#it's another first reserved for alec

[innominaterifter]

Alec/Regent cosplay from "Worm"

This idea started with a song. It grabbed my temporal lobes with the first notes, flashed with the thought “Damn, I must have to film Regent to this music!”, and didn’t let go until I made this video.

Overall, I'm happy (at least I can think about something else, not walk around with my hyperfixation itching brain, and don't listen to this song on repeat hundreds of times, haha).

The shoot was dangerous, infuriating, and fun all at the same time. Well, like Alec himself, in fact.

Dangerous: location. Abandoned, half-burnt building, littered with charred boards with protruding nails and threateningly swaying half-burnt roof parts that were ready to fall on us from above at any moment.

Infuriating: children, teenagers, young people exploring this building - there were surprisingly many of them, every half hour someone came.

Fun: Well, cosplay is fun in itself. The dumbfounded faces of random observers. And a funny story that happened at the end.

All in all, I had a great time!

What I failed:

1. The color of the wig in the sun turned out to be too brownish-red, and Alec has dark hair. I'll try dyeing the wig and see what happens.

2. The scepter was made in a hurry, not functional, I will make another one.

3. The crown does not fit well on the head; it needs to be secured with something, but so that it is not noticeable.

4. I have not yet been able to fully convey Regent's motor patterns. He should move differently than I can now. I like some of the moves that I came up with, but many others are definitely not what I need. I will deal with Alec's movements, it turned out to be more difficult than I thought.

I wanted to convey the laxity, sloppy movements, and, at the same time, grace without going into femininity. But so far, I have not managed to do this mix as I intended. Some of the movements are too stiff. Part of the problem was the need to balance in a mask with limited visibility on a burnt fallen beam with protruding nails, with the possibility of falling on the same ones lying nearby. But is this an excuse? I need to practice more.

But overall, I'm very pleased with what I've achieved so far.

A funny story as a bonus. At the end of the shoot, I accidentally scared off a couple who decided to retire to an abandoned deserted (as they assumed) building.

Judging by their faces, they definitely did not expect the appearance of a human in a mask, unusual clothes, and twirling a scepter in their fingers.

For my part, I didn’t expect to see them either. Normally, I would be extremely embarrassed to catch someone in such an intimate moment.

But this time, I was overcome by a wave of unexpected mischief. I giggled, pirouetted to go out and chirped to them over my shoulder: “Oh, don’t pay attention, I’m just a tooth fairy flying about its business, consider that I’m no longer here!”.

I hope I haven't completely ruined their mood.

P.S. And, yes, the video is a little about me too: I’m usually a reserved person, but sometimes... drama happens.

[alexanderlightweight]

Hope your yard work went well and the heat wasn't too strong! On this not-but-still Wednesday, I would like to prompt either established Malec with one making flower crowns/bouquets for the other, or not-established Malec with pining Alec making courting flower bouquets but hesitating to give them to Magnus - basically I'd like to see our pretty boys with flowers, sfw/nsfw as you'd like 🌻

thank you!! I did conquer the yard!!! I think it may have also conquered me a bit but that's what happened when you're allergic and disabled and doing yard work ^_^ still worth it to do it myself rn tho. I like yard work, I just complain because its also hard and exhausting and I'm allergic to half of it. which means I just get more stubborn tbh.

this is in the petals vs. because Alec and Magnus love their flower crowns and their garden and each other in most verses but especially this verse. they're as soft as petals for each other.

and I hope you enjoy, it's just something soft and sweet between them

<3 lumine

in his wake petals fall

Alec normally lets Magnus make the flower crowns, however he’s been tempted by the star jasmine climbing up the trellis.

It’s delicate and fragrant and the vines tangle with his fingers, Magnus’ magic as eager for contact as Alec is.

It’s not a perfect crown, not like the ones Magnus makes, but it’s elegant enough and it will hold together and that’s all Alec needs.

One crown is for his own brow and the other he holds carefully, with a care normally reserved for adamas fragments and newly born babes.

Magnus is on the phone, voice terse and bordering angry and Alec hides the crown behind his back.  The last thing he wants is Magnus reacting to the sight of it and ruining his phone call.

There are two ways it could go.

One, Magnus is overly charmed and his anger disappears, thus letting some undeserving lout get away with wasting his time.

Or two, he will become even more enraged and eviscerate his client until there is nothing left of them before kissing Alec breathless.

As much as Alec enjoys the latter option, he doesn’t want to risk the first and also, the client might be important.

Not more important than Alec and his flower crowns — Alec knows better than to even think such a thing near Magnus who will then utterly prove him wrong — but still, important enough to be careful.

Alec shuffles to the side and places the crown behind the teakettle, easy to retrieve but where Magnus won’t be able to see it from where his magic is rippling through the air.

Alec watches it with delighted amusement, reaching out his fingers to pass through the vibrant red energy and charmed when it turns purple-blue and wreathes around his fingers. 

It catches Magnus’ attention enough that his anger wanes enough for a delighted smile and the blowing of a magical kiss that Alec catches.

It’s warm and soft and filled with adoration and Alec wishes he had the magic to send one back, but instead he simple walks over and presses a gentle kiss to Magnus’ jaw and then his forehead.

Magnus relaxes then, leaning back against Alec when he braces himself, letting Magnus use his strength.

—

“What would I do without you, hmm?” Magnus murmurs quietly, the words almost too soft to be heard and then the moment is broken by yet another tedious question.

Magnus is about to send magic through the phone and set the werewolf he’s dealing with on fire.

Alas, Magnus cannot go killing all the alpha’s in the East Coast no matter how much easier it would make his life.

Even Alexander’s kiss to his hair doesn’t calm him.  Not when he catches the gentle scent of jasmine and realizes just how long he’s been on the call.

Alexander made himself a flower crown!

He now dons it, soft and luxurious and entirely made without Magnus magic — except the fact that it was grown with his magic but still, it should have been twinned by his fingers and magic.

Not that Alexander didn’t do a lovely job, but it’s the pride of it.

Alexander is supposed to be crowned by Magnus’ hand and he feels as though his client has stolen a bit of peace and happiness away.

It’s with anger sparking that he verbally cuts down the werewolf’s pride to a more manageable degree and then hangs up.

He’ll call back tonight.

Or tomorrow.

Whenever he next thinks of it and once he has corrected his erroneous mistake.

“Darling, I’ve failed you.” Magnus murmurs, truly distraught despite the fact that Alexander is looking at him with nothing but charmed fondness and love.

“Actually, I wanted to surprise you. I just didn’t want to interrupt.” And then Alexander is leaving him — which is truly the most heinous of crimes.  

Except then he is forgiven.

Instantly, because he’s made Magnus a charming matching crown with the slightest bit of a lopsided vine and Magnus will crush stars and diamonds to ensure that this crown never fades.

“I love it.” 

Magnus doesn’t even let Alexander speak, motioning with an eager gesture and it gets him several kisses before the crown is placed gently on his coiffed hair.

It smells divine but it’s even better because Alexander’s angelic magic is delicate and intertwined with Magnus’ own magic and the vines.

A small gift of himself that has Magnus pulling him in for a kiss.

-

yes Alec weighs his choices based on whether or not he thinks it will help or deter. like sometimes its good that he can redirect Magnus and sometimes, it wont actually help in the long run and he needs to consider that because they make each other too happy

[zelda-cooper]

Ace and Tech Relationship (And how to subvert a dynamic)

Since the repercussions of Duck and Ace's relationship were reasonably good and you seemed interested, I'll continue. This time, there's a good relationship in the series, but I want to work on something different. Any questions, suggestions or anything like that, reblog or comment on the blog. ^^

Here again I'm talking about the relationship between my characters from my Loonatics Unleashed AU, this time it's Tech and Ace. I already have Lexi and Ace ready too, so stay tuned. And taking the dynamics of Bugs Bunny and the Coyote as a basis... We can begin!

For the few who don't know (maybe they really don't know, but let's see...), there were some shorts that the Coyote and Bugs Bunny had together and that, basically... He was just another one who wanted to eat him, literally... The difference here is that the Coyote, in this version (in addition to being given the name Wile E. Coyote) he spoke, and quite a bit. There was also a somewhat drastic change in his characterization, in which he was a genius and boasted of being, in addition to being a genius, a hunter... And this was unbearable for Bugs Bunny to hear, in "Operation Rabbit", in their first "dialogue", Bugs Bunny couldn't say anything and it was so boring that I think he was going to fall asleep in a while. But the fact that he is very arrogant and so convinced of his ability ends up falling into the same problem as Tom (from Tom and Jerry), which is... He is so confident of himself that he ends up underestimating his prey and acting like an idiot.

Bugs Bunny, on the other hand, we already know... Centered and rarely loses his cool, even in dangerous situations, with one or two exceptions. Here with Coyote, it's no different... There are even some shorts where they exchange provocations and jokes with each other, so it's both a battle of strategy and dialogue at times. Now, going to Loonatics Unleashed...

Going back to the original Loonatics Unleashed, Tech and Ace's relationship is well explored, but not exactly very deep. It's the "leader and partner" relationship, in the sense of...Tech respects Ace's authority and Ace respects Tech's genius, with one or two moments when the rabbit doesn't understand what his partner is saying (but I do understand, the only one who understands is Rev... -3-). There is no mention of the rivalry between the species, unlike Rev (in this case, his family) who does have a mention in one episode. It would be interesting to comment on at least something like that... Now, my version... And, in the same vein as Duck and Ace, let's invert the dynamic...

Briefly commenting on Alec Bunny (aka Ace Portal), since I had already talked about him in a previous blog... Ace is a character who is arrogant and very self-centered to hide his insecurities, also being impulsive in many things and picking fights with someone when he can. At least, in my version... Now speaking in more depth... He is a person who does not understand the gravity of their mission and, in tense moments, he always tries to make a joke to lighten the mood, but ends up making everything worse. Besides the fact that all his egotism makes him brag about his achievements and greatly exaggerate some things in the story, which can make him unbearable.

Now, as we speak of Teodoro E. Coyote (or Technous Latrans, also nicknamed "Tech"), he is a much more reserved person and is very centered, going by the reason of things. Also having a good intuition to identify lies, whether from villains or from people close to you. Like Duck, he is observant, but more in the sense of improvising things, like improvising a plan or a weapon in the middle of the fight. And he's also a good aimer... But, he's also not very good at interacting with people, being a "social idiot" at times. Interacting with people like Ace is unbearable for him and he can't go more than three minutes without feeling sleepy from interacting with Ace.

You can already understand... Ace tries to be a "cool hero leader", who is super capable and can achieve everything, while Tech sometimes stays quiet, ignoring him or refuting a lot of things in his stories. It's not bad on the level of Ace and Duck (which they do have, their relationship is AWFUL)... But still, they don't get along very well. The contrast between an arrogant and impulsive personality and a more reserved and focused one ends up creating some problems between them.

Well, folks... That's basically it! Any questions or comments, again... Reblog, comment or do anything similar on the blog. The next relationship I'll talk about is, perhaps, Ace and Lexi. Or maybe Tech and Rev, who knows? That's it... BYE!!! ^^

[destinygoldenstar]

AnalyzGolden Ranks Every Disventure Camp Season 1 Character

Well, I said I was gonna do it, so here you go.

I'm ranking every Season 1 character in Disventure Camp.

The remake, cause that's the one I watched. This tier list has the beta versions too, so I just wanted to clarify.

Keep in mind this entire ranking is just MY opinion based on how I viewed things. So... HOT TAKE ALERT(?????)

Idk, maybe I'm basic and all my faves are the fan faves. Idk.

There's no such thing as taking a tier list objectively.

I know some people take that as such and don't hear people out cause they just skip to where they place them on the tiers. "WHOA HEY YOU HAVE THAT CHARACTER A B?! YOU DIDN'T LIKE THEM?!"

CHILL. A B is NOT a FAIL. I'm not the American Education System.

F is for the GARBAGE characters. That I NEVER want to see again. They're a speck on my screen and I hated everything about them and they hurt to watch.

D is less terrible than that. Maybe there was some value I could find in them, like a few jokes or a good episode that prevents them from being an F, but I still did not enjoy them.

C is the 'completely average' tier. Yep. That's a character. Don't hate them. Don't love them. They're fine. But I almost never think about them. I often give C's to the bland characters I have very little to say about.

B is a bit similar to C but there's more merit to be found with their character that I can see. Maybe there's something I find interesting about them, even if it's not utilized to its fullest potential. I like them, but that's it. I often give B's to characters that I do like, but weren't utilized fully.

A is a solid, entertaining, intriguing character. There may be one or two things holding them back from being higher, but they are still very good characters.

S is a GREAT character. I have very little complaints I have about them, I enjoy their story, and I can see myself thinking about them quite a bit. I love them. That doesn't mean they're perfect, but I love them.

(Edit) And then there's another tier I ended up putting above that. WE STAN IN THIS HOUSE. Speaks for itself. My BIAS shows very strongly here. This is reserved for the characters I absolutely kin and adore. That doesn't mean they're perfect, but I stan them and that's all that matters.

I will say, out of THIS cast, I don't think there is ANY F tier character. Not a single one. Which is impressive. In Total Drama, in every season, there's at least ONE really REALLY awful character that I can't stand. (I fucking HATE Sierra more than words can possibly describe) So I have to congratulate this cast for that.

This order ISN'T based off of elimination order. Because I have A LOT more to say about the Post Merge characters than the Pre Merge characters. So I wanted to space it out. So it's random.

So let's get into it!

We're starting this list with ASHLEY

The cowgirl character. I'm surprised Total Drama didn't make a cowgirl/cowboy character. DON'T YOU DARE REMIND ME OF PAKETIEW, THAT SEASON DOESN'T EXIST.

I love her design, first of all. You immediately know what she's supposed to be, and she's really pretty. If we were ranking these based off of character designs, she'd be an S tier. That was the first thing that stuck out to me about her.

On top of that, she was very sweet and assuring to her teammates, she wasn't afraid to say her opinion, and she was one of the only level headed people of her alliance. At least, that didn't get the card straight away from being victimized.

When Lilly got accused for burning their stuff in Episode 4, Ashley very quickly saw through the trick and sided with her ally, even when Nick didn't. This is an episode earlier than her and Lilly's double elimination, so both of them got to be the smart ones of the team that saw right through Fiore and tried to act on it.

Their plan failed, because they outcasted Alec and Ellie in the beginning, so that was karma, but it's the thought that counts.

Ashley's whole individual arc is basically "Don't judge a book by its cover". Because she's a Pre-Merge boot, it's a very short arc. She believes the villain because the villain is a child, denies her ally warning her, faces consequences of that, and then realizes the child is a psychopath and vows to not judge people before getting to know them. Simple. Straightforward.

I will say though, her elimination was not only very rigged because of the red marker mechanic, but it also could've been avoided HAD SHE AND EVERYONE IN THAT ALLIANCE COMMUNICATED AND CAME TO AN AGREEMENT.

Seriously. This frustrated me so much watching it. They're in a four person alliance, the majority alliance that can dictate the votes, AND THEY DON'T WORK TOGETHER. Once Will gets framed, they go their separate ways, which DOOMS Will. Then their majority is gone, and it's a domino effect that results in the eliminations of EVERYONE in that alliance. Including Ashley.

It's BEYOND stupid. You're in an alliance, YOU WORK TOGETHER. That is the BASICS of alliancing!

Even the worst alliances in Total Drama have the sense to WORK TOGETHER, LIKE ALLIANCES ARE SUPPOSED TO DO.

REALITY TV'S STUPIDEST ALLIANCE.

Of the four members of reality tv's stupidest alliance however, I will say I think Ashley is my favorite. Not only because of her cowgirl motif and her caring and active nature, but also because she has one of the more empathetic motives for wanting to win the million.

In Episode 3, it's revealed that a heatwave destroyed Ashley's farm, and she's competing for money to save it. It's a simple motive to be sure, but I really appreciate these.

In Total Drama, we don't really get any motives for characters wanting to win the money besides 🎵"I WANNA BE FAMOUS"🎵. And that works for that show. Everyone in that show is a teenager after all.

In this show however, you get characters with actual motives and reasons for being here and wanting to win the million. It helps to make you route for them, especially since they all have much different backgrounds from each other.

Out of the four members of reality tv's stupidest alliance, I think Ashley is the one I would want to see in another season, because I think she has a lot of potential to be an interesting character if she's allowed to make it further.

So I'm gonna give her a B. I like her.

OH YEAH AND BEFORE I FORGET. At the very end of the season, THIS happened...

"After I got voted out, I was able to continue things with Will and... now we're dating!"

WAIT WHAT?!

UM... WHERE DID THAT COME FROM?! HUH?!?!?!

And I thought Ripper & Axel were such a crack ship.

It came completely out of nowhere. I mean they definitely did interact, don't get me wrong, but I read them as platonic the entire time. So it was SO RANDOM to me.

I have no feelings about it other than "WELP, THAT'S A CRACK SHIP RIGHT THERE".

I don't hate it either, they're both good people, so I can't say this is a bad thing for them.

ALEC

This guy made it A LOT FARTHER in the game than I expected him to. I said I thought he was gonna be an early Pre-Merge boot and be Fiore's victim...

Spoilers, yes he did, but he also became her ally. That was a neat twist.

He's not a very good person obviously. He's an assistant to a psychopath, WILLINGLY mind you, he's a dirty backstabber multiple times, and he's heavily implied to be a SHIT parent.

"I wish my son was more like you."

He says this to Fiore. A PSYCHOPATH. He wishes his own kid was more like a psychopath.

YOU SICK MAN.

But I don't rank these based on morality. I rank these based on how I enjoy them as characters.

I gotta hand it to Alec for being at the very least multi-dimensional. His story about his rocky marriage with his wife and wanting to win the million to fix it is a very interesting idea for a character. Something Total Drama would never do because in that show they're all teenagers and not 30 something married men. And I like that he came to terms with the fact that divorce was the best option for him.

It came rather abruptly, but he made that choice regardless.

And even with him being a bad parent to his own child, his bond with Fiore is actually pretty sweet, ngl. Especially in Episode 11 where I actually FELT something for him trying to save this girl from the dark.

Honestly, just adopt her. You two are great for each other.

I think the duo works. Despite Alec being 'Fiore's lackey' he actually does some stuff on his own. He's the one that figured out the VR challenge was VR, not Fiore. He's the one that won the individual immunity in Episode 6. And was the main associator with Ellie where he betrays her. THREE TIMES. Yeah he deserved to get ditched in the cave.

Okay, with that last one, I understood the first time why he did it. I personally would rather have a competent teammate over a child on my team of two, but Fiore isn't completely useless so I get it. The other two times were just plain stupid and he didn't even need to betray her to get what he wanted. I can excuse the Episode 10 case cause that was more so Fiore and he just tagged along.

Episode 8, he just votes out Gabby, the ONLY one Ellie wholeheartedly trusted, even though both girls CONFESSED to be willing to work with him! And by doing that, he Fiore and Grett became the minority, dooming Grett next episode, which could've easily been himself depending on the majority's choice.

He was LUCKY that episode that they chose to boot Grett instead of him.

And it's this very thing that also gets him eliminated in the semi-finals. Cause yeah, he proved himself to be a very unreliable ally. No wonder Ellie sabotaged them so she could make the finals. I would've done the same thing in her shoes.

So in terms of SOCIAL gameplay... he was TRASH at it. I'm gonna be honest. And @banshee-king, one of my repliers of my reactions, pointed out this very thing too.

And I COMPLETELY agree with them here.

Not only was he very closed off at the start of the game, very introverted, didn't even TRY to take a part in anything social that was going on with his team. Which is probably why reality tv's stupidest alliance didn't invite him. If it weren't for reality tv's stupidest alliance being, well, stupid, Alec for sure would've been kicked out early.

And THEN he decides that his main ally in the game would be with Fiore. After she had PROVEN to be a psychopathic manipulative backstabber, and also had physical limitations due to being a child. WHAT DO YOU THINK SHE WAS GONNA DO TO HIM?!

I don't care if you were in Papa Bear mode. Ellie would've been a better ally to keep around, or hell, even Ashley or Lilly. At least THEN in the Final 4 challenge, you're not seen as the bigger physical threat to the other campers. Those three girls have their moments of being physical queens. On top of that, Ellie is NOT entirely terrible, and Ashley and Lilly were good people, so they would've had your back.

But no, instead let's ally with the demon child with a track record for backstabbing people. GUESS WHAT, SHE'S GONNA BACKSTAB YOU TOO.

I KNEW Fiore was gonna do that to him at some point. When she did, I was HOWLING. IT WAS HYSTERICAL.

So, yeah, it was COMPLETELY BELIEVEABLE to ME that Alec lost.

So... I think I'm gonna give Alec a B as well. But a HIGH B, so he's ahead of Ashley. He's BORDERING an A.

I think this is JUST BECAUSE of MY SUBJECTIVE TASTE.

And in that sense he was NOT the most interesting character to me. In these types of shows, I much prefer/grasp onto characters with a more emotional range to them. And I'm not saying Alec is stoic, but he's also WILLINGLY someone who stays out of conflict.

And sometimes that can be funny.

"I'm not going to be part of this argument."

*holds back a laugh* Alec's actually so based for that.

Y'all want less DRAMA in TOTAL DRAMA?

Simple answer.

You just walk away from it.

But Alec's personality is just so mundane, chill, and stern compared to everyone else. And I CAN see how that would appeal to some people. Especially if you hate the drama going on, Alec would be the "PREACH BROTHER" character for you.

BUT FOR ME I much prefer the Lindsay-type lackey characters. Yes she was a lackey in Island but she was also a very openly comedic character with her own loveable personality and you felt for her when she got robbed. I DO hope that in another season Alec gets the Action Lindsay treatment where he stands as his own character without anyone else to report to. I think that would be fun.

Also, there's the subjective factor of 'He's a full grown adult married man with marriage issues and I'm in my twenties with a healthy relationship', so... automatically I relate to him a lot less. Not that I need to relate to him to like him.

FOR EXAMPLE, I don't relate to this next character AT ALL, but I love them regardless, and it's GRETT

Um... it's no secret I like her.

Okay QUEEN, maybe wait a few days before you decide to SLAY, okay? 💅

BUT YOU KNOW WHAT, SCREW IT. WE'RE MAKING ANOTHER TIER.

WE STAN GRETCHEN CLARK IN THIS HOUSE

THIS WOMAN IS A DELIGHTFUL BAD BITCH AND SHE DESERVES A CROWN FOR THE QUEEN SHE IS. I STANNED HER AND SUPPORTED HER WHEN NO ONE ELSE DID AND NO ONE ELSE SHOULD. NO ONE SHOULD EVER SUPPORT HER IN UNIVERSE, BUT I, OUT OF UNIVERSE, DO.

Okay I guess I should explain myself why I like her so much.

Ever since Heather DOMINATED Total Drama Island, it's been a trend for these kind of shows to have a villain/villainess characters. More of them being women than guys... however you feel about that. There was Heather, Jose, and Julia, and I really liked all three of them in their roles. Courtney's also one of them in Action... I don't LOVE her character, but she was good in that season.

So going into this show, THEY DON'T EVEN HIDE WHO GRETT IS SUPPOSED TO BE. SHE IS THE SEASON'S RESIDENT BAD BITCH.

And I gotta respect that choice. I don't hate Julia being a twist or anything, but it's refreshing to have an evil character CONFESS to being evil from the start. So I completely supported it, because not only did she OWN IT, but it also led to some GREAT one liners.

"I'd like to know who picked the teams and why mine got stuck with the old lady, a child, and four guys who looked like they've never seen sunlight."

And from there, I just really enjoyed whenever she was on screen. Because not only was she a bad bitch, but she was also a good player of the Pre-Merge game.

She immediately allied with someone who was an easy target to use and manipulate so she had a social ground to stand behind. She also quickly got associated with the team's leader, Tom, to be on even better terms to avoid elimination. It was even thanks to this that she got Tom to flip and get Drew eliminated over her ally Gabby. SMART MOVE.

She also absolutely SLAYED in Episode 6. She got FOUR of the five opponents she had in that episode out of the picture, and ONLY lost the challenge to Gabby because Gabby betrayed her.

If you think about it, she ONLY got voted out that episode because Gabby stood up for herself. She was playing the game VERY WELL.

Her only flaw in her gameplay was, well, she treated people like shit. Especially Gabby.

There's not a lot of Pre-Merge villains in Total Drama. Basically 'villain characters who are villains in Pre-Merge and then get eliminated earlier for the Merge villains to out themselves and shine'. In Total Drama, there was Justin in Action, and MK in the TDI Reboot.

GRETT BLOWS BOTH OF THEM OUT OF THE WATER, I'M SORRY.

(And I like MK, mind you. But she was underutilized.)

She is BY FAR my favorite of these 'PRE-MERGE VILLAINS'.

I don't think she even takes anything away from Fiore as the main villain. She works, AND it doesn't come at the expense of her or the main villain. She WORKS as a villain for PRE-MERGE.

But there's also another reason why I stanned her. That's because of her personality.

Obviously she's a bad person. I don't support anything she does. When I say 'I support her' it's a joke, and I mean that as in 'I support the fictional character's characterization'. I DO NOT ENDORSE KILLING OLD LADIES.

BUT it was HOW she approached being a bad person that intrigued me. I was surprised with the depth they gave her. I thought she would've just been the one dimensional "Mean Girl" stereotype, and be done with it. And I probably still would've liked her. But they went further than that.

One, she's BRUTALLY HONEST about how awful she is. Even she herself does NOT view herself as a good person. It's like if Julia was outed of the closet as a lesbian-I mean sociopath from the beginning. She confesses to getting people 'mysteriously sick' to win a beauty pageant on LIVE TV, she tells Gabby the moment they meet that she's not interested in friendships, she confesses to hating Gabby's personality and that she only wants to use Gabby, and confesses that her only social interactions are for gameplay only.

And I was surprised by that. Julia tried to hide who she was. Courtney is a person who is horrible, but doesn't think she is and goes around saying she's the best person in the world. Heather doesn't exactly hide her malice either, but she still PRETENDS to be Lindsay & Beth's friend to abuse them.

Grett doesn't do that. She KNOWS she's terrible, and doesn't feel the need to hide that at all. She also fully confesses to her abuse on Gabby and doesn't even try to act like she's a friend.

There's also the fact she actually has HUMANITY despite this.

In Episode 5 we learn that her parents CLEARLY favor her brother over her, because her brother is ten times more successful than she is. They don't even once acknowledge her outside 'your brother is better than you'. So ALL of her actions and why she came on the show was to prove herself as a competent individual who could win something in her life, so she would be NOTICED for her efforts.

But because of her nasty personality, everyone just viewed her as a worthless fat ass who cannot do shit on her own. And her relying on Gabby's alliance for her gameplay to work was just proof of that.

I felt for Grett. Even when she was getting the consequences she deserved. What was she doing wrong? Was she really somebody who would never be worth it and never accomplish anything? After all, these other people in her life already have so much accomplishments, and what could she gain?

Then the answer comes to her after she's voted out and joins the Purple Team, and they form the Villains Team. She very quickly bonds with Fiore and Alec, and feels like she can be herself around them. She found that there were other people just like her. How sweet.

She even listens to Alec and Fiore when they call her out on her faulty moves. She takes it to learn from them. Because of this, the team wins Episode 7, and she wins immunity in Episode 8.

It's why I really love Fiore calling out Grett's main fault of worrying what her family thinks of her, and teaches her that what she needs is to look out for herself and ONLY prove things to herself. That's what matters. Even if her family doesn't support her, there are people as nasty as her that she can relate to and bond with, and if she loves herself, that can lead to a much healthier lifestyle.

(Grett needs an MK in her life, man)

So, in a way, a ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE, where you're alone, really proves to Grett that Fiore's advice has merit.

Maybe it IS a bit rushed, and due to the Episode's rough pacing, you don't see a lot of Grett's survival in this VR on screen, and I CAN see that as a criticism. Had we watched her survival more, it would definitely be more powerful.

But for me it wasn't TOO big of a dealbreaker because of Episode 7 and 8 backing her up as finding a Villain Found Family even before Fiore called her out, and not having Teal Team to lean on anymore. So it WASN'T completely out of nowhere.

It's because of this that her elimination was AMAZING.

"Fiore, Alec, even though you betrayed me, I won't lie. I had a good time with you."

At least she's taking this well.

"It will be difficult, but I'll try and take what you said to heart. I'll stop trying to prove anything to anyone. In fact... that includes you."

"FUCK ALL OF YOU. PEACE OUT!!"

😂👏

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSS

Queen Queen Queen Queen QUEEEEENNNNN

👑

The contrast between her fakeout elimination and her actual elimination, where in one she's crying for being a failure and the other she's taking pride in what she's accomplished, SPEAKS FOR ITSELF.

Grett is a GREAT antagonistic character, and a good character, and I stan.

Oooohh... this one...

One character I thought I would stan, but only ended up being very disappointed with, is NICK

To the point where, knowing where he ends up, I like him a lot less.

He's a D. I'm sorry.

This is the character with the most wasted potential for me.

At the start, I liked him conceptually. He's a spoiled rich guy who was sheltered from the world by his parents up to age 26. After an argument with his parents he left the house and joined the show to make it on his own. But because of his upbringing, he still maintains the instincts of spoiled nature as though he was still at home and isn't that cut out for survival when he wants to be.

That is such a good concept for a character in this show.

I thought they were setting up some grand development for him as a character where he learned the ins and outs of survival and standing on his own and getting his hands dirty.

BUT THEY DO NOTHING WITH WHAT THEY SET UP.

He's just a spoiled brat stereotype. And that's it.

Looking back, I now realized that NICK WAS THE DRIVING FORCE OF WHY REALITY TV'S STUPIDEST ALLIANCE CRUMBLED.

HE was the one who decided to BETRAY his ally, and pinned the blame on the girls for not wanting to do that.

Especially Lilly, who I THOUGHT HE LIKED. WHERE THE HELL DID HIS DISTASTE FOR HER COME FROM?!

Yeah I get being pissed about your stuff being burned, I DO see him being the type to get upset about that. BUT he REFUSES to listen to reason when the girls try to calm him down, and even decides to TURN ON THEM.

It results in him THROWING HIS VOTE, which leads to HIS OWN ELIMINATION.

Even if he's a spoiled guy who had never been out of the house, you'd think he'd have one, ONE braincell when it came to socials.

But I guess not.

Knowing he's an early boot, I like him WAY LESS now than I did originally.

In Episode 4 I called his battle with Jake the 'Battle of the Best Boys'.

NOW looking back at it, if I had to choose between Nick and Jake I'd pick Jake in a heartbeat.

WASTED POTENTIAL.

MIRIAM

The WINNER of the season.

I think Miriam was a very good choice for a winner. She reminds me a bit of Owen and Wayne in terms of the type of winner she is.

What I mean by that is that they aren't the most physically gifted contestants or the best social gameplayers, BUT they stay in the game anyway because they're so wholesome and unassuming that nobody WANTS to eliminate them. They're also characters on NOBODY'S radar to be a potential winner.

It works very well for Owen, in my opinion. Wayne is one I don't think was handled well, but he's a bean so I can't take that anger out on him. Miriam is another case where I think this works.

Looking back, SHE DID NOT HAVE A SINGLE VOTE TO HER NAME THE ENTIRE GAME.

Every Vote Received To A Contestant:

Will - 4

Fiore - 9

Alec - 3

Drew - 4

Gabby - 10

Lill - 4

Nick - 3

Ashley - 1

Grett - 8

Tom - 6

Jake - 5

Dan - 3

Ellie - 7

Miriam - 0

THAT. SPEAKS. VOLUMES.

GUYS DO YOU THINK PEOPLE LIKING HER AROUND HAS A FACTOR? I CAN'T TELL.

Miriam was NOT on my radar to be a winner. I thought she was just a filler character going in. She would float till she sank and that would be it. But NO. SHE WON.

On top of this, Miriam also has a character arc. She starts off the show as the cranky old lady stereotype and hostile towards everyone. One would think she wouldn't even want to be here.

She roasts the younger contestants, had a stubborn personality, and had skill of her own 'back in my day'. She was just... very hostile towards everyone, even Jake who was very nice to her.

And then in Episode 5, we learn WHY she acts the way she does.

She is ALONE. Her husband and son, her only family left in her old age, were killed by a drunk driver and she blamed herself for the loss. It led her to a dark place until the show, and probably wouldn't have ever joined the show if it weren't for retirement money being ASS.

In her mind, she probably thought that she was too old to bounce back from something like that. No descendents, no family, no one left. Everyone in her life had died and she was still here.

She would be all alone when she kicked the bucket too.

It's kinda like Carl from UP.

I was absolutely touched by this story for sure, and for her to open up to Jake about this.

HER AND JAKE ARE SO WHOLESOME, OH MY GOD

I loved her interactions with him so much. I WAS TEARING UP WHEN SHE WAS DYING IN VR AND SHE CALLS HIM THE GRANDSON SHE NEVER HAD.

"Coming to this camp was worth it... I didn't think my last days would end like this... but I'm happy they were with you... you are the grandchildren I never had."

😭💗

HE'S YOUR GRANDSON. DON'T LEAVE HIM.

NOOOOOOO

"Not again!!" *cries*

AWWW JAKE, HONEY NOOOOOO 😭

Don't Make Jake Suffer Challenge. Level: Impossible.

SHIT MAN...

I KNOW IT WAS VR BUT IT STILL GOT ME.

After Episode 5 I liked Miriam a whole lot more. She was funny, the skills she would reveal were very entertaining, I loved her sass a whole lot more, and she was, BY FAR, the emotional anchor of the entire cast.

She learns to put her faith in Ellie and properly apologizes when she judged her so harshly for being the new girl. And then she calls Ellie out when she betrays them and hurts Jake and Tom.

AND EVEN THEN, she doesn't let that cloud her judgement or her gameplay. In the Semi-Finals, despite her vow for revenge, HOLDS OFF on the revenge to work WITH Ellie in the challenge and uses gameplay logic to win her over.

SHE EVEN WORKS WITH FIORE. FIORE WAS DOING WHAT SHE WANTED.

Once Jake and Tom got eliminated, MIRIAM WAS PULLING ALL THE STRINGS.

You don't mess with grandma.

But even with that I wasn't convinced she'd win because she was, well, OLD.

"Fiore had already crossed the line and Ellie is ahead of me. I can't pass Ellie with my cracking legs. What can I do...? Oh, I know, I'm gonna FAKE A HEART ATTACK."

Like... WHAT?!?!?

That was WILD. But I LOVED this game move from her cause it WORKED.

Plus it was excellent revenge.

So yes, MIRIAM EARNED THIS WIN.

She deserves an S tier.

She has a fun personality, she's good at the game, her interactions with other characters are amazing, she has a solid character arc. She's a GOOD CHARACTER AND I LOVE HER.

I don't think she's gonna be back cause of her age, and, you know, she won, but I enjoyed her in this season quite a bit.

TOM

I really enjoyed Tom as a character.

I will say, conceptually, he's kinda weird.

His gimmick is that he's a very distant and standoffish contestant on the show. A box waiting to be opened.

But in actuality, he's not here to win or for the money. He's actually A SECRET AGENT GOING UNDERCOVER TO INVESTIGATE THE CRIMES HAPPENING ON THE SHOW.

...yeah. It's kinda wild.

I don't care about the investigation itself. That plotline was super boring and I did not care for it. But I don't dock the plotline itself from Tom because Tom has more going on than just that.

And let's face it, Tom being a spy was very predictable.

I mean, when you have a character that's designed like THIS:

Your first reaction is "They're definitely hiding something"

WEAR NORMAL CLOTHES YOU TOM CRUISE WANNABE!

But to the show's credit, I think they realized that Tom was a crazy concept for a character, so they made the character's personality match it so it's not taken as seriously.

He's really bad at his job. That's not me making fun of him. It's CANON that he's bad at his job. So I can totally believe this himbo would, well, suck at his job. Had the story acted like he was a good spy and he acted like this, it would be worse. Had the story acknowledged he was a bad spy and his personality was super serious, it would be worse.

So it was much easier for me to be entertained by him as a result and be more interested in his character.

Because of the spy element, he's rather standoffish towards everyone and not very social. He's not hostile, but he's more introverted and closed off. He only really talked to people to keep his place in the game, which he needed for work, resulting in him becoming Teal Team's leader.

At least, it STARTED that way when it came to socialization. There's a certain SOMEONE who changed that, which... ooooooohh I will get to him...

I was a bit caught off guard by Tom revealing himself pretty early on to be a kind and considerate person. He's nice to his teammates. He hears them out. He was pretty likeable.

He also had his cute moments like when he got flustered from a compliment on his eyes. That was just so sweet to me.

That little detail also HAS CHARACTERIZATION CONSISTENT TO IT.

Love details like that.

It's revealed later that Tom... is actually VERY insecure.

He's really bad at his job, to the point where he's questioned if he was even meant for the role. He's also been talked down to by his bosses, making him think he's a complete failure who cannot do anything right. (Again, him being a bad spy actually works here)

So he hides himself and pretends to be something he isn't, because he thinks people would hate his real self.

And where does this stem from? Permanent reminders of failure on his face.

When he started his job, he failed at his first mission. He was taken hostage, and they proceeded to TORTURE HIM, making his body littered with scars.

"The boss wasn't happy. I was tasked to come onto this show as a contestant to investigate it. This job was my last chance, and I blew it."

Ouch...

"Were you using that mask to hide your identity or... were you...?"

"That's just an excuse. The truth is I... I felt ashamed..."

Aw...😢

So it's an insecurity on both inside AND outside. Outside, he thinks he's this ugly freak, inside he thinks he's a complete failure. Ouch.

The scene where he takes off his mask to show Jake his face is actually one of my favorite scenes in the season. Not only is the mystery cracked open, but it also leaves a good message.

Jake doesn't even FLINCH at the sight of Tom's face. He's very warm and accepting and even tells him he looks good. Cause, yeah, he DOES.

Despite imperfections painted on his face, there is MERIT to him as a person and there are people that will like him.

Your scars make you YOU, and YOU look good.

I thought it was a very sweet message.

But I can't say Tom is a flawless person, because he's got ISSUES.

This is a FLAWED CHARACTER.

THERE ARE A LOT OF THESE.

Tom is, as I've said, standoffish, he's not very good at opening up, he has a hard time listening to harsh emotions, he's quite dumb sometimes. He's also VERY DISHONEST.

I mean, he's a spy. His backstory and background REALLY inform you on his character and WHY he acts the way he does.

And honestly, I dig that. You'll find that I gravitate a lot more towards the more MESSY AND FLAWED characters. Because they're FAR MORE INTERESTING TO ANALYZE & THEY'RE FAR MORE REALISTIC.

Grett is also an example, but she kinda falls more into the 'Bad & Evil' category if we were going a Good To Evil ranking.

Tom is kind of a grey area.

I can totally see some people being annoyed by him being a LIAR. But the reason I wasn't is because, well, it made sense why he'd be like that based off of what we know about his character.

The guy even lies to HIMSELF. Like, COME ON.

I can also see people being annoyed by him getting angry at Jake. I too was annoyed that he wouldn't listen to Jake's pleas, and also shut Jake out when he tried to apologize and patch things up multiple times. Tom has anger issues for sure and is the kind of guy that needs A LOT OF TIME before he can calm down.

But I didn't BLAME HIM for being angry, because in ALL those instances, him being angry was VALID. Jake blew up in his face. He got fired. Jake broke the trust they built together. THESE ARE VALID REASONS TO BE ANGRY.

Speaking of Tom and Jake's relationship... OH GOD IT WAS AN EMOTIONAL ROLLER COASTER.

Um... I don't ship them. No I don't. You have no proof that I do.

...yeah I kinda hope you kiss now.

BUT ASIDE FROM THAT, I was really intrigued by their chemistry and I totally understood why they fell for each other.

But their relationship failed in the end because of two reasons, 1) Miscommunication. (I mean, he's a spy, what do you expect?)

And 2, the bigger one) They hate themselves.

You wanna love someone, you gotta love yourself. Otherwise you'll only continue to make the same mistakes.

And as we've established before, Tom hates himself. In more ways than one. So OF COURSE he's gonna find it hard to communicate with Jake.

Now, Jake is NOT INNOCENT. Don't get me wrong. But Tom is also not very good at interacting with people, again due to his spy lifestyle and POSSIBLY not even having a family...?

"You making a call Tom?"

"Oh... I don't think so, my family isn't home."

Tom... do you have a family? Cause it sounds like you don't.

And that's really sad to hear.

In my mind, because of how he said it, Tom was lying and he doesn't have a family. So it adds to how I'm reading him as someone who previously had no one to associate himself with.

Correct me if I'm wrong though.

Anyway, Tom and Jake hate themselves and that's why it's hard for them to love each other.

I realized looking back with subtext that Tom wasn't pushing Jake away because he hated Jake for his actions. He pushed him away because he loved him and hated/blamed himself for the HURT that proceeded to happen to them.

AND IT MAKES TOM'S ELIMINATION HURT THAT MUCH MORE, ESPECIALLY WHEN, AFTER HE DENOUNCES HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH JAKE, WE SEE HIM CRYING AT THE BUS STOP.

I CAN'T...

I knew Tom was NEVER winning the show anyway. He wasn't here for the money. He was a physical threat. There was NO SCENARIO in my head where Tom wins. But DAMMIT DID IT HAVE TO HURT THAT MUCH?!

Anyway, Tom and Jake DO LOVE each other. I can tell. IF they can work through their issues, they can make something strong. But I do think them deciding to keep distance and 'see where we are later' was a good call for both of them. Because in terms of HEALTHINESS in their relationship... it's quite a Grey Area as of right now.

THEY'RE NOT CUTE AND I DON'T FIND THE CUTE AND I DO NOT GUSH OVER THEM YOU READ NOTHING-

DELETE THAT TEXT.

There's one more thing regarding Tom, and that's the ending. I found this ending VERY RANDOM.

"After I gave them info about these crooked TV hosts and Jensen, they decided to hire me."

...wait what?

So... after he reported the host's crimes to the police... they made him a cop...

I'm pretty sure that's NOT how that works.

Tom was a SPY. He killed people in VR. He attempted murder on a child. He held a child at gunpoint. YOU'D THINK HIS THICK ASS WOULD BE IN JAIL.

Idk. It was just a very random conclusion to his character. But you know, he's happy and gets a better job. So good for him.

Um... in terms of ranking...

I'm bordering between A and S.

I think I'm gonna stick with a Low S. He's not above Miriam.

Just cause I just really enjoyed him on screen and as a character. Like I said, I gravitate towards people with issues.

And it helps that Tom is just really likeable and sweet. Some moments I'm just like "Your honor I love him and I want to give him a hug".

I'm not entirely sure what a Season 3 looks like for him. Because most of his mysteries are solved. So what's left for him aside from working through his honesty issues? That screams he's gonna be a Pre-Merge boot.

When Tom fought Jensen and the bus drove off a cliff, it was just a jumpscare and he was fine.

I thought they would do a thing where Tom faked his death (probably due to his self esteem issues and a 'get out of talking to Jake free' card) and he would SUDDENLY show up again in Season 3.

"WTF?! I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD. WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME YOU WERE ALIVE AND WHY DID YOU COME BACK?!"

Add more to Jake's depression pile.

But no. That's not what they're doing. That's fine.

(There's an angsty AU idea though)

DAN

...yeah, you know where I'm putting him. D for Dan.

It's kinda obvious in my reactions that Dan is my least favorite character of this cast. I did not enjoy him.

I can't say he's an F tier because he's not IRRITATING to watch like Staci. He's pretty inoffensive compared to her.

BUT THAT'S JUST IT.

I get it. Some characters can't be as developed as others. This is an elimination show after all. But at least make the early boots fun to watch!

Dan isn't. And it's not like he's an early boot. HE LASTS TILL EPISODE 7. And the entire time, his personality remains extremely bland, and he doesn't contribute much.

ANY of his moments, you can replace with any other Teal Team character, and not much changes.

Hell, I can see NICK taking his role if I'm being honest. At least Nick is a more interesting character, even if he's wasted.

This is kind of a problem with this season's Pre-Merge boots. They're very... uninteresting as characters.

Like, the gap of character quality between the last Pre-Merge boot and the first Merge boot, is MASSIVE.

I can't say Total Drama doesn't have boring early boots as well, but you REMEMBER a lot more of them.

Ezekiel is a MEME because you REMEMBER him despite being the first boot. You REMEMBER his sexist comments.

Hell, the last Pre-Merge boot in TDI Harold, IS MY FAVORITE TOTAL DRAMA CHARACTER. YOU REMEMBER HIM.

Dan is just a bland stand in to take an elimination slot.

Like, okay, what does he do?

Well one, he talks to Gabby and gets on good terms with her.

Then he forms a guys alliance and tries to vote her off. So yeah, immediately, he proves to be just like Purple Team and wants Gabby gone.

And then Tom flips, so CLEARLY that alliance doesn't work.

And yet, even after that trivia reveals itself, Dan STILL acts like this alliance is still a thing, even though these three NEVER associate a plan with each other after this. YOUR ALLIANCE DOESN'T EXIST.

He's also pretty shit to Gabby and I totally understand her distaste to him after he tried to vote her out.

What did I say in my Episode 7 reaction?

And before you say his actions and dialogue weren't sexist: GUYS alliance. Is only seen targeting female characters. Downplays Gabby's problems over his own wants.

He rubbed me off the wrong way and I don't regret bullying him.

At least everyone else on that team was interesting in one way or another, but Dan had nothing.

I GUESS the only thing he did was be the foil to Grett for Gabby's development? As he was someone who also tried to use her but was nicer to her so it left her conflicted? But really, you could've given that role to ANY character. You could've had, idk, Tom do that and not much would change.

Actually, that would add onto the 'Tom is only here for work' plot.

And that holds up really well.

So why is he not an F? Well one, like I said, he's just inoffensive.

Two, he had a really good line in the finale.

"How many times is everyone going to fall for Fiore and Grett's tricks?!"

THANK YOU. THANK YOU DAN.

TO THINK I DISSED YOU.

If Dan was supposed to be 'the straight man' of the cast, he made me want to APOLOGIZE to Trent.

Because with Trent, while he too is boring as I'll get out, at least he had a solid plotline to stand on and he played guitar. So it wasn't like he was COMPLETELY just standing there.

So thank Dan, Trent stans. Because of Dan, Trent is now a SMIDGE higher on my ranking.

ELLIE

...

F tier for giving Jake death threats.

That just... NO. UH UH. NO.

I DON'T CARE IF THAT WAS 'GAMEPLAY'. YOU CROSSED A LINE.

"You know what? You can eat shit and die."

"Maybe if you weren't so annoying, your boyfriend wouldn't have cheated on you."

"You have no right to shame me."

I hope a million bucks was worth giving a guy serious PTSD and all kinds of other serious mental damage.

Oh? You didn't win the million? WELL AIN'T KARMA A BITCH.

(I have a post where I whine about this scene. I also go in depth about Ellie and Jake in that)

OKAY OKAY OKAY, I'LL RANK HER FOR REAL. CALM DOWN.

Aside from THAT F tier scene, I actually think she's very intriguing as a character.

First off, SHE'S PRETTY. LOOK AT HER. THIS IS BEAUTIFUL CHARACTER DESIGN.

Remember my early Total Drama posts where I always talked about how the show psychologically damages certain characters and makes them act worse than they originally did?

THIS GIRL IS THAT.

Ellie is the DEFINITION of a person who was psychologically damaged by the show's influence.

And out of that, I have to give mad respect for her character and what she represents.

And I actually think this development was handled pretty well. I understood why she felt the need to change into this.

Because lets face it, the Ellie from the start of the show and the Ellie at the end of the season might as well be two DRAMATICALLY different characters.

At the start of the show, she was... there. She was likeable as the introverted one of the team, and she quickly gained my respect for how she treated Gabby.

Her relationship with Gabby is wholesome as all hell. (And far healthier than the boys) I really found them sweet as both a platonic and romantic item.

It really helps because of what we learn about Ellie's lifestyle.

She's a college student who wants to study fashion design. But she's desperately in debt. She has to work two jobs from dawn to dusk just to keep afloat, and it's STILL not enough.

"That money will fund my dreams of fashion school! No more sleepless nights, barely making rent, working from dawn to dusk... whatever I need to do to win, I'll do it!"

CURSE YOU CAPITALISM.

Ellie's life is very depressing. And very real to most people. It definitely explains not only her motives for wanting to win the million, but also why she's the way she is as a more introverted figure who doesn't talk to people very much. Because of her lifestyle, she doesn't have any room for socialization or relationships.

Gabby, like I said, was the first, and the light in her life who brightened her mood and spirit. They are WONDERFUL for each other, like I said.

But Ellie's personality does leave a dent on her game right from the start, as she is outcasted. It's only thanks to Fiore that reality tv's stupidest alliance crumbles and Ellie is given a shot...

...and then Alec votes her off.

Joining the Teal Team, it's clear Ellie learned a lesson and tried to salvage her outcast situation by making acquaintances with everyone, and becoming friends with Jake.

Even if she didn't want to, she still went out of her way to help the guy out and gave very solid advice that he stuck with.

And it's because of this that she gets involved in a majority alliance of good people willing to help her.

...by help I mean cut her arm off.

And THIS is where everything goes downhill for Ellie on a morality standpoint...

But then by Episode 10, Ellie is reminded of her outcast situation among the cast. She's on good terms with Jake, thus she's in the Jake Tom and Miriam alliance, the majority at that point. Even Miriam came around and apologized to Ellie for misjudging her. Unless Fiore and/or Alec got immunity, those two were for sure gone.

But after they were gone, or voting them out wasn't an option, would that lead to Ellie's elimination? For no other reason other than she's the one with the weakest bonds with the others? Jake and Tom are lovers, and Miriam is their surrogate grandmother. They are a found family. And Ellie is just... the friend tagging along.

And Ellie CANNOT afford to lose this game. Her whole lifestyle is on the line. More so than any of the others. She HAS to win this, otherwise she might never get another chance to financially achieve her dreams. (CURSE YOU GOVERNMENT)

So, in other words, she has to screw her relationships and strategize.

It's a completely understandable and empathetic motive, probably one even more empathetic than any of the Total Drama character's motives.

In that circumstance, as the numbers go down, does it all come down to popularity or strategy? When you're unpopular among your peers and that could be an elimination sentence, do you let that happen or do you take matters into your own hands?

And in the end, Ellie makes the choice to abandon what made people like her in the first place, because more than any of these guys, SHE NEEDS MONEY.

She gives in to that capitalism greed and thirsts for that money like water in a desert. And it's because of the game's harsh nature of picking off people one by one, that she decides "It's you or me".

And to survive, she has to completely DITCH her moralities, friendships, and sense of self.

ALL FOR MONEY.💰

💰💰💰

"You know, at one point, I thought I could trust you, and maybe I was too quick to judge you. But you've proven you're just like Grett, Fiore, and Alec. You're a no good trouble maker. Anything to win money, right? Shows your character through and through."

And despite people calling her out for the VERY PERSONAL SHIT SHE DOES, Ellie refuses to listen to reason.

She becomes HYPOCRITICAL. She refuses to hear ANYONE out if it's not about gameplay.

"I need this money more than you, so it's completely okay if I'M a bitch. If you're not Gabby, you can go fuck yourself."

And some people deserve it. (Alec) Some... really didn't. (Jake)

Oh, and you know why she lost?

BECAUSE SHE STILL A GOOD HEART IN HER TO NOT LET AN OLD LADY DIE.

She LOST because she was, deep down, a good person.

...yeah, Ellie is gonna turn into someone SUPER fucked up in the head after that.

I am scared for Gabby.

Now, I want to make it clear, Ellie is NOT a bad person. I do not view her as an entirely bad person. Does she do bad stuff? Oh absolutely, she's got issues.

But not only is her backstory beyond sympathetic and she has good traits even underneath the game clouding her morality, but she is just simply a case of a tragic figure.

Starting off as a good, if a bit closed off person, but due to the game's intense nature of greed, malice, and cold blood, she's forced to ditch her identity to save herself.

It's really up in the air if the Ellie Gabby fell for can be saved, or if she's too far gone.

Despite me HATING that one scene with her, I cannot say I hate her anywhere else outside of that one scene. Because I get it.

So Ellie is a definitely one of the most intriguing characters in the show, and I get her appeal.

Fun fact, before I watched this show in full, there were only two characters I knew about. Ellie and Jake. I didn't know their stories, but I knew they existed. And the comments I saw were hyping Ellie up as THE BEST CHARACTER IN ALL OF TD.

But...

I'm gonna give Ellie an A tier. Personally.

There's THREE reasons for this and why she's not higher.

One, THAT scene. HATE THAT SCENE.

Two, Episode 10 & 11 and what she says and pulls really rubbed me off the wrong way. Even if I understood why she felt the need to do it. I was NOT on her side, despite me understanding it. I'm sorry.

Three, and THIS IS THE BIG ONE:

She's quite stupid.

Unlike Tom, where the season treats him like he's dumb anyway, Ellie is treated like this brilliant strategist most of the time.

And she's just NOT.

The ONLY time I found her legit smart was in the Semi-Final when she worked with Miriam and Fiore to get Alec eliminated. THAT logic was sound, and I completely understood it, and thought that was the best option for her.

Every other time her plans don't work for me.

One, she was an introvert and didn't socialize with her teammates. No wonder you didn't get involved in a majority alliance.

Two, choosing to keep Fiore around over Lilly and Ashley. Not only were Lilly and Ashley more capable teammates that could help you win challenges, but Fiore is also a REALLY TERRIBLE PERSON TO ALLY WITH. As I said with Alec. Fiore is a CHILD with physical limitations, and she's also revealed herself to you as a psychopathic backstabber and manipulator. AND YOU WANT HER AS AN ALLY?

Ellie says her reasoning is:

"Okay, Fiore tricked us. But if she managed to do that with us, she can do the same with the other team."

Yes. She could. But you act like YOU can't be a manipulator with the other team as well. Trust yourself more than you trust this kiddo.

AND GUESS WHAT, SHE CAN ALSO BACKSTAB YOU.

It's a risk that doesn't even pay off because Ellie gets voted out next Episode! What if that was a legit elimination?! Should've thought your plan through more.

Three, despite Alec BETRAYING HER in the Pre-Merge, she decides to not only forgive him, but be open about working with him again. WHY?!

AND THEN HE BACKSTABS HER AGAIN AND GETS GABBY ELIMINATED.

Maybe Gabby would've been gone regardless if Ellie chose to side with them or not. You know what she could've done instead? Get on good terms with Jake to have his alliance work with her and Gabby to get Alec eliminated.

Four, her betraying the Tom Jake Miriam alliance overall. This one isn't too bad with the logic they give, I'll admit. Once Fiore and Alec were gone, or voting them off wasn't an option, Ellie would be next to go because of the four, she has the loosest bond.

Here's the flaws in that: Tom isn't even here for the money. Jake lost his motive for the million after his grandma died. And Miriam's whole thing is turning a new leaf. Yes it's a million bucks, but these three are also good people. JUST SOCIALIZE WITH THEM AND EXPLAIN TO THEM WHY YOU NEED TO WIN. Ten to one they'll have your back, and at least ONE of them would be willing to drop out of the game to help you. POWER OF FRIENDSHIP.

Five, let's say her needing to betray this alliance WAS the best choice. Okay. Fine. What's her plan to break that alliance? Personally manipulating Jake's PTSD to ruin his relationship with Tom.

And she claims THIS WAS THE ONLY WAY.

*groan*

📢THERE WAS AN IDOL IN PLAY, AND YOU KNEW WHO HAD IT, SO YOU COULD'VE JUST STOLEN THAT IDOL📢

...

📢STUPID📢

And BECAUSE she goes the personal route, Jake HATES HER AND WON'T WORK WITH HER, and Alec and Fiore betray her trust YET AGAIN. SO NOW SHE HAS NO ALLIES.

ELLIE, YOU ARE STUPID.

She had to rely on LUCK that she wasn't 5th place. They ended up picking Jake to go instead, but that could've very easily been HER.

So that really annoyed me. If you say a character is a genius strategist, I EXPECT THEM TO BE A GOOD STRATEGIST.

If she's in Season 3, I don't see her going far at all because of everything she's done here. Plus her loss in this Season I think really screwed her up in the head. But hey, hopefully Gabby doesn't get caught in the crossfire cause she is all she has left.

SPEAKING OF GABBY

MY GIRL, MY QUEEN, MY DELIGHTFUL CHAOTIC QUEEN.

Y'all already know where she's going, WE STAN HER IN THIS HOUSE

Also, sorry, but I'm putting her ahead of Grett.

Gabby is one of the most entertaining characters in this entire cast and was an absolute DELIGHT on screen.

If I had to describe her, she's basically a more realistic version of Izzy. Erratic, loves nature, nobody understand her or her antics.

And it's actually executed SO WELL.

I think, out of everyone in the cast, SHE's the one with the most solidly written character arc on an objective standpoint.

Admittedly, the writing IS the weakest element of this show. But that's also the case for Total Drama, so I didn't expect much.

I was a bit iffy on her at the start of the show, because at the beginning, she threatens Nick for having a cashmere coat. And like... GIRL, CHILL.

But it also immediately showcases her character. Almost NEVER, is she boring. EVERY SCENE SHE IS IN, she is FULL of personality and popping off and stealing the show.

She's got a temper problem, she adores nature, she's an animal lover, to the point where she hates it when it gets threatened, she's always very talkative and extroverted, even towards herself, and a huge optimist.

But I didn't compare her to Izzy for nothing. She is VERY WILD compared to the people around her. But she's not a bad person in the slightest for this. Deep down, she WANTS to be a good person. But because she's such a chaotic bean, the others vote her off out of distaste ON THE FIRST DAY.

And this is where Gabby's character arc begins. As she is an OUTCAST.

No one likes her. The only person who does like her is Ellie, but they're quickly separated. It doesn't stop her from engaging with her to have each other's back. Which GABBY orchestrates and has the power with her Immunity Idol. Not Ellie.

(Crazy how that works considering what Ellie becomes later)

And because no one likes her, she's an easy target for elimination. That's why Grett takes advantage of her as her only ally and the only one willing to keep her safe.

Despite this, it doesn't stop her from doing her own thing and defying orders sometimes. And even sympathizing with Grett over their shared history of bad and misunderstanding households.

Gabby's own FAMILY also doesn't like her and find her annoying, and are HAPPY that she's out of the house. They've even PUT HER IN SOLITARY MUTIPLE TIMES.

Like geez, no wonder her only friends are animals and Blabby.

The idea that Gabby would empathize with someone like Grett, even once, really speaks volumes to her morality. She IS a good person. She's actually SUPER nice.

She's just SO passionate about her beliefs that she's willing to get in trouble with the police to serve justice.

Now THAT is something to stan her for.

She's also, unlike her girlfriend, NOT stupid. Like I said, she doesn't do everything Grett tells her and she's the one who does the smart idol play, not anyone else demanding her to use it. She also DOESN'T take Dan's crap after he intended to vote her off and calls him out on his bullshit.

Like, YEAH, I wouldn't trust someone who betrayed me ONCE and tried to vote me off. I don't need to be betrayed TWICE to get that message.

TAKE NOTES ELLIE.

Gabby proves herself throughout the Pre-Merge to be able to do plenty on her own, and, no matter the opinion of others, she’s allowed to make her own choices.

And what comes is a glorious moment where she stands up for herself against Grett.

"All day I've been doing what you say, AND YOU NEVER EVER SAY THANK YOU!!!"

GET HER GIRL!!!

"YOU WERE SITTING ON YOUR FAT ASS THIS WHOLE TIME!!! I'M DONE WITH YOU GRETT!! JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE PROJECTING YOUR ISSUES WITH YOUR BROTHER AND PARENTS DOESN'T MEAN I SHOULD FEEL BAD FOR YOU!!! WE ALL HAVE PROBLEMS, BUT YOU CAN'T TREAT PEOPLE LIKE THIS!!"

Again, TAKE NOTES ELLIE. THIS IS HOW YOU ROAST SOMEONE.

And this is coming from a Grett Stan, as we’ve already established. I LOVE this for Gabby.

Oh yeah and she also DID TOM’S JOB FOR HIM.

And she beat the shit out of a host. Queen.

On top of this, she’s just simply a DELIGHT of a character. She’s full of personality. You have a great sense of who she is. She has a good backstory that sets ground for her development. And in every scene she’s in, she steals the show and absolutely SHINES.

I was DEVASTATED to see her eliminated in such a harsh way.

I’m really curious what they do with her in another season. Her girlfriend is Ellie, who is the one great person in her life, and as we’ve established Ellie’s developed… some problems after Gabby left.

How does GABBY feel about all of that? We didn’t exactly get an answer, you know? I THINK she was okay with it cause it’s Ellie, but it’s not clear to me.

I am definitely worried about their relationship going forward, and whether they’re gonna break up or Gabby is gonna help Ellie find her way again. I THINK THE MORAL FOR ELLIE IS TO JUST TAKE HER GIRLFRIEND’S ADVICE.

Honestly, I see Gabby as a candidate to be a Season 3 winner. You bet I’ll route for her. I think that would be amazing if handled well.

THIS IS MY BEST GIRL FOR THIS SEASON.

LILL

Or as I called her Lilly. This is because of my own personal pet peeve of characters in the same show having names so similar to each other it’s hard to know what you’re talking about.

Um… I have to admit, after she left, I kinda forgot she existed.

🎵“I forgot that you existed”🎵

Like I said, the Pre-Merge characters of this season are VERY boring. And that’s a bit of a problem.

I can’t say there’s anything to hate about Lilly though. I like that she’s a child caretaker. She was a competent physical player and probably would’ve been a good leader if she didn’t get screwed over. I like how she was the least stupid of reality tv’s stupidest alliance.

Um… that’s about it.

She’s one of Fiore’s victims, as she gets framed for burning their stuff in Episode 4. But she doesn’t even go home that episode. And she was already suspicious of Fiore. So… what was the point of this?

Yeah, I got nothing else to say about her.

C Tier.

DREW

Again, the Pre-Merge boots are quite boring.

But at least Lilly TALKS.

Now I’m not saying mute characters have no merit to them, far from it, but in Drew’s case it’s pretty obvious he’s just a stand in for early boot.

There are other ways to say character besides talking, like body language, or actions. But all I got from Drew was that he was… friendly. I guess? Yeah that’s it.

I do like how his elimination served a purpose even after it happened. He finds out first about Tom being a spy and writes it down in his notebook. But Grett steals it and tells Tom, which leads to Drew’s elimination. Grett later uses this info against Tom and Jake.

But that more so has to do with the elimination than Drew himself.

He’s below Lilly in C tier because at least I got more character out of Lilly.

He’s not D though because he occasionally has some notebook lines that are cute.

JAKE

Oh boy I was waiting for this one…

Like I said before, I knew about him and Ellie beforehand. And whereas the comments I saw were people hyping Ellie up as the best character, people HATED Jake beyond belief.

Like, OMG, the amount of hate comments I saw of this guy and how much people said they wanted to kill him.

So… paints a picture from my experience that this character is… not very well liked. A lot of y’all REALLY hate his guts.

And after my reactions of Episode 3-4, someone told me “Golden, we need to talk cause I am very concerned.” They’re a MASSIVE Jake hater it turns out.

But after watching the show for myself…

I can admit he’s DEFINITELY not the best person. He’s got issues.

So, like… I get it. And I think I get the Jake hate to an extent. I would argue some cases to the point where I could make an “In Defense Of Jake” post if I wanted. But I understand why he’d seem annoying to people.

Same with Gabby. Same with Grett. Same with most of these guys.

But I’d much rather be honest with how I feel than stick to the majority take.

So how do I feel about him?

Well I won’t hesitate.

… … …

Do you hear that? Do you hear that??

It’s the sounds of people scrolling away from the post and/or unfollowing me.

But I’m not gonna apologize for this. Because HOLY GOSH, THIS IS MY FAVORITE CHARACTER OF THIS CAST.

Since the characters elimination, I couldn’t get him out of my head. To the point where I made A COMIC POST ABOUT ANGST OF HIM BEFORE I EVEN FINISHED THE SEASON. I’ve never done that before.

I don’t think I’ve EVER had a Total Drama character that I’ve related to as much as this one. Not even with Harold. I mean technically it’s not TD, but still.

I said it before and I’ll say it again, Jake was pretty much teenage me in my shitty school years. Obnoxious, short tempered, and always venting to people about my own personal problems. There’s other reasons and things I relate to him about, but I’d rather not go into that.

I think it’s because of that, that I just plain cannot hate him. It’s REALLY HARD for me to hate him. Even when I can admit he is doing something wrong. Because… I’ve been there. It sucks. And while yes, you’re wrong, and you’re not behaving the best you could, I also know that in your mind you can’t see yourself being better, or that you don’t deserve the love you desire. So I, as an audience member overlord who has been where you are, choose to have your back and support you. Not because you’ve done no wrong, but because you have done wrong. And it’s okay.

Okay but enough about me. Why do I like him as a character?

Starting off the show and the premiere… he didn’t do much. He just made goggly eyes at Tom. Based off that, and the opening spoiling what the dynamic was, I thought Jake was just gonna be… how do I put this, “Gay Trent”.

What I mean by that is that Tom would get the major storyline, and Jake would be the love interest and have no other personality aside from that. Just like Trent. He’s a certified boy kisser and had a crush on Tom and that was his only character trait.

But, rather quickly, NO.

Jake is a very kind sweetheart, and even a bit shy. In a sweet way. He also reveals his… pretty cold home-life and how his only close family member was his grandmother, who was bedridden.

At the time, it was such a wholesome motive and I stood by him. And again, at the time, his interactions with Tom were wholesome as all hell. With every episode Jake only proceeded to have more stuff revealed about him, like his more anxious side, his trauma over loss, and even him having a bit of a bite when he gets hurt.

He was just… the cinnamon roll of the group, ya know? Cinnamon roll with a bite. What did I say in that analysis post about him?

He was working with Tom, his crush, as the ones doing the heavy lifting in getting survival supplies for the group, and was the only one on that team who attempted friendly socialization with his teammates.

And yes, I mean that. Tom was more hostile due to his job, Miriam was the cranky old lady who pushed away everyone, Dan only cared about alliances, Grett was a bad bitch, Gabby was an outcast, and Drew... couldn't even talk.

It was JAKE who was trying to form genuine bonds with some of the people around him, seeing the best in them. He saw through Tom's mask right from the start and supported his leadership of the team, and he was the only one who showed kindness to Miriam even when she pushed him away.

And while I would NOT consider Jake a good strategic player of the game, that's also because he had no intention to 'use' anybody. He just wanted to form bonds with them.

He read to me as someone who craves bonds. Love. In all forms.

He says that his grandmother was the only one who truly understood him. Which implied that the rest of family... might not be the most loving people. Do I think it's an abusive household? No. But rather one that sounds... cold. Distant.

Or maybe they're homophobic. Idk.

I mean, he calls this 'Shawn' guy over his own parents. Even Grett called her parents, and her parents are shit. (Idk who Shawn is, whether that's a friend or a sibling. Someone needs to clarify that for me.)

There's also Jake's anxieties around cemeteries. His grandfather passed away when he was a kid, and he would always go with his family to send flowers. Which surrounded him with death and loss... how god knows how many years. Idk, if forcing a child to be around a place that gives them anxiety all the time doesn't scream a cold and misunderstanding parent, idk what does.

I feel like it was that episode where the signs started to show, that "OH. This boy is NOT a cinnamon roll. He's got issues."

And then as the season went on, he shows a lot more... uh... FLAWS.

Yeah, I know, a flawed character? That's like having the plague.

He has a lot of anxieties about certain things, such as his own fears of death and loss (probably why he decided "It's a perfect time to join a reality show!"), and with people possibly using him.

It's implied that the time between this and the show is narrow. Jake was previously in a toxic relationship that fell apart when his ex, (not named), cheated on him. He couldn't get over it, and they split.

This may also be my angsty brain talking and I'm reading too much into it, but he also says when talking about the subject he "got hurt". And during the Episode 10 'believing the lie' segment, he expresses concern about how EVERYONE sees him as an idiot they can use. They can CONTROL him. They ALL take advantage of him and deceive him for their own gain.

No, it's not S/A, there's no hints of that sort of thing, but that still heavily implies that this previous relationship caused... quite a bit of PTSD from what happened in such.

So... yeah, it drives my point further that Jake is an anxious paranoid bean who just wants to be loved by people. Above all else.

I wasn’t cheated on romantically, so I speak on that front. But in my past I did have a close friendship with someone who was VERY toxic, took advantage of me, and betrayed my trust.

After the physical assault I got from them, I was a lot like Jake, actually. I was super angry at the rest of the world, always venting to strangers, I had way less of a control of my emotions, I believed everyone was out to get me, I was super clingy towards people who did come into my life positively, and I was relishing in the victim role trying to justify my inappropriate behavior to try and regain my power. (Like I said, I’m in a better place now and became a better person)

So, yeah, this story really resonated with me.

He succeeds at forming a bond with Miriam and getting her to open up to everyone, and she even calls him 'the grandchild she never had'. He also forms a bond with Tom, gets a crush on him, and gets him to open up about his intentions, and scars, and not be ashamed of them. They even kiss. How wholesome.

And then it's revealed to Jake that Tom is a spy, and has been lying to Jake this whole time about such...

And he BLOWS UP at Tom's face about it.

Yeah, so Jake may or may not be very impulsive and emotional.

This man DOES NOT think before he speaks. He holds a lot of grudges. He has no problem speaking his mind. And he loves to talk about his own past experiences with others, regardless if they ask, to 'bond' with them to get them to understand him better.

(He just like me fr)

While Tom is part of the blame too, because... he lied. Jake soured their relationship by not hearing him out and continued to lash out.

While Jake was salty in Episode 7, he got a talking down to by Ellie, becoming his friend in the process.

"He only used me to go undercover."

"How do you know?"

"Well, I... Grett said so..."

"Did you hear Tom's side? You should ask him. People are... complex. You can't jump to conclusions."

👏

GLORIOUS. THAT WHOLE THING.

Jake takes this advice, showing he IS capable of calming down and confessing to being wrong, and he properly apologizes to Tom.

Tom doesn’t accept the apology, but it’s the thought that counts.

As impulsive, paranoid, and messy Jake is, it NEVER came across to me as he WANTS to be that way. These are all coping mechanisms to people constantly using him and deceiving him throughout his life that are on autopilot. He thinks emotionally. And said emotions cloud is better judgement.

Oh gee, it's almost like he's a human being.

He’s able to fix things with Tom after they’ve both calmed down, and they both vow to try to be better and communicate whenever something came up…

Well that was short lived, wasn’t it?

Episode 10 was… horrible for Jake. Everything that could’ve gone wrong for him does go wrong.

To put it simply, Ellie, a previously established friend that helped out Jake in the past, decides to take advantage of his trauma of his past issues, igniting his PTSD, and making him betray Tom. And once he snaps out of it, it’s too late. He broke Tom’s trust. He fucked up beyond repair. And Tom denounces their relationship. All while the boy is BEGGING for forgiveness.

It reminds me a lot of TDI Episode 16, which is my LEAST FAVORITE episode in that season. Because Trent was a gullible IDIOT for falling for this obvious trap.

So you expect me to feel the same way about this and turn on Jake like Tom did, right?

Well… I didn’t. I think it was much more believable that Jake would fall for this here.

One, it’s a FRIEND that’s doing the deception, not the mean girl villainess that everyone KNEW was horrible. And Ellie has done nothing bad prior to this. Especially not towards him. So of course Jake would believe her.

Two, there’s ACTUAL CONSEQUENCES for Jake here. Trent got none aside from elimination. Gwen quickly forgave him.

Three, Jake has character context for why he’d act this way. He has trauma of multiple people using him, lying to him, and treating him like a boy toy.

Four, despite Jake regressing, he DOESN’T entirely forget the morals from previous episodes. And he DOES question the lie and DOESN’T completely believe it on a whim.

"I should confront Tom."

SEE?!?!?! WHAT HAVE I BEEN SAYING?!?!?!?!

"But last time, I promised he we had problems, we would talk things through. Something's not right. Tom would never do this to me."

ATTA BOY.

LISTEN TO THE DIALOGUE. Y’ALL ACT LIKE THIS IS NON EXISTENT WHEN ITS RIGHT THERE.

Now don’t get me wrong, it’s still regressing. But I don’t consider regression automatically bad writing. Especially if there’s a reason why the regression happens.

Do you expect a couple of sorries and two talk downs to completely undo all of Jakes negative character traits? NO. THAT’S WILD TO ME.

This also adds to me supporting Jake going forward up till his elimination. Oh, he takes this HORRIBLY, I don’t deny that. He did the wrong thing. He should’ve thought with his head, should’ve have cried about it like a wuss, and should’ve chilled out for two seconds instead of bitching to Ellie the entire time. I don’t support what Ellie said to him in that scene at all, but her snapping was understandable.

And besides, I think Jake’s developed EVEN MORE trauma from this experience. And I think he got the worst off out of the entire cast. I don’t think it’s gonna be better for him after the season either, cause his grandma is dead, and when the season airs in universe his parents are gonna see him making out with a spy guy.

My instinct after Jake’s elimination was that, because of this season, he was going to be a much worse person in Season 3. He wasn’t gonna turn evil, per se, but just be a dick to his teammates. Paranoid, short tempered, and trusting absolutely no one. (Except Miriam of course) And he’d be a Pre-Merge boot because everyone got fed up with his bullshit and then I would MAYBE understand why people hate him so much.

BUT there’s a bit in the finale that KINDA gives me hope. Oh he’s still traumatized and is gonna be an asshole going forward. BUT the last scene with him in the season is him and Tom reconciling and agreeing to go separate ways. It’s done so they can “become better people”.

So… MAYBE there’s hope for Jake becoming a better person? One could only hope, right?

I still think he’s a Pre-Merge boot in Season 3, but MAYBE Early Post-Merge boot if he does get a redemption. Seeing Jake acknowledge his faults, find an emotional cool ground, become less gullible, and form some genuine bonds with people would be so satisfying to me. But he’s not gonna be any sort of finalist, I highly doubt that. Gabby I think has a better chance at that than him.

Because despite Jake’s MANY flaws, selfish, emotional, and paranoid behavior, deep down, I could see that he IS a good person who does have redeemable qualities. He’s a very kind and assuring person, like I’ve said. Despite his anxieties, he saw the best in Tom and Miriam and even Ellie before she broke his trust. It’s because of him that Miriam and Tom became a better person/more assuring of himself respectively.

Jake is a FLAWED CHARACTER. But like I said, I gravitate towards those types of characters, and Jake is not only so relatable to me because of those flaws, but he’s such an intriguing character to watch and study. I could say A LOT MORE if this wasn’t a tier list post. So, yeah, that’s why he’s my fav.

Sorry, I know this is minority. I can’t stop y’all from hating him. So instead of fighting about it I’ll just be in my corner giving him hugs.

WILL

C tier along with these other Pre-Merge boots.

Idk what you want me to say. He’s first boot. He was Fiore’s first victim. Reality tv’s stupidest alliance failed him. That’s it.

He is ANXIETY. That’s his only character trait.

Now I love me an anxious character. I am a POMNI STAN. But Will has nothing outside of his fears. Jake has anxieties, but there was so much more to his character than just that. DJ was a coward, but there was so much more to his character than just that. But this guy was just there.

At least he got over most of his fears thanks to his new girlfriend Ashley. Off screen.

I don’t care.

FIORE

Oh boy.

So this is our seasons main antagonist. She’s a DEMON CHILD and that’s revealed to the audience pretty quickly.

She’s an effective villain for sure, and she plays her role well. Her whole scheme is that she uses her age to her advantage to play the ‘sweet little helpless girl’. And it is an effective Pre-Merge strategy.

Even when she gets found out, she STILL has backup plans to save herself from elimination. That’s where Alec and Ellie come in.

Does she gets carried? Yes. But she’s a literal child so I can kinda excuse it.

My first reactions when watching her were “This kid is a PSYCHOPATH”. And that holds up. She bitch slaps a six foot tall grown man, burned people’s stuff in fire, KILLED people in VR, toyed with people’s trauma (as we’ve already said with Ellie), and then ditches their helper in cold blood at the end.

This all stems because of her upbringing where her parents treated her like a monster, and then abandoned her. Screwed up to be sure. But Fiore decided to take her upbringing as “Eh, they’re right. I am a monster. AND I’M GONNA OWN IT.”

Plus, Alec kinda becomes the father figure she never had. And she actually grows to care about him. Something I didn’t expect despite all the clues there were. But because of her refusal to change and be vulnerable, she chooses her own ego over him and she ditched him, leaving her with no one.

She’s also got some funny quips too. The VA was killing it in her role.

She’s a villain, but she’s also a villain with depth. I am NOT one of those people who thinks her age excuses her of all her actions. She may be a kid, but she doesn’t want to be seen as small and weak, so I’m not gonna treat her like that.

I’ll… I don’t LIKE her, but I’m not supposed to cause she’s a villain. So I’ll judge her based off how effective she is as a villain. I’ll put her in between Miriam and Tom.

She played her role well.

And finally, THE HOSTS

C tier. All three of them. I’ll put Trevor a bit above the other two. Idk, cause I liked that little dance bit in Episode 12, that was cute.

I don’t care about them. These guys have NOTHING on Chris McLean.

Chris McLean is just SO ICONIC of a character, and you REMEMBER him so well. These guys are just kinda… there. I don’t remember any of their lines or their interactions all that much. They’re just pretty bland, is all.

They do have the crime subplot where it’s revealed they’ve killed wildlife to make their show. But like I said, I don’t care about that sub plot. It’s very tediously tacked on compared to the actual game. Now don’t get me wrong, I love animals and that’s HORRIBLE, but you gotta make me care if it’s fictional.

I will say though that I am familiar with both the VAs of Trevor and Derek. It’s because of their existence online that I first heard of this show. Trevor especially I could REALLY hear his voice. I’m not saying either did a bad job, I’m just saying I just heard them the entire time.

But yeah… and with Season 2 having a new host, I think sim just gonna forget about them.

And that’s my ranking! Let me know what all your thoughts are!

[volterran-wine]

Hiii! This is the same anon that was asking if you got my marcus headcanon/story request or if it got lost but it was basically asking how if by some divine miracle marcus decided to entertain someone else romantically what would that look like? ik u have done similar headcanons before but for this one Im thinking abt the slowburn ANGST that this new relationship would face and all the push and pull that would inevitably happen :)

♝• 𝐀 𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐀𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭

Ah yes, dear Anonymous, I do have this one in my Inbox already but another requester took the last story slot before you were able to grab it. It was first come, first serve, so I am sorry if there was any confusion.

However, there is another issue with your request. One I have not spoken about in depth on my blog before, so please do not feel singled out because I am replying to you;

You speak of Slowburn, a genre that needs at least 15+ chapters of fanfic to make it believable and an actual Slowburn in my opinion. In my longer fanfics I try to hit around 2500 to 4000 words a chapter to make them substantial enough. If I were to write an Imagine/Story with that trope I would have to condense it to around 1500 words (the average length of my requested stories), which means I would have to utilise time skips―which defeats the Slowburn trope.

If I were to sit down and write a 60 000 words request it would take up a large part of my time, something I cannot afford.

Moving on from your request now dear Anonymous, the next part of this is a more general PSA. I will get some longer Marcus Headcanons your way as a small apology from myself 🖤

I may be on medical leave right now, but I am slotted to return to work in October. Requests of this size would take away from all my passion projects as well as other requests for the blog.

A fair amount of times I have received highly detailed and long requests for fanfiction, the kind of stories that would take many chapters to fulfill. I will never do those. Those kind of requests are the same as asking me; "Nathalie, could you please spend six months of the year on my request?" And frankly, I do not have the capacity to do such a thing for the fandom―nor do I want to.

The only time an Imagine Request evolved into something bigger was a story surrounding Jane and Alec's turning, and the only reason I felt comfortable doing that was because I knew I could incorporate a lot of the writing into their dedicated fanfic. That and it was early on in VolterranWine's existence.

I am an adult well into my twenties with a full time job I'm returning to, a home I own that needs upkeep and renovations, aging parents I want to spend time with, and a group of IRL friends I try to see at least once a week, I want to get a cat. When this blog was made it was during lockdowns and I was partially laid off, life simply is not the same as when I was creating around the clock.

What I am trying to say, is that I cannot dedicate my entire energy reserve to requests like that, I do not have the spoons most days to do that.

Thank you, if you made it to the end of this monstrosity of a long post. Thank you for the support, but even Volterran-Wine gets tired.

[x-ceirios-x]

City of Ashes, Chapter 12: The Hostility of Dreams

please see the masterlist for notes about this series/collection of works

-

It turned out Magnus and Jace weren’t leaving after all; Magnus wanted to spend a few more hours at the house to make sure that Maia and Luke were recovering as expected. After a few minutes of awkward conversation with a bored Magnus while Jace, sitting on Luke’s piano bench and industriously studying some sheet music, ignored her, Clary decided to go to bed early. 

But sleep didn’t come. She could hear Jace’s soft piano playing through the walls, but that wasn’t what was keeping her awake. She was thinking of simon, leaving for a house that no longer felt like home to him, of the despair in jace’s voice as he said I want to hate you, and of magnus, not telling jace the truth: that Alec did not want jace to know about his relationship because he was still in love with him. She thought of the satisfaction it would have brought magnus to say the words out loud, to acknowledge what the truth was, and the fact that he hadn’t said them—had let Alec go on lying and pretending—because that was what Alec wanted, and magnus cared about alec enough to give them that. Maybe it was true what the Seelie queen had said, after all: Love made you a liar. 

There was a soft knock on her door—for a split second, Clary wished it was Simon, come back to let her apologize for everything and spend the night with her. She wasn’t even interested in any of the boyfriend-girlfriend stuff, she just wanted to relax with her best friend. Because that’s what he was first. They were always friends first. Another part of her wished it was Jace, though she banished those thoughts immediately. She could still hear his piano-playing, anyway. It wasn’t him. 

“Come in,” she said with a sigh, sitting up a bit in bed. To her surprise, Rowan stood at the door, awkwardly looking at their feet. “Need something?” she asked, misdirected frustration in her voice. 

They looked at her for a second, eyebrows raised, before shaking their head. “Heard some fighting. Wanted to see if you were alright.”

She looked at them strangely—why would Rowan, of all people, care about that? Maybe they were just nosy? She didn’t take them as the type to get needlessly involved in drama, though. They were more like Alec in that sense, but then again, they also seemed like the type to not get wrapped up in their own world. Alec seemed to be particularly focused on his own problems lately—not that she blamed him. 

“Fine,” she said with a sigh. They stared for a moment, then nodded, and were about to leave when she spoke up again. “Actually, no, I’m not fine. Can you…” She trailed off, actually not sure what she wanted from them. 

They closed the door instead of walking past it, then joined her on the bed. They sat against the wall, legs curled up to their chest. Like this, they looked kinda…small. No where near what she looked like, she was sure, but she’d never thought of Rowan as small. Despite their quiet and reserved nature, they had a strong presence. Not one she could describe, though—not that she knew them all that well yet, anyway. 

Clary ran her hand through her hair. “I don’t know what to do. Nothing I say around Jace is right, nothing I say to Simon is enough to make him feel better, now Luke’s hurt—”

“And your world is falling to pieces in front of you, right?” they said, a wry chuckle escaping their lips. “I don't mean to make fun of you. I mean…I get it. That was my life until pretty recently. Actually, it still kinda is. Your issues took precedence, though.”

She frowned. Her issues weren’t exactly her fault. They must have noticed her reaction, because they added, “not like I’m complaining. I’d rather deal with mass-murders and the death of the shadow world as we know it than my personal issues.”

That made her laugh. Despite all of it, Rowan managed to make her laugh, even if it was a little squeak of shock at their words. “What personal issues does a Shadowhunter have to deal with?” she asked, half teasing. “You guys look so…perfect. It’s annoying.”

This time, Rowan laughed. “Trust me, the only person anywhere near perfect out of all of us is Jace, and it’s infuriating. Even he’s got his problems, though.”

She nodded as they spoke, letting the room fall into a comfortable quiet. She didn’t think she’d be so comfortable alone with Rowan—they always seemed so off-putting that she didn’t know what to say to them. However, out of badass-shadowhunter-mode, she found that they were rather relaxed. Or, at least, so they appeared. She could see behind their eyes there were several trains of thought all competing for priority; she wondered what all they were thinking about. 

Her eyes drifted to their hands, resting on their knees, spinning a ring on their middle finger. It was gold and had tiny diamonds through the two twisting lines. It was dainty and pretty–in short, it looked like the complete opposite of what she thought they’d wear. They seemed like they’d be a silver person, maybe black jewelry, too. “What’s that?” she asked curiously, taking their own advice, whether they meant it like that or not. Deal with someone else’s problems instead of her own for a while. 

They looked up and slid the ring off of their finger, holding it out for her to take. She did, and upon inspection, noticed a small engraving inside. SEPT • 3 • 1989. A date of some kind. “My mother’s engagement ring,” they said, watching her look at the ring. She handed it back and they slid it on their hand. “Dad let me have it. I don’t have much from her, including remembering things, but it’s nice to keep around.”

Clary nodded. She knew full well what not knowing things about your parents felt like. Before she found out about the shadow world, she was under the impression that her father died before she was born and she had very few things to hold onto him. Now, she knew better, but that feeling that stayed there for fifteen years still mattered to her. “What’s the date?” she asked. 

“Their anniversary, I think. I was a great late anniversary present,” they said sarcastically. 

She could tell they were in a tough situation—she remembered Jensen telling her their dad was in Idris, and she gathered their mom wasn’t around anymore. Knowing the shadow world the way it was, she assumed she was dead. It probably wasn’t a good idea to ask. 

“Is your birthday soon?” she asked, thinking about the phrase. September 3rd just passed, and if they were a bit later, it had to be soon. It was already mid September. 

They nodded. “You could say that,” they muttered, twisting the ring on their finger. “It’s actually today.”

They laughed awkwardly, but she couldn’t believe her ears. Despite the small family she’d concocted, birthdays were always important to her growing up. Her sixteenth birthday was supposed to be full of an all-expense-paid (by Luke) arcade trip for her and Simon before everything happened. The fact they hadn’t mentioned their birthday beforehand was simply wrong. She would have done something—did Isabelle and Alec do anything? Jace? Maybe even the boys back at the Institute? 

“I can hear you thinking,” they said, shaking their head with a small smile. Apparently, they saw her wide eyes. “It’s not a big deal. I don’t celebrate.”

She frowned at that. “How do you not celebrate your birthday? Simon started planning his birthday back in April. He’s next month, by the way.”

They scoffed. “That’s ridiculous.”

Clary sat up a little, crawling a little closer to them on the bed. “What’s ridiculous is you not celebrating your birthday. When Luke feels better, we’re going out to lunch.”

They rolled their eyes at her, though she watched them smile as they looked down. “We don’t have to do lunch, it’s just a birthday.”

She grabbed their arm and shook it gently, shaking them in the process. They went along with it, which she was happy for. “I’m going to get you something and there’s nothing you can do about it!”

If asked, she would swear she saw them blush, however, they’d vehemently deny it. After a moment, she settled down, still laughing a little at her own actions. Yeah, maybe it wasn’t exactly mature, but she was having fun with her friend. At least, she considered them friends by now. After they helped her in the graveyard without reason, helping get her back to Luke’s when she passed out, she thought they were friends. And based on the way they relaxed when it was just the two of them, she guessed they felt the same. 

“Can I give you a birthday hug, at least?” she asked. “I don’t have anything else for you.”

Rowan paused—they looked somewhere between shocked and disgusted that she’d asked, but there was something else behind it. She didn’t think they were actually offended by the request, just…surprised. After a moment, they nodded and extended their arm. She leaned in, wrapping her arms around their middle, squeezing tightly. To her surprise, they reciprocated and they weren’t awkward or tense. Their arms wrapped around her shoulders and they let out a deep breath it seemed like they’d been holding in for a while. Clary wondered the last time they’d had a hug like that. 

They seemed like they didn’t want to let go when she pulled away, but she could only sit forward like that for so long. She didn’t have the core muscles of a shadowhunter—apparently those weren’t genetic. She noticed the smile on their face, though—they looked soft like that. She didn’t see them smile often, let alone in such a gentle way. 

“Happy?” they asked, inching forward to stand up from the bed. “I should probably be heading back.”

She nodded in reply. “You can stay, y’know. I can get you a sleeping bag, you’re welcome to stay here.”

They shook their head, brushing their hand through their hair a few times. Each time, it only got messier. “Honestly—I wanna get Alec home.”

The realization dawned on her and she nodded. After his outburst (mostly directed at Jace) concerning his relationship with Magnus, it wasn’t a very good idea for him to sulk by himself. She wasn’t happy to think about the real world outside her bedroom at Luke’s—things were better when all that mattered, for a few minutes, was the fact that Rowan didn’t celebrate their birthday. When that was their biggest issue. 

But it wasn’t. They had a world of monsters and villains to deal with, responsibilities to attend to, and problems to be had outside the green walls. She felt a little safer knowing that Rowan was watching her back, though, despite their rocky start. They gave her a little wave as they left the room, closing the door behind them. She wondered if Luke had heard them laughing together and wondered if he’d be happy, even proud. She had a friend outside of Simon? She could hear him asking and laughing now. But on top of that, she seemed to have found a way to melt the icy, cold exterior Rowan put up when they felt threatened, and she was proud of herself for it.

-

[mikeysbride]

Sacrifice Tomorrow, Rinse and Repeat

Months ago, I said I hoped Alec Benjamin and twenty one pilots would both tour, so we could see them. And welp, that’s exactly what they did. What I didn’t have on my Bingo card was that they’d both be here within days of each other with a Herbie Hancock appearance thrown in (in) between just to spice things up even more. You can read all about the pilots and Herbie in my previous blog posts, but last night was all about Alec.

I don’t think functioning on minimal sleep for a week all for the love of music is exactly what Alec Benjamin was going for when he wrote “Sacrifice Tomorrow,” but we have indeed sacrificed many tomorrows this past week, being out way past our bedtime at these shows and then having work and school the next day. Are we doing this right?

Alec is everything I thought he’d be and maybe even more. I’m a witness that he’s just as adorable in real life as you’d expect, not to mention funny. And that voice. I have been blown away by the sweetness of his voice since I first heard him. That, coupled with the clever lyrics he writes, sucked me in from the start. Now 30, he hasn’t lost his signature sound one bit…although I might have struggled to hear it at times because of the crowd singing along so loudly. While I would’ve preferred to hear more of him than them, you’ve gotta appreciate the passion. This was a sold out show, and it was clear that everyone there loves him, likely for the same reasons I do.

This will sound strange coming from me, but I am actually looking forward to having a little break in concert action. We don’t have another show planned for a little while, and I can use a reset. I turn 50 in two days, and my body is like, “Remember sleep? Let’s do that again.” Mmm, sleep… It always seems to happen this way, though. There will be a break in the action, and then all the shows happen at once. The same thing happened last October and again in May.

To close, I just wanna give props to the staff at HOB Orlando. I’ve been there several times over the last few months, and each time they’ve been top notch. In particular, last night we needed their assistance at one point, and they really stepped up. The lack of reserved seating downstairs will forever be my least favorite thing about the venue, but I keep going back, and that’s due in no small part to the rockstar staff they have working there. And despite the large crowd and general admission setup, we were actually able to more or less get the spot that I like, the one I discovered a few weeks ago at Allen Stone - no small feat, considering how long the line was to go inside. Thankfully, most of those people were more concerned with cramming in close to the stage than hanging out in my preferred spot, so it worked out. Great job, HOB. Keep being awesome.

[vaguelyrotten]

To Hell With the Consequences - Chapter 8

Alec Lightwood knows danger - as the son of a prominent criminal family, it's something he's intimately familiar with. However, a chance encounter at a club proves that there's more out there than he was originally aware and he finds himself suddenly thrust into a world where All The Legends Are True.

“Magnus Bane?” He heard a young woman ask as one of his bartenders set another drink in front of him. He nodded in thanks before turning to the newcomer who was standing at the bottom of the dais. Even without a formal introduction he recognized her and her companion who was standing behind her with a stormy expression on his face. Though they’d never met in person, Alec had told him plenty about his younger siblings over the course of the last couple of weeks. He knew that Isabelle was the one who was in charge of keeping up the Lightwood family weapons and making sure the guns would be untraceable but her passion was Forensics, and if she had her way, she’d be going to school to become a forensic pathologist. Jace, on the other hand, wasn’t a Lightwood by birth but he’d been adopted young, and Alec had told him that he nearly couldn’t remember a time when the other man hadn’t been part of the family.

“The one and only,” Magnus replied, gesturing for his security guard to step aside and allow the two to join him. “Isabelle and Jace Lightwood, I presume?’

The girl’s brow furrowed like she was baffled by his statement. “How did you know?”

“Well even if Alec hadn’t sung your praises and showed me dozens of pictures, I would have recognized you immediately, my dear. You look just like your older brother,” Magnus explained before turning his attention to the blond man who hadn’t made any move to come closer. “That one, though, doesn’t seem to share the Lightwood good looks.” He teased, knowing from Alec what his brother thought of himself. 

“He’s adopted,” Isabelle said with a laugh as Jace sputtered. “Some things just can’t be helped.”

Magnus agreed with a hum. “What brings you to my club this fine evening? Might I interest you in a cocktail?” If it had been Alec, he would have snapped his fingers and summoned them instantly but Alec’s siblings weren’t aware of the Shadow World. If they took him up on the offer, he’d flag down a server and order them the old fashioned way.

“We’re here on business,” Jace said, finally joining them in Magnus’ VIP booth. 

Magnus’ eyes widened — wondering what they could possibly need him for, and why Alec himself wasn’t delivering the request. He motioned to the other couch. “Please, take a seat. Tell me what I can do for you.”

Isabelle hesitated a moment before she relaxed into the leather. Jace remained a stoic presence behind her. “I know you and my brother have been dating even if he hasn’t quite told us himself. He’s been happier lately. Lighter. It doesn’t take a genius to put two and two together. Sometimes I find him looking at his phone with an expression I’ve only seen him use around Jace and I. Alec’s not used to sharing that side of himself,” she started, and Magnus tried not to let his confusion show on his face. He had no idea where this conversation was about to go. “He’s always been reserved because in our family, showing your emotions can be… problematic.”

He could tell she was choosing her words carefully, trying not to reveal too much about the Lightwood family even though it was clear that she was also trying to provide him some context for the conversation. “I know about the family business,” Magnus said, trying to put her out of her misery so that they could get through whatever this was. “I’ve known since the first day I met Alec. I don’t hold it against him or the two of you. As I’ve told him before, we are not defined by the actions of our parents. My father own father is something of a beast.”

A wave of emotions flickered across the girl’s face - surprise, confusion, and finally relief. “Thank the Angel, he wasn’t a complete idiot about all this,” she muttered as she reached into her jacket pocket and took out her phone. She swiped a few times before holding it out to him so that he could see the last couple of messages between Isabelle and her brother. “Earlier today I received a text from my brother. I thought it was strange because the last thing we’d been talking about was his cat that I’m watching…not to mention the message itself. It’s not good, Mr. Bane.”

Even without taking a closer look, Magnus could tell something was amiss with Alexander’s message to his sister. When the younger man texted him, Alec’s responses were full of emojis and memes despite his outwardly stern appearance. What he had sent Isabelle had none of that light. “I hope you and Max have a good time at Coney Island. Make sure to ride the J+V carousel. Wish I could be there,” Magnus read, furrowing his brow at the seemingly confusing request. “So your older brother is wishing you a good time at the pier?”

“It’s code,” Jace said finally, joining his sister on the couch across from Magnus. “Something only the three of us understand. Coney Island means we need to split up but it’s also sort of like…split up but meet me there. We’ll meet again, watch for me there. As for the carousel, different rides mean different things. Whatever is going on with him, it’s all spinning out of his control right now.”

“And who is Max?”

Isabelle inhaled sharply, turning her gaze away from him for a second. “Max was our younger brother. He died because someone went after our parents and we couldn’t get there in time.”

“Alec doesn’t expect to make it out of whatever it is alive,” Jace explained when his sister stopped talking. He knows he’s in danger, and he wants us to stay away and maybe look for him or his body after the dust settles. And wish I could be there? He’s saying goodbye.”

Instantly, Magnus’ heart froze at the implications of Jace and Isabelle’s words. His boyfriend was in trouble and, worse than that, he didn’t expect to survive. His mind was already reeling and magic was sparking at his fingertips and through his glamor before he could even try to stop it. He heard Isabelle gasp in surprise and watched as Jace threw his arm in front of his sister to protect her even if neither of them understood what they were looking at. Magnus closed his eyes and took a few breaths to get himself back under control. The last thing anyone needed right now was for the High Warlock of Brooklyn to lose control of his magic. 

When he opened his eyes, he found the two Lightwood siblings staring at him with a mixture of concern and surprise. “Let’s take this somewhere a little more private. You can tell me what you know about your brother’s current situation and I can figure out what the best way for me to help is.” He pushed himself to his feet and gestured for the two of them to follow him. Magnus nodded to one of his security guards to let them pass. They needed to have this conversation away from any possible listening ears.

When they reached his office, he ushered them inside before snapping his fingers and raising another set of privacy wards to let those who worked at his club who could sense the magical shields know that he wasn’t to be disturbed under any circumstances. He heard Isabelle inhale sharply and she was staring at him with shock. “Your eyes…”

In his fear and anger at learning about Alec’s apparent danger, his magic wasn’t the only thing that he’d lost control of. His glamor had dropped as well and instead of his human appearing brown ones, she was staring at the golden cat eyes that were a sign of his demonic heritage. He turned his back to them, raising his hand to cover them as he forced his glamor back in place. He took a few seconds to breath before he turned back to them slowly. “I’m sorry about that. I’m worried about your brother and it made me lose control. I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again. I know they’re beastly to look at. Most people think me a monster when they see them.”

“No!” Isabelle said, pushing herself in front of Jace and grabbing Magnus’ hands before he could step away. “They just surprised me but I don’t think they’re horrible to look at and I know Alec wouldn’t think so either. Has he seen them?”

Magnus was once again surprised by a Lightwood’s reaction to his demon mark. He nodded slowly at her question. “He said they were unique. That they fit me…he saw them the first night that I met him. His reaction wasn’t what I expected at all either.”

The smile she gave him was soft. “Alec…words are hard for him sometimes but he wouldn’t say something if he didn’t believe it to be true. If he said they were unique, I’m sure in reality he was actually enthralled. I bet he can’t stop thinking about them.”

If Magnus were a lesser man, he would have blushed at her words. Alec had, in fact, told him numerous times how much he liked Magnus’ true eyes, and had even asked to see them a few times when he’d been able to sneak away to meet him in Pandemonium. While normally it was a request Magnus would say no to, he found it impossible to deny his boyfriend anything. He cleared his throat and gestured to the two couches in the center of the room. “Please, take a seat. I realize time may be of the essence here so let’s try to get through everything as quickly as possible. Do you think this could be related to the job your brother is currently on?”

Alec hadn’t been very forthcoming with information about what his parents currently had him doing. He knew that the hours he kept were inconsistent and that lately he’d spent more time traveling abroad than he did in New York City. He’d said that they were looking for something, and the last time he’d seen Magnus, he mentioned that he thought that they were close to finding it, and hopefully, once that was done, they’d be able to spend more time together. It was Alec’s parents who had pressured him to do whatever it was he was currently doing, and he hadn’t been able to say no despite his own opinions on the matter. He hoped that Alec’s siblings could shed some light on the situation.

He was about to take a seat when he noticed a letter sitting on his desk that hadn’t been there before. Even from this distance, he could see the wax seal that he knew could only belong to one person but it was strange that Ragnor had left a note instead of coming to talk to him in person as he typically did. The Knight didn’t like deviating from his routine unless absolutely necessary so the very fact that there was a folded and stamped piece of parchment sitting in a place only he would see had dread pooling in his stomach. That, combined with the Lightwood siblings visit and their worry for their brother, couldn’t bode well. Magnus didn’t like coincidences. 

He snatched the letter off his desk and tore open the seal, ignoring the sounds of confusion behind him. His eyes quickly scanned through the words on the page, his mind not entirely comprehending what he was reading.

‘Magnus -

The Denarians are making their move and Alexander shares his body with one of the Fallen. He came to me to take Amoracchius because it was the last piece of the puzzle that they needed for their ritual. I was able to free him from Lashiel’s grasp just long enough that we were able to have a conversation. I gave him him the sword willingly and it is in everyone’s best interest that I remain far away from the situation currently unfolding. 

Uriel has a plan, my boy. Trust the Angel. Trust Alec Lightwood. Trust yourself. Everything will be fine. The light is brightest after the darkness.

Yours,

Ragnor’

Magnus’ worlds began to collide, and the room started to spin as his mind reeled from everything that he had just learned. The letter fell to the ground and he felt his knees buckle. He tried to steady himself on his desk but an arm was wrapping around his waist before he could and guided him to one of the couches. “Mr. Bane! Are you alright? Is..is it Alec?”

Isabelle’s voice was enough to pull Magnus back to reality, and his mind quieted as he realized that Alec’s best chance of survival was with the three people currently in this room. He licked his lips before turning his attention to the young woman currently staring at him with a worried expression on her face. “I’m afraid your brother is quite possibly in more trouble than either of us previously expected. I need to catch you up on the reality of my world, and then I need to better understand this job that your brother is currently working.”

It was always hard to introduce someone to the Shadow World when they had no prior knowledge of it. He usually tried to ease them in slowly and typically over the course of a period of weeks. Unfortunately, with his boyfriend in danger and the Denarians apparently about to free themselves and their brethren from the confines of their prisons, he didn’t have the luxury of easing them into the Shadow World slowly. Luckily, they’d grown up around things dark and dangerous so even if his business varied from that of their parents, he was certain Jace and Isabelle wouldn’t shy away. 

“You’ve seen my eyes,” Magnus started, figuring that what they’d already seen was the best place to start in this situation. “And when I lost control out in the club earlier, you saw magic sparking at my fingers. I’m sure that you’ve figured out by now that I’m not entirely human…”

He breezed through his explanation, barely giving himself time to breathe. Isabelle and Jace listened intently, and while he could tell that they wanted to ask questions, they remained silent, knowing that time was of the essence if they wanted to save their brother. It was only when he reached his explanation about the Denarians and what they were hoping to accomplish did Jace hold up a hand to stop him before he went any further. “So let me get this straight,” He said slowly, and Magnus could practically see the cogs turning in his head. “Angels and demons and magic and all that sort of stuff is real and Alec found himself right in the middle of it?”

“All the stories are true,” Magnus replied with a tired sigh. “And if Ragnor’s letter is correct then somehow Alec has one of the coins that contains the essence of a Fallen Angel and it’s currently possessing him. I haven’t know your brother that long but I don’t see him as the type to willingly give himself over like that so I have a feeling someone may have forced that upon him. Tell me what you know of his current employment.”

“Without launching into the whole story because we really don’t have time for the 60 Minutes Special, Valentine Morgenstern used to be associates with our parents,” Isabelle started to explain. “My parents aren’t good people by far but there are some things that they refuse to touch. He started to go down a path that they didn’t want to go down and they tried to part ways. Valentine’s dealings caught the attention of the FBI, and when they got too close to catching him, he set my parents up to take the fall. It…wasn’t good. They did manage to prove that they weren’t involved and they couldn’t hit them with other charges so they walked. Valentine disappeared after that. My parents went on with their lives. We all assumed that was the end.”

“Maryse and Robert weren’t willing to talk about where they sent Alec, and that was our first clue that something wasn’t right,” Jace picked up when Isabelle paused. “But Alec, Iz and I have been taking care of each other since we were kids. In our world, knowledge is key so we got really good at finding out what was going on when the adults weren’t willing to share. Valentine apparently reached out wanting to work together again, and for some God forsaken reason, Maryse said yes. They sent Alec to ‘help’ him with his business while he was in town. I don’t know what he’s doing but with Valentine involved, it can’t be good.”

Magnus furrowed his brow, trying to draw the connection between the Lightwoods and the Denarians. “What if Valentine isn’t actually the one pulling the strings?”

Isabelle shook her head. “Valentine isn’t the type to follow someone else. He likes power too much.”

“Not someone, something. What if your brother isn’t the only one with a coin?” Magnus asked as a clear and frightening picture began to form. “The Denarians have always had a leader and the Fallen would do anything to release themselves from their bindings. If that meant whispering false promises to someone who had the resources to help them obtain their goal…”

Jace inhaled sharply and swore under his breath. “You think that Valentine got himself involved with some evil fucking angels and is dragging Alec down with him.”

“I think everything would be too much of a coincidence to be anything but that…and if my suspicions are correct then Valentine is going to release a great evil that the world just isn’t ready for. This is no longer just about saving your brother from the trouble that he’s found himself in…now it’s also about saving the world.”

“Then what are we still waiting around for?” Jace growled, pushing himself to his feet and gesturing toward the door. “Where do we even start looking for Alec and Valentine?”

“I’m a warlock,” Magnus replied, flicking his fingers and sending a thread of power speeding and swirling out of the room. “We use magic.”

A minute later the tendril of his power returned to him, and he knew instantly where they needed to go. He turned toward the Lightwoods, a new resolve washing over him. “We go to the very place your brother mentioned in his text to you…the same place that happens to be the biggest ley line convergence in the city. If I were going to do some big magic, I’d want to do it in the place best suited to make sure my spell were successful.” He snapped his fingers and a portal shimmered into existence. “Ladies and gentlemen, we’re going to Coney Island.”

[dkehoe]

Investigative journalist Georgia Ross is stranded in an airport while trying to get home after an exhausting overseas trip. The airline can’t rebook her until the morning and the person before her got the last room available in the hotel. When Gigi realizes that he’s the older brother of a childhood friend she strikes up a conversation that leads to her using his shower and then drinks in the lobby of the hotel. Alec Kim is handsome, intelligent, and they have amazing chemistry and Gigi does something she never does. She has a one night stand that is unforgettable. When morning comes Alec is distant, but treats her to a first class ticket home. When she sees flight attendants flutter around him, and fans with signs in the airport she realizes he was not only her childhood friends older brother but a very famous actor. She feels ridiculous, until he tracks her down… This book was riveting. Then tension between these two was palpable. Gigi’s story that she was investigating was incredible, and Alec was almost too good to be true. I was hooked from the very first scene and was amazed at this “first time author’s” debut novel. I did find out that this author is actually Lauren Billings of the duo Christina Lauren and then wasn’t so surprised with how much I enjoyed this book. It was very different than a Christina Lauren novel though. It was filled with tension and I wasn’t sure if there was going to be an hea for our couple. It really read more mystery-fiction than romance, but regardless it was sooooo good! What did I love about it? Well, the story Gigi was investigating was jaw-dropping and horrifying. Alec’s acting persona was interesting and added more drama to a drama-filled story. Their chemistry was page on fire type of chemistry. Their romance was emotional, connected, and did I say emotional? I was so caught up. I know I’ll be getting the audiobook soon just so I can see if I like it as much the second time around. I’m not sure I’ll live through those heat the sheets scenes though. I love Christina Lauren novels, but you know what? I hope Ivy Owens has another riveting novel drop because I loved her solo writing style too. The bio said she wrote it during the pandemic but I hope she carves out the time to go solo again soon. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ Click this link to purchase this book!* Scandalized Copyright 2024 The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved *Amazon Associate- if you purchase this book through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.

[no-one-likes--a-mad-woman]

Exactly how long have you been struggling with this? It was only the first question and it had such a complicated answer. Long story short? A long time. But that type of vagueness wasn't helpful right now, nor was she trying to be vague. "Uh... Since I was about seventeen," she said, looking at them with honest eyes. "In high school, I had a boyfriend who also happened to be a drug dealer and he introduced me to heroin. A few days before my eighteenth birthday, I overdosed and I almost died. After that, my dad understandably sent me to rehab. Fucked about with my recovery for a few years before I started to take my mental health and addiction issues seriously... When I couldn't get my hands on heroin, I turned to alcohol instead and it became another habit that I picked up. Eventually, I started to take my recovery seriously and I got my life right--it wasn't perfect, but... Besides a few slip-ups, I was doing really well. And then--I know I've breifly mentioned my ex-husband, Alec, before--when he left, I relapsed." Alice had been plenty open about the fact that she'd been previously married, though she hadn't necessarily divulged all of the details that lead to her divorce. She was happy to answer those questions as well, but she preferred one topic at a time--then again, it was difficult because all of the topics intertwined, didn't they? "My brother, Cy, was the one who got me into rehab that time, just a short stint. But since then, I've been sober. Seven years." She was certainly proud of her sobriety, even in times that it felt more difficult to hang on to, like right now when she was in constant pain.

She smiled at their next question, appreciating their support. "Um... For me, personally, I avoid all of it. I mean, in theory, I could smoke weed, for example, but I worry that I would then forget that I'm not supposed to do heroin, so... It's a lot easier for me to just avoid it all together. But I mean, you don't have to avoid drinking around me--that doesn't bother me anymore. Of course, I'd appreciate it if you would avoid, for example, doing hard drugs but I figure that shouldn't be much of a problem," she said with a small chuckle. At their last question, she took their hand and placed a kiss on the top of their hand. "You're doing a wonderful job supporting me already, love." Taking a deep breath, she said "I mean, most days, I do just fine. For the most part, the longer that I'm in my sobriety, the easier it gets. This current situation is, uh...much more challenging because I'm in a lot of pain, but... A dose of morphine is not worth throwing away my sobriety. So it fucking sucks, for sure, but....it'll be okay." Giving them a small smile, she said "Thank you for asking me."

You said it first, love. Smiling, she said "I know, I know..." They were both quite weary of long-term commitment, considering the different but painful ways their previous romantic experiences had panned out. Alice didn't want to rush anything, especially when she still had some reservations herself--and yet, simultaneously, she didn't want Abraxis to think that she wasn't serious because she absolutely was. Alice didn’t blame Abraxis having a playful tone when inquiring about her temper, though she knew they didn’t actually want to see it. Shaking her head, she chuckled and said “It’s not great. I mean, I’m not proud of it and these days, it doesn’t flare too often, but… If you ever do see it, I…apologize in advance.” She smiled sheepishly, a little embarrassed at the prospect of Abraxis seeing the parts of herself that she wasn’t as proud of.

I wish I could take you home. Alice smiled at their words and looked up at them. “I wish you could, too… But hopefully, I won’t have to be here for much longer,” she said, tracing her finger down their arm, already thinking about what they might be able to do once she was healthy again. Still, the seriousness of their conversation brought her back down to earth. Shaking her head, she said “The police still don’t have any leads… Besides, I’m willing to bet anything that the shooter was sent by someone else. I could be wrong, of course, but I don’t really think the shooter was…coming for me out of personal spite. I just…” She sighed, contemplating how on how much to show her hand—her better judgement told her to not show anything at all. “I would love to say that I can take care of myself, but…” She paused, gesturing to her current circumstance. “Unfortunately, that may not be the case after all. Clearly.”

“to start, exactly how long have you been struggling with this…?” the question came swiftly, yet it bore the weight of careful contemplation. it had lingered, poised at the precipice of their silver tongue, awaiting the precise moment to break free. they give her a moment to answer the question, then another is asked, “are there any other substances, any triggers or situations you avoid? are there any behaviors or actions that i should avoid to respect your recovery?” respect for her had been effortless, a natural state of being. for abraxis, maintaining that respect was paramount. trust, after all, was a fragile thing, but in their eyes, it was also the cornerstone of what they hoped to build—a liaison veined with vulnerability and strength in equal measure. and when it came to alice, their trust was unwavering and firm. love, in its nascent form, carried no prejudice; it simply was, raw and unapologetic. “and finally, how can i support you better?” their voice was measured, their cadence soft and deliberate, the sincerity beneath it as intoxicating as it was disarming.

her laughter danced through the air and conjured a smirk of their own—a smirk they wore with quiet pride, considering it a possible first inside joke. yet another silent thread connected them, as it had in shared amusement. their voices had mingled over telephone wires, wrapping around one another—fragile yet unbreakable. their past conversations, murmured in the midnight hours, still lingered. they had spent long nights discussing marriage, their tangled histories shaping the lens through which they viewed it. alice, wounded by the dissolution of her first union, had confessed her uncertainty about entering such a bond again. abraxis, in turn, had spoken of their own fears—fears rooted in the ashes of an engagement terminated and the searing loss of a spouse taken by a house fire. there were notions, deep, dark, and insidious voices that had told abraxis they had nothing to truly give to another—that love was a treacherous thing they could no longer afford to risk. but they were learning that those voices could be wrong. to drown in love for her was to court destruction, and yet they craved it with an intensity that bordered on madness. “you said it first, love,” they teased. “but yes, i know what you meant.”

though their bond lacked a formal label, abraxis’s devotion was absolute. their gaze was drawn solely to alice as though no one else existed. in truth, they were not the kind to surrender so fully, nor so quickly. their nature, once steeped in deviance, dalliance and detachment, had thrived on restricted sentiment—a life without what-ifs, without the weight of planning, without the entanglements of late-night calls or the constraints of visiting hours. but now, they found themselves transformed, like a mirror catching light for the first time, reflecting wonder and awe at what stood so plainly before them. the thought that she might share their sentiments, had the tables turned, elicited a wicked curve of their lips. “and what might an alice temper flare-up look like, i wonder?” the question slipped out, lilting with playful mischief but laced with a darker, insatiable intrigue.

that's part of the fun, though, isn't it? putting all the pieces of the puzzle together? yes. “it’s been such a pleasure,” they murmured, their voice low, silky, and rich. it was a declaration reserved for her and her alone, each word carrying a faint ache, a yearning that nestled just beneath the surface. the space between them grew scarce, and abraxis leaned closer, drawing in the faint traces of her scent, even as it struggled to outshine the staleness of the hospital room. confined as she was, she still ignited a fire beneath their skin—a slow burn that threatened to consume. “i wish i could take you home,” they admitted, their words a whisper heavy with longing. the proximity of their lips sent a ripple of heat through the air, their breath grazing her ear like the apparition of a kiss. alice summoned their desires with effortless grace. her touch, though fleeting, was a brand, searing into their very core. once she was back to full health, they’d offer so much more skin for alice to caress and profane. they battled with patience as lidded eyes watched her hands carefully. she was able to steal a shudder from her touch.

“well…” they paused, deliberate and contemplative. thinking before speaking was an art abraxis had mastered, though their thoughts now were steeped in the intoxicating haze of her presence. “if you have an argument against it, i am ready to listen. but if someone has targeted you, i want to know who they are and i want to know why. i’d rather confront them than have them confront you again.” the answer came with ease, for alice had bewitched them utterly. they were perhaps foolish to insist on taking more bullets to come, but candor was part of their being. they fixed her with a gaze that brimmed with sincerity, their nod a quiet promise. “if you ask me to, then yes.” and they would. for her, they would do anything.

[carmenlire]

Boyfriend

He’s never had a boyfriend before. He’s had affairs and trysts and relationships that made him feel like something could be here. He’s had lovers and a very good friend in the nineteenth century with whom he shared an apartment with in a London hotel for four wonderful months.

After Camille had walked away that last time and Magnus had gathered the shattered, crumpled up pieces of his heart, he’d had a long string of people he’d tried to lose himself in. He’d drowned his heartache in whiskey and willing bodies and the twentieth century had seen him evolve into the High Warlock of Brooklyn, reigning over his city with both benevolence and an ironclad grip. 

There’d been dalliances and liaisons as he climbed to the top, though nothing serious enough to even contemplate the next stage, and Magnus had watched the mundane world grow more tolerant--though he has his doubts on accepting-- as men start holding hands in public and women share a kiss on the sidewalk. 

It wasn’t until Alec, though, that Magnus had found himself playing the role of boyfriend. It’s a delightfully young word. It makes Magnus miss the high school he never went to and the college he attended as a warlock two centuries into his eternity. Magnus has never had an aversion to pet names, to terms of endearment, and his partners had called him everything from sweetheart to their little petunia.

No one’s ever called him their boyfriend, though. It makes the blood rush through Magnus’s ears the first time someone calls Alec his boyfriend-- Catarina, rolling her eyes, while lamenting over how much Magnus was talking about Alec during their weekly lunch date.

When Alec tells Magnus that he wants him to attend the cabinet meeting-- but just as his boyfriend-- Magnus is barely breathing a sigh of relief before his lungs stop working for a split second.

It’s just a word and a new word at that-- until Alec, Magnus had no desire to be anyone’s boyfriend. It was juvenile, the word too wishy-washy for Magnus’s taste, for the way he tended to throw himself and his heart headlong into attachment. It conjured thoughts of quarterbacks giving their best girl their Letterman jacket and Magnus’s life seemed so far removed from that mundane picture that it was laughable.

But it’s different when Alec’s the one calling him his boyfriend or when it’s Alec that Magnus is referring to with that silly little moniker. Having a boyfriend is grounding, having everyone know that he’s with Alec using such a word is wonderful, freeing. There’s no subterfuge, no peering looks from someone wondering just how deep the attachment is between two men. 

Whenever Alec calls Magnus his boyfriend, in that delightfully low voice dripping with affection, Magnus shivers and barely manages to restrain himself from hauling Alec close and kissing him breathless. It makes something settle in Magnus, the knowledge that he’s linked with Alec in so explicitly.

It’s fitting, too. While Alec can make him feel every second of his half a millennia age, he also makes Magnus feel young and new and like the world might just have some surprises left in store for him, after all.

He loves Alec and while explaining their relationship as boyfriends can never capture the full depth of that feeling, of that commitment, Magnus finds that he doesn’t mind.

Because Alec is his first boyfriend and Magnus has started wondering-- idly, in the deepest pockets of his heart-- if maybe Alec won’t be his first husband too.

[vinhteer]

Some rambling about itsfunneh's YHS and Kyran's and Alec's friendship

Just finished watching the 1st season of YHS!

It's.... KIND OF A MESS? Once again the plot is everywhere and they're not very good at pacing.

Slightly unrelated to the plot; what bothered me the most was the outdated gender roles being pushed on every time.

 --"You punch like a girl." (not the extra misogynistic flavour in this quote) "I'm going to roast marshmallows.. LIKE A MAN!"

There's also another episode where they're looking to buy a present for senpai and Kyran said that Gold shouldn't buy perfume for the former because HE'S NOT HER BOYFRIEND?? ANYWAYS This was 7 years ago and I'm not saying you should harass or cancel the krew for this or whatever (it's extremely pointless and it won't go anywhere). I'm just criticising it because this type of generalisation leads to stereotypes. AND THEN these stereotypes both dictate the way you behave because you're scared that people will put you down and brush you off.

ANYWAYS, I didn't mean to make a long ass paragraph about this but here we are.

Pushing aside the ordeal abt the writing pushing these gender roles, there's a paradox about that and the relationship between Kyran and Alec. It's kind of funny because there are some elements in their dynamic that could become a good conflict between them and it could also say a lot of things about how society works and how words have a lot of power.

- Kyran is your shy reserved weeaboo who's often played as the comedic relief because of his tendencies to just suck at physical activities (me asf)

- Alec is the shady hardworking stereotypical bad boy. He's a murderer's henchman solely because he needs money to support his family.

There is a lot of potential to talk about what boys (and equally girls) have to endure in society and how it can be dealt with.

HEADCANON STUFF HERR!! But if you tweak some stuff, Kyran has the archetype of the guy labelled as "too feminine" because he's not athletic and actually voices out his emotions. But evidently he doesn't want to be seen as feminine because it has negative connotations; when he says "I'm going to roast marshmallows.. LIKE A MAN!" it LITERALLY sounds like he has a fragile masculinity because... society. And I'm not blaming it at all haha... I feel like we've all experienced a slice of this.

Conversely, there's Alec who actually fits into the masc category; he's effortlessly athletic and doesn't feel... much I guess. He doesn't really voice out his emotions like AT ALL but he is put down often because he's kind of seen as a delinquent by most people.

So there's this whole thing between the fear of being called feminine as a masculine individual and being feared by most people simply because of the way you dress/act.

I think that's already a really strong foundation for what will ensue next.

So in season 2 we get to know how they first met in kindergarten.

Kyran was getting bullied by some random dude. But Alec just beats the crap out of that person (which he refers alec as the "MEAN BOY", once again supporting my stuff with Alec being seen as a bad person. But thats just my interpretation of it, like there are so many and tbh u would call anyone mean for punching you if you rhink youre right ig). To me it just kind of makes their friendship a little more complex!

1. it shows that Alec genuinely doesn't give a fuck about who Kyran is as a person because regardless of who he is, that kid was doing something wrong. Alec is a decent person for standing up for someone who couldn't do anything against what was happening at the moment. I know they were like 5 but it shows that in nature Alec instinctively does things for what he believes is right (and it's not the only example of Alec doing something nice).

2. To me it says a lot about how children just don't care about who they're playing with based on physical attributes or whatever UNTIL society makes them learn that it DOES matter.

And these facts are so bittersweet to me because in the camping episode of season 1, they just voice out each other's insecurities. It's not even funny anymore LMAO.

"you're a delinquent!" + Alec poking "fun" at Kyran for being childish/not-a-man-TM, but you could interpret him as just asking these questions out of curiosity. He's actually less confrontational than Kyran in the episode.

Despite knowing that they used to look out for each other and accepted each others' QUOTE AND QUOTE """""" flaws""", whatever outbreak happened between these two must have caused a huge impact on each other's perception of each other. An impact that made them internally say "people must've been right. Alec IS a bad person after all. Kyran IS too emotional."

There's another layer of salt to the wounds because deep down Alec probably also agrees with Kyran for being a delinquent because he's Yandere's henchman.

Some suggestions that could've made this story a bit more engaging and interesting, at least for me:

- making alec hate horror + gore would make more sense to me because his side job is to literally cover up someone's death and all of that.

- we get 0 reasons as to why Alec likes Funneh. I feel like they could've played on the fact that Alec didn't make any friends after Kyran and has always been viewed as the bad guy. But then Funneh just doesn't care about that prejudice and hangs out with him anyway?

- the 2 plots (funneh's life + yandere's killing spree) should've been a bit more intertwined. Murder cases in high school aren't peanuts. I feel like it could've been fun seeing Kyran dragging Gold and Funneh into this whole detective thing meanwhile Alec is reluctantly coming with them and having some inner conflicts. Actually, they should've fleshed out their reasons as to why they're doing this whole detective thing in the first place. There needs to be a huge drawing force as to why, yk? Maybe drawing some inspiration to Heathers and Be More Chill could've been fun too!

- Despite them being in America, I feel like we should've seen more people of colour? Like african descent americans. Their thing literally takes place in THE USA yet most of them are like... white or asian or mixed

[llpodcast]

(Literary License Podcast)

Internal Affairs (2002) (Hong Kong)

 Infernal Affairs is a 2002 Hong Kong action thriller film co-directed by Andrew Lau and Alan Mak. Jointly written by Mak and Felix Chong, it stars Andy Lau, Tony Leung, Anthony Wong, Eric Tsang, Sammi Cheng and Kelly Chen. The film follows an undercover Hong Kong Police Force officer who infiltrates a Triad, and another officer who is secretly a spy for the same Triad. It is the first in the Infernal Affairs series and is followed by Infernal Affairs II and Infernal Affairs III. The film was selected as the Hong Kong entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 76th Academy Awards but was not nominated. Miramax Films acquired the United States distribution rights and gave it a limited US theatrical release in 2004. 

  The Departed (2006)

 The Departed is a 2006 American epic crime thriller film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by William Monahan.  It is both a remake of the 2002 Hong Kong film Infernal Affairs and also loosely based on the real-life Boston Winter Hill Gang; the character Colin Sullivan is based on the corrupt FBI agent John Connolly, while the character Frank Costello is based on Irish-American gangster Whitey Bulger.  The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, and Mark Wahlberg, with Martin Sheen, Ray Winstone, Vera Farmiga, and Alec Baldwin in supporting roles.

 Opening Credits; Introduction (.37); Background History (11.49); Infernal Affairs (2002) Film Trailer (14.13); The Original (16.13); Let's Rate (34.13); Introducing the Double Feature (39.43); The Departed (2009) Film Trailer (41.58); The Attraction (44.22); How Many Stars (1:13.11); End Credits (1:20.49); Closing Credits (1:21.54)

 Opening Credits– Epidemic Sound – copyright 2021. All rights reserved

 Closing Credits:  Believer by The Imagine Dragons. Taken from the album Evolve.  Copyright 2017 Interscope Records.

​

Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast. 

 All rights reserved.

 All songs available through Amazon Music.

[xwesjames]

MERROCK TASK #9

THE INSPIRATION BEHIND...

Wesley Joel James

—

Playing Next: 🎶

sextape by Deftones [x]

One Step Closer by Linkin Park [x]

Prayer of the Refugee by Rise Against [x]

tw: marijuana, depression, social anxiety

Creating Wesley initially was almost as an extension of Alec. I almost kept asking, what would life be like if Alec had never made it in music. He’d probably make a life for himself in Merrock, have a kid or two. That initial question eventually spiraled into a full fledged character on his own, who you would all come to know as Wesley.

Starting out as that sort of extension of Alec, Wes also possesses a lot of those same attributes of a 00s emo kid. Still under the warped tour kid umbrella, I’ve intentionally curated his interests to be less beachy pop punk like Alec and more inland skate punk and metal to fit his upbringing in Arizona rather than near the coast.

I also knew right off the bat that I wanted to bring in more indigenous representation to the group, quickly choosing an FC who perfectly fit the bill in Kiowa. That FC selection is where those details came in, Wesley’s hometown, settling on a ten year old daughter versus any more kids of other ages, the large religious family, etc. It also made sense that Wes would, if you heavily simplified his story, be a bit of an overgrown kid who had been forced to grow up with impending fatherhood. It just made for him to become the cool young dad, who was raising his daughter to be just as spunky and edgy.

Again, as a kid who grew up in the scene, making him a kind of classic skate-punk metalcore elder emo kid just made perfect sense. Ultimately, Wesley was inspired by the types of guys I tend to date irl. A skater punk cinnamon roll who’s still down for the pit at this age, I mean… His love of basketball, skateboarding, and video games was definitely inspired by my boyfriend and brothers, where I know just enough to slide by though they are not personal interests of mine in the slightest. The large family due to a religious background is something that Kiowa and I share, which easily worked for Wes as well.

Then the question became, how did Wes end up in Merrock? That was fairly simple answer: custody concerns. Wesley became a devoted girl dad first, everything else fell together after that. His job at the cemetery was a simple glance over at wanted jobs and what stuck out as fitting for Wes, as we share a love for the macabre. A cemetery felt like home for him. Wes also shares my mental health struggles with social anxiety and depression, as well as late diagnosed ADHD. It lends itself to his more reserved and quiet nature, especially in comparison to my multiple social butterflies. From there, Wesley became all his own person.

Now, having been in town and single for seven years, Wes has prioritized raising his daughter rather than bringing anyone into her life on the off chance that it will work out in the long run. While he certainly is open to the idea and hopeful to one day marry and grow his family, his daughter is number one priority at the moment.

He’s really another opportunity to explore a more chill personality, who lives in his head as much as I do.

[carelessflower]

magnus + the act of naming

cocktails: during a particular parts of his life, magnus took up bartending cause why the hell not, free booze, people and he get to name the random recipe he whips up. alec to this day still not believe all of Magnus’s story (suck bang and blow? seriously? i know you didn’t name this magnus stop trying to claim you did) 

people: magnus likes to regard people depends on his mood. terms of endearments when he’s in normal mood and passive-agressive diss when someone piss him off. there’s this entire week when he refuses to acknowledge jace as anything but duckface wannabe

family: though magnus uses terms of endearments regularly, there are some nicknames which he only reserve for his loved ones. magnus want to cherish his family as much as he can, let them know how dear they are to him

locations: warlock’s memory can be fickle so magnus keep a scrapbook, just in case his memory fail him. pages and pages of places and his own description underneath the pics. this is where i first met ragnor and cat, this is where i first saw baby max, this is where i married the love of my life

himself: picture young Magnus, bare and vulnerable to the brutal of the world, picking another name for him. name that would instill fear, name reminding him of exactly what he is capable of. now picture an older Magnus, with even more wounds and scars around his heart, choose to keep that name. Magnus Bane, great destruction, a reminder perhaps. to not lose his kindness, or else

tag list: @magnus-the-maqnificent @ahanahahaha @ukisteria @wtf-is-reality @sleepy-magnus @i-am-a-really-good-lawyer @sociallyineptbibliophile @queenlilith43 

[morethanwords0475]

November TC Challenge

1) What does your TC teach and do they teach you?

Incas Lily teaches Biology and is teaching me for the second year.

2) If you could pick their outfit for the day what would it be?

I just love him in a white shirt so much, either with a dark tie or no tie and unfastened top buttons. Absolutely beautiful.

3) What’s their personality like? ( e.g. are they loud or quiet? Enthusiastic or fairly reserved?)

His enthusiasm for his subject does shine through, and he is very sociable with other teachers, but I think the nature of our class being one of the oldest makes it hard for him to be loud personality-wise with us. He can appear quite introverted sometimes.

4) Are they married? Got any kids?

He is not married (to the best of my knowledge but I’m 99% sure) and definitely no kids.

5) What’s your favourite memory with them?

I loved that talk we had when I told him I was struggling with my mental health (triggered by one of our recent Biology assessments), it was such a comforting and sombre conversation and he praised me so much.

6) What was your first impression of them?

I didn’t get to know him much until a few weeks after he started teaching me, but I remember seeing the school posting his photo before he came and thinking damn this new teacher is good looking. More than two years afterwards, turns out I was right 😭

7) What’s your favourite thing about them (physically or personality wise)?

This is really hard to choose, but what initially drew me to him was how close and casual he felt to our class and how kind and empathetic he was to us (and now to me).

8) Do you have a song that you associate with them? If so, what is it?

There is a song significant to my story with Incas Lily that I definitively associate with him, but another would probably be Demons by Alec Benjamin.

9) Have you ever had an argument with them? If so, what about?

I’ve never seen him argue with anyone before, really. We have had somewhat intense academic conversations before, especially when I was doing my experiments, but nothing more 'heated' than that. He has said that he likes to argue but I have yet to experience it.

10) Are you attracted to them romantically? Or platonically?

I think I have officially crossed the line into romantic attraction - my purely platonic attraction to Incas Lily lasted only about a month and a half (oops).

11) If they kissed you (and it wasn’t illegal) what would you do?

I might welcome it in the moment but I think the dynamic he built with us is so… safe, nurturing, and casual in nature that I would find it weird. Even though I am romantically attracted to him, the 'TC vibe' is still very much platonic.

12) Do you think they know about your crush?

My behaviour around him has certainly shifted a lot since realising I have feelings for him, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he suspects it but hope that he will only write it off as us entering a particularly tough year or me suddenly liking Biology even more than before.

13) What would be your ideal date with them?

I would just love to be somewhere with him where he can be his free and true self, maybe a coffee date as we talk and laugh about random things or he tells me about all kinds of cool science stuff, or a walk around the lake.

14) Do you have any inside jokes? If you feel comfortable sharing, what are they?

I don’t think we have any between us, but he definitely has some with our class and it feels really nice.

15) How often do you see them?

Every day we’re at school, thankfully. Other than our lessons I also do my best to see him on the hallways as well - this extra effort I go to was one of the first signs that he was becoming more than just a 'good teacher' to me.

16) Have you ever cried over your TC? If so, why?

A few times now, such as when I thought about him leaving or after that really sweet talk we had.

17) What did they do their degree in? Is it the subject they teach now?

He majored in a specialised area of biology (it’s super cool) and he teaches Biology as a general subject now.

18) Do they do any sport? If so, what?

He said he’s not really a sports kind of person but he does exercise often.

19) What do you think they do in their spare time?

I know he sometimes goes out with other teachers, work out, read science-y stuff, and probably keep his dog company.

20) Do you have any photos with them? If so, how did you get them?

I don’t, sadly.

21) Do you plan on staying in contact after you leave?

I would really like that, and for the first time it wouldn’t be bordering on illegal since I would have graduated and he would have left the school as well. I hope we build a strong enough bond for that before the year ends.

22) What’s your favourite scenario you’ve made up in your head about them?

Other than me being stressed as hell and him comforting me, I also just often imagine wrapping my arms around him in a hug and leaning on his chest.

23) Have you ever seen them outside of school?

Sadly no. I have seen him cycling home on the road near our school though lol.

24) Does anyone else know about your crush? Who?

Only you guys! I don’t really want to tell my friends (unless it gets really bad and/or they suspect) since I am still also wallowing in grief for T and I know they don’t want me to keep liking teachers (oops).

25) What animal do they remind you of?

He says he’s a dog person and I can definitely see that, but honestly he gives such cat vibes as well! Sophisticated, sometimes quiet, the way he walks, the way he can be so jokingly savage. Love it so much.

26) Do you know when their birthday is? Would you get them a gift?

I would really like to know when it is exactly but I know we won’t be able to celebrate it for him before we graduate. If we had another year I would definitely get him a gift.

27) How did you realise you were in love with them? Was it love at first sight? or gradual?

It was definitely gradual - seeing how it took a whole year, but I think there is something that makes my process of 'realising' with him special. It was both due to me coming into the new school year, with a gapping hole left in my life from T’s departure, and immediately knowing I was being more attached to him and his reliable, comforting presence, as well as a few compiled moments of suddenly feeling differently towards him, like a heavier heartbeat or being sad seeing him for no reason. Nothing changed with him between the whole of last year and the start of this year, so this gradual crescendo of feelings reaching past a threshold completely ambiguously is certainly unconventional for me.

28) Do they drink/smoke that you know of?

He probably drinks a bit but he definitely doesn't smoke. He said we'd be very stupid if any of us smoked.

29) If you could reenact a movie scene with them (from any movie!) what would it be? Which character would you be and which would they be?

I really don't know! Maybe I don't watch enough movies, or our dynamic is so hard to define to find parallels in other characters.

30) What’s the weirdest dream you’ve ever had about them?

I haven't had many dreams of him yet, the weirdest of them is still pretty normal. We suddenly start having weekly unit tests, and I am so busy I always go in unprepared (super scary). It goes on fine for a few weeks as the units are relatively easy, until one test about some form of glucose transport, where there was a question asking about two proteins/molecules that I can't recall at all. The names are really weird but I knew we studied it in the dream, in reality they didn't exist. It's a fairly standard academic anxiety dream for me.