn't give an answer; she didn't have any.
“That's what I thought. But the situation is not hopeless, I can still fix you up.”
“There is nothing wrong with me!”
“If you were a regular peasant, I'd agree. But as the only heir to the throne you have to realize that kingdom comes first. You don't have to like it, you just have to accept it. Luckily for you, I came up with a plan to combine what Mewni needs with what you desire.”
“Really?”
“Indeed. I'll help you with your studies of Skywynne's magic.”
“What's the catch?”
“You'll start studying basic magic, because without it, all that knowledge about time will be useless. And you will take an active post in your role as the future Queen of Mewni.”
“But I don't want to become a queen!”
“You don't have much of a choice. So what will it be, princess?”
And so, two trainings took place: one for her and one for Mewni. At first it seemed fine, she was making progress on both fronts and everyone was pretty much happy. Especially Prince Baldaren, who suddenly had the chance to publicly demonstrate his passion for the young Butterfly.
Unfortunately, nothing can last forever, even more so when things finally start to turn for the better. Anima’s mother was sick, and Anima was 17. Already, the nobles were yelling at her to find a suitable King, and to take the throne. Anima wanted none of that. If she could, she would spend the rest of her life happily in her library, completely alone.
But that was before the incident happened. Everything changed on that day.
24th of Gragnok, 145 a.M.
Anima stepped across the jewel studded streets of the Capital ignoring the peasants who were staring at her from the sides. She felt satisfied being alone to her own thoughts and ideas. She had just come back from lessons with Glossaryck in the Forest of Certain Death, something about defending yourself from monsters and people trying to take the Butterfly throne; they went about as well as expected. The sun had just begun to dip down over the zenith, Anima’s favorite time of day to just relax in her secret chamber in the library, a hidden annex where she would recline to her books and mind. She had almost reached the Castle at this point, entering the Royal Gardens.L
A scurrying sound could suddenly be heard nearby; Anima snapped her head back in surprise. A stoutly figure stumbled out of the hedges, small birds and twigs falling off him.
“P-Princess, it’s an hon-”
Anima’s smile instantly turned into a scowl as she recognized the voice. It belonged to a certain Prince Balderen. He was one of her first suitors, although they started their ‘relationship’ as stalker and stalked. Balderen would always watch her with these big, gaping eyes. He would hide right outside the castle, always finding ways to find her alone. Anima’s father found it romantic, although Anima regarded it as rather creepy. She was about to report him to the Royal Guards, when he officially announced his interest in her. There wasn’t much she could do after that. As a double layer of annoyance, his status as the Heir of House Moth, one of the most powerful families in Mewni, had no small part in him being given her parent’s blessings.
Anima had immediately rebuffed him of course, and for a while, she thought he had finally given up on her and moved on to another young maiden to harass. Apparently not.
“Please, Princess, hear me out. I know we’ve been…. difficult in the past but, I’m a changed man! Please! I mean, even your parents like me!” He was shouting with passion, his gloved hands reaching out for her.
Anima sneered in disgust, ”Go away Baldy!” Balderen was sort of cute, but Anima was always a cold soul. He’d been a thorn in her sides for way too long.
Balderen looked at her for the first time in an angry, but smug expression, ”You belong with me, and you’ll learn to love me.”, He leaped towards her. Anima shrieked, and flung out her wand, ancient, powerful words flying out of her mouth.
Anima closed her eyes, waiting for Balderen to crash on top of her. But nothing happened. Suddenly, she could feel the force of thousands of interwoven strings dancing around her, and then suddenly being snuffed out. A loud, twisting sound could also be heard.
She opened her eyes, to the sight of the young man frozen mid air, his eyes bloodshot, and spit flying out of his mouth. Anima sighed in relief, but fear wasn’t far away, as Anima attempted to unfreeze him. It didn’t work.
What have I done? I’ve…. I’ve just frozen Balderen! How did I even do that….. Focus Anima! My parents will be furious!
Her shock distracted her from the transformation her wand had just gone through. Her once plain, boring wand had turned into a quirky thing, with an hourglass inside the crystal, and burning wings shuttering out of it. She always wanted to master the magic of time, she just didn't expect to do it like this. It took her a while to reconcile her thoughts.
Anima glanced back at Balderen. A thin layer of dust had collected on top of him.
Or…… Will they? What if they’re proud of me? Proud of my magic? What if they see that I’m not an amateur, and that I’m actually worth taking seriously?
Anima gazed up at the sky, and then back at Balderen. She hoisted him up on her shoulders, gritting her teeth in disgust. She would carry him to her chamber, and keep him there to rot. Anima wouldn’t leave him to starve however, if only because it would stink up her chamber. She would come to feed him food and pour water down his throat for the first few months, but she eventually forgot about him. Weeks later, a frantic Anima raced down to the chamber, but noticed that Balderen hadn’t starved. He looked the same as he had the day when he first froze.
When Balderen’s family discovered their heirling was missing, they freaked out, knowing he had gone out a few hours after noon. Anima caved, telling her family and his the truth. The Moths were furious, but couldn’t risk retaliation. They feared Anima, feared her magic. In fact, most of the maids and janitors of the castle spoke of Anima in hushed up voices, occasionally staring up to see that Anima was staring right back at them.
Because Anima's training was Glossaryck's responsibility, he offered his help to fix the young prince. His family didn't want anything to do with the Butterflies anymore, but unfortunately for them, he was the only one who could help him. His attempt to restore him was successful, but the relationship between their two families was beyond repairs.
Anima wouldn’t admit it, but she loved the feeling of Skywynne’s magic flowing through her hands. She never missed classes with Glossaryck now, always begging to practice more time magic.
However, this obsession would soon lead to tragedy, with the second incident of her life. One that would shake things up even more than the last one.
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Grace, and its twin sister, Gratitude
Two days before Thanksgiving, and 2 days after driving home from Saint Helena California, I went to our writers group in Paisley, called Easy Writers. After we shared various bits we’d written, we had our writing prompt. Gratitude. So, I wrote this.
“One cannot go straight to gratitude if there is a deep anger that hasn’t been recognized, bowed to respectfully, and aired. Let the wind fan the flames. Let the anger burn to ashes, quietly, but with all due crackles.
Brush the ashes away.
Then build a chair out of the gifts that were always there, though hidden. Even if there is only one gift, that you were conceived and born.
Sit in the chair you have built.
Forgive that which has burned and is no more.
Finally, rest in gratitude.
I just returned from a retreat in which I worked on a series of steps – from awareness to anger, then to compassion and forgiveness. If I’m asked to reflect on Gratitude, I think, I am still and always forgiven, and I am so very grateful for that. I am grateful I’ve survived this far. That there were positive legacies from my parents, alongside the deprivation.
That I can let go of anger, as well as patterns that I inherited but don’t have to perpetuate. (Like self-loathing. I really don’t need that pattern.)
And I also know that forgiveness requires actual labor to be born, complete with screams and tears.
And then the result is a new life called Grace, and her twin sister,
Gratitude.”
+++++++++++++
My spirit guide needs coffee.
I spent 7 days in Napa Valley at a nonprofit retreat space in White Sulphur Springs in Napa County. I’d signed up for The Hoffman Process, paid for by my sister who’d just been through the Process in August. Her husband did it in October. We three have been Hoffmanized.
What does that mean exactly? Well, at one point I was sitting uncomfortably on the floor with a yellow whiffle bat in my hands, beating a large pillow, and chanting to myself “There is enough. Enough God. Enough Love, Enough food, Enough money. I am enough. I will honor You by thriving.” I know that I was chanting this because I stopped and wrote it down while 36 other fellow humans were pounding away all around me. We were SUPPOSED to be beating out negative patterns that we’d either inherited during our childhoods from our parents (and surrogate parents if we had any), or that we’d adopted in strict opposition to parental behavior. In my case, I adopted habits of observing my depressed mother very closely: that power of observation of humans serves me very well as a therapist. But I also adopted her habit of self-loathing. So I ‘bashed’ my self-loathing. And a bunch of other stuff. (We made a list of 25 WORST patterns for each parent!) So, I was seeking something positive. That’s where the There is ENOUGH came in. I guess you could call it an affirmation. And it came spontaneously to me.
It was an emotionally challenging week; at times, exhausting. We were to consult our emotional selves, our Intellect selves, our Spiritual selves, and a Spirit Guide. My Spirit Guide was pretty quiet. He was basically monosyllabic. But they were good syllables: Trust. Hope. Pretty key for my week.
We did a lot of guided visualizations. I pictured my emotional self as about 8 years old, often with arms crossed and a pouty face. And a potty mouth. “This is bullshit” she’d say. Or, “this won’t work, I’m still unlovable.” Basically an attitude early in the week of “Everybody hates me, nobody likes me, guess I’ll go eat dirt.” In fact, I had to metaphorically unplug my powerful, well-calibrated Bullshit Detector early on, thank it for its faithful service, and put it a suitcase in the car. I figured, I trust my sister and she’s invested 5 grand to send me here. These people seem okay. I need help, so I better dig in and hope for the best. One woman expressed what some of us were thinking: when do we drink the Kool Aid? Nervous laughter. Turned out, we were in Napa County so it was more like a non-alcoholic Zinfindel, a liquid Hope. I think every one of us drank that, and left feeling as though we really could be happier, more heart- and spirit-centered, more service-oriented, less guarded and stuck.
We were reassured by a sign on the wall that said, You cannot fail the process.
Some of ‘the process’ felt like an emotional archaeological dig, using first jackhammers, and then delicate brushes. We remembered our childhoods, going back to scenes in memories. The purpose was to look for the roots, the taproots, of poisonous weeds and pull them out. And then get rid of them. We actually made posters of images and words that hold us back. Then in a ceremony, we threw them in a fireplace, and declared our new found intentions. Mine was: I am lovable, and I am beautiful. I still feel lovable. The beautiful is only in Valerie’s eyes, and not in my own, but that’s okay.
My feelings of sadness were dispelled pretty quickly at this place, and replaced by anxious hopefulness. As I survived more of the process, with the support of the teachers, my small group members, and some of the friends I was making, the anxiety went down. All of us were learning new tools to apply to the old behaviors. There were boxes of tissues in every space, and they were emptied and replaced. The assembled crew was 9 males, 28 females, ranging from a wide-eyed child of 24 to a grizzled Mr. Crankypants of 73 who’d be awarded a trophy of “most opened” if there were such a thing.
The Hoffman Process has been honed by 50 years of experimentation. There was a great deal of familiar (to me) psychological theory at work during the week. No therapy is 100% effective for everyone. But when we shared stories of what got us to this 7-day adventure, people mentioned how they had noticed that a “Hoffman Grad” was different when they got home: happier, calmer, nicer. One woman told a story of a store owner who’d served a particularly bitchy customer for years. One day, Miss Bitchy came in and was nice and courteous and patient. Finally, store owner told her she noticed how much happier she seemed. Miss Transformed said, The Hoffman Process.
Apparently Bonnie Raitt did it years ago, and John Denver. Other famous folks, too, including a beautiful actress Thandie Newton, perhaps best known for the movie, Crash.
The Hoffman Process even has a Spotify channel, a soundtrack to the week. The music was played strategically, and was highly effective. At one point it was used for fun. After another long evening of reflection, we were asked to lie on our backs with our heads toward the center of the circle. We lay there with our eyes closed until they said open. The ceiling was full of lights that looked like galaxies moving, and John Lennon’s Imagine played. We all sang along and most of us (except for maybe Mr. Most Opened) knew every word. Magical.
We had name tags with our childhood nicknames on it until a great reveal the evening before the final day. We were encouraged not to tell our professions. And no wifi or cell phone for 6 of the 7 days. Our ceremony of revelation was really something: a slow parade of people who told us what they do for a living, and what their real names are. Toad became Todd. Schmoot became Lauren. Teep became Stephen. I went from Janie to Jane. And I’m an addiction counselor and psychotherapist to a very rural and poor part of an Eastern Oregon county.
++++
On the last night I was in Saint Helena, we who were staying the night after our last workshop had to go forage for food in the town. About 15 of us morphed and reshuffled into groups based on available cars and culinary pickiness. We parked near one place, and I told my driver friend I was off to get cash at an ATM. I did that, and rejoined the biggest clump of people, noticing that my driver friend was not around, but figured maybe she went off with the other participant. Half of us marched in the cold behind someone who’d heard of a fun place. We got there, it was outdoors, although with heat lamps, and again half said we’ll stay, so we remaining 4 ordered elaborate hamburgers (mine was vegetarian). I’m mostly done with my burger and who should show up, but the driver and our friend. They’d been looking for me all this time! Once they located me, they said well okay then, we’re going to find someplace warmer. Off they went, and one of my Hoffie dinner friends says, Don’t feel guilty, Janie. ACK. I did feel guilty. I ran straight into one of my patterns: that no one notices me because I am not worth noticing. Finally, they gave up on finding any other place, joined us, and we shared our sweet potato fries. Everyone told me to nip the guilt in the bud. Like Maya Angelou once said, when you know better you do better. Now I know better. I am not invisible. I belong just as well and just as awkwardly as everyone else. The Process came to the fore right then in real time.
I talked to my sister about this, and although she is way more beautiful and smarter than I am, she has this same tendency; to assume that she is not important. She looked at that pattern during her Process, too. She reminded me how much we were on our own in our family, with dad providing for us by working two jobs and mother struggling with her mental health. We were not read to, or asked about our day. Oh poor us, I know: we were fed and sheltered. But we picked up somehow that we were to be dragged along and not make a fuss. I was surprised my sister has this pattern too. We are going to keep bashing it until we allow ourselves to count more, in some humble way, if we have something to contribute. Which I knew we both do.
For the record, The Hoffman Process is done in Napa Valley, Connecticut, Australia and England. They have scholarships. It makes a whole lot of sense to do the Process if you are feeling stuck in patterns of behavior or thoughts that are keeping you from being fully your best self, ready every day to heal the world. If you sign up, you will be surrounded by accomplished people who are for the most part much wealthier than you are (if you’re like me. Say, a social worker, and bad with money.) But the fact that we hid our professions equalized us, and we became a motley collection of seekers with an unbelievable amount of pain inside each of us.
I started the week scanning the crowd for who was fat like me, who would judge me for being plain. The richer the folk, the skinner and more conventionally attractive. As the week went on, I was embraced and recognized. For, guess what, yeah you guessed it, my sense of humor and my knitting. There were two queer people there whom I zoomed in on right quick. I had someone to talk to at dinner (when it wasn’t a silent dinner.) By the end of the week, I had gone to the hot tub in all my fleshiness, taught a beautiful young surfer how to knit, and hated myself a little less.
Here’s a poem from our workbook, which was filled with poems and quotations:
You are not broken;
Childhood suffering is not a mortal wound,
And it did not irrevocably shape your destiny.
You need not remove,
Destroy,
Or tear anything out of yourself in order
to build something new.
Your challenge is not to keep trying to repair what was damaged;
Your practice instead is to reawaken
what is already wise, strong,
And whole within you,
To cultivate those qualities of heart and spirit
That are available to you in this very moment.
By Wayne Muller, Legacy of the Heart: The Spiritual Advantages of a Painful Childhood.
That particular bit of writing goes against the Process philosophy that something unhealthy must indeed be torn ‘out of yourself in order to build something new.’ But it’s all metaphorical anyway. Here’s another one that I think we can all agree on:
The day the child realizes that all adults are imperfect,
He becomes an adolescent.
The day he forgives them,
He becomes an adult;
The day he forgives himself,
He becomes wise.
By Alden Nowlan
I am grateful to be a little wiser. And I will working on forgiving myself, and loving myself as best I can until those are stronger muscles of self care. Then perhaps I can be of more and better service in the world, and feel a deeper joy. Life is short. Feel joy first.
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I spy something beginning with P
One of our favourite things to do on our travels is look for wild animals, journeying through the Atherton Tablelands we had heard of a good place to spot wild platypus and we were eager to try our luck. After a night in our car at the hostel ‘On the Wallaby’ we listened to some good tips from the girl at reception and got up at sunrise to spot the elusive platypus. Treading quietly, we passed the viewing platform and followed a little path down the river, patiently waiting for any sign of movement or bubbles. A mere 10 minutes passed and we both saw it, the tiny creature swimming on the surface before elegantly duck diving to get food with his bill. We watched him for a good 20 minutes before he left, presumably going back into his den, we were both very excited by our luck as another couple came and didn’t manage to get a photo of these mysterious critters.
Curtain Fig Tree
Still buzzing with excitement we began to explore the Atherton Tablelands, taking a brief stop at Lake Eacham where a group of people had braved the icy waters for a swim, deciding to stay dry we headed to a giant tree called the Curtain Fig Tree so named after the strangling fig that suffocated a tree causing it to fall onto another. The host tree died and rotted away but the fig stayed alive, creating a curtain of roots dangling against the new host tree that will one day suffer a similar fate. It was absolutely huge and quite magical with the sunlight sparkling through the gaps in the curtain, you can imagine how alive this part of the forest must become when night falls.
Down the road was an ominous sounding place called ‘The Crater’, I had images of a vast empty bowl stretching for hundreds of metres like a meteorite strike but in reality it is an old eroded volcanic pipe so it is more of a vertical drop about 120 metres down, 70m of which is water. A family were there when we arrived and the children were dropping stones over the edge, the echo emanated an impressive thundering rumble for the size of these stones. With time being of the essence we swiftly made our way to our next stop Malanda Falls, which wasn’t what I expected either, the small cascading waterfall is landscaped into a public swimming pool and was Queensland heritage listed as it had been around as a tourist attraction for generations.
Malanda Falls
There are a couple of tracks where it is possible to see the threatened species of tree kangaroo, but I had heard that you could see them at the Nerada farm so we tried our luck there instead.
Wild Tree Kangaroo
The Nerada tea farm is the biggest distributor of tea in Australia, after having a look around and enjoying some delicious cake we went to search for their resident tree kangaroos, the kind lady informed us that a mother with her baby were around and sometimes the dad. We were super lucky and spotted all three, the young one was so funny and such an explorer although it almost fell at one point as a a gust of wind took it by surprise! I could have watched them all afternoon as they were so sweet but the clock still ticked and we journeyed on.
Milla Milla Falls
Breaking away from the coast the Atherton Tablelands are known for their waterfalls, Milla Milla Falls is famously known as the set for a Herbal Essences advert and although we took lots of photos I didn’t jump in for the cliché hair flick because at the time I thought it was Josephine Falls! Oh well, I still loved the waterfall and even managed to venture over the slippy rocks to get behind it which was fun.
We finished our action packed day at ‘Paronella Park’ an incredible feat of human determination even at the disbelief of the locals. Your ticket to the park allows you on all the tours as well as a free nights camp, free printable photo, fish/terrapin food and a 2 year park pass should you ever come back. The history is long but I will try to give a brief summary of the important parts.
José Paronella came to Australia from Spain in 1913 to make a living but ended up very rich so he went home and married his wife Margarita, honeymooning back in Australia, they found and bought a huge plot of land with a waterfall too. He originated as just a simple baker but had dreams of creating and building this huge park fuelled by hydro electric power, he became known as the local crazy guy for his dreams. Not for long though as in 1935 the park was officially opened bringing all they promised and more, a theatre, ballroom, museum, tea gardens, swimming pool, tennis courts, kids playground and heaps of gardens, a Disneyland for the time. He had electricity before anybody else in North Queensland so of course it was an incredible tourist and local attraction that lit up the area for miles. The park has endured so many natural disasters, mostly floods and cyclones, that its incredible how much of it still stands today. After 1942 when José died the park changed hands multiple times over the years and the efforts needed to keep the park alive died out so it became a ruin. The current owners of the park Mark and Judy Evans bought the park in 1993 and through their tireless efforts along with the help of Josés’ daughter Teresa they managed to put the park back on the map and retell some of its incredible stories.
Refreshment Rooms at Night
We arrived just in time for the night tour which was honestly magical, I didn’t know what to expect, before coming I had just heard that it was an abandoned castle taken back by nature. The guide passionately described the history of the park to us as she gave us the grand tour, I was in awe of everything and couldn’t believe I hadn’t heard of this place before. The finale of the tour culminated in a beautiful light display of the main ‘Refreshment Rooms’, before we met the current owner Mark who was great and very enthusiastic, I thought it was so touching that he makes the effort to come in everyday to tell people how much he believes in the park and how much he wants to bring it back to life.
Waterfall
After the tours finished Greg and I went back into the park in the dark for our own adventure, we tried to take some night photos of the castle but had a few problems without a tripod. Truth be told it was exceptionally eerie when alone in the dark so we didn’t stay long. Instead we awoke before sunrise to get some more shots without any tourists in our photos before joining the morning tour and making the most of our ticket.
Refreshment Rooms
Josephine Falls
Our last stop before Cairns was Josephine Falls (the waterfall I mistook for the herbal essences advert) it was so beautiful but the boardwalk and gate prevents you from going up too far. They continue down and cascade over rocks that can be used as a slide but we lost track of the time while chatting with another tourist so we had to skip a dip and get to Cairns.
Originally, our plans were to continue travelling around but the pressure of selling our car started to impact our mood and I didn’t feel like I could fully appreciate my surroundings as I couldn’t stop worrying. In the end, we spent an extra few days sorting the car and sold it before our 3 day trip to explore the Great Barrier Reef!
When boarding the Prodive boat butterflies filled my tummy as I was so excited to go scuba diving again, it was going to be an intensely busy few days. The boat was a lot bigger than our Whitsundays trimaran and it felt like luxury after living out of our car and hostels! During the journey to the reef we had the usual safety briefings about being on a boat as well as safety in the water and a guideline of our itinerary for the 3 days. We were surprised to hear that most of the dives would be self-guided, I was pretty nervous as we have always been with a local dive master, but all my fears were put at ease after our first dive.
View of the reef from the boat
Jumping in the water, geared up and raring to go we descended into Milln reef, with Greg navigating we were on our own to explore one of the seven natural wonders of the world. I had heard from a few people that it wasn’t what they expected and it was disappointing but we definitely weren’t, on our first dive alone we were greeted by a 2m Grey Reef shark! After being informed that all we would see (shark wise) was little white tip reef sharks we were surprised to say the least! We were often surrounded by many other colourful fish such as parrotfish, bicolour angelfish, butterflyfish and little humbugs, it was like being in paradise I was loving every moment. We were also lucky enough to see a couple hawksbill turtles!
Ready for a dive!
Although we had a few communication problems to begin with, a lot of shrugging was involved, the experience of being solo divers gave us a lot more confidence and I couldn’t wait to dive back in. With 11 dives total I needn’t give the low down on every dive but I’ll tell you some of the highlights of the trip.
The night dives were interesting because although it’s harder to see fish their behaviour is so different, these red bass would follow us like puppies and use our torchlight to hunt, darting towards the shimmers of fish in your spotlight. There are lots of crabs and shrimp out at night and the coral glistens with their eyes, Greg managed to spot a huge one hiding in coral, but my favourite sighting was definitely a moray eel.
On one of our early morning dives we saw a big grouper having his mouth cleaned by a little fish which really made us chuckle as we had just cleaned our teeth as well. The best morning dive was on the last day when we saw a school of 15 bumphead parrotfish all sleeping together it was so strange to see them all just floating like that.
Of course everyone loves seeing turtles, so when we took photos with one I was surprised at how wrong my depth perception was, I felt sure I was in touching distance of it but in the photos I’m so far away!
Along with seeing a fair few sharks I was happy to spot puffers (my favourite) and some other cool fish like sweet lips, a little yellow juvenile box fish, trumpetfish and cornetfish. I was happy to see the coral was not bleached like I thought it could be. It was good to carry on building my knowledge of fish, I always enjoy learning more about what I can see and they even had fish ID cards I could take with me! We met some great people on board, ate delicious food and we were even treated to some whales jumping out of the water and waving us goodbye as we left, one of my favourite adventures along the East Coast. I can’t wait to edit the footage into a video to show you all!
Our last adventure for the East Coast was with a wonderful American couple Wendi and Will who we met on our scuba trip. We hired a car and drove up to the Daintree rainforest and Cape Tribulation north of Cairns, something we thought we would have to miss out on after selling our car.
Balancing Rocks
First stop was a cute little beach that had been overrun with towers of balancing rocks, some were unbelievably precarious and others just astounding in height. I couldn’t believe how many stacks there were, after a photo shoot we drove onwards to Rex Lookout, where we showed Will and Wendi the drone in action.
Unfortunately in all the excitement and chatter we left Wills camera behind once we got back we luckily spotted a note from a kind hearted tourist who had picked it up and Will collected it that evening.
We rushed to the Daintree river where we had a cruise booked with Bruce Belcher to finally spot some wild crocodiles, I couldn’t wait! Bruce himself hosted our tour, he gave a friendly and informative talk and his dog came along for the ride too, it wasn’t long before we spotted our first wild croc! It is scary how well camouflaged they can be, Bruce taught us about ways of spotting them in the water and how to spot the mudslides they make when sliding into the river.
One of the croc’s
Papuan Frogmouths
While we pottered along the waterways, Bruce received some intel on the radio of 2 very camouflaged rare birds just down the river and we rushed down to hunt for them. We were told to look out for them about half way up the tree, having no clue what else to really look for, Greg spots them! Papuan frogmouths, they looked like stumps of a tree from a first glance and it wasn’t until one moved that you could see, and even then they looked almost lizard like, so cool! Throughout the trip we spotted 4 crocs, all female and between 2-3m long! Afterwards, we grabbed some lunch up the road and had our first taste of crocodile meat near this giant sculpture of a cod, the meat wasn’t as weird as I was expecting.
We continued north to Myall Beach in Cape Tribulation, there was a little boardwalk through the rainforest that led to the beach which was very beautiful and we chatted about how all the flora and fauna appears so aggressive and wants to kill you! The beach made for stunning photos as the dramatic rainforest crawls onto the white sand that’s spotted with bubbler crabs.
The lovely Will and Wendi
Cooling off with some delicious, local, homemade ice cream we stopped at a couple more lookouts on our way back to Cairns. We were so happy to have spent our last fun filled day on the east coast with new friends, especially as we thought we weren’t going to be able too.
The East Coast was truly unforgettable, I feel so lucky to have been able to experience it in our car meeting some wonderful people along the way, our travels weren’t over yet as we boarded the plane to Perth I thought of what lay in store over the next couple of weeks!
Thanks again for reading all!
Animal Encounters One of our favourite things to do on our travels is look for wild animals, journeying through the Atherton Tablelands we had heard of a good place to spot wild platypus and we were eager to try our luck.
#adventure#adventurous#animals#Atherton tablelands#aussie#Australia#backpackers#beach#birds#blog#cairns#castle#couple#crocodile#crocodile cruise#cruise#diving#encounters#fauna#fish#frogmouth#fun#great barrier reef#happiness#history#jose paronella#journey#kangaroo#love#paronella park
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1. selfie-I’ll post one later! :)
2. what would you name your future kids?--For girls my favorites are Rosie, Lucy, Alice, Chloe, Cadence, Penelope, Olivia, Hazel, Opal, and Willow. For boys my favorites are Edward, Phillip, Oliver, Forrest, August, Emmerson, and Noah. :)
3. do you miss anyone? Yes. My great grandparents (they’re still alive, but just live far away), some friends I haven’t seen in a while, and my old elementary/middle school teacher.
4. what are you looking forward to? I’m looking forward to a mini weekend vacation I’m going on with my family next week. :)
5. is there anyone who can always make you smile? My mom, for sure. :)
6. is it hard for you to get over someone? OMG, YES. I’ve never dated anybody, but I had a “break-up” with one of my best friends last year, and I still think about her pretty much every day.
7. what was your life like last year? I was in 8th grade. I was best friends with a girl named Ava. I was very passionate about violin (I still am, but am focused on some other things now).
8. have you ever cried because you were so annoyed? Yes! Lots of times.
9. who did you last see in person? My mom. She just told me she was going to the store like three seconds ago. :)
10. are you good at hiding your feelings? I like to think I am, but I’m really not. My mom says you can always tell by my face what I’m feeling. :)
11. are you listening to music right now? Nope. :)
12. what is something you want right now? I want to be able to write something good right now, but I just am having trouble getting started.
13. how do you feel right now? Pretty neutral. Not especially happy or depressed. Just kinda relaxed (well, as relaxed as I can get). :)
14. when was the last time someone of the opposite sex hugged you? Does my dad count? If so, I think sometime yesterday. If my dad doesn’t count, I literally have no idea.
15. personality description--I’m intelligent, ambitious, creative, passionate, thoughtful, open-minded, anxious, obsessive, and introverted. I try really hard to do well in school and usually get good grades. I play violin and love music. I love to read and write, but lately have been having trouble finding time to do them. I love my family and spending time with them is very important to me. I love hanging out with friends, but I can only socialize for so long before I need to go home. I’m definitely a bit of a homebody (my mom has to force me to leave the house and do something sometimes). I have OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) and low-grade depression. I am, at the moment, trying to figure out whether I’m lesbian or bisexual (whatever the case, I know I’m attracted to girls, but am having a hard time figuring out if I’m at all interested in boys). I get SUPER obsessed with characters from books and movies and get SO passionate about my OTP’s, it can literally be scary. I accept people for who they are, and if you ever want to ask me anything or just talk, I’m open to it. :)
16. have you ever wanted to tell someone something but you didn’t? YES. Lots of times.
17. opinion on insecurities. I think insecurities are just a part of life. Everybody has them, just in different aspects of their lives. There are people who are SUPER smart, but think they’re ugly, and then there’s people who seem SO confident and outgoing and love their bodies, but secretly think they’re stupid. There are many variations of insecurities, and literally everybody has to deal with them, no matter how big or small they are.
18. do you miss how things were a year ago? A little bit, but not really. I miss my old teacher and orchestra conductor, but overall, I think my life is better this year. I have more friends, I like school better, and I’m more in tune with who I am and what I need.
19. have you ever been to New York? NO. :(
20. what is your favourite song at the moment? Answering what my favorite song is has always been hard for me, so I usually just say who my favorite artist or band is. At the moment, it’s probably Green Day, Linkin Park, or Evanescence.
21. age and birthday? I’m 15 years old, and my birthday is October 30, 2001.
22. description of crush---Oh...here’s a fun one! :D It’s a girl. She goes to my high school. She has long brown hair, green eyes, and nicely tanned skin. :)
23. fear(s)-- Failure (in school, in my relationships with my family and friends, and just in life in general), death (especially of somebody I love), elevators (I know...LOL), separation from my family (going to sleepaway camp is a nightmare for me...), and lots of other silly things I can’t even think of right now.
24. height--5′7″
25. role model--MY MOM, my big sister, Anna Kendrick, Brittany Snow, Bernie Sanders, Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, Annabeth Chase from Percy Jackson/Heroes of Olympus, the list goes on and on...:)
26. idol(s)--I know there is a difference between “role model” and “idol”, but I’m having a hard time differentiating them in the context of my life.
27. things i hate--Bullying, prejudice, rude people (people who interrupt when you speak, especially), inequality, books and movies that take FOREVER to come out, books, movies, and shows that END (okay, I know they all do eventually but it HURTS, it really does).
28. i’ll love you if…You respect me and others, you treat me and others with kindness, you have compassion for others and the world around you, you are polite, and you help others in need (and me when I need help).
29. favourite film(s)--Pitch Perfect 1&2 (and 3 SOON...), Stepbrothers, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, Fried Green Tomatoes, Good Will Hunting, Titanic, Matilda, Frozen, Beauty & The Beast, Mulan, Brave, Lilo & Stitch, The Lion King, Up, Ramona & Beezus, Elf, okay...I should probably stop. :)
30. favourite tv show(s)--The Office, Parks & Recreation, The Middle, Portlandia, Seinfeld, Malcolm In The Middle, H2O: Just Add Water (literally my childhood), My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, Suite Life of Zack & Cody and Suite Life on Deck, Good Luck Charlie, SpongeBob Squarepants, Adventure Time, okay...again, I must stop. :)
31. 3 random facts--About me or in general? I’m assuming about me. 1. I have brown hair. 2. I have brown eyes. 3. I have braces.
32. are your friends mainly girls or guys? Mainly girls, but I have had best friends who are boys. :)
33. something you want to learn--I want to learn how to play the piano and the guitar, and how to sing better (which I doubt will happen...). I also want to learn how to act better. :)
34. most embarrassing moment--One time in third grade I went to the bathroom and, not knowing that I had toilet paper trailing out of my pants behind me, I went back to class. Literally nobody told me until I noticed a few minutes later. Also, one time this year (in ninth grade), I farted in class during a test and some people looked at me weird. I’m not sure which is more embarrassing, so I just put both. :)
35. favourite subject--Since starting high school, I’ve learned to love SO many subjects better than I did before. My favorite subject used to be English, but my English teacher (more like professor, my mom says, since he is SO FREAKING INTENSE), kind of ruined it for me. Now I’d say my favorite subjects are math, German, history, and music.:)
36. 3 dreams you want to fulfill? 1. I want to be a professional violinist. 2. I want to publish a book. 3. I want to explore as much of the world as I can and help as many people around the world as I can.
37. favourite actor/actress--Some of my favorite actors are Leonardo DiCaprio, Will Ferrell, Zac Efron, and Johnny Depp (don’t hate me, I know he abused his wife and that is HORRIBLE, but he is just so freaking talented. He’s one of my favorite actors, but definitely not one of my favorite people. Let’s just put it that way). :) Some of my favorite actresses are Anna Kendrick, Brittany Snow, Amy Poehler, Tina Fey, Aubrey Plaza, and Kate Winslet.
38. favourite comedian(s)--Ellen DeGeneres, Amy Poehler and Tina Fey (literally one of the best duos ever), Will Ferrell, and Steve Carrel. :)
39. favourite sport(s)--Basketball, swimming, gymnastics, and dance. I’m terrible at sports, but these are the ones I’ve tried and at least slightly enjoyed. :)
40. favourite memory--I don’t know if I can name just one favorite memory. Some of my favorite memories are road trips with my family, visiting my great grandparents at their farm in Wisconsin, visiting my best friend who lives REALLY far away in Illinois (I live in California, just to give you guys perceptive about how FAR it really is), celebrating Christmas Eve and Day with my family, camping with my family and friends, reading with my little sister, early-morning coffee runs with my big sister, fun car trips with my mom, late-night chats with my grand,a, and really just any moment spent with my family and/or friends. :)
41. relationship status--Single, but really wanting to get out there (but realistically way too shy).
42. favourite book(s)--Percy Jackson and Heroes of Olympus Series, Harry Potter Series, Ender’s Game, Practical Magic, A Year of Wonders, A Year Without Autumn, Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children, The Secret Life of Bees, To Kill A Mockingbird, and the list goes on. :)
43. favourite song ever--”Don’t You Forget About Me” by Simple Minds
44. age you get mistaken for--I think I look about my age, but I am pretty tall, so maybe I’d get mistaken for 16 or 17 at the oldest.
45. how you found out about your idol--I’ll just say my biggest idol is Anna Kendrick, and I found out about her through Pitch Perfect. :)
46. what my last text message says--My last text message is from my big sister, and it says “Sorry, I just got off work.”
47. turn ons--Kindness, compassion, politeness, helpfulness, acceptance of others. :)
48. turn offs--Rudeness, unkindness, thoughtlessness, coldness, and prejudice.
49. where i want to be right now--Wisconsin, Illinois, San Diego, or maybe just my big sister’s house would be good.
50. favourite picture of your idol--Im a little bit confused about this one. Should I post a picture of Anna Kendrick or describe one? I’m just going to skip it...
51. starsign--My basic sun sign is Scorpio. For those of you who are more into astrology and know the terminology, I’m a Scorpio Sun, Aries Moon, Gemini Ascendant, and Libra Venus. :)
52. something i’m talented at--I’m good at playing the violin. :)
53. 5 things that make me happy--Music, family, good books, movies, and shows (though that’s technically three, I’m counting it as one), nature, and good food. :)
54. something thats worrying me at the moment--My grades, my anxiety and depression, my future (which I’m probably too young to be worrying about), my crush (who I am literally obsessed with), and just my general identity.
55. tumblr friends--I don’t really have any Tumblr friends yet. :)
56. favourite food(s)--Pizza, chicken, mashed potatoes, watermelon, broccoli, curry, yogurt, oranges, the list goes on and on. :)
57. favourite animal(s)--Lions, tigers, dolphins, panda bears, sloths, and dogs. :)
58. description of my best friend--I have a few best friends. One of my best friends is named Margaret. She is 14 years old and in 8th grade. We met and have been really close since kindergarten. She likes reading, acting, and playing Sims (which we love to play together). She loves cats. Her star sign is a Taurus. :) Another one of my best friends is named Roan. She is 14 years old and in 9th grade. We met at a violin recital a couple years ago, but didn’t get close until we started at the same high school last fall. We have lots of the same classes together. She likes reading, writing, playing violin, and playing video games. Her star sign is a Leo. Another one of my best friends is named Ione. She is 15 years and in 10th grade. Our moms (my mom Molly and her mom Heather) are best friends and have been really close since they were kids, but they slowly lost contact when my mom moved as a teenager. When I was 8 years old, they reconnected through Facebook. On our trip to Wisconsin, we stopped by their house, and I got to meet Ione. We instantly clicked and have been best friends ever since. We spend a few days to a week (depending on our schedules) at their house every summer, and stay in contact through texts and letters during the school year. She loves reading, writing, playing violin and piano, basketball, and volleyball. Her star sign is a Libra. :)
59. why i joined tumblr--I joined Tumblr because I think it’s a cool place to express yourself, see posts related to your interests, and connect with people who have similar interests. I also think the concept and setup of Tumblr is a lot more creative and original than any other social media site. Also, since none of my family members or (sometimes very conservative) extended family members are on Tumblr, I can be free to share my very liberal views without getting pounded. I can also be free to share my lesbian/bisexual identity, as well as my passionate support of the LGTBQ community, without getting disowned by any homophobic extended family members. :)
60. ask me anything you want--I’m not sure what it means by this, but yes, I’m open to people asking me anything they want on here. Obviously nothing TOO personal, but I’m pretty open about most things, so don’t worry. :)
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