#seriously though Alexander deserves the world | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

gaygryffindorgal · 2 years

Photo

► basics;

Full Name: Juno Alexander Creed, formerly known as George Alexander Smith

Birthday: March 2nd, 1965 (Pisces)

Pronouns: he/him

Sexual Orientation: gay

Hogwarts House: Gryffindor

Blood Status: Muggleborn

Nationality: English

► magical info;

Wand: Larch, 12 inches, phoenix feather core, rigid

Larch: Strong, durable and warm in colour, larch has long been valued as an attractive and powerful wand wood. Its reputation for instilling courage and confidence in the user has ensured that demand has always outstripped supply. This much sought-after wand is, however, hard to please in the matter of ideal owners, and trickier to handle than many imagine. I find that it always creates wands of hidden talents and unexpected effects, which likewise describes the master who deserves it. It is often the case that the witch or wizard who belongs to the larch wand may never realise the full extent of their considerable talents until paired with it, but that they will then make an exceptional match.

Patronus: Black mare

This animal is typical for people who show strong motivation in life and usually represents passion, determination, and an appetite for freedom. Black is a relatively uncommon coat color, so this could represent a part of your personality that you'd rather keep hidden or just reveal to your personal circle. This specific color could also refer to instinctual urges of your mind for the unknown and mysterious.

Patronus Memory: The first time he ever knowingly performed a spell with his brand new wand.

Boggart: Voldemort

Specialized/Favourite Spells: The patronus charm, the boggart-banishing charm

Class Proficiencies:

Astronomy: A

Charms: O

DADA: O

Herbology: A

History of Magic: O

Potions: A

Transfiguration: O

Electives:

Care of Magical Creatures: E

Muggle Studies: O

► background;

Place of Birth: Bristol, UK

Home: London, UK

Pre-Hogwarts:

Juno grew up in Bristol with his carpenter father and stage actor mother. The family didn’t have a lot of money but they got by. His childhood was average, although he had many instances when strange things happened to him, like things catching fire spontaneously, or people he didn’t like tripping and falling seemingly without reason. He sometimes got into trouble at school and his parents thought of him as a bit of a difficult child. Juno was always studious and hardworking though, and didn’t like to cause trouble on purpose.

The First Wizarding War:

When Juno started school in 1976, the war was already ongoing. He was out of his depth, thrust into a new world that didn’t fully accept him, so upon entering Hogwarts, he came up with a new name. He chose Juno based on his favourite detective novels and Creed from a TV show he used to watch and created a new identity. He kept his middle name Alexander because it was the name of his maternal grandfather and because he was obsessed with Alexander The Great as a child. The first war was difficult for him, although he was relatively safe at Hogwarts due to Dumbledore’s influence.He chose to become an auror to stop people like Voldemort from gaining power ever again.

The Second Wizarding War:

By the time the second war rolled around, Juno was an accomplished auror. He was appalled by the Ministry’s denial of Voldemort’s return and tried to convince them to take it seriously, with repercussions to his career. Once things got really bad, he had to leave the Ministry and go into hiding, working for the Order of Phoenix from the shadows, as not to endanger his loved ones.

► physical;

Faceclaim: Hayden Christensen

Eye Color: Blue

Hair Color: Light brown

Height: 6ft or 182.9 cm

Tattoos, Birthmarks, Scars, etc:

► relatives;

Father: Roland Smith

A muggle carpenter who prefers his life simple and straight-forward. He is not happy about his son being a wizard because he has to incorporate new ideas into his narrow world-view but he does care for his son and tries to accept his “strangeness”. He is a man of few words and rarely talks about such unmanly things as emotions or feelings or what have you. He does remain in his son’s life until his death, with Juno occasionally visiting his parents in Bristol.

Mother: Emma Smith (née Alcrey)

Emma is an actress at a local theater. She’s friendly and talkative, often living with her head in the clouds as a polar opposite to her husband’s feet-firmly-on-the-ground outlook. Emma is thrilled that her son is a wizard because she always wanted there to be a bit of magic in the real world.

► relationships;

Allegiances: Gryffindor house, Ministry of Magic (Magical Law-Enforcement), The Order of Phoenix

OC Friends: (hmu if you want your OCs to be friends with Juno)

Valentin and Ursula Hartford @potionboy3

Dorm mates: (hmu if you want your mc to be Juno’s dorm mate! School years: 1976-1982)

Love Interest: Valentin Hartford by @potionboy3

Juno and Valentin went to school at the same time. Valentin didn't remember Juno from the school years, being so "busy" and popular himself. They didn't get along at all at first when paired up for their job, being very different from each other but after working together in many cases, they became good friends and later boyfriends. Juno also became a big part on Harker’s life and eventually helped Valentin raising him. Things got dark and complicated during the Second Wizarding war for the two. Juno being a muggleborn got him in trouble and he had to leave the Ministry. Valentin stayed behind to try and work on the situation from the inside, pretending to be fine with how things were going, trying to protect his family.

Step-son: Harker Hartford

Harker is the son of Valentin and step-son of Juno. Juno helps raise him from a young age and becomes a part of his family. He’s also the parent Harker would rather come to with bad grades or after getting into trouble.

Pets: A crup called Hope

Enemies: Voldemort, Deatheaters, dark wizards and other sort of criminals

► personality;

Juno is curious, passionate, and has a strong sense of what’s right and wrong (in his opinion). He’s extroverted but some might describe him as a little bit strange, as he is from the muggle world and hasn’t done a very good job integrating into the wizarding society, even as an adult. It’s not that he doesn’t know how wizard culture works, it’s just that he’s vehemently of the opinion that the wizards are stuck in their ways and could learn a great deal from muggles. While he likes to plan things, he can also be rash and stubborn and stuck in his ways.

► misc;

Hobbies: Wizard Chess, History

Extracurriculars: Chess club

Quidditch: n/a

Favourite Subject: Defense Against Dark Art, History, Muggle Studies

Favourite professor: Minerva McGonagall

Least favourite professor: n/a

Professions: Auror

template (x)

#hp golden era #golden era oc #harry potter oc #juno creed #*mine #golden era #*profiles #ok it's done it's fine i'll edit it later i've been working on this for way too long

10 notes · View notes

thefoxandthetypewriter · 3 years

Text

three chapters into if we were villains and heres my thoughts so far

1. Alexander owns my heart

2. James and Oliver just need to get married already

3. will someone PLEASE help me arrange a production of Macbeth on halloween so I can cover myself in blood and run through the woods barefoot

4. I hate Richard with a passion

5. Wren and Filippa don't get enough credit

6. Did I mention that Alexander is my favorite?

7. I want to go to this school so bad

8. That whole voicing-your-insecurities thing was brilliant and creepy and I loved it

9. I can feel the Terrible Thing™ coming and I'm fucking terrified I love these guys to much

10. the fact that I couldn't fit this down to exactly 7 points is driving me up the wall

#I'm sick and sleep deprived so this may make no sense #seriously though Alexander deserves the world #James and Oliver are close seconds #Richard can go fuck himself #if we were villains #iwwv #alexander vass #james farrow #oliver marks #filippa kosta #meredith dardenne #wren stirling #richard stirling #I was so close to writing richard papen and had to catch myself #anyway so far the book is brilliant and all that

125 notes · View notes

khaleesiofalicante · 2 years

Note

Hola, ¿cómo estás? How are things in your country? I think this is the first time I actually have time to relax and read in a long time (I usually just ignore my responsibilities)

Are You Fucking Asking Me to Send You Nudes?

Yes!

THE BEGINNING

Shinyun Jung to Magnus Bane:

Stop!!

He wonders if he should tell Alec.

Yes, please tell him!!

If you explain to him how you feel about your birthday he'll understand, just tell him, talk, communicate!

Petition to make Magnus the sexiest man alive forever!!!

I love this texting is so cute!!!

THIS IS A ONE TIME THING!

That's a lie!

For a moment I thought we were going to get sexy times 😔

“Stop saying penis,” Alec groans. “It’s such a weird word.”

It is a weir word

“I know. But I want to. I’m allowed to want things too, right?”

This is really sad 😭

He tries not to think of Camille.

Don't we all 😒

These two idiots keep sacrificing parts of themselves for the other and I just want to cry

“Baby,” he hears Alec say. “Look at me.”

This is so HOT 🔥 🥵

“God, baby,” Alec groans. “You look like a fucking model.”

He is 😎

Does Alec still has those pictures? I hope he does but I also think is a bad idea 🤔

He wants to be Alec’s one and only.

I have a mighty need for jealous Magnus 😈

THE MIDDLE

People Who Are NOT the Sexiest Man Alive + Magnus

Yes!!! Sexiest man alive!!!

You in Afghanistan, bitch

🤣🤣🤣

This chat is the greatest thing ever!!

Fuck Valentine! 🤬

Alec remembers how Magnus used to force himself to eat raisins because he doesn't like throwing food away.

Raisins are great, I said what I said 😎

And the polaroid photos.

He has them 😳😏

“Yes, sir,” Tian replies. “It’s Mr. Starkweather.”

Fuck that traitor... I don't know what you did but I don't trust you!!

Did you put the pictures back in the safe??

Of course he is defending Valentine, of course

Kick him out of the house Alec

"You are welcome to stay for dinner," Alec says and follows his son to the drawing room.

Noooo... we don’t break bread with traitors!!!

Noooooooooooo!!! Why Dani? Why? Nooooooo!!!

Nooooo!! Fuck Hodge

This terrible, this is a nightmare, I was so happy, why is this happening???

Tian sends him a message saying they are going through security footage to see who was behind this. Alec asks him to come to him immediately as soon as they know.

Are you kidding me?? They seriously don't know, IT WAS HODGE!!

That person on Twitter was right about one thing. Alec is going to fucking kill whoever did this.

I approve of this murder!!

“Magnus,” Alec tries, closing the door behind him. “We need to talk-”

Yes, please talk, please communicate

“Fuck Congress, Magnus!” Alec snaps. “I don’t give a shit. I want to be with you.”

Yeah, fuck everything, just move to an island and be happy together, I don't even want Alec to be president anymore, the world doesn't deserve the as first couple anyway

“I won’t be alone. Shinyun will be there.”

Fuck Shinyun

Is this the beginning of the end??

– Belial and Lilith – 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️ where can I watch??

Things are about to get worse I just know

“There has been an incident at the school.”

Not my babies!!

“Yes,” Tian replies. “Max got into a fight. The other kid has a broken arm.”

That boy 100% deserved it, I have no proves but I also have no doubts

Rafael looks guilty. “I didn’t know. I would have stopped-”

Aww Rafe... That's not your responsibility baby

Max my favorite asshole, can you not at this moment please!

He sounds so fucking tired. He sounds so fucking done.

I'm starting to get why he asked for a divorce, it wasn't about Alec, but all this drama is so overwhelming and is always about him and the kids

Alec wants to high-five him.

ALEXANDER LIGHTWOOD NOT NOW!!

“But I might spit on them though.”

Magnus doesn’t say it’s okay.

Because is not okay

“They were only for you.”

Ouch 😭😭 Dani this was not okay 😭😭

He cries all over again, on his own of course, when he finds out the photos were leaked by Hodge.

Fuck Hodge

This has been the most painful part in the entire fic so far 😭😭😭

THE END

Trudeau 🥰

“I’m proud of you, Max,” Alec tells his son during dinner. “You finished your internship with no incidents.”

That's my chaotic baby!!!

“Which is ironic considering he is sleeping with the senator’s daughter,” Max snickers.

They are soulmates leave them alone 🥰

He completes his nightly ritual of going through the Magnus Bane tag on Twitter.

Papi you need help! I do too!

“It’s Selena,” Jace whispers.

Oh no!! What happened??? I can't take more pain today!!

Now when Magnus is not okay, he makes sure to show it.

They press on the front doorbell and wait. Max is bouncing up and down on his feet lightly.

Oh Max... are you nervous about seeing David?

The black sphynx with ice blue eyes regards Alec carefully and lets out a low hiss. Alec is pretty sure this cat is from hell.

“You’re angry,” Max says.

Of course he is!!

Oh look at that they spoke to each other 😍 my ship is sailing 🥰

They never did find her though.

Let's find Brooklyn, I already love her!!

It hurts him to think of them as two sides and not one.

Besides, Hodge had left the country and Alec hadn’t been able to track him down ever since.

He is alive??????? Nooooo!!!

Theoretically at least.

Not for me, I'll kill him for real

It has become one of Alec’s least favorite words.

And mine

Red Fucking Herring.

We should make a list of cursed words

Alec immediately hates this plan.

I love this plan... it comes from Izzy THE QUEEN it'll be fine

Alec is almost considering it. But then Magnus decides to break his heart by saying, “Isabelle. I’m seeing someone.”

Fuck Shinyun

He stops listening when Magnus refers to him as “other people”.

Alec will be thinking about this kiss for the rest of his life.

Oh Alexander this is going to hurt so good

Izzy is grinning at Alec now. Alec is going to kill her later.

No, you won't!

Rafeeeee... you sweet child, why do you have to be so perfect???

“Right. Right,” Izzy says, looking a little disappointed. “This does make a lot of sense.”

Me too Izzy, me too!!

“We might not be married,” Magnus tells him. “But we are still family.”

Remarry!!!

I too would love to watch that morning show

This chapter was painful but amazing as always, thank you

❤❤❤❤

Istg you have such Alec energy (complimentary)

#loved this thank yoooooou #tlnd

9 notes · View notes

nordleuchten · 3 years

Text

La Fayette in Prison - Part 1 - Wesel

Wesel was the first prison that La Fayette was incarcerated in for an extended period of time. Wesel was, and still is today, a well known city in Germany (back than in Prussia) near the river Rhein. The fortress of Wesel housed the prison, the Zitadelle, and has been turned into a museum and can be visited. The achieve of the city is also housed within the former fortress. The Homepage of the museum cites La Fayette as one of the most famous inmates.

There are different account of how La Fayette and his fellow inmates were brought to Wesel. Some sources claim they drove in a carriage, but most state that they drove in an open cart “like common criminals”. This second method would be a huge affront because the social hierarchy of the day also applied to the system of jurisdiction. A farmer or labourer would be treated way different than a Marquis or Officer. Nevertheless, the cart as a mode of transportation can not be ruled out or said to be an exaggeration by some biographers because we know that the prisoners were transported from Wesel to their second prison in Magdeburg in a open cart – something that actually was greatly appreciated by the prisoners because they had previously been confined to their small and stuffy cells day in and day out. The group persumably also travelled by boat down the river Rhein in order to reach Wesel.

La Fayette, when he fled, was accompanied by a servant, Augustus, and a valet, Pontennier. One of these men appear to have stayed with him for the entire duration of his imprisonment whereas the other man left him after some time or better, was forced to left him. Many sources use the words “servant” and “valet” interchangeable, what makes it hard to say which one stayed and which one left. It seems though, as if Augustus was the one who remained with La Fayette.

Once the group of prisoners arrived in Wesel, La Fayette himself described their circumstances as follows:

“For three months the prisoners were strictly guarded and watched at Wezel, in prisons strongly barred , with double doors secured by locks and padlocks, cut off from all communication, and so completely separated from each other, that when Latour Maubourg, informed, through the indiscretion of one of his gaolers, that Lafayette was seriously ill, asked permission, as the dearest friend which that person had in the world, and one so nearly within reach of him, to receive his last sigh, the answer was, “that it could not be allowed.” The prisoners having complained of being thus cut off from all communication, even with their nearest relatives, a report to that effect was made to the government. Shortly after, the commandant and a notary presented themselves to Lafayette, and gave him a paper from the King of Prussia, inviting him, as the means of bettering his position, to give counsels against France. “The King of Prussia is very impertinent, ” was Lafayette's reply. Availing himself of a permission accorded to them of writing to the king's adjutant - general, Lafayette informed him “that he was far from denying the share he had taken in the revolutions of America and France; “and, speaking of the constitution which had been acknowledged by the powers now combined against it, he predicted, “that this hatred against liberty, with royalty or without it, would only serve to swell the number of republicans .”

There are other accounts from the time at Wesel but since we have La Fayette’s primary account, I will use the other accounts from later biographers only to supplement some details.

A few things to La Fayette’s account though. La Fayette refers to him being very ill – illness would go on to be a reoccurring theme, not only for La Fayette but also later for his family and the other prisoners. There was a want of fresh air, exercise, psychological comfort, items for personal hygiene and the food was apparently also bad. He recovered eventually but his health remained somewhat frail long after he was finally released from prison. Furthermore there is this line where La Fayette describes how he had "the means of bettering his position". He does not elaborate too much on this subject but what happened was that the Prussian King acknowledged that his treatment of La Fayette was not good nor according of his status. He offered La Fayette, until recently a French General with a field command, to treat him better if he would only pass the plans of the French armies (and everything else that he would happen to know) on to the Prussian authorities. La Fayette refused most emphatically.

What also strikes me, is just how scarred the Prussians were, that La Fayette (or any of the other prisoners for that matter) might escape. During his tribunal in Luxemburg, shortly after his arrest and prior to his confinement in Wesel, it was stated that "(...) Lafayette's existence was incompatible with the safety of the governments of Europe". The Prussians and Austrians seem to have been generally afraid of his possible influence.

The Governor of the prison in Wesel was in 1792 Lieutenant-General Alexander Friedrich von Woldeck, a high-ranking Prussian officer. The guards in the prison had the strict instruction not to communicate with the prisoners under any circumstance and to not answer them any of the question they might have.

So, now La Fayette and the others were all secured and under lock and key in Prussia. Splendid. But what to do with them in the future. Here is an account from Samuel Lorenz Kanpp’s book Memoirs of General Lafayette: Embracing Details of his Public and Private Life:

"At Wesel, the populace were permitted to insult them in the most savage manner. Here they were put in irons, placed in separate cells in the castle, deprived of all intercourse with each other, and told that the King intended to have them hanged as wretches who deserved no favour.”

Before we move on to the part were La Fayette should be hanged, let me say a few words about him being put in irons. Being put in irons was, as we all surely can imagine, a horrible, dehumanizing and cruel practice. We know that La Fayette was during some parts of his imprisonment held in irons, particularly during his time in Olmütz. He himself never mentions being held in irons in Wesel but it could very well have happened without him mentioning it.

Even if the Prussian King and the Austrian Emperor would have loved to see La Fayette hang (and I do not doubt that, the Duke of Saxe Tschen also threatened to execute La Fayette via hanging), that was never really a political option for them. Instead they ultimately planned to return La Fayette to the French King after the Revolution had ended. Here is what William Short, the American Minister Resident to the Netherlands, wrote to Thomas Jefferson on September 28, 1792:

“The Marquis de la fayette and his three companions who were members of the assembly, remain in the Chateau de Wesel. I cannot doubt from what the Imperial Minister here has told me that it is the intention, should the [French] King be restored, to deliver them up to him. Whether they would do it to his successor I cannot say, but suppose it infinitely probable if he should be one of his brothers. Nobody can question in that case that it would be adding to the violation of the most sacred right (which has been already committed with respect to these prisoners) the infamy of delivering up to be assassinated by his enemies an helpless individual, in the person of the Marquis de la fayette. (...) I have in private and inofficial conversations with the Imperial minister here endeavoured to find out what degree of importance his court attached to the Marquis’s imprisonment and it has been by no means encouraging for his friends—as he said it depended altogether (as far as he in his private capacity could judge) on the importance which the King of France could be supposed to attach to having the Marquis in his possession when restored to his throne. He told me however he would write to Vienna and procure more precise information which he would communicate to me. There was of course nothing official either on one side or the other.”

Now, what is so special about this letter? This letter illustrate three things. First, the diplomatic endeavours of the Prussian and Austrian court. Second, the actions undertaken by the American ambassadors and consuls in Europe in order to help La Fayette and his family. Last but nor least, the letter illustrate that the Americans where aware of La Fayette’s present whereabouts. As time went by and La Fayette was brought from one prison to the next, his friends often lost track of him for some time. They did not know where he was and even if he was still alive or if he had died in prison or even had been executed.

Such was La Fayette's stay in Wesel. He stayed there for a relatively short time, arriving on September 19, 1792 and being transferred to Magdeburg on December 22, 1792. But before we go further into detail concerning his time in Magdeburg, one last general thing. La Fayette and his fellow officers were captured by Austrian forces. Why then was he first imprisoned by the Prussians? Prussia and Austria were in the past constantly at each others throats. They hated each other – but during the French Revolution Prussia and Austria started working together against a common enemy. The Austrians captured La Fayette but the nearest and best guarded prison was the Prussian fortress in Wesel and with that the court in Vienna handed La Fayette over to the Prussians and the Prussians agreed to take him in.

54 notes · View notes

jackandjackiekennedylover · 2 years

Text

A Halloween Party

October 31st, 2021

Y/N Måddie Englund is American Actress. She is the daughter of Robert Englund that plays the fictional serial killer Freddy Krueger in the Nightmare on Elm Street.

Born : August 12th, 1990 ( age 31 years ) , Glendale, CA

Height : 5’10”

Spouse : Bill Skarsgård (m. 2016)

Children : 1

Please be careful with this bc the knifes are sharp ,” Your father Robert said as he hands you Freddy's glove.

I will dad and thank you for letting me borrow the glove , “ You said with a smile.

Scared some adults for me ,” Robert said with a grin.

Oh I will ,” You said.

Are you ready yet ,” Bill called.

Yeah I am ,” You said .

Bill was dressed up as Pennywise .

How do I look ,” You said with a grin as you moved the claw at him.

Scary and beautiful,” Bill said as he smirked at you .

Thank you. You look creepy and scary as pennywise the dancing clown , “ You said with a smile as you check out his outfit .

You know that everyone is going to think that glove is the real one or ask how you make it look real,” Bill said with a smirk.

Oh, I will show them that it's the real one by scaring the heck out of them,” You said with a dark grin.

( The Party )

I'm happy that you two made it , “ Alexander said with a smile.

He was dressed as a vampire .

Who else is here now ,” You asked?

Jared Padalecki is here dressed as hellraiser and a lot more people,” Alexander said.

Did Jensen come ,” You asked ?

The one that has a crush on you even though you are married now,” Bill said with a smirk.

Yeah. He is the one that had try to break me and you up bc he was jealous of you and still jealous now ,” You told him with a grin.

Oh he is still jealous of Bill bc he had asked me if Bill was coming to the party ,” Alexander told you.

Seriously,” You said.

Yeah. Don't worry about the idiot ,” Alexander said with a smile.

I think that he was always jealous of me bc I was dating you and Jensen had wanted you. It had made stuff worse for him when you had married me back 2016. If you were him. Imagine hearing this over and over. Actress Y/N Englund married Swedish Actor Bill Skarsgård. Or Y/N Englund and Bill Skarsgård finally tied the knot ,” Bill said with a dark smirk.

I remember on our honeymoon. Jared had called me that night and told me that Jensen had seen it and wasn't too happy about it, “ You said with a smile.

Remember when you two told the world that you two were expecting your first child together and Jensen didn't like it. Or imagine seeing this everywhere on the internet if you were him. Bill Skarsgård is going to be a daddy,” Alexander said with a grin.

I remember that like it was yesterday. Oh I should get pregnant again and make it worst for Jensen ,” You said with a smile.

You should get her pregnant again and he might throw a little fit when he sees this. Bill Skarsgård is going to be a daddy again ,” Alexander said with a smirk.

Yeah maybe I will. Do you want another baby ,” Bill asked with a smile.

Yeah I do. It's has been three years and our child just turn three and so yes I want to be pregnant again ,” You said with a smile.

If you do get pregnant. You two need to announce it around December,” Alexander said .

That is a fantastic idea and It's going to crush him even more ,” You said with a smirk.

You are so evil in a good way ,” Bill said as he smiled at you .

You know that you loved it ,” You said with a smile.

Oh yes I do,” Bill said as he grinned at you .

You two deserve each other,” Alexander mumbled .

#bill skarsgard imagine #bill skarsgard x reader #bill skarsgard

13 notes · View notes

hamiltonimagines · 3 years

Text

It’s Called Payback Sweetheart

Pairing: Lin x Reader

Request: “Thank you so much for your stories! I love them so much! Can I request another Lin one? Maybe involving jealousy? It doesn’t matter who is jealous. They can both be jealous even. Maybe Lin makes the reader jealous and she’s hurt, so she purposefully makes him jealous? Thanks!!” - @heatherdawn82

Word Count: 1.5k

I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.

Lin was having a party with the entire Hamilton cast. Lin and I were roommates and best friends so he had invited me too.

Lin and I had been best friends for a while and everyone always said we acted like a married couple. We were super affectionate and always hugging each other. I enjoyed it because I had noticed myself crushing on Lin recently. I thought that maybe Lin had feelings for me too, since we were always so touchy. It felt like our own special thing.

But, right across the room, Lin was sitting on the couch, with a girl named Chelsea sitting in his lap. They were talking and she would obnoxiously laugh at every joke he made. It was like she was bragging to the world about how Lin was flirting with her.

He told me that she was a friend from high school. He said she had moved to Europe and happened to be back in New York for a weekend, so he invited her.

All I knew was that she was a super pretty girl and Lin was being super affectionate toward her. I felt betrayed, I thought that it was our thing. I knew it made me beyond petty, but I just felt so hurt.

I figured that I would try and get him alone, and maybe try to spend some time with him, one on one. I mean, he was my best friend and I liked to hang out with him.

I walked over to them and tried to ignore the anger I felt boiling in the pit of my stomach. “Hey Lin” I said, smiling at him. “Oh hey Y/N, you’ve met Chelsea, right?” He asked me. “Oh..uh no I haven’t” I said. “Well, Y/N this is Chelsea, Chelsea this is Y/N, my roommate” he said, introducing us.

“Yeah, it’s uh...nice to meet you” she said, looking me up and down. “Yeah, you too” I said, putting on a fake smile. “So, Lin. I was wondering if I could talk to you about something real quick?” I said, changing the subject. “Oh, I’m sorry. I’m just getting caught up with Chelsea. We haven’t hung out in years. But I’ll find you later tonight, yeah?” He asked me.

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “Oh yeah...uh okay” I said, hurt. “Bye” Chelsea said, with a mocking tone.

I walked away and was fighting back tears. First of all, she had been so rude to me and Lin just sat there and watched it happened. He was supposed to be my best friend, and best friends stand up for each other. Also, he had called me his roommate, which I guess is true. But he couldn’t of introduced me as his best friend? Roommate just sounded so distant, it didn’t imply a connection. However, best friend implied that we had a really strong bond.

I walked into the kitchen, where I knew no one was hanging out. I walked in and leaned against the counter. I felt absolutely pathetic. Here I was, hiding during a party, because a guy was making me jealous. I was better than this. I figured I would take this into my own hands.

I walked out of the kitchen and found Anthony. Lin had introduced us once, and we followed each other on Instagram.

“Hey Anthony” I said, smiling. “Oh what’s up Y/N? How’ve you been?” He asked me. “Well, I’ve been better. I need your help with something though, can you do me a favor?” I asked him. “Of course, what do you need?” He asked, kindly.

“So I may be feeling a tad bit jealous and petty. But I can’t stand to even look at Lin and that girl he’s with, I need to do something about it” I told him. “Oooo somebody’s got feelings for Lin. So you want to make him jealous, right?” He asked me, clarifying.

“Yeah, do you think you can help me?” I asked him. “Of course, I got you” he said, smiling.

Anthony grabbed my hand and pulled me over to a couch, that was on the opposite side of where Lin and Chelsea were. We both sat down next to each other, with barely any room between us. Then Anthony put his arm around my shoulder.

“Is he looking yet?” Anthony asked me, since he was turned to face me. “No, not yet” I told him. “Okay, guess we’ll have to get his attention then” Anthony said, mischievously. “Wait what are you-“ I started to ask, before I got interrupted. Anthony’s hand went to stomach and tickled me. I squirmed and pushed his hand away. “Anthony, stop it” I squealed.

“Did that get his attention?” He asked, smirking. “Yeah, he’s looking. Nice one Ramos” I complimented him. “Laugh like I just told you a really funny joke” he instructed me. I started to giggle and also started twirling my hair in my fingers.

I glanced over at Lin, and he was staring. Chelsea was talking to him, but he couldn’t even focus on her.

“He’s really watching now, pretend to whisper something in my ear” I told him, smiling. Anthony leaned in close to me and whispered “You know you owe me for this, right?”. I giggled to myself, which I figured went along with this fake narrative.

“Oh hold on, he’s coming over here” I whispered to Anthony, while trying to not look up at Lin. “So I walked right up to him and I told him that now he knew not to mess with me or my friends again” Anthony said, completely rambling and pretending like he had been telling me a story.

“So I see you’ve met Anthony” Lin said, and he looked furious. “Yeah, you introduced us. You didn’t tell me how funny he was though. He’s absolutely hilarious” I said, laying my hand on Anthony’s chest and slightly leaning in toward him.

“Oh really?” Lin said, while gritting his teeth. “Have you ever noticed how pretty she is, Lin?” Anthony asked, brushing a piece of my hair behind my ear. “Oh stop” I said, smirking to myself.

“Y/N, I need to talk to you” Lin said, grabbing my wrist and pulling me into the kitchen. “What the hell is the matter with you?” Lin asked me, slightly raising his voice. “What are you talking about? You’re the one who just dragged me in here, out of nowhere” I argued back.

“I’m talking about you and Anthony” Lin said, like it was the most obvious thing ever. “What about us?” I asked him, annoyed. “Why were you flirting with him?” Lin asked me, he sounded really angry.

“I’m sorry, are you my dad? You don’t get to tell me who to flirt with. I’m an adult and I can make my own decisions. Seriously, what is up with you?” I asked him. “I know you, this isn’t how you flirt. I’ve seen you flirt and it’s not like this. This is you trying to rub it in my face. You’re trying to get a reaction out of me, and you’re trying to make me angry. I don’t know what the hell I did to deserve it though” Lin said, angrily.

“Are you kidding? You can sit with Little Ms.Perfect in your lap all night and completely ignore your best friend, but I’m not allowed to flirt with a guy?” I asked him. “So this is about Chelsea? You’re jealous, aren’t you?” Lin asked.

“This isn’t just about being jealous. This is about you ignoring me so you can hang out with her. This is about her being rude to me and you not even standing up for me” I corrected him. “I told you that I would talk to you later” Lin told me. “Lin, you’ve been sitting with her for three hours. You haven’t talked to a single other person at this party” I told him.

“Well she’s visiting from England and I haven’t seen her in ages” Lin argued. “That doesn’t mean that you can make me feel ignored and unimportant” I told him. “You know that wasn’t my goal” he explained.

I couldn’t believe that he truly thought he did nothing wrong.

“You sat there as she looked me up and down and mocked me and you did nothing. You just sat there” I said, with hurt in my voice. “Y/N, I really didn’t notice that she did that. I would never want you to be hurt” he said, sincerely.

“You say one thing, but you’re actions say something completely different” I said, rolling my eyes.

Then Lin cupped my face suddenly, and leaned in to kiss me. I was shocked, it definitely wasn’t what I was expecting in the middle of an argument.

It truly felt like Lin was pouring all of his love into the kiss. I could feel the weight off my shoulders of finally having all my pent up emotions out in the open.

“I’m sorry that I got so upset about Anthony, I just got so jealous seeing you with him. Why would you do that to me? You knew it would make me jealous” Lin asked me, after we pulled away. “It’s called payback sweetheart” I said, smirking.

taglist: @someinsanefangirl @outcasted-aloy @geekycatlover @fanfic-addict-98 @romanoffs-heart @multifandomwriterx @andreasworlsboring101 @criminallyhamilton @imatyoursurrvicesurr @irlydontknoanymore @sayweird99 @nyxie75 @elizard-hamilton @twix-baby @trost-town @notebookgirl30 @teenag1jealousy @royalreadery @elizasfaith @kmsmedine @brunadesuu @grandpa-agustd @athenawinchesterx @labellapeaky @rthoney @nerd-88 @theatrenerd86 @riiyy @ahhahahhh @sleepylunarwolf @khaylaloves @kissthehomiesgoodnight @alexander-hamilhoe

Let me know if you want to be added to my taglist for all my imagines!!

113 notes · View notes

max1461 · 3 years

Text

Just read Scott Alexander’s post on “conflict theorists” vs. “mistake theorists” and, hmm. I have several thoughts. First, to summarize the concept for anyone who hasn’t seen it before: Alexander links to a reddit post by user u/no_bear_so_low, who originated the idea, saying

There is a way of carving up politics in which there are two basic political meta-theories, that is to say theories about why different political ideologies and political conflict exist. The first theory is that political disagreements exist because politics is complex and people make mistakes, if we all understood the evidence better, we’d agree on a great deal more. We’ll call this the mistake theory of politics. For the mistake theorist, politics is not a zero-sum game, but a matter of growing the pie so there is more for everyone. The second theory is that political disagreements reflect differences in interests which are largely irreconcilable. We’ll call this the conflict theory of politics. According to the conflict theory of politics, politics is full of zero-sum games.

u/no_bear_so_low claims that both the far left and far right are more amenable to conflict theory than liberals are, who lean more towards mistake theory. Alexander seems to agree, though in his own post he’s speaking mainly about Marxists in particular. He summarizes the concept as follows:

To massively oversimplify:

Mistake theorists treat politics as science, engineering, or medicine. The State is diseased. We’re all doctors, standing around arguing over the best diagnosis and cure. Some of us have good ideas, others have bad ideas that wouldn’t help, or that would cause too many side effects.

Conflict theorists treat politics as war. Different blocs with different interests are forever fighting to determine whether the State exists to enrich the Elites or to help the People.

In addition, Alexander subdivides the categories further into “hard” and “soft” versions:

Consider a further distinction between easy and hard mistake theorists. Easy mistake theorists think that all our problems come from very stupid people making very simple mistakes; dumb people deny the evidence about global warming; smart people don’t. Hard mistake theorists think that the questions involved are really complicated and require more evidence than we’ve been able to collect so far [...]

Maybe there’s a further distinction between easy and hard conflict theorists. Easy conflict theorists think that all our problems come from cartoon-villain caricatures wanting very evil things; bad people want to kill brown people and steal their oil, good people want world peace and tolerance. Hard conflict theorists think that our problems come from clashes between differing but comprehensible worldviews.

So what do I think about all this?

Well, it seems to me that this framework is (a) a fairly reasonable descriptive dichotomy, in the sense that, yes, a lot of people do genuinely seem to fall into one of these two camps, and (b) a horrible dichotomy on which to base any prescriptions about political meta-theory, in that these are both awful (and obviously wrong) ways to think about the world. Now, Alexander doesn’t explicitly give any such prescriptions, but he does describe SCC as “hard mistake theorist central”, and generally speaks of mistake theory in approving terms, while speaking of conflict theory in disapproving ones. I think this is bad.

At a base level, my problem with both these “theories” is that they’re, in some sense, just too optimistic.

I agree, for example, with the hard mistake theorist sentiment that the world is full of extremely challenging technical problems, that these problems can be the source of real human suffering, and that the only way to address these problems is through data collection and empirical analysis and hard technical work. And I agree that this will often produce unintuitive conclusions, that run against people’s gut sense of what the right policy might look like. I agree that the state is diseased. I do not agree that “[w]e’re all doctors, standing around arguing over the best diagnosis and cure.” People, it turns out, often do have genuinely different and irreconcilable values, and genuinely do envision different ideal worlds. In addition to that fairly mundane observation, there genuinely are a lot of bad actors, who are just in the game for their own benefit. The world is full of grifters, schemers, and petty (or not so petty) tyrants; on an empirical level that’s just not something you can deny.

On the other hand, I agree with the easy conflict theorist sentiment that, e.g., “bad people want to kill brown people and steal their oil.” There’s plenty of pretty immediate proof of that to be found if you look into the history of colonialism¹, or the slave trade, or US foreign election interference in the twentieth century. Actually, just so I’m not pissing anybody off by only mentioning “western” examples, I’ll include the Khmer Rouge and the Holodomor and comfort women and uh, you get the picture. For god’s sake, the Nazis really existed, and yeah, they really believed all that Nazi shit. In retrospect they may seem like implausibly evil cartoon villains, but in fact they were real flesh and blood humans, just like the rest of us. You think that was just a one-off?

And on a much more mundane note, sometimes (actually, very very often), ordinary people just have incompatible ethical axioms. Sometimes people have genuinely different values, and there are no rational means to sort out which value-set to choose. I suspect this is at least part of the reason for the rationalist community’s skew towards mistake theorizers, in that their favored intellectual tool has more-or-less nothing to offer when it comes to selecting your values (=ethical axioms, =terminal goals, etc). I mean, of course rationality is good for diagnosing contradictions in your value set, but it can’t tell you how to resolve those contradictions. That’s the domain of intuition, empathy, and aesthetics, were data cannot light your way.

However, I do not agree with the conflict theorists’ underlying sentiment that if “the good people” were just in charge, everything would be better. After all, there are all those pesky technical problems with unintuitive solutions getting in the way, requiring all kinds of expertise and thorough empirical study and uh, plenty of them might not even be solvable.² This is a huge deal. It’s incredibly easy to have the best of intentions and still make horrible mistakes by virtue of just... happening to have the facts wrong. Not through malice, or self-interest, or even some nicely-explainable sociological bias like white fragility or whatever. Just because problems are hard, and sometime you will fail to solve them. Even when people’s lives and livelihoods are at stake.

Here’s a handy latex-formatted table for your comprehending pleasure:

lol, we live there.

So this all sounds a bit pessimistic and, well, I suppose it is. I think we have a responsibility to acknowledge the gravity of our situation. We could, conceivably, live in a world that was structured according to either the conflict theorist’s vision or the mistake theorist’s vision, but we don’t. We live in a much scarier world, and if we don’t face that terrifying reality head-on, we’re not going to be able to overcome it.

Now, in general, I’d say I spend a lot of my internet-argument-energy-allowance trying to persuade [what I perceive to be] overly conflict-theorizing leftists in the direction of a greater recognition of the genuine technical difficulty of the problems we face. It's probably worth making a separate post about why I think a “denial of unintuitive solutions” is so common on the left, but I’ll just mention here that I think it relates to what I once jokingly called the “Humanistic gaze”. That is, the bias to view everything quite narrowly through the lens of the humanities, and to view all problems as fundamentally sociological in nature. When the world is constructed entirely by humans and human social relations, there’s a level at which nothing can be unintuitive. After all, an intersubjective world must ultimately be grounded in subjective experience, and subjective experience is literally made of intuition.

I usually don’t spend much time pursuing the dual activity (trying to argue liberals out of [what I perceive to be] an overly mistake-theorizing perspective). This is largely because, well, I think the optimistic assumption that mistake theorists make —that most people have basically compatible goals, and that relatively few people are working out of abject self-interest or hatred or whatever— is so obviously false that it doesn’t warrant as much genuine critique as it warrants responding with memes about US war crimes. The principal of charity is best extended to ideas, not people or institutions. You can take the neocons’ arguments seriously without extending charity to the neocons as agents.

The post concludes with Alexander writing

But overall I’m less sure of myself than before and think this deserves more treatment as a hard case that needs to be argued in more specific situations. Certainly “everyone in government is already a good person, and just has to be convinced of the right facts” is looking less plausible these days.

And uh, yeah. Indeed.

So, in conclusion: is politics medicine, or is it war? No, it’s politics.

There are disagreements, and conflicts of interest, and coalition building, and policy-wonkery, and logistics. There is, as with anything involving the state, the implicit threat of violence. (That’s where the state’s power comes from, remember? Whether it’s their power to tax, or their power to enforce individual property rights to begin with. Their power to regulate or build infrastructure or legally construct corporate personhood or whatever. There’s more than a bit of game theory involved, sure, but the rules of the game are set through the armory.) Every scholarly technocrat with double-blind peer reviewed policy suggestions still ultimately just decides who the guns get pointed at, if at several layers of abstraction. Every righteous people’s vanguard is still bound by the mathematics of production and the dynamics of a chaotic world. There are no easy solution, not conceptually easy nor practically easy. And unless we recognize that on a very deep level, we have no chance of fixing anything.

[1] I’d quote my go-to example here, of the truly ghastly stories relayed to linguist R. M. Dixon by the Dyirbal people of Australia about their subjugation at the hands of white settlers, but unfortunately I don’t have his book with me at the moment. Also this post would require several additional trigger warnings.

[2] I mean, after all, there are only countably many Turing machines, and the set of all languages with finitely many symbols has cardinality 2^(aleph_0)!

#society #for posterity

35 notes · View notes

angstsfordays · 4 years

Text

I Miss You, I Love You

Summary: Ever since Bucky woke up from his cryogenic sleep in Wakanda, you decided to let him have space to recover despite your eagerness to see him. While your relationship is undefined thus far, you tried to find ways to let him know he is being loved.

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader

Warnings: Fluff all around. A hangry and aggressive goat.

Word count: 5k-ish

Notes: Hi, I’m back with a Bucky story! This one has nothing to do with the universe I created for my other Bucky/ Steve AU stories. If you haven’t checked it out, I written A Lot Like Love not long ago. Check out my masterlist too! 😘

Leave a like, reblog or comment to let me know what you think! 💖

———————————————————————

It had been almost five months after the civil war between Steve Rogers and Tony Stark. You were one of the enhanced individuals that came out to help Steve but mainly, Bucky to clear his name.

Before the fight, you had kept your powers on the down low even while you were an agent with SHIELD. You still remember when you were kidnapped by HYDRA, specifically Brock Rumlow, a fellow agent that you thought was your ally and friend.

Brock and you had trained in the academy together and were even partners for awhile before Fury pulled you out to support Phil Coulson. Brock always had his suspicions about you when you had to managed to survive life-threatening situations.

Once, you managed to save him from the impact of an explosion only a few feet away. Both of you would not have survived it but the two of you survived unscathed. When Brock tried to search for your information on SHIELD database, it was mysteriously kept confidential and only accessible by Director Fury.

Brock relayed this to HYDRA who seemed to keep an eye on you. During the fall of SHIELD, you had been brought to their base forcefully and that’s when you met Bucky for the first time.

You recognised him immediately but you were forced to kept silence by Alexander Pierce who was hell bent on making sure Bucky had no recollection of who he was. You would have been silenced on the spot when you called out his name but Pierce kept you alive for your value as an enhanced.

Long story short, Bucky came back for you when HYDRA was momentarily defeated by Steve Rogers and his group. After pulling Steve out of the water, Bucky killed everyone remaining in the base and freed you. The both of you made plans to escape the country together.

In the two years he tried to hide from the world and regain understanding of himself, you were there by his side. The two of you developed a close bond that was hard to be placed into a specific category.

You were the only one he trusted and he was the one you wanted to protect. For those two years, the two of you enjoyed each other’s company and fell into domestic bliss. At first, you two lived off the savings that you had while living a simple life in Romania

Soon, he tried to earn a living by doing laborious work while you worked at a local café. The two of you were happy and even though nothing special had happened between the two of you, you were still content.

It’s hard to say if you two were even toeing the lines of relationship but you knew you were at least friends.

Then one day, news of the UN bombing happened. Bucky was on his day off and went to the market to buy groceries for the two of you. He then discovered himself in deep waters when he was framed for a crime he did not commit.

You were still working at the café at the moment it happened. You took your apron off and dashed out of the café when you saw the news on TV. However, by the time you reached, you had arrived at a bust-up home.

Grabbing your passport, you hopped on the next available flight to Germany. Your heart was racing wildly when you saw that Bucky escaped from CIA custody and you wondered where he could have gone.

Once you landed, you received a call on your burner phone and heaved a sigh of relief when you realised Bucky was on the other line. He told you of his plans and asked you to stay low.

“I can’t drag you into this, Y/N. Not after all you have done for me.” He reasoned, almost pleading as he really didn’t want to involve you into his mess. You uprooted your whole life back home and abandoned it so that you could help him.

Bucky didn’t want to take anything more from you. You deserved to live a carefree life without constantly worrying about watching your back all the time.

“I don’t want to leave you, Bucky.” Your voice came out shaking at his request. Several times had he brought up the idea of leaving so that you can return to your previous life, but you pleaded for him to stay.

The two of you had gone through so much together, how could he easily thought of leaving you?

Your ears perked up when you heard the faint sound of an announcement that sounded similar to where you were at. You then realised he was here at the airport.

The airport staff asked for mass evacuation and you made to escape from the crowd. As you hid in a spot trying to figure your next move, you then heard the sound of crashing and explosion. You let your feet bring you to the runway where the fight happened.

Your appearance was one of the many surprises when you came between Bucky and someone who you came to know as the Black Panther. Bucky was shocked to see you while you chided him if he really thought you would abandon him.

Bucky allowed himself to have a feel-good moment amidst the chaos as he thought of how lucky he was to have you by his side. You persuaded Bucky to leave you and continue his plans of going after Zemo. He begrudgingly obliged when he saw how you had fiercely fought to protect him.

Along with the rest, you were brought into a maximum centre in the middle of the ocean for your war crimes. Added that you are an unregistered enhanced individual that popped up from nowhere and aided in the fugitive escape of Steve and Bucky, you were considered a criminal too.

Everything seemed like it was going downhill until Steve Rogers broke you out and had everyone brought to Wakanda to seek refuge. You barely reunited with Bucky when he told you that he wants to go into cryogenic sleep.

He didn’t believe he was safe until that was a solution to the brainwashing that HYDRA had subjected him to. Bucky regretted the decision the moment he saw the tears welling up in your eyes.

Even with only one arm left, he made sure to hold you tight in his arms to comfort you.

“Wait for me, Y/N. I want to come back as better man.” He spoke while he rested his chin on the crook of your neck.

“You’re already the best man to me, Bucky.”

Your words made Bucky’s heart soar and swore you were the best thing that could have happened to him after 70 years of pain and suffering. As he pulled away to take in your face for one last look, he then leaned in to place a gentle kiss on your forehead.

After you got over your emotions, you reassured him that you will be fine. You wanted the best for him even if it means he could not be with you for awhile. In the two years you spent together, Bucky had confided in you that he was most afraid of not being in control of himself ever again. HYDRA robbed him of his own person and Zemo took advantage of that too.

You wanted Bucky to have the chance to be free again so you let him go. As he walked over to the machine, he threw you one last longing look and a nod to Steve before he stepped in.

Once the machine closed around him and reality sunk in, you let yourself fall to the ground and let out a deep exhale. Steve Rogers had learnt about you as Bucky talked about you while they were on the jet to Siberia.

Steve was grateful that his pal had found someone like you. Steve bent down to your level and patted your back to soothe your pain. You returned a smile to Steve in kindred spirit, knowing that you weren’t the only one who was affected.

Before he decided to leave, Steve had asked you to stay in Wakanda as he wished that you do not join his group on the run as fugitives. He did not say this to you but he also hoped that you will be here once Bucky wakes up too.

You gladly accepted his request and soon found yourself enjoying Wakandan hospitality.

———————————————————————

As a guest, King T’Challa welcomed you like a friend and you had grown to learn more about the beautiful country and its culture.

You had alternated your time in between hanging out with Shuri in the labs and teaching in the villages. You had the honour to become an assistant teacher and grown to love your newfound life.

Shuri had been giving you updates on her progress with Bucky and you had made several trips to see him while he was in a state of sleep. However, it only served to pain you and those trips had lessened once you found yourself busy with your students.

When Shuri finally informed you she had managed to fix Bucky, you were thrilled. She told you of her plans to move him out of the lab and into one of the villages to recuperate for his own mental well-being.

She asked if you wanted to visit him but you suddenly found yourself hesitant to do so. You thought that perhaps, it is best for Bucky to have time to himself. After all, he deserved it after all he has been through.

Maybe, you should keep out of his way for now.

“I seriously don’t understand, why would you avoid him if you like him?” Shuri shook her head when she heard your explanation.

“Boyfriends are so complicated, I am never getting one.” She added on while fiddling with her tech.

“He’s not my boyfriend! He’s just a friend.” The pitch in your voice increased in response to her statement. Bucky was not your boyfriend at all, although you wished-

Shuri stopped what she was doing and looked at you like she did not believe a word you had said. “Sure and I am not a genius then.” Rolling her eyes, Shuri shook her head in disbelief before going back to her screen.

As you made to leave, Shuri stopped you to tell you that Bucky was currently residing in a village twenty minutes from you. He was given his own hut and asked to live a simple life of farming.

You couldn’t have imagine Bucky and farming together. Gathering your courage, you made your way to the village.

You were surprised to see two of your students, learning that this was where they lived. Trying to be discreet, you thought of a way to ask for directions to Bucky’s hut without making it obvious.

As one of your students stared at you fumbling to come up with right words, one of them took you by the hand and dragged you to follow him. The other one fell in steps behind you and soon, a single hut located on a low-lying field came into view.

There was a large space next to the hut dedicated for a fencing space for what seemed like farm animals. You spotted a few chickens, several goats and recognised another one of students from your class sitting casually on a branch of a big tree.

Your brows when you realised there was no one else until you felt your student patting your arm for your attention. You could feel your breath hitched when someone came into your line of sight from the corner of the hut.

Eyes blinking fast and heart racing wildly, you realised who it was. Taking long heavy strides, you could him leaning his weight on his right side as carried a heavy sack.

At a moment’s glance, you could see that his hair had grown longer and his beard had grown thicker. He had a brown scarf tied around his shoulder to his neck to cover where his metal arm once was.

He looks slightly tired but he no longer bore a shadow over his face. Even while standing far away, you could tell he looked happy and your heart warmed at the sight of a smile forming on his face when a small goat came over to him.

The goat was prodding at the sack that Bucky was carrying as if to tell him he was hungry and Bucky chuckled at how impatient the goat was acting like a small child.

How could he even have looked more beautiful than he already was?

“White Wolf! White Wolf!” Your two students started exclaiming as they ran down to where he was. During your time in Wakanda, you managed to pick up a bit of their language. You wondered why were they calling him that?

Your students gathered in front of him excitedly and Bucky’s face formed a confused look at their sudden enthusiasm. When you saw one of your students pointed in your direction, you panicked and started backing up.

You quickly turned your back and made a run for it, hoping Bucky have not spotted you. You were not ready to see him yet. What would you even say? How would you even react?

Quickly making you way back to your own hut, you threw yourself on your bed and groaned with frustration. You felt like an absolute idiot.

The next school day when you entered class, your students asked why you left early and you came up with an excuse that something came up at home.

Kids being kids, they didn’t think much of it and continued talking to you. As you listened, you learnt that Bucky had moved to their village for nearly two months and described him as a quiet but kind man who lets them hang out at his place whenever they want.

Given the two of you are the only ‘foreigners’ that they knew, they had hoped to introduce you two. You chuckled at their sweet intentions, not knowing the two of you already knew each other.

After school session was over, you had made your way to the nearby marketplace and spotted something that caught your eyes.

As a guest, you were not required to pay but you insisted on paying the merchant with the allowance you were provided by the royal family. Grabbing the paper bag, you made your way back to the village where Bucky lived.

Your students hopped in joy when they saw you coming and ran up to you. Giving them hugs, you said your hellos. You then asked them if they could do something for you.

The eight-year olds nodded enthusiastically and you took out some plums you had gotten. You gave them one each and then shook the bag with the remaining ones before speaking.

“White Wolf.” You recalled their nickname for Bucky and tried to enunciate their native language to the best of your abilities. Before they sprinted off, you held their shoulders and brought a finger to your lips, making a shush sound.

You tried to explain to them that you did not want Bucky to know the plums came from you. Nodding their heads, you took it as sign as they understood before letting them go.

You hoped that it would have made him happy. When you meet your students again, they told you of how Bucky was happy with the plums. They claimed he finished one in two bites and mimicked how large he opened his mouth like a wolf.

You laughed at their dramatics and felt pleased with yourself. You then asked them if they knew Bucky goes to the market and they shook their heads. They then explain he does farm work most of the time and he cooks food that their mums or neighbours send him.

You processed the information and you came up with a plan. Requesting for an oven from Shuri (to which she threw a strange look your way upon the request), you decided to make and send Bucky some baked goods with the aid of your trusted little helpers.

It was your way of showing your care for him and you hoped he finds comfort in them. You always made sure to have your students come up with excuses to pass them to him, explaining that they learnt this during school and wanted to share with him some.

Yes, that should sound believable enough to not rouse suspicions.

You had your students sending food over twice a week for three weeks now. They helped you on the account that they adored you as their teacher and that they could help themselves to your treats.

You always looked forward to the next day when they would tell you how Bucky reacted and grinned foolishly when they told you Bucky always received your gifts with a smile.

You were simply content with this fact.

———————————————————————

Bucky Barnes had ever felt more at peace in a long time. He was eternally grateful to Princess Shuri who had ingeniously came up with a way to deprogram the brainwashing that HYDRA had ingrained in him.

When he first woke up, he was met with the wide smiles of Shuri and T’Challa who eagerly awaited his recovery. Following a few more tests, he was then cleared medically and T’Challa discussed with him on his next plans.

With Shuri and several Wakandan medical professionals’ input, they decided Bucky should have some time to unwind in a quieter village. He was accepting of the idea. When Shuri caught Bucky often looking around for something, she asked what’s wrong.

He asked for you. Shuri told him that what you were doing and he felt pleased at what you had been doing. He was glad you were safe and happy. When Bucky asked if you were coming to visit, Shuri had said that you wished Bucky would have some time to himself first.

Hearing Shuri said that, Bucky’s disappointed face mirror that of a wounded puppy. Bucky didn’t press on further. He knew you wanted the best for him and took it with an open-mind.

Shuri was bewildered at the entire situation. Aren’t the two of you suppose to run back into each other’s arms in some grand romantic gesture? Why were the two for you even acting this way?

Love was confusing and she was glad her love was only for science as it would not make her act all weird like the two of you.

When Bucky slowly settled into his new life, he asked for some farming supplies so that he focus his energy and attention into something productive.

His day revolved around the mundane tasks of tending of his animals, chopping wood for the local villagers and growing his own food produce. However, Bucky could say that he was finally happy.

Although there was something that would make him happier…. Bucky sometimes wondered what you were doing from time to time.

He could imagine you with your infectious smiles and energy, you were doing good with children. You deserved to be happy while he believed he shouldn’t. Although gradually lesser, Bucky sometimes still woke up to the horrors of his past actions. Bucky felt that he was not deserving of you.

As Bucky tried to distract himself of such thoughts, the sounds of children’s laughter and feet running made him looked up. In their excitement, the village children’s words came out as gibberish and he was having a hard time to understand what they were saying.

When one of them stretched their hand to point towards the slope, he saw a wave of dress fabric whisk by. Bucky was still trying to pick up the language and learn what the children were trying to say.

All he heard was a single word that he had yet to learnt.

“Teacher! Teacher!” The children kept on repeating while jumping up and down.

The next following day, Bucky was trying to brush off a nosy goat (who was the brunt of its litter) that kept on bothering as he went on to do his chores. He had named the goat Steve after it reminded him of his long-time pal.

His ears perked up when he heard the nickname that the village children had gave him. White Wolf, he learned from Shuri.

All of them had a fruit in one of their hands while one had carried an extra paper bag. The child pushed it towards his hands and he opened it up to see- plums.

The fruits brought him back to his memory of that very day. While it was a sad memory, he got over it and thanked the children. Bucky went on to ask where they got it from.

The children looked at him for a moment before shrugging their shoulders and running off to play. He brushed it off as a small kind gesture and took a big bite into the fruit. He didn’t know how a simple plum could have made his day.

The following days and weeks, the children returned back to his home bearing gifts. He was surprised to see familiar food from home such as bread, brownie and cookies.

His curiosity was peaked as these foods were not normally part of Wakanda’s culture and he wondered where the children had gotten it from. He tried to question the children the first few times and they had only returned sheepish grins before going off to play.

After the third time, one of the children said school and Bucky grew an even more confused. They got this from school? Or did they learn how to make this from school? There was something familiar about the baked goods that he received and he wondered when he had seen them.

———————————————————————

You woke up this morning with another plan. You had decided to bake bread loaves and have them delivered to Bucky. You were in your kitchens since this morning and the bread had been ready well after lunch time.

Wrapping them up, you made your way to the village and greeted several people you knew. One of your students immediately ran towards you when he saw what you carried in your hand.

You passed him the bread you made which he delightfully passed onto his mother who gave you a grateful smile. When you passed him a second bag, he immediately knew what you wanted him to do and headed off.

Normally, you would have turned and walked back home. However, curiosity had gotten the better of you. After hearing from your students how Bucky was delighted with your gifts, you were eager to see him in person.

Your eyes caught your student walking not far from you and you decided to follow behind. Soon, you saw him making his way down the gentle slope leading towards Bucky’s hut.

Bucky’s head tilted when he heard your student calling for him. You made sure to hide behind a nearby tree and peeked cautiously to take a look at Bucky.

Bucky can be seen with a toothy grin as he accepted the bag and patted their student’s head affectionately in thanks. Your heart leaped at the sight and a sense of satisfaction overcame you, leaving you in absolute glee.

What you did not expect while you were in self-bliss was a certain animal creeping up on you from behind. You jerked when a tug was felt from your side and you turned to see a small white goat nibbling at your bag. It must want the bread that you made but you could not it have it. Were goats even allowed to eat bread?

You tried to tug it from his bite but you realised he was very persistent and that you were having a hard time. It’s like it could do this all day as it became an apparent tug of war.

“Hey!” You involuntarily let out a scream as the animal start bleating aggressively. Weren’t goats supposed to be cute and friendly?

When you managed to have the final tug out of the goat’s mouth, you could not even rest for a moment as you saw the goat heading towards for you.

You instinctively ran in circles to throw the goat off your trail but it was pretty persistent. Boy, did it ran really fast too?

You wished you had super speed instead and start flailing as the goat bleated angrily while chasing you.

Your screams attracted the attention of Bucky who wondered what had happened. A woman’s scream was rarely heard in his part of the area and Bucky went to find the source of the sound.

Of all the scenarios that he could have imagined, Bucky had least expected you to see you running and screaming for what it seemed like your dear life. His eyes moved to see that Steve, his annoying runt of a goat was chasing you vehemently with a passion.

Bucky wanted to stop and laugh out loud at how terrified you look of Steve who barely stood at your waist level. When your eyes finally meet, you sped up and jumped onto Bucky who luckily was able to hold you steady even with one arm.

Circling your legs around his waist so that the goat would not be able to reach you, you made sure you wouldn’t fall by securing your arms around Bucky’s neck.

“Save me from this demon, Bucky!” You pouted and pleaded. Hearing the goat’s bleating coming nearer, you tightened your grip onto Bucky and looked over Bucky’s shoulder to see its beady eyes staring intently at the bag in your hands.

Bucky did not want to make of the situation as his senses first alerted him of how close you were to him. The two of you were chest to chest and he could your heart beating fast. Bucky breathed in your familiar scent that he didn’t knew he missed until now.

When he heard your whine once more, he was brought back to reality and started to catch up with how funny the scene was.

“You mean Steve?” Bucky chuckled in response to your previous statement.

“You name him, Steve?! Why would you do that? Steve is so sweet-” Pulling your face away from the crook of his neck, you came face to face with Bucky. You were nearly shocked by the little distance that lied between your faces and you recalled how much you missed his beautiful cerulean eyes.

Taking a nervous gulp, you also started blinking fast when you realise you were so close to Bucky that you could feel each other’s breath. Bucky locked you in hard stare as he didn’t speak, only using his eyes to communicate.

Your eyes broke contact with his and fleet to his pink lips for a moment. What were you doing? Bucky caught what you were doing and gulped nervously on his own. The tension between the two of you could be cut with a knife.

Your staring match was then cut off once again by Steve’s excessive bleating.

“Can he eat bread?” You asked him but Bucky was not out of his reverie of you and you had to ask once more to get his attention.

“Does Goat Steve eat bread?!”

“He eats anything-” Before Bucky could finish, you removed the hand that held the bag and threw it far from where you were. Goat Steve’s gaze followed to where the bag landed and he ran for it. With ease, he managed to prod his head into the bag and dragged the loaf of bread out. To start digging in

Seeing that your near-death crisis was over, you hesitantly push away from Bucky and he reluctantly let you down onto the ground. There was a moment of silence between the two of you as neither one of you knew what to say.

Standing awkwardly and looking anyway at each other, the both of you were frantically trying to come up with something to say.

“How are you?” The both of you spoke up at the same time. Your impeccable timing caused the both of you to laugh awkwardly before looking back at each other.

“I’m good.” The two of you answered at the same time once more and you two laughed at the sheer ridiculousness of the situation. Bucky nodded towards you to signal you to speak first.

“I see you are a farmer now.” Mentally slapping yourself, you couldn’t believe that was the first thing you had said to Bucky after he woke up from his cryogenic sleep.

“And I heard you are a teacher now.” Bucky followed in response before widening his eyes in a sudden realization.

“The bread, the other baked stuff, it’s you. The children say they brought it from school. You’re a teacher so-” Putting the pieces together, Bucky realised you were the one who has been sending food to him.

“Were the plums from you too?“

You looked down sheepishly in embarrassment, hand reaching to rub the back of your neck as you tried to come up with an explanation.

“Well, I just want to give you something and they say giving food is an act of love- I mean well not love but you know I want to make you happy so-”

“Why didn’t you give it to me yourself?” Bucky cut into your nervous rambling. You raised your head up to look at him and you swore you caught both hints of anticipation and disappointment lingering on his face.

“I didn’t want to disturb you. You should have some space to recuperate and I didn’t want to intrude-”

“Y/N, I don’t need space! I need you! You have no idea how much I wanted to see you after I woke up.” Bucky laughed at your explanation and stalked closer to you till you were chest to chest again.

You couldn’t believe what Bucky had said. You fidgeted nervously as you asked for confirmation once more. “You do?”

“Of course, doll. You are my everything.” Bucky raised his hand to caress the side of your face tenderly as he spoke.

A mix of emotions started to overwhelm you. You were moved by Bucky’s words but you suddenly felt immense guilt for making him think you abandoned him. A single tear cascaded down your cheeks as you willed yourself to look at him.

“I’m sorry, I never wanted you to feel that way. I missed you so much, I’m glad you’re back.” A smile formed on Bucky’s face when he heard your words. There had been so much longing between the two of you, so much unspoken feelings.

Now or never, you were ready to cross the line of this. Bringing both your hands up to cradle Bucky’s face gently, you smiled lovingly before you pushed your feet up to meet his lips.

Bucky suddenly wished he had his other arm back so that he can engulf you entirely; holding you so close that you would never leave. You took the kiss slow and gently, you wanted to savour this moment to the fullest after holding back for so long.

You pulled back from Bucky reluctantly and you steadied your heart before letting the words out.

“I love you, Bucky.”

The corner of his lips curved up at your confession. You loved him, you really did.

“I love you too, doll.” He spoke with such gentleness and sincerity that it had you smiling in equal enthusiasm. Bucky leaned in to kiss you once more, this time with longing and insatiable hunger.

You returned his fervour as your hands found their way from his chest to his neck and then to the sides of his face. The two of you pulled away to catch your breath and leaned your foreheads against each other’s.

Both of you mirrored each other with beaming wide smiles.

“Blehhhhhhh.” The two of you turned to see Goat Steve looking at the both of you with what it seems like a happy expression.

“Is he actually smiling?” You laughed as Goat Steve let out a happy sounding bleat.

“He’s a punk.” Bucky remarked with a laugh before turning back to looking at your laughing face fondly.

He was happy to have found you, his love.

———————————————————————

#bucky x reader #bucky barnes x reader #bucky x y/n #bucky barnes x y/n #bucky barnes #white wolf #marvel fanfiction #angstsfordays

172 notes · View notes

themostawesomehuman · 4 years

Text

Prompt:“People can live for a hundred years without living a minute” [Malec]

I edited this one a bit and yeeee! TELL ME HOW TO IMPROVE Y’ALL

@revolutionarywriters event 1: “people can live for a hundred years without living a minute”

Also just side note: Magnus’ last words and last thought were “Alexander”

Tagging: @bridgestocksariadne @lily-chen-deserves-better @immyownghostwriter @proserrpina @zoyanazyalenskiy @ravenfairchild @fairchild-squad @zafirafox4636 @brotherlipsmackariahs @friendlyneighbourhoodreader @fieryfantasybooklover @idontgetit-whydoihavetosaymyname @raccoon-dog-from-mercury @cecilyfightwood @tessagraycarstairs @katie33333 @daisyherxndale @simon-lewis-is-a-skinny-legend @emma-carstairs-herondale @liam-h-205 @mitsuhamiyamizi @ginacsonka @magnus-the-fabulous-entp-bane @banesbitch @morgnstern @matthewfaichild @totalbookworm101

———————————————————————————————————————

Alexander Lightwood had never known a world without Magnus Bane in it. Bright, brilliant, beautiful. Magnus. His magnificent husband. Magnus had lived for centuries and Alec thought that they’ll have more time. Ten years. Twenty years. Fifty years. Alec had never known a world without Magnus in it and frankly he never thought he would. Never before had he been so wrong.

Alec remembered their wedding day, with runes of wedded union on his skin and magical sparkles surrounding them. It had been four years ago but the memories were fresh in his mind. How Magnus took his breath away as he walked down the aisle in warlock blue. The feeling of holding Magnus in his arms—Magnus’ green-golden eyes glancing down at him. Feeling Magnus’ light stubble. Magnus’ heartbeat.

Alec remembered the very last day before his world had turn dark.

“Don’t. Please don’t” Alec’s voice broke a little at the last word, “hey, stop that, you’re g-going to be okay, you are going to be j-just fine.” At that point Alec wasn’t sure who he was trying to convict. He was pressing desperately at the gigantic wound on Magnus’ torso. There was so much blood. Too much blood. Alec couldn’t focus. He couldn’t think straight—this is Magnus. Magnus was dying. Alec had seen and treated wounds before but none like this—this felt different. Magnus’ sparkly shirt was soaked in scarlet.

Magnus smiled, but it was shaky. Even though it was forced and every single muscle in his body felt like scotching flame, he smile for Alec to reassure him. At that moment, Alec’s heart broke. Magus could practically hear it crack in his husband’s chest. The warlock reached out and touched the side of Alec’s face. His eyes were so blue, so bright, Magnus thought. Alec leaned into his touch and for the first time since ever, Alec’s calmness fell away, leaving only desperation and panic.

“Hey! Don’t you give up on me, Magnus! Magnus, please. Not after everything. This isn’t over!” He grabbed Magnus’ hands with an urgency that took Magnus by surprise. Alec never failed to surprise him not even ‘til the last minute. “Please hold on. Please”. Alec’s voice was only a whisper by the end.

Magnus remembers when he used to joke with Regnor Fell, “I’ll die the day pigs can fly” Magnus would proclaim, after the two escaped a drunken partygoner. Unfortunately, Death took his claim a little too seriously. Now hundreds of years later, helicopters existed, and Magnus supposed a pig had once ridden in one. Perhaps it was bad to say that after all.

The edges of Magnus’ vision blurred and he felt as though his limbs were made of lead. Magnus tried to blink but his eyelids felt heavy. He was so tired but he wasn’t ready to leave. He couldn’t. He had so much more to live for. Max and Rafe’s wedding day if they wish to get married. Growing old with Alec. He had millions and millions of unfinished stories to tell. He had a family: his Alec, Rafe and Blueberry Max, but Death doesn’t wait for anyone. Death waits for no one. Death had no mercy. Not even for the immortal.

“Alexander”, Magnus’ voice was alarmingly weak.

Magnus knew he didn’t have enough time but he was grateful. People could live for a hundred years without living a minute. Alexander Lightwood already gave him years — years of love and laughter and joy — Magnus lived. A year with Alec was more than an eternity. For Magnus Bane, Alexander Gideon Lightwood gave him an infinity — Alec’s love was more than he ever thought he deserved. Alec made him feel alive. More alive. It made him realise that for the past hundred years he had only been breathing. Alec was his saviour. His angel. Magnus knew that he would never be able to go to heaven — there’s no need. He found his heaven on Earth: Alexander Lightwood. His husband. Lover. Saviour. Angel. Guardian. Protector. Alec— his Alec. He was always so gentle, so pure.

“Magnus, please. I-I love you. P-please. Stay with me. It was supposed to be me. Goddamnit. Magnus, it was supposed to be me. Stay with me. Please. I love you”.

Oh, his Alexand-

And then there was nothing at all. Magnus was gone and so all the colors faded. Alec’s Light was gone and once again he was in the dark. Alone.

From then on Alexander Lightwood stopped living— without Magnus, minutes turned into days and days turned into years. The nights were unbearable and the days passed by in a blur. Without Magnus— the world simply lost it’s color. For Alec, it was painful to even breath— to drink, to eat, to stand without feeling that his legs were giving out—to live. Magnus was his world and he lost him. Just like how he couldn’t protect Max, he couldn’t protect Magnus either. What good is he then? Alec thought to himself, never before did he realize that you could be breathing but not living at all.

Alec Lightwood was already dead.

#shadowhunters #malec fic #angst #alec lightwood #magnus bane #its so bad im sorry #tsc characters #the shadowhunter chronicles #tmi #m’s writing

139 notes · View notes

lizacstuff · 3 years

Note

Hi! What did you think of ep23?I love your in depth thoughts on the episodes. I really enjoyed it, especially the EdSer moments (was smiling like an idiot during the skating scene - when Eda complained about it being hot (girl same), and also that she understood what he said in French omg). I hope the grandmother doesn't turn out to be as evil as everyone is assuming. I guess the one big con was Ayfer. She's gotten more annoying right? That's not just me? But I love me some Aydan!

Hello! Thank you for the kind words. Let's see, I did like the episode, but as I said in another ask I was a bit on edge while watching for a couple of reasons, but they're all Edser related so I'll talk about that when I talk about them at the end. As far as Ayfer is concerned, I FEEL YOU.

Good grief, woman. Why does she have to be such a harpy? It feels like she complains about absolutely everything. Plus, she's forcing a situation where her beloved niece can't trust or confide in her, and all the girls have to hide Eda's work schedule from her. Look, if Ayfer doesn't want to spend time with Aydan, fine, but her anger towards and disapproval of Eda's job and her relationship with Serkan are completely selfish. She may tell herself she's disapproving for Eda's own good, but come on.

Because, seriously, what does Ayfer think she's protecting Eda from? Serkan is handsome, rich, successful and head over heels in love with Eda. Let's be honest, Eda could do worse. He might be a tad arrogant and controlling, but he's a very good man with a very good heart. Also he tries with Ayfer. I get the connection with Alptekin is upsetting, but Serkan and Aydan have cut him completely out of their lives and neither had anything to do with what happened. I also get that Ayfer was put off by the whole contract thing, but it took two to tango there, and Eda's entire world opened up because of that arrangement.

Maybe that's the problem?

(more under the cut)

Maybe Ayfer can feel Eda expanding and growing and her world getting much bigger than Ayfer's and it scares her? She thinks she'll lose her, or won't recognize her? Privately, Serkan and Eda have talked about running away together, maybe Ayfer senses that's a possibility? (PRO TIP: Then don't be a negative force they have to get away from!)

Also what's happening with this Chef Alexander thing? Is he actually going to make an appearance? Is there going to be a romance? I think that would be good, maybe that will salvage Ayfer's character and she'll get distracted and maybe even happy. I did laugh, though, at her her calling Aydan and Seyfi out on their lie about having him on board with their charity scheme. They should know better than to try that. Amateur move, kids! But I will always applaud their matchmaking efforts when it comes to Eda and Serkan.

I enjoyed the girls this episode. I like that they don't share Ayfer's concerns about Serkan and are ready to go to the mat for whatever Eda wants. Poor Melo is the worst detective, but she gets points for trying. Also points for picking up what Eda was putting down and skillfully sweeping Balca and her broken heel out of the way. I'd want Fifi for protection as well, girl is badass. I can't tell what this Fifi/Erdem thing is supposed to be. Does she have a soft spot for him, she must because I don't know why she would give him the time of day otherwise. She's not one we have to worry about not being able to say no. If she wanted to rid herself of his presence, she'd do it. Ceren and Ferit are just kind of... there. I don't dislike it, but I also don't really care. They need something to spice that up.

Which is what we finally got with Engin and Piril! Holy moly, who is her dad!?! Mafia boss? Politician? Wealthy recluse? @alicekepley suggested on another post that maybe it's Aydan's first love. Now that would be interesting. Maybe he turned to a life of crime after being disappointed by Aydan? I am now looking forward to see how this plays out and how it affects them. However, there's one thing that gets me almost every episode. I love Engin and Anil, but he looks at least a decade older than Serkan, Piril, and Selin. So much so that I don't buy they could have gone to school together. This is where I'll have to call on my well honed suspension of disbelief I guess... I'll tell myself he spent a lot of time in the sun and is graying a bit prematurely.

I did like Engin and Serkan sitting around commiserating about their relationships and hoping things were about to turn around. That's the more equal buddy talk I want to know happens.

Speaking of Serkan, duuuuuuuuude. You're being hunted, wise up! I'm really stuck on what he said to Sirius after Eda left his house at the top of the episode. "Don't look at me like that, everything is under control, I know perfectly well what I'm doing, this is my tactic." We know from last episode he thought Eda would show, and this episode while talking to Eda he told her that he was expecting her and the candles were for her. So... did he purposely allow Balca in to provoke Eda's jealousy? If so, I'm not sure this is his best course of action. It's certainly not with regards to fanning Balca's dangerous pretensions, but I'm not sure he's getting his best result with Eda either. It's true that it gave him an excuse to flirt, make the bet, tease her, bask in her obvious jealousy even if she won't admit it, and get a Parisian date out of it. I suppose that's not a bad day's work. On the other hand, if he'd sent Balca on her way, he would have had a happy Eda, in his house, sitting on the couch next to him, watching a movie with him, which also could have led to a very good place for him.

It's also a mystery to me if Serkan is really clueless about Balca's intentions, or if he's playing dumb to suit his own purposes with Eda. I'm thinking it's the middle. He probably sees it but thinks it's a whole lot more harmless than it is. Like maybe he gets Balca has a crush on him, but he has no suspicion that he's in dangerous fatal attraction territory. Which is where we are. I don't want to fling words like 'crazy' around, but... bitch be crazy! If she is capable of trying to large-scale sabotage his company in her pursuit of him, that's some seriously scary stuff. WAKE UP, SERKAN.

I said I was uneasy while watching this episode and part of it was concern over what would happen with the tender, and worrying if Balca's sabotage was going to work, leaving Eda to blame. If that had gone the other way, the fallout would have been painful. Also storylines where a fav is falsely accused always make me antsy. I was able to handle the Serkan roof collapse one because it was at the end of the episode, and they were able to figure out that he wasn't responsible right off the top of the next. But this one had me on edge all ep. I was especially nervous after Eda made the independent report on her recommended firm part of a trust test. Sweetie, I love you, but NOOOOO. That was not the move of a professional. Serkan, as the company principle, wanting to vet a partner or vendor is completely normal and has nothing to do with how much he trusts her. Put aside the fact that she's only been in the workforce for a few months, you always want a second set of eyes on something that important. Always. She showed some of her immaturity there, which is fine, she's young and inexperienced, but it's a sign of how desperate Serkan is for her to forgive him that he humored her. That man will do anything for her, even if it doesn't make sense or is potentially damaging. I get why the writer's did it, for the suspense of Eda being out on that limb all on her own, but it was also actually a bit of a missed opportunity for him to mentor her there. (And I love when she learns from him.)

The other reason I was uneasy watching this ep was due to some frustration with Eda. See above on the trust test, but it was also a little hard to watch her just completely succumb to Serkan's charm and be in the moment with him one moment, and then the next second shake it off and be adamant that she was going to be leaving the job and him shortly. It felt like constant whiplash. Also if she won the bet she wanted him to leave her alone? Sure, Jan. She could have asked for something really good! We all know she doesn’t really want him to leave her alone, so that pretense has gotten harder and harder to take. However, the times she rebuffed him didn't bother me as much as when she told Melo she was leaving the job. I can chalk up the ones to Serkan as part of her act, trying to protect herself and poke holes in his pretensions, but when she said it to Melo it felt more real. Like that was really what she was still planning to do, and it's really hard to reconcile that with all the moments where she puts down her guard and it's obvious she's madly in love with him.

On a positive note, scenes where it’s clear they’re madly in love with each other were plentiful this episode. The romantic robot used every opportunity he could find to make her melt. My GAWD she has a will of iron that she was able to back away from him after he recited all the ways he could tell if a woman (her) was in love with him. He is one smooth bastard. And boy does he know her, he knows exactly what he does to her. That scene was FIRE. Not to be crass, but how did they not do it right then and there? After the last few eps, they have to be at a 100 on a scale of 1-10 when it comes to pent up sexual energy. Hey Eda, maybe you wouldn't be so jealous if you knew he had an outlet for that. I'm just sayin'.

The lunch was pretty funny and I definitely enjoyed the kicking and the under the table conversation. After refusing to admit she was jealous, Eda totally deserved that Serkan said that whatever Balca's feelings for him were, they were between him and Balca. Eeesh. I see what he's doing, he's trying to bring her feelings out into the open, and she deserves it, but I don't think he realizes how vulnerable she is over everything. He's walking a tightrope here. However, I do appreciate that he finally just admitted that he's jealous. If he'd just done that in 18, he would have saved himself some angst. Are we to infer from Serkan asking Eda not to use emojis with Efe, that Edser likes to use emojis when they text? Or was that just a generic, "don't be cute with him?" I think I'll take that Serkan and Eda use emojis, just because it tickles me to think of Serkan Bolat doing that. All of shipper twitter thinks that's the writers poking at the actors because of how much they use them with one another on social. Who knows, maybe that explains it, since it sort of came out of the blue. You gotta love, though, that every manipulative thing Balca did either failed or backfired spectacularly. Showing up at his place, sure she succeeded in upsetting Eda and derailing their night, but it also put Eda on her guard and brought about the flirty wager between Eda and Serkan. She left the earring, but Eda found it before she could use it as an excuse to return. She broke her heel, but that just gave her a ruined pair of shoes and Melo an excuse to get her out of there so Serkan and Eda could be alone. She and her devious friend succeeded in throwing Melo and Eda off the scent, however all that meant was that Serkan won the bet and gave him the pretense needed to get her to agree to the most romantic date on the planet. She sabotaged the report, but Eda still found out about the company's background and Eda was the hero when ArtLife won the tender. Balca: 0 percent success rate so far.

THE ICE SKATING SCENES WERE PURE MAGIC! It was fun to see the whole cast out there having a blast, but obviously it was the Edser scene at night that lit up the whole show. Damn was that pretty. (it's currently my ipad lock screen and home screen) The chemistry between the actors was on display all episode, but here it just exploded. When Eda said she was hot, no kidding! How could you not be? And I agree that Serkan speaking French to her was OMG. Love, love, love the date that Serkan planned for them in Paris. I'm bereft that we'll likely never see it. Damn you pandemic, look what you've taken from us! The characters, and the audience, deserve an entire episode of Paris romantic fluff. We've all earned this!

The date sounded perfect and I found it very interesting that he had purposely never been to Montmartre. So at some point he promised himself he'd only go there with a woman he was truly in love with, makes me wonder if it was a much younger Serkan who made that promise. The Serkan we met in the pilot didn't believe in love, he was hard-hearted, he actually talked with Engin about how a contract, a bloodless business transaction, was the way to go for relationships. Robot Bolat. So I don't think he made that idealistic promise any time recently. If so, that means he's had that in the back of his mind for years, but Eda's the only woman he's ever considered taking. My heart. I love how the show keeps showing us and telling us that this is the first time Serkan has ever been in love. You could see in that scene that Eda was right there with him. She was so happy and in the moment and swept away by the romance. She was as excited for Paris as he was. I know we all wanted a kiss/declaration here, it would have been a very good moment for it. A very good one. But the show has other plans for them, so we wait.

So, yeah, I really liked the Edser we got, but Eda’s hot and cold act was hard to reconcile at times. However, perhaps it all came together in the end, when she's talking to Melo and Ceren about Paris. She was feeling troubled over it, probably what agreeing to go with him meant, but they both told her to listen to her heart in Paris and it seems like she was going to do it: "From now on I'll stop worrying. I'm opening a new page in life." So I think in that moment she was ready for next steps and was planning to be open with him in Paris, let's hope it carries over to the next episode even without Paris.

Actually, that whole conversation was a bit of a window into her psyche and was more illuminating than almost anything in the episode in that regard. When Eda says she’s worried, Melo teases her that she's nervous to be alone with Serkan Bolat, and then jokes that all young women would like to have that problem, including herself. Eda does NOT like that joke and actually verbalizes it, "Melo, at least you don't do that." That was a huge spotlight into Eda's insecurities, like she is really discombobulated by witnessing women showing interest in him while they're in such a nebulous place. Since she is coming off of what happened with Selin, and was already feeling jealous when the first candidate set her off with (her creepy) talk of chemistry last episode, then finding Balca at Serkan's house in the opening scene, I suppose it's no surprise that all of that has had some residual effects. But that it's to the point where she can't take a joke from Melo is telling. Poor thing.

My hope is that this is just something she's working through while she's feeling off-kilter about everything. It would be one thing if they were together, but she's in this headspace where half the time she says she's leaving and it's over between them and half the time she acting like his wife, so I think she's just discombobulated. Maybe she just wants time to figure things out, but feels like she doesn’t have it, because someone is going to swoop in and take her place and that’s feeding her jealousy? The fact that Serkan can’t see it (Selin and Balca) until it’s out of control doesn’t help.

It's natural for her to be upset that this woman has entered the scene and is clearly trying to maneuver herself into Eda's place in Serkan's life. However, there is an easy fix to this. Just go be with him. Come on, Eda, we know you can do it! You're ready. You’re primed. Bring on the New Year's Ep!

#Sen Çal Kapımı #sen cal kapimi #edser #sck ask #sck episode discussion #edser discussion #sck 1x23 #edser meta #asklizac #Anonymous #sckask

29 notes · View notes

remythologise · 3 years

Note

Thank you! I completely agree, the biggest downfall for the show is they're way too obsessed with the brothers alone against the world concept and this caused them to torpedo 15 years worth of character development. I really do love Sam and Dean and I do like the idea of the show being centered around their relationship but I hate how TPTB don't realize that they can still have their relationship at the centre of the show and also have other interesting, well developed characters who aren't just there as tools for Sam and Dean. This show would have been so great if they actually cared about the characters that weren't the Winchesters. The saddest part to me though is how this obsession (from stories I've heard anyways), manifests in TPTB not truly appreciating the cast outside of J2. It feels like they've wasted all the amazing talent that has been on the show over the past 15 years :/

I have been thinking HARD about how Alexander Calvert said in, perhaps the Most Harsher In Hindsight promotional interview video they did*, that Jack was just there to help the Winchesters (and Cas) along their journey. I also think this is apparent in how Misha approached the ending as well, being okay with just helping Dean rather than getting his own resolution. I really think that the ethos on set was that the brothers were the stars and everyone else was varying degrees of just helping those brothers - but ON SCREEN and in the fandom that doesn’t come across, PARTICULARLY for Jack and Cas. It’s such an odd, bad way of storytelling - to have your characters exist for the purpose of shining a light on the main two, STILL, AFTER FIFTEEN YEARS. The story grew far beyond them and it’s really obvious that it took some illogical, out-of-character leaps in order to collapse the narrative back to just those two again. I’ve talked a bit about Misha and how he’s a little shafted by the production over the years but imo Jack (and I have absolutely no data on how AlCal has been treated by production) deserves way more respect and status too. *Seriously you guys should watch this. Misha saying he’s not a fan of Jack’s ending, Jared saying he doesn’t want the Eileen romance to go ‘too far’, the WHOLE Dean romance section with Misha interrupting with a hand on his shoulder OF COURSE. ‘Wish we had more time to explore some of those avenues / who needs on-screen relationships’ shut the fuck up Jensen I’m so mad.

#ask #anonymous #as always: jensen ackles black box #kira for ts #supernatural spoilers #spn spoilers

24 notes · View notes

calliecat93 · 3 years

Text

ST: TNG S4 Watchthrough Episodes 6-9

Legacy: We have ended up on the home planet of Tasha Yar… and wow it’s not a nice place. We also find out that she has a sister, welp. So… it was alright. Ishara is very similar to Tasha in demeanor, but also very different. I tilt my head at the crew being so willing to trust and accept Ishara into their midst when they know nothing about this woman. I could see the ‘she’s using them’ plot a mile away. But to be fair, the episode addresses it. They wanted to see Tasha. They wanted to see the brave, loyal, strong-willed Security Chief that they lost so callously in her sister… and in the end, that took over. While I can see why Ishara acted as she did, she didn’t know these people and hasn’t seen Tasha in years so she’s under no obligation to care about them, it really has to hurt that she used them and almost committed mass murder and make them take the lame. Her world is a hellhole so her actions make sense, but that doens’t change the betrayal. Especially for Data. Riker sums it up well, with trust comes betrayal… but without trust, there is no friendship. That’s just the cruel truth. Anyways, it was a fine episode. I like that we have a pot-mortem for Tasha even if late… but it just makes me wish that tasha herself didn’t get killed sos he could have had her own plot and feeligns focused on. It still pisse sme off and is just a reminder of so much wasted potential. But ah well, for what they had to work with, they did it welll. 3/5.

Reunion: K’Ehleyr is back… and with a child. Worf’s child, to be exact. Huh. have been waiting very patiently for a follow-up to Sins of the Father and this was an excellent one! Back in K’Ehleyr’s first episode, she was unwilling to take the Oath and Worf wanted to so much and follow the Klingon traditions. Here? K’Ehleyr is ready and doens’t care that he was discommendated… but now Worf can’t. he’s been dishonored and even if it means nothing to K’Ehleyr, it means a great deal to him. He can’t let her or his son bear that shame. It’s so hard to watch him here. How anguished he feels, the way the other Klingons treat him despite it being their damn fault that he accepted it, to begin with, just knowing that he did nothing wrong… but for the greater good, he has to bear it. He doesn’t even want Alexander to be known as his son not because he’s unwilling to accept parental responsibility but to spare him of the dishonor. Just… freakin’ ouch. I was so happy to see K’Ehleyr back and her character is just so freakin’ good and her wanting to allow Alexander to find his life path? Excellent parenting. So… needless to say, her being killed off pisses me off. They at least allowed her character to shine, but… it feels like they only did it to make Worf suffer more. It was well-executed, I was about ready to tear up and Worf being driven to kill Duras for all the suffering that he put him through and now killing the woman he loved (which btw the romantic chemistry was MUCH better here than last time)? I can’t blame him at all. I get why he got reprimanded since Duras was a political figure and this can cause a whole host of problems and clearly Picard was sympathetic… but I just felt so bad for Worf. At least he admitted that he was Aexander’s father and hopefully the poor kid will have a good life with Worf’s parents, bu… yeah. K’Ehleyr’s death stops me form giving this a perfect score, very least I wish we had gotten to see her fight instead of goign to commerical and them walking in on her bloody corpse… but at least they got the tone down. I just hope that one day, Worf and his brother can truly expose the conspiracy because Worf deserves a Hell of a lot better. 4.5/5.

Future Imperfect: Let’s perform a thought experiment, shall we? Imagine going on assignment on your birthday, business as usual… then some kind of mishap happens. You wake up… and discover that you have lost sixteen years' worth of your memory. You can’t remember significant life changes, special moments for yourself and your loved ones, or even your spouse and child. Then just as you begin getting used to things and accepting this new life… you find out that it was all a lie and you were in an illusion all along. You were captured and tricked… and then you find out that was also a lie and it was all due to a lonely alien child left on a barren planet/within a highly advanced Holodeck system that can give him anything that he wants, everyone he knew had died and he did all of this just to have a friend. Congratulations folks, you have now experienced what Riker went through this episode! Yeah, this episode was crazy. I feel bad for the poor kid, while he shouldn’t have done what he did we’re talking about a lonely child essentially forced to live in a Holodeck and just wanted to interact with someone real. Also, I loved how Riker got clued in on how the future word was fake, excellent call-back to Season One! Not much else to say, but good episode! It was wild, that’s for sure~ 3.5/5.

Final Mission: Well folks, this is the curtain call for Wesley Crusher. I know that he pops back up once or twice, but this will be his final episode as a main character as he finally enters the Academy. We’ll get to my final thoughts on Wesley here in a bit, but l focus on the episode itself first. And… it was fine. We have Picard, Wesley, and some third guy crash land on a desert planet, the Enterprise unaware of if they’re alive or not. Thus the three struggle to survive which not only is the third guy essentially a paranoid asshole… but a cave-in seriosuly injures Picard. Thus Wesley is more or less on his own and has to keep Picard alive. Thankfully we avoid killing him off, and thus they make sure to give Wesley a proper send-off. They let him showcase his strengths with his intellegence, fast thinking, and compared to in the beginning he’s much more mature and capable of handling an Away Mission. This convinced me that yes, Wesley is ready for the Academy and that he will be a great Starfleet Officer someday. Meanwhile the Enterprise are dealing with their own issues because of course they are. Nothing can ever just go easy for these people. can it? It’s fine. The Enterprise plot didn’t have me invested aside form worrying about Dr. Crusher. The poor woman just burris herself in her work to deal with her worry about Wesley and evades Troi when she tries to assure her Otherwise the plot is there sot hat it can be a solo Picard and Wesley adventure without hem interfering. Which while I havn’t been the biggest fan of their dynamic, it’s clear how much Welsey admires Picard such as recounting their Samaritan Snare adventure, and Picard admititng that he brought him along because he was going to miss the kid. It’s a nice moment between the characters and allows Wesley to truly open up… though I wish it focused more on him and his mother since that’s been seriously lacking, but ah well. It was still a good send-off episode for Wesley and that’s how you want to treat your characters, whether they stay ont he show or not. 3/5.

As for Wesley himself… it’s been a bumpy road. Do I agree with the consensus that Wesley is an annoying child character that even his actor agrees with (albeit I think jokingly but still)? No. Wesley isn't a bad character. He’s a smart young kid, tries his best, makes mistakes but tries to do his best, and he grew. He’s a perfectly likable kid and this episode especially shows the best of him. Do I agree that the character's role and execution were annoying and contributed to his reputation? Yes. That is ultimately what it boils down to decent character, poor execution. In S1 Wesley was elevated far more than he needed to be. He was given privileges that no other character his age would have been granted no matter the competency level that borders on blatant favoritism. Whenever he made a serious error, he got praise for fixing it, never scolded for his actions with The Naked Now being the worst example. He still had good episodes like Coming of Age, but alas. I think having a kid character who aspires to be in Starfleet, has a parent who is a prominent crew member, and being able to use his skills to help was a perfectly fine idea… but there were just issues with how they did it. S2 and 3 were. While I disliked him at the end of The Dauphin and he still got showed some blatant favoritism, it was better balanced. I didn't feel he earned to be an Ensign until this episode… y’know, the one that shipped him off to The Academy. Crusher being written out in S2 and then brought back in S3 also really killed any and all potential that their dynamic could have truly brought which also hurt. It really feels like by S3 they just didn’t know what to do with the character anymore, limiting him to mainly Helmsman duty. He wasn't being elevated anymore… but he wasn't adding anything anymore either. Maybe promoting him was to help give him something… but Wil Wheaton decided to go, and that ended that. I can’t say I’m sad to see Wesley go because his potential just got squandered to the point that keeping him just felt pointless, and having him go to the Academy feels like the best natural end-point for him, so might as well be now. Nevertheless, Wesley was still part of the crew and for all that I criticized, he certainly didn’t deserve the hate that he got. If people like or even relate to the character, that’s great! He just didn’t work for me unfortunateley. Wil Wheaton obviously moved on to bigger, better things and is well-liked in the fandom, so that’s good cause he certainly did the best that he could. He just wasn’t given a lot of good material. Hopefully Welsey’s later guest appearances will give him somethingg ood and heck maybe they’ll convince Wheaton to come back in Picard one day, but for now… farewell Wesley. Can’t say I’ll miss you, but it wasn’t the worst ride either.

#st watchthrough

3 notes · View notes

normal-thoughts-official · 4 years

Note

UWU I'm in the mood for some Raphael talk, I love the headcanon you've talked about in the chat about Raphael tolerating Alec only because he makes his dad happy (which is so damn valid of him), and it's one of my most fave things do you have more slightly silly headcanons about it?

you really want me to be beaten up huh may. you want them to come for me again. you want to ruin my life

okay disclaimer Alec stans pwease dont hate me uwu I'm not saying i hate Alec I'm saying that i dont think Raphael would vibe with him. especially after the whole punch which I'll never get over cuz like i KNOW rationally that alec didnt have the full story and if izzy was hurt and sitting beside a white shadowhunter he would go there and beat them up all the same cuz alec's like this, but I'm still upset eidndidjdid my boy doesnt deserve this okay

anyway with that being said

i dont think its Raphael like, genuinely hating him as much as them having nothing in common besides their mutual love for Magnus and desire to see him happy. so Raphael can tolerate him fine, but he's not exactly dying to be best friends. besides, alec's like, all of the most annoying things about shadowhunters (all serious, never fucking relaxes, must have a weapon close at all times, doesn't understand food, doesn't listen to music, doesnt-) that arent like straight up nazist bigotry. so hes just like. ugh. whatever. I'm here for Magnus. leave pls

i can absolutely see that tbh Raphael just goes to their house and is all like "Alec leave i want to talk to Magnus" and alec's like "this is my house?" and raphael's like "and?" and alec's like "Fine, ill take a walk. Magnus, Raphael is here." but he also kisses Magnus goodbye in front of Raphael because he can, in fact, be an ass

also i know i told u about that already but Raphael lowkey challenges him every time like. he'll come by Magnus' and bring food, and of course theres food for 3 because Raphael is not gonna be that rude and he doesn't want to make Magnus feel like Raphael wants him to choose between Raphael and Alec. Alec makes Magnus happy and Raphael would never want to make Magnus feel like his love or presence in his life is conditional. Plus, he doesn't actually hate him. Just a little.

anyway so he brings the food and he's like (clearly judgemental tone) "i brought hot sauce because i figured Alec doesn't usually eat spicy food" and he's obviously correct, Alec had never eaten anything with season in his life before he met Magnus, much less pepper. he's the kind of ultimate, boss-level gringo who puts salt on his food when he's feeling adventurous

so Raphael sits down and puts the food on his plate and he pours hot sauce into his plate while making unwavering eye contact with Alec (yeah raphael can eat in this because he deserves it and i said so) and it's an obvious challenge and it evidently works because Alec 1- is competitive, and 2- actually wants Raphael's respect because he knows how important he is to Magnus. so he takes the salsa from Raphael and starts pouring it too while maintaining eye contact right back, jaw clenched in challenge, looking all serious and Magnus is like "children, please" and raphael's all like "oh no no no, let him" but Alec considers that a win because Raphael is clearly trying to contain a smile and thats the first step to winning him over

so anyway Alec sweats and grimaces through the whole meal, cuz like, look yes he may have pain tolerance because he's a shadowhunter but he's also the bitch who reacted to taking a sip of beer like someone had farted on his face. he can't hide his reactions for shit, but fuck if he doesn't lick the plate clean (not literally like gross) and doesn't shed a single tear, even as he clearly can't keep his eyes open with the effort

Magnus is like "Alexander, you dont have to do this" and alec's like "(eyes squeezed shut, grimacing, drenched in sweat) do what? this is very good" and Raphael is smiling into his plate even as Magnus shoots him dirty looks

then Alec is like "i won. i ate it all" and Raphael is like "(looking at his red sweaty face and puffy eyes) really?"

also look ill always love the hc that Raphael resents Alec for his height and Alec doesnt even notice. Raphael is not short, god damn it, hes 175! thats TEN whole centimeters above the mexican average! he was the tallest boy in Guadalajara! RAPHAEL IS TALL, OKAY

EXCEPT everyone in the goddamn shadow world is apparently a god damn giant. Its humiliating enough that Magnus is 180. but Magnus is his dad, so whatever. but Alec is FUCKING 190. no one needs that much tall. no one! Raphael went from being the tallest boy in the neighborhood to the shortest, and boy he is so not pleased about it

but Alec has no idea because who cares? (Raphael. Raphael cares. deeply. he cares so much) it's not even good to be that tall, he keeps banging his head on things. so there will be moments like. Raphael is standing in front of the bookshelf, seeming very focused. Alec shrugs, figures he's looking for something, and puts the book he was going to put there up. Raphael shoots him a dirty look that might as well be a stab, and Alec's like ???????? did i disrupt you? sorry? and Raphael just crosses his arms like "you didnt do anything, i dont know what you're talking about"

in reality the shelf was too high up because Magnus adjusted his shelves to his and Alec's height, and Raphael refused to stand on his tiptoes or god forbid, a stool, to grab his book, so he was just glaring at the shelf until the book came to him or something. and when Alec put the book up he was mad cuz Alec could reach it fjdndid

later Alec tells Magnus about it like "i dont get what i did. is he just that private?" and Magnus is like "hmm. i have no idea, darling" but next time Raphael comes, the shelves have been spelled to adjust to the book picker's height

also this always makes me think of that scene in hsm where zeke tries to talk to sharpay and she goes "evaporate, tall person!" and leaves and i love that mental image tbh

also like. eventually Alec apologizes for the punching thing (look. look. Im still salty and Raphael deserves it okay) and Raphael is like. moved because something deep inside of him still believed it was his fault and he was a monster, and it's. nice. and Alec kind of extends his arms and Raphael is like "dont think so" and crosses his arms and Alec kind of very very slowly lifts his arm and pats Raphael's head once and Raphael wants to scream and Alec looks very awkward and sheepish and Magnus bursts out laughing

(Raphael doesnt mind, though, because Magnus is genuinely so happy all day that they had a good interaction. so happy. and Raphael thinks, okay, this is okay. it's good if it makes Magnus happy.)

(Magnus also pats his head and plays with his hair, but its okay because Magnus has always done that and Raphael doesnt mind. only from him though. and raphael's partners. but anyway)

plus whenever Magnus is like, upset, or sick or something, theyre like. an unit. because for all they have no common interests they do think very alike (autistic solidarity i guess) and are very practical when it comes to taking care of others, and they both just. adore Magnus, okay. so Raphael will arrive, make Magnus soup. while he makes soup, Alec stays with him and takes his temperature. once Raphael is back with the soup, Alec goes out to buy medicine, and Raphael stays with him to make him company. and so on. at some point Alec is almost falling asleep by Magnus' side and Raphael taps his shoulder and points to the chair nearby, and Alec nods and dozes off for a while. then its the other way around. Magnus isnt seriously sick, of course, but he doesn't usually get sick so it's an event, plus they're both Like This. and for all the grief they give each other, they trust each other to take care of Magnus. theres no argument about that

(Magnus was resting, but he did see some of these moments, and smiled a bit to himself before dozing off again)

also Raphael and Ragnor gave Alec the ultimate shovel talk (Ragnor doesn't trust anyone after Camille, and while neither do cat and dot, they were more chill), but it lowkey backfired because they were like "if you ever hurt him, we'll remove your kneecaps" and Alec was like "(nodding seriously) thats fair"

also i know we've talked about this already but i also love the idea that Raphael goes to their house and is all absentmindedly like "hm can i have some coffee" and alec's like "sure, ill make it :) you stay here and talk to Magnus" and when Alec comes back he hands Raphael his coffee in a "best. bonus son. ever" mug and then he leans back against the wall, sipping his own coffee from his "world's #1 stepdad" mug that he bought himself, trying to hide his shit eating grin, and Raphael scowls and deliberately holds it so his hand covers the words, and Magnus laughs and his eyes shine as he sips his tea.

(later, Raphael is like. guess me and lightwood have a dynamic now. gross. but he still rolls with it)

in short Raphael and Alec being little shits to each other but still building something of a relationship for Magnus and always taking care of him..... ultimate trope

#ask #cosmicnovia #luxxmagnus #sh #shadowhunters #raphael santiago #magnus bane #alec lightwood #brotp: i'll do whatever it takes to protect them #long post #autistic alec lightwood #autistic raphael santiago #brief but still there #crack #sh crack #malec

56 notes · View notes

kateeorg · 4 years

Text

Point-by-Point Scoob Analysis (second viewing, bc I’m bored)

Spoilers below!

Why Venice Beach, I have to wonder? And why this song? I don’t dislike it, but I’m curious about the reasoning

The gyro scene is really fun XD

Shaggy’s intro is perfect - the music, the “Casey’s Creations” and Mystery Machine aesthetics, just beautiful. You can see the little shake in his hand as he switches to the podcast - he’s so alone :(

“I lose a lot of balls” funny AND sad. And Young Sheldon being lonely is on point for him

Gyro meat - convenient! But yeah, I can see how Shaggy’s weird lunch combos would be off-putting to others

Oh, he found him ON Halloween?? That’s so odd. (But on brand)

“Well mostly man. It’s mostly just the suit that’s falcon.”

“Like no way bruh” Really? That... sounds odd coming from Shaggy.

...Since when do young boys care about blood sugar? Also, “We’re okay with that” XD

Baby Fred, Daphne, and Velma are also perfect

...No. No no. RBG is not a Slytherin. But that, braces Velma and Hogwarts references very much modernize the series and put them firmly in modern day (without going too out there).

The kids are such badasses, it’s awesome

The replication of the original credits is *perfect* - they even got the original Space Creep sound

Scooby handles the accounting? Also, how old are they supposed to be? If they’re expected to pay taxes and get called millennials, are they late 20s?

I’m really not convinced by the Simon Cowell bit, I’m sorry. They could have made him a bland British investor, not attached to the name. There really should have been some more time invested in this scene (but I AM glad Mystery Inc never agreed with Simon, or even considered he was right) (Also Simon - haven’t you heard of networking? Making friends to get ahead?)

Scooby bowling is such great physical comedy, and the chase is very Scooby Doo

Hyper-specific police code ftw

Falcon Fury!

You know Scooby and Shaggy are having a bad day when they’re *happy* to be in danger

The falcon entrance is admittedly funny

I really wish if Blue Falcon and Dynomutt had to have such a bug role, there’d been more about how Dynomutt feels about his original owner basically ditching him. It seemed like that was supposed to have more significance, and then it didn’t.

The shake button XD and Dastardly is fantastic from the first

...right, because this script wasn’t also written by middle-aged men.

Also, how’d she know about the blue light?

Velma fanning out is fun

The robots make me uncomfortable, and I’m not sure why.

Muttley <3

I appreciate that Falcon was trying to be resourceful.

“You’re now out of... everything.”

Scooby and Shaggy’s gift is to inspire - they’re the lucky charm

...And this is where I started to dislike Falcon. He’s just... he’s too dumb. The bravado is one thing, but then Fred is a little too similar. I think Falcon is supposed to be a foil for Shaggy, but I don’t know... didn’t quite work for me.

OH! I didn’t get the connection between the Greek restaurant at the beginning and the Cerberus plot until now! Nice.

DeeDee deserves more credit, hands down. Honestly, make her Blue Falcon.

I love all the references in the arcade - Hex Girls, Hong Kong Phooey, LaffALympics

The fun house scene is really cool! And funny, so colorful

My mom really liked this bit with the Ferris Wheel and the bumper cars and the smoke cloud - more traditionally cartoony

And I started to dislike Falcon more here. -__- (Like you acknowledge Shaggy is hurting and then just decide let’s give the dog a super suit instead of focusing on the mission? 90% of what goes wrong in this move is his fault and I don’t like it)

Okay. I get that Shaggy is really insecure. And Scooby isn’t reassuring him at all. But it feels like there’s more going on here, and I wish he’d had the chance to talk about it more than he did to give us more context. (But I still maintain this is less contrived than Shaggy falling for that Mary Jane girl in the live action film, so I’ll let it pass)

I actually really like Daphne’s characterization as the people person (though I feel real bad Grey DeLisle wasn’t given a chance to voice her), and how the gang are quick to realize how much Shaggy and Scooby contribute. They were never down on them, but it’s still important.

Messick Mountain :)

Velma as Dynomutt was great

I do really like the plot and how it ties to friendship. Also, Muttley is perfect, my parents loved him.

Poor man’s Hemsworth

I initially questioned whether Scooby would really be safer off the ship. But of course that’s not the point - this kicks off the conflict. Remember kids: NEVER give someone an ultimatum.

I appreciate that this was the only poop joke in the movie. Unlike the original Scooby Doo movie...

And now Shaggy realizes he was an ass. But seriously - the “Shaggy’s refusal to change is tearing them apart” thing needed a little more finessing. I see where they were going, but didn’t quite make it home.

The Captain Caveman bit was a little... eh? Not sure what I’d put there instead. It does the point of showing Falcon and Scooby they’re not really traditional hero material.

Scooby looks so sad as he gets taken :(

See, this is where I feel like Falcon and Fred were too similar, though it is pretty funny

See... I don’t think this speech was earned. It’s beautiful. If I saw it in isolation it would be great. But something was missing in the buildup. I can’t see how Shaggy made it from “I screwed up” to “Friendship changing is okay.”

This whole Athens bit is so beautiful and cinematic, I hope this gets a chance to be in theaters someday!

Flying mystery machine!

FLUFFY!

Mystery Inc reunion <3 But poor Fred, his van up in flames

(Someone set this to “Your Wagon is On Fire” from Trail to Oregon!)

Dastardly and Muttley is actually pretty sweet, but not a Scooby-Shaggy redux. (My parents love the snicker)

THE ASCOT RETURNS! But this is usually the part where he figures out a trap.

Scooby and Shaggy growing and embracing their roles on the team <3

“I’m so weak” - my parents and I laughed hysterically at this

The Dynomutt-Falcon moment was nice :) (again, not sure it was earned). Also, cool wings are cool.

This really is a Scooby Doo Avengers

Shaggy becomes important in the worst possible way :(

“Back when we were kids, you saved me. Now it’s my turn.” Damn with the feeeeels

Scoooby :(

“But why would Alexander make a gate that would separate him from his best friend forever?” Martyrdom is not the only way, y’all

Aw, Dynomutt is trying

Had to throw in an unmasking

I guess they got backing after all!

(Wait... was Dick Dastardly the Simon Cowell at the beginning??? That would make so much sense, actually!! Is this confirmed?! )

Don’t know how I feel about the new Mystery Machine, but Fred is happy :)

DeeDee deserves a raise

Falcon Force! Falcon realizes he needs friends too. But Dastardly is at large...

Okay, second watch was less off-putting. I do like it! It’s colorful and sticks to the cartoon, and there’s clearly so much love here, for Scooby and all of Hanna Barbara. Admittedly, this isn’t really a mystery - it’s a superhero origin story, which admittedly the trailers should have prepared me better for. But we’ve seen Scooby mysteries on the big and small screen, so I see why they had to change it up to justify such a blockbuster animation project. (Not unlike Recess: School’s Out going from middle school slice of life to save-the-world adventure.) And we do get mystery-solving shenanigans in the beginning.

But as a result, things do feel a tad bit dumbed down, particularly with Blue Falcon, Fred, and Shaggy’s development. I don’t love that aspect, but I can see why that compromise had to be made.

So all in all, I think it’s a solid film! It’s more Trolls than Pixar, but honestly? Not sure I’d have Scooby Doo any other way.

#scooby doo #scoob movie #scoob 2020

21 notes · View notes

newmayhem · 3 years

Text

Reading and ranking the entire Den of Shadows series

Check out my other Den of Shadows reviews HERE.

After a year such as this one, I wanted to close it out with something fun so I spent the past month marathoning the entire Den of Shadows series- rereading the original quartet and then reading for the first time the new TDOS books. I was originally going to post reviews/reactions for each book, but that got too cumbersome. Instead, I’m doing one big post of my personal ranking so I can discuss each book and talk about the series as a whole.

Spoilers for the entire Den of Shadows series below.

Personal Ranking

I based it on several different criteria but mainly: 1) How much I enjoyed it, 2) Writing/storytelling quality, 3) If there was anything glaringly ‘problematic’ (which I’ve found is usually a big factor in how much I enjoyed it), 4) How it fits in context of the entire series.

9. Shattered Mirror It hurts to put this one last on my list because Shattered Mirror was my intro to The Den of Shadows and to ahar’s work. Reading this again as an adult was frustrating because I can see why I loved it the first time around and how most of that doesn’t hold up today. Sarah was a great main character who deserved so much better than the ending she got. It was just wall to wall rape culture and misogyny. I hated Christopher and how he was a creepy pedophilic stalker framed as a romantic hero, I hated how Nikolas got some copout backstory so he would look like a good guy even though he beat a girl to death for rejecting his brother, and I hated how Nissa was enabling both of them. I really hated that this was meant to be a racism/prejudice metaphor because that doesn’t work out when the ‘oppressed’ group does actually harm innocent people. Aside from that, I felt like the pacing was really off- the events unfold over the course of a little over a week and we’re supposed to believe that after hanging out with them twice Sarah’s developed a bond with these vampires strong enough to override the prejudice she’s been raised with since birth (and that Christopher’s in love with her). And then there’s that whole anti-climax when it turns out that the ‘villain’ was Kaleo all along, but instead of having the book end there, there’s another 20 pages where we have to watch Sarah get attacked and changed against her will and then have it framed as a happy ending. I did like that she decided to not stay with Christopher in the end, though.

8. Midnight Predator I was actually surprised by how much I liked this one because I didn’t remember anything from it at all except for like, two scenes and some character names. It felt more mature in writing style, thematic content, and aesthetics. I also liked that we got a main character who was a little older and that the world was, for the most part, very removed from the human world. It was a good way to close out the original quartet in that it touched on a lot of the themes that had been explored in the books previous. That said, I had a lot of problems with how the issue of slavery was handled and also with how victim-blamey the moral of the story turned out to be. It just didn’t sit right with me that at no point did anyone bring up the idea of, you know, ending slavery at Midnight, which Jaguar had all the power to do. I hate that we were supposed to be sympathetic towards Jaguar and treat him like a good guy because he doesn’t abuse his slaves (for reasons that center on him) like everyone else does when he easily could just...not own slaves. Tying in with the victim blaming stuff, it felt like we were supposed to be satisfied with Turquoise freeing herself but being ok with letting slavery continue. And the big character arc that leads to her getting revenge on Daryl was framed as her ‘not letting herself be a victim anymore’, which is an objectively terrible take on this issue. Aside from that, I also had issues with the pacing here. We were promised a story about Midnight and a mission to assassinate Jeshickah, but all of that goes out the window in an anti-climax about two thirds of the way through the book (and two days into the timeline), and then the rest is a plodding montage leading to a very abrupt end. I also didn’t like how Daryl was supposed to be the real villain of the story but was also portrayed as a snivelling idiot that no one liked anyway, because that lessened the impact of Turquoise finally getting up the courage to kill him.

7. Demon In My View This was a good followup to ITFOTN in that it struck a balance between being standalone and having ties to the previous book. That said, I found the tone to be surprisingly more immature. I mainly didn’t like how the main character and the antagonist were handled. Jessica, while being a great reader insert/power fantasy, wasn’t very interesting because she didn’t go through any character development or have to sacrifice anything, but still got everything she wanted in the end. Fala was too much of a buttmonkey and her motives were too weak to be taken seriously. It also didn’t sit right with me that she’s the only canonical woc so far and she’s being portrayed as this incompetent cartoon villain even though objectively, like, she does have a point. But I do love the introduction of my favorite underappreciated side character, the ultimate MVP: Caryn Smoke!

6. Token of Darkness This book had a lot going against it, mainly in that it’s the most disconnected from the other TDOS books in terms of not only characters and setting, but also with introducing beings that hadn’t been mentioned before (in text, at least). I think especially as one of the new TDOS books, it would’ve helped to at least offhandedly namedrop some people/events/places. My second problem with this book was that everything felt very underdeveloped. I loved the new characters that were introduced, but I was disappointed that we didn’t have a lot of time to get to know them. I would’ve liked to see Cooper actually start training under Ryan, I would’ve liked to learn more about the LeCoire family and what it means to be a sorcerer. I also just wanted more Delilah because she’s such a fascinating character (I loved her reckless and unapologetic ambition). Kind of like ITFOTN, I felt like this lacked an Act 2. I think the story should’ve started earlier so we could see more of the investigation part of it, so we can get all the characters together earlier and have them working together (while Delilah has her hidden agenda on the side) to figure this out and build towards that climax. Even with the pacing and development problems, this is higher on the list because I just really enjoyed it- it was light and fun and I hope we get a chance to see these characters again.

5. Poison Tree This was something that I really wanted out of a new TDOS book- it delved deeper into parts of the world that had been mentioned before- the Bruja Guilds, SingleEarth, the Mistari, and all of that serves to set the scene for Promises to Keep. The concept was this cool deconstructed/reconstructed whodunnit story. It was more complicated than the typical TDOS plot, so I appreciate the ambition. That said, the execution wasn’t great- I often had to pause and go back in order to keep the facts straight and figure out who knows what, which was distracting. Another reason why this didn’t rank higher was that for some reason, I didn’t connect as much with these characters as I have in other books. The pacing was odd, I didn’t like that it came to a point where everyone had figured the main part of the mystery out, but instead of going directly to the climax, it took a detour into relationship drama, which slowed down the momentum. I think it would’ve made more sense to put Sarik and Alysia into a situation where they were forced to work together (rather than that brief but drawn out thing with Sarik and Christian). There would’ve been more tension, conflict, and forward momentum, and because they’re the two leads that were supposed to be focused on, it would’ve felt less like a detour.

4. Persistence of Memory This was a very good return to TDOS. It feels very familiar in how the new characters fit into the world. It struck a good balance between introducing new characters and having them coexist with concepts and characters that we’ve heard of before. I felt the same spark while reading this as I felt when I first read the original quartet. Like, this entirely new book made me feel nostalgic, and that’s not to be underestimated. I really loved the two protagonists and I was very invested in both of their stories. I particularly loved Shevaun because her struggle with her fear of becoming human again is one that we don’t often see in vampire fiction. I also think both she and Adjila are the perfect embodiment of beings who’ve been around for centuries and just don’t have the same morals and boundaries that humans do. I don’t normally read these books for the romance, but both canon ships here were really well done and believable, and also paralleled each other in an interesting way. And I loved the oddly wholesome focus on found/chosen family. Also, this gets extra points for everyone dunking on Alexander every time he’s mentioned.

I didn’t rank this higher because I wished Erin was more involved in figuring out what was going on with her. I didn’t really like that after a certain point, it felt like Sassy took over as protagonist. Still, I really enjoyed it, the ending was very satisfying (I loved that it was a straight up happy/optimistic ending instead of a bittersweet or abrupt one like most of the TDOS endings had been so far).

3. Promises to Keep This was a bold ending to the series. It took a lot of guts to basically blow up the world that you spent nearly 20 years creating and I admire that. It was a really engaging story that truly showed the full extent of what ahar was capable of as a writer at that time and the full extent of what a TDOS book could be. I think this time ahar really nailed the pacing (which was something that had always been a bit shaky in the past). We got to spend enough time with Jay and get to know him (it was a good choice to have the protagonist be a character we’ve met before but could still get to know more). I liked seeing everything we’ve learned from all the previous books come together and come into play. And I especially loved that our MVP Caryn got the HEA she deserves. The little epilogues at the end were fun to read (only, I’m mad we didn’t hear anything about Risika. Especially because she does get mentioned (and we finally know that 1) she found out about what happened to her mom, and 2) she and Kaleo have active, ongoing beef over it)). It really felt like a finale, but at the same time, it felt like a new beginning and I can’t wait for new books in this post-Promises world.

This could’ve ranked higher, but I did have a problem with Brina. In terms of personality, etc., I loved her and she was fun to get to know, but I can’t get past the whole slave owner thing and how that aspect of her was handled. I wished that her character arc was more about realizing that enslaving people is objectively bad rather than having her keep pointing out Jay’s incidental hypocrisy as if it weren’t a false equivalence. Her happy ending just felt a little unearned- the only real ‘penance’ she performed wrt being a slave owner was a tacked-on apology during the ritual and a sentence about how she freed her own slaves (again, no mention of whether or not all slavery has ended), and even though she was turned human, it’s not framed as a great or permanent loss, and on top of that she also gets witch powers.

2. In The Forests of the Night I admit, this ranking is mostly based on nostalgia...but it’s still a very solid book to kick off the series, set the vibes, and introduce us to this world and what kind of series this will be. It’s not the best of the series in terms of writing quality, plot, or scope, but of the original quartet, I think ITFOTN holds up the best. For a YA book of that era, especially one written by someone of its own target demographic, this felt very mature. It wasn’t trying to talk down to its audience and that meant a lot to me. It showed me that YA could be dramatic without being overwrought, serious without being an ‘issues’ book. It tackled questions of identity, morality, faith, power, and freedom, all framed within a fast-paced revenge story. Most of all, Risika is such an interesting, complicated character and her journey was both relatable and entertaining. Of all the endings in this series, the ending of ITFOTN was the most satisfying for me in that the main character had to change and sacrifice, and in the end she got what she truly deserved even if it wasn’t entirely happy. My only complaint is that we don’t see more of Risika throughout the series, especially when there’s clearly more to her story.

1. All Just Glass The TDOS books are fine as standalones and it’s cool that each one makes it feel like whoever you’re reading about is just a small part of a bigger world, but All Just Glass shows how good it can be when we go deeper into a particular story and give it more time to develop. That said, I don’t think it would’ve been as good as it was if it was written right after Shattered Mirror. There’s a very clear improvement in writing quality and storytelling that can only come from 10 years of experience.

While it didn’t fix all the problems I had with SM (mainly, I would’ve preferred it if Sarah didn’t go back to the Ravenas in the end), AJG made a great choice in shifting to a different, more cohesive theme and illustrating it across a compelling ensemble cast. It cleverly plays on our expectations of the Vida line that were based on the limited scope of SM in order to show that contrary to what we’ve seen previously, this is actually an institution that’s in decline. The Vidas aren’t this great power ruling over the rest of the Macht witches- they’re actually these fundamentalist/extremist outliers who are on the fringes clinging to the ‘old ways’ while everyone else kind of does what they want and their decline is directly related to their obsessive adherence to tradition at all costs. What’s so great about this is that it’s not just a sequel, it’s a subversion of SM that also sets the tone of the new TDOS series in anticipation of the inevitable end.

General Notes

I loved reading these all back to back and watching ahar grow as a writer, watching the world unfold right before my eyes.

It was interesting to see the difference between the two series. I found most of the books in the new series to be generally more engaging because they’re based around a central mystery (What’s the connection between Erin and Shevaun? Who is Samantha? Who attacked SingleEarth? Who’s the shapeshifter?). I also liked that rather than shy away from mentioning technology and trying to pretend that it doesn’t exist or that we’re still in the early 2000s, ahar really leaned into it and in doing so, made the stories feel more realistic.

The original quartet was very aesthetically cohesive, it was a series of vignettes that purely aimed to explore a particular piece of the world. The new series, however, felt cohesive in that each of the books is building towards the end and showing a piece of the puzzle that sets the scene for PtK (PoM gives us more about the Tristes, ToD gives us the elementals, AJG and PT are about groups that are on the decline with their fates based on whether or not they choose to align with the rising power of SingleEarth).

On kind of a petty note, I wanted to mention how much I hate all the new covers (both for the new TDOS series and for the re-release of the original quartet) and I was really disappointed in how low-effort the marketing was for the new series. Even just reading the synopsis for PT and PtK was painful because they seemed slapped together at the last minute like no one cared. I think it was a real missed opportunity to draw in a new audience because they were coming out just as the YA boom, particularly in vampire fiction, was happening.

The biggest takeaway I got from this marathon is a huge respect and appreciation for this extensive world and cast of characters that ahar built (and then had the courage to entirely upend). I know mainstream attention isn’t everything, but I just really hope ahar gets their flowers because this is a great (and highly influential) body of work that’s so different and even ahead of its time.

Anyway, that’s my take on the series. I might make this re-read an annual thing because this was fun. Also, as I was reading, I made sure to note factual info about the world and the characters, so I’ll be making new additions/edits to the reference materials soon.

#Nyeusigrube #amelia atwater rhodes #Den of Shadows #In the Forests of the Night #Demon In My View #Shattered Mirror #Midnight Predator #Persistence of Memory #Token of Darkness #All Just Glass #Poison Tree #Promises to Keep #reviews #digressions

2 notes · View notes