#there is something very amusing about my father shipping people on his tv show (my show)

[lilbreck]

ST:TOS 103 - Where No Man Has Gone Before

Yes, we did skip an episode. No, we will not be reviewing Charlie X. While we found both Charlie and Mitchell creepy, Charlie’s age and his ability to control people made both of us too uncomfortable to enjoy even watching the episode.

We open the episode with Spock and Kirk wearing ugly sweaters and Spock without his eyeshadow. Though, Nimoy’s makeup almost matches his sweater. This scene also brings us another bit of Early Episode Weirdness in that Spock claims that one of his ancestors married a human female. He neglects to mention that said ancestor was his father and the woman was his mother. I’m thinking that they didn’t have Spock’s full backstory fleshed out when they started filming. At least his eyebrows are closer to being in check. Yes, I’m endlessly amused by this.

I can only assume that Spock and Kirk are currently still on duty in uniform, because we do see people out of uniform in the back. I can’t remember, do we ever see the main crew out of uniform on the ship? (Daughter’s note: Why don’t they have badges if they’re in uniform? Did they fall off without them noticing?)

I know it’s nitpicky, but they don’t have any sort of quarantine procedure for things they beam onboard? I’m pretty sure they address this in Strange New Worlds, IIRC, and possibly in some of the other Star Trek series, but it really does seem like a major oversight. No decontamination or anything. It’s really surprising there weren’t more outbreaks of strange viruses or radiation sickness on starships.

As much as I love the touch screens of the later shows, there is something I just adore about all the toggles, switches, and physical buttons of the old Trek. One thing I never loved? When a superior would come over and hover as if he actually knew what you were doing and was making sure you were doing it right. I refuse to believe Kirk could actually operate the transporter controls unless they had been pre-prepared for him and he only needed to touch one button.

I know it’s kind of hard to tell because he’s wearing the wrong color shirt, but there’s our first Scotty sighting! Now just to figure out the first time he and Uhura are in a scene together. And you thought your pairs were rare. Also, the disaster recorder (which I keep mistakenly calling a probe) looks like some sort of filter drum from an industrial AC unit.

When they talked about its tapes being intact, my daughter got a big laugh. I told her that “In the future, we’ll like things retro.” Retro apparently also means downgrading back to the previous big screen TV/view screen. Side note: there is no need to have someone hovering over the captain’s shoulder like that. At one point he even directs her to stand in a different place. What was even the point of this character?

At this point I become very confused. Where exactly are they heading? They can’t be following a signal, because the signal is coming from the recorder. Just, they randomly start heading somewhere and run into what is probably the same strange field.

Now, we have two other new characters, and you can tell the woman (Elizabeth Dehner) will be sexually repressed because she’s wearing pants. This is confirmed when Mitchell inappropriately tries to flirt with her, and she basically rejects him. He then calls her a walking freezer unit and my daughter and I decide he needs to die painfully. Side note: there is no real point to her character. She doesn’t even get any real part to play until very near the end, and it was not all that necessary.

I know it was the 60s, and it’s possible that those kind of things were taken more seriously, but the way they talk about ESP and things like that as if they’re Very Scientific™ just makes me giggle.

Another issue I have with this episode is that they took the ship out of the galaxy instead of sending some sort of probe to gather information. Apparently, Starfleet and/or The Enterprise are run by Kerbals.

Given that both actors who had to wear the contacts kept their heads tilted back and seemed to be looking down toward what they were trying to see, I wonder if that’s the only way they could actually see out of them. I can’t imagine they were terribly comfortable.

Later on we get needless and uncomfortable interactions between Mitchell and Dehner, Mitchell being creepy and ominous, and Spock jumping right to “Kill him, Jim.” Of course, then we get undeniable proof that Mitchell and Kirk could never have really been friends:

He couldn’t even get Kirk’s middle initial right. Or, you know, they hadn’t actually worked on Kirk’s full bio at this point.

In the fight scene, the first where we get a ripped Kirk shirt, we never actually see what rips the shirt. We have Shatner’s body double do a flying tackle and then, when we cut to Shatner getting up (please forgive the blurriness):

It ends with Mitchell being buried in a grave (that I don’t think could have held him) and Dehner dying from… Emperor Palpatine style lightning bolt fingers. Kirk records that they both died in the line of duty. I choose to believe both bodies were left there, and they recovered. They learned to get along and remade the planet to be very hospitable… or they moved to a one far away. They’re gods, they can do that shit.

End of episode tallies (details by daughter)

Unprofessional Behavior: 01 (Mitchell, who was still himself at the time, harasses Dehner. After the zapping, however, I consider him under the influence and as such, none of his interactions with Kirk afterward count.) Total: 05

Starfleet Are Cheapskates: 01 (Kirk’s shirt got ripped and we don’t know why. RIP.) Total: 02

Reasons Why Enterprise Needs a Counselor: 01 (Kirk had to kill his friend.) Total: 02

Early Episode Weirdness: 04 (Spock? Why are you wearing yellow? And downplaying your human heritage? And you too, Scotty. Minus the human heritage. Spock also suggests killing Mitchell sooner than he probably would have later on.) Total: 05

In The Future, We Like It Retro: 01 (Tapes. They use tapes.) Total: 02

[thefollow-spot]

I posted 16,123 times in 2021

96 posts created (1%)

16027 posts reblogged (99%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 166.9 posts.

I added 316 tags in 2021

#thefollow-spot - 90 posts

#mine - 79 posts

#spop - 27 posts

#catradora - 26 posts

#catra - 22 posts

#adora - 19 posts

#she ra - 16 posts

#save the cat - 13 posts

#merlin bbc - 12 posts

#bbc merlin - 12 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#tl;dr—buffy the vampire slayer changed the landscape of tv in its day and whedon took the credit for the creative work of women on the show

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

I could never get into reader-insert fics because they would have "y/n" do something and I'd be like, excuse me sir that's extremely out of character I would never fucking do that. And then I'd get so mad that I'd close the tab and leave.

59 notes • Posted 2021-07-16 21:06:55 GMT

#4

Last Names Merlin Might Have in the Modern Day That Aren’t “Emrys”

Aldor—from Ealdor, derived from when he used to call himself ‘Merlin of/from Ealdor.’

Sarcer/Corser/Sawyer—Some butchering of ‘Sorcerer,’ derived from a time when magic was legal + accepted and Merlin was known as “Merlin the sorcerer.” Like how there were a lot of blacksmiths all called Smith.

Camlett/Kamlot/etc.—Same principle as Aldor/Ealdor: he ended up living so long in Camelot that he started introducing himself as ‘Merlin of/from Camelot’ or possibly he just became known by that name by other people.

Merlin—he takes a more common first name like Kevin and signed up for some official papers with Merlin as his last name. It was less weird as a last name than a first. Alternatively, someone in like, the Victorian era, asked what his name was and he said "Merlin," and they assumed that was his last name because everyone in the Victorian era addressed each other by their last names upon meeting.

76 notes • Posted 2021-07-02 02:34:59 GMT

#3

Arthur keeps Merlin around from the start because hes like, wow this funky little dude has no manners whatsoever and woooooooo the Audacity of him. And hes amused because he's like, okay so my father might have assigned me the literal worst servant ever but also this is fucking hilarious like how many times is this literal servant going to call me a Prat? i dunno i wanna count. If it gets annoying i'll just fire him or something but like honest i'm very invested in How Far He Will go like literally this is so novel nothing has ever happened to me like this? And then later he's like, actually im Endeared by Merlin now so theres no way i can get rid of him. He's my idiot servant no you can't have him, hes one of a kind because he insults me and i think that's neat. And also there's like kind of this element i think there Arthur is like, I can Trust Merlin. Other servants are all formal and pleasant, and he's drawn to Merlin the same way he is to Gwen once Gwen like, goes off on him about being rude. I feel like Arthur has spent his whole life surrounded by people who won't tell him the truth because it's all Protocol and Manners For The Prince and to have someone who just insults him to his face like, yeah he's insulted, but he also feels like he's getting the Truth from Merlin and therefore can trust him more than like, any other servant who could be hiding contempt or evil behind their practiced pleasantries. He feels like he knows Merlin and therefore can trust him, because if Merlin is so stupid as to just insult him all the time and steal food, there's no way Merlin is hiding anything from him, right? And when he says "good servants are hard to come by," I think he mainly means servants he could trust with his life and shit. And Merlin fits that bill because Merlin is so candid. Which is partly why he's so betrayed ("youve been lying to me all this time") when he finds out about Merlin's magic. Thanks for coming to my TED talk

85 notes • Posted 2021-06-15 20:52:24 GMT

#2

I ship Merlin and Lancelot so hard now??? They're so tender??? You cannot tell me Lancelot sacrificed himself for Arthur or Gwen ffs the man was standing shit-still as Arthur approached the veil. It wasn't until Merlin stepped up that he went and I just??? jfc I want to see two pretty boys kiss is that too much to ask? Can't Lancelot tenderly cup Merlin's face and stroke his hair??? Why did Lancelot have to go 😭😭😭

220 notes • Posted 2021-05-05 16:21:01 GMT

#1

Just saw a TikTok where this bi woman was like,

‘I’m a woman-leaning bisexual and you know what pisses me off? The fact that I’m dating a skinny white man and I love him and I’m happy, like what the fuck.’

And I just have to say. What pisses me off as a bisexual woman is that TikTok.

This is the Woke version of ‘my wife is the ol’ ball and chain, doesn’t it suck to be married,’ jokes. It’s not funny. Your queerness is not negated or tarnished by opposite-gender attraction, dating men isn’t inherently worse than dating women.

Love your partner.

Cherish them.

For fucks sake.

44335 notes • Posted 2021-05-29 05:42:49 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[josiecarioca]

Waiting (one-shot)

Requested by @artisticreptilequeen and @latitsoso

Summary: Soren Snape has chosen a lonely path for himself that not even his closest friend can help him walk. 

(Soren Snape x Audrey Blake, characters mentioned: Severus Snape,Evelyn Black and Eloise Snape)

Also available on Ao3 https://archiveofourown.org/works/30010311

Tagging:  @snapescapades  @mafagafobebum  @marvelschriss @codename-thedoctor @zealouspickleeggdragon @green-oasis @drawnfromthedead @snapescapadesafterdark @serosvit @snapecentric @hayalee8 @oliverlandomens @sleepysnapesnake @lily-themadqueen-andpinky @paracosim @the-witches-son @aikersen @violet-knox @viper-official @be-zoar @thepomegranatejuice @alwyssnpe @siriuslysircadogan @hbprincealice

     …

“Soren, are you alive?”

Soren opened his eyes and looked around, searching for that familiar voice. He didn't know the place around him. It looked nice enough, though. A small livingroom, with teal colored walls covered in classic movie posters and a moon themed tapestry hanging next to a tall bookcase, loads of colorful cushions and, in front of him, a square coffe table with food and cooking themed hardcovers and a notebook filled with a round and small handwritting he knew all too well. He found himself laying on a soft white couch, “Golden Girls” was playning on the TV in front of him.

He sat up, feeling as if the room was moving around him like a ship in open sea. His clothes were sticking to him, tight and uncomfortable and his mouth was so dry he felt a bitter taste in his tongue. He didn´t remember drinking any water since right after curtain call.

Soren heard the sound of something frying, before the smell hit him. His stomach growled. He couldn't remember when he had last eaten anything that day.

“You´re getting glitter all over my couch.” that voice...Soren shook his head, suddenly angry at himself. How had he ended up here of all places? Idiot!

“Audrey, I...” he called out but his head felt like it just about split in two when he raised his voice. “I mean...how did I...”

“Here...” the voice approached. He looked up and there she was. Audrey, in a dusty pink turtleneck wool dress that hugged her plump figure, black leggings and boots, her blond hair pulled back in a ponytail, with thick bangs framing her roud, dollish face. She looked like she was either going to a date or  coming back home from one when he, at least he assumed, crashed-landed at her door.

She held a plate in front of his face and it smelled something like heaven is supposed to smell.

“This is what you eat when you're flat on your arse drunk, if I recall correctly. Rashers, eggs benedict and your mother's cheddar, chive and potato pancakes. Right?”

“You...know how to make mam´s pancakes? ” he smiled, hoping foolishly that small talk would delay the earfull he was about to get. “She never gave anybody this recipe. Not even my cousins.”

“I lived with your parents for a whole year remember? I've seen auntie Lyn make this more times than I can count.”

Even though he felt like somebody had taken an axe to his skull and split it clean in two, Soren had to smile.

“Thank you. You didn't have to.”

“I sort of did have to, though” she let out, sounding tired “I found you laying on my doorstep, looking healf dead. Trust me, I was tempted to just walk around you and leave you there, but then what would I say next time I visit your parents? Besides, my landlord and neighbours wouldn't be too happy. Here, you´re going to need this. You must be dehydrated.”

She put a gallon of water on the table in fronto of him. Soren shugged nearly half of it before he could even begin to think about eating.

“Now, pray tell...what has gotten into you?” she crossed her arms and stood before him, looking far taller than her 5 feet, maybe 5'3 including the boots. Soren looked at her, pleased to notice she had put on weight. She looked like her normal self again, he thought. Last time he'd seen her she looked gaunt, almost.

“What do you mean?”

“What do I mean? Is it a normal occurence for you to prance about town drunk off you mind and pass out in front of people´s doors dressed like Beetlejuice and Dr. Frank'n'Furter's lovechild?”

“Oh, this!” Soren looked down at himself, finally remembering...

The effin' costume. Yeah, she was right. Her neighbours wouldn't be none too pleased to see a 6´2  man in full make-up wearing a leather corset-garter combo with stockings and high heels under a stripped trenchcoat passed out drunk in the hallway.

“I was...working.”

“Working? Is this an honest-to-God opera costume, or the Ministry for Magic had you go undercover in a fetish brothel?”

“Costume. The Ministry doesn´t usually have me dress up nice and sexy  when they want to get me fucked. Hardly pay me as well as they should for it either.”

“What opera are you in this time around?”

“Orphée aux enfers...Our director decided to give the  Kosky version a run for its money, so of course genderfuck drag was the way to go. Because why the fuck not? ”

“We're just going to pretend like you didn't love the idea...” she smirked. That was good...he hoped.

“Well, yeah, we decided to have a few drinks after the performance, and Henri thought it would be hilarious to just go out partying in full costume.”

“Who?”

“Henri Fournier...he played Orpheus”

“Of course...” Audrey, sighed, no longer amused.

“He's a riot, you should meet him.” Stop digging, Soren. She´s already mad at you, no need to act like a bufoon.

“And you should shower and change.”

“I´m afraid I don't have anything to change into...Unless, what's his name, your...”

“Ethan, his name is Ethan.”

“Yeah, him, unless he doesn´t mind me borrowing his things...”

“I´ll see if he left something here...”

“Left...I thought you two were...”

“He moved out.”

“When was that? Last we talked you we...”

“Come on, finish eating go have a shower, I'll find something for you to wear.”

“Hey, Shortcake, I...” He let out without even thinking. It had been so long since he last called her that, years maybe, but somehow it just poured from his lips.

“Don't...call me that.”

“I'm sorry...I really am. About this whole thing as well, I really don't know how I ended up at your door, I would never...”

“You don't have to apologize. Just eat, take your shower and...” she sighed “...we´ll see.”

…

Soren was tripping over himself so badly Audrey had half a mind to offer help. But eventually he got himself to the bathroom. She glued her ear to the door, half expecting to hear him collapse inside. The sound of the water running reassured her enough to step away and try to find something for him to wear, hoping Ethan had forgotten at least a pair of shorts or something.

Typical Soren to put her in this situation without even thinking. He never did think, did he?  Just did whatever he wanted to do and everything else be damned. Nevermind that his parents were constantly worried sick about him, that his sister had to keep calling him to remind him he had a family and he should go see them sometime. Audrey was almost sure neither his father nor his mother knew what he was up to.

That he was spying for the. ministry.

His father would never allow it.

Audrey had been only a spectator, entirely foreign to their world of magic and wars no one of her kind was supposed to know, but she knew well enough, apparently even better than Soren, that it was a disastrous idea for the son of Severus Snape to be a spy. To collect inteligence about the very same criminals who still had a reward out for his father's head. Soren was born with a target on his back. Even as a child, Death Eaters had tried to get to him, the same with his sister, Eloise. And why wouldn't they? What better revenge on the man who brought down their leader than to harm his children? Audrey knew from hearing whispers and bits and pieces of conversations when she had lived with his parents in Glencoe, right after deciding to go no contact with her mother. She knew from what Eloise told her, in a vain, desperate attempt to get her to help knock some sense into her brother.

But Audrey also knew there was nobody on earth who could keep Soren from doing what he wanted. Sometimes she was tempted to tell Severus and Evelyn what he was doing behind their back. If they knew...They thought Soren was travelling around the world singing. A successful baritone, touring Salzburg, Paris, New York, Lord knew where else. Surely that shouldn´t prevent him from coming home now and then, however...But he would go months without showing up, so his parents, maybe, just thought that if he didn´t show up for Christmas or Easter it was because he was somewhere in a nightclub or a bar, partying. And sometimes that was true, but not always. At times, she wondered how and when they would find out, and hoped it wasn´t through some tragedy.

But...sometimes she also wondered if they didn't already know. If they were just waiting for him to finally be honest with them. Maybe neither Severus nor Evelyn could bring themselves to believe Soren would do that to them, so they acted like they didn't suspect, when in reality, they knew. Maybe they were just hoping he'd show himself worthy of their trust. Just waiting for him to come around.

So Audrey said nothing. It wasn't her place to, after all. If Eloise hadn´t, then she certainly had no right.

She finally found something. And old t-shirt and some pajama pants. Good thing Ethan was tall, she thought. This would do for Soren to at least make it back home, or wherever he was staying in London. Come to think of it...She shook her head and left the clothes on the bed where he could find once he was done showering.

“Soren?”  She called once the water stopped running and she could hear him in her bedroom.

“Yeah?” he sounded a bit more sober.

“I'll call your sister, do you have her girlfriend's number? Maybe they can pick you up.”

Soren didn't answer answer immediately. Instead he took his time to get dressed and came back to the livingroom, sat on the couch and took another swig of water from the bottle.

“So, should I call her?”

“I would literally rather you hand me over to a dementor.”

“Maybe if I knew how. Eloise is my next best choice.”

“Eloise will never let me hear the end of it.”

“She wouldn'r be wrong, now would she?”

He didn't answer. He just made that face. That face he put on when he knew he was wrong, when he knew he had no good excuse. The corners of his mouth turned slightly upwards in an odd, clumsy smile, and his nostril flared slightly as he breathed out, then he looked away. Thinking of the next joke, of the charming comment that would deflect questioning, the next change of subject.  Had been that way since he was a boy. Soren always knew when to leave an argument well enough alone. This way he wouldn't have to admit he was wrong.

“As soon as my head doesn´t feel like the the 1812 overture is playing on surround sound inside my skull, I can see myself out.” she shrugged with that devil may care grin that could get him whatever he wanted.

Audrey sighed. She didn´t have the energy to argue, And true to be told, if she hadn't found him passed out drunk at her door after nearly a year of no contact whatsoever, she would be happy he was there. Wasn´t this what they used to do, back when things were different? Staying up at night, huddled up on the couch, watching old TV programmes reruns till the wee hours of the night? She missed that. She missed having Soren around, she missed his stupid jokes, his impromptu performances. She missed him singing “Largo al factotum” early in the morning as he shaved, his voice filling her bathroom till the upstairs neighbours complained.

But she didn´t miss what came with it. She didn´t miss the disappearances, the weeks and months without a single phone call, the excuses, the worry, the panic...

“You already ruined my couch with all that sodding makeup” she sighed, sitting next to him “Might as well spend the night. But you´ll have to be out before noon. I´m working the lunch shift this week.”

“How's that going? Mam told me you made it to sous-chef.”

“Yeah, which sounds impressive until you realize it just means I'm the first in line to be verbally abused when Bastianinni wakes up on the wrong side of the bed.”

“I worked with a Bastianinni once...It was for the best sharp knives are not part of our line of work, or the whole cast would have used him for target practice, down to the children's choir. When a tenor decides to be a diva, oof...”

“So, you´ve been talking to your mother?”

“Yeah, I called her and dad last week from Salzburg...to apologize for not showing up for Christmas again. She told me you were there.”

“I was. I assume that's how you got my address...”

“I...I mean...is not like she” Soren stammered like a little boy caught with his hand in the biscuit tin.

“Did you really think your mother would give you my address if I didn't tell her it was ok?” Audrey smiled “I´m just surprised you asked.”

“Why wouldn't I ask?”

“You tell me...For the past four years I´ve seen more of your parents and your sister than I´ve seen you. And you don't call anybody, just go off for months on end...”

“You know why that is...”

“I do. That´s why I don't wait for you anymore. It's pointless. But then when I give up waiting, you decide to show up.”

“Is not like I planned to just...”

“You never do.”

“Audrey, I...”

“I´ll get you a pillow and some covers, it's getting late.” She couldn't let him speak. If he started he'd take her in again. And before she knew it, she would be waiting again...for a phone call, a message, waiting for that moment she'd finally be fully a part of his world. A moment that would never come, no matter how long she waited. Not for her and not for anybody else. Soren had chosen a rocky path that only fit the steps of one person: himself. She couldn´t walk with him, and it would be fooolish to wait for him to come back any time soon.

“You said you were working lunch shift tomorrow.” the sweetness on his voice reached her as she got up from the couch, disarming. “Can´t you stay a little while longer?”

[hawkinsschoolcounselor]

“It’s not my fault you don’t like girls!”: How one line sparked a pointless debate

Oh, this one line. It really should have cleared everything up. Those who picked up on hints at Will being written as gay saw it as a reassurance. Others saw it as a sign that Will is developmentally behind his friends and just isn’t ready for romance yet. The biggest flaw in this feud is in seeing these two as mutually exclusive options. There is no reason that Will can’t be both gay and not ready for dating. 

On the matter of Will’s sexual orientation, there have been many hints throughout each season of Stranger Things thus far. In Season 1, Will is mentioned as having been bullied by both his father and peers for perceived homosexuality. Joyce says that Lonnie would call him “queer” or “fag”, and this is also what Troy and James would try and use to bully him at school. Troy and James using this is particularly meaningful since they just as easily, if not more easily, targeted Will for being poor or small. The writers made it a point that this was what Will gets bullied for.

His relationships with Joyce and Jonathan also support the idea that Will may be different, even if they don’t necessarily know how. The love and support that viewers get to witness from Will’s family is conspicuous should it turn out to be insignificant. Jonathan tries to reassure Will that there’s nothing wrong with being different or weird. He explicitly tells him that he doesn’t need to like something just because he is supposed to. Joyce provides unconditional love and support for Will’s “less masculine” interests. In an effort to break through Will’s possession, she recalls Will drawing a spaceship. She specifically mentions it being a “rainbow ship” and how proud she was of him. These are little things that, when considered in a vacuum, others could say people are reading too deeply into. It gets a bit harder to dismiss, however, when combined with other evidence.

Will’s relationship with Mike continues to reinforce the idea that Will may be gay. Beyond the fact that their friendship is shown as being somewhat deeper than that of the rest of the party, there are also specific moments that show that Will may see Mike as something more than a friend. At the Snowball, Will resists dancing with a girl who asks him to dance, and he looks over to Mike as he begins to stammer out a refusal. While it may not have come across as explicitly on screen, the script also mentions that while Will is dancing with the girl his eyes are fixed on Mike.

Season 3 brings some new evidence as well. Will watches his friends gain girlfriends, and it is clear he doesn’t see the appeal. His mother suggests that he will one day, to which he replies “I’m...not gonna fall in love.” It’s not a childish reaction of disgust. Instead, it comes across more like annoyance and resignation, as if he’d thought about it before and didn’t like the answer. In addition, he reacts to Mike’s relationship in a way that is unique. All three of his friends have girlfriends, but only Mike’s evokes disgust in Will. Lucas regularly banters and bickers with Max, and Dustin absolutely gushes over Suzie, but Will appears unfazed by them. The suggestion is that Will is jealous.

Will’s fight with Mike is framed as analogous to Mike’s fight and breakup with El. This is where the title quote comes from. Will accuses Mike of “ruining everything” by spending his time making out with “a stupid girl.” This prompts Mike to angrily reply that it’s not his fault Will doesn’t like girls. Will is rendered speechless despite his previous anger, and Mike immediately seems to regret it. It’s a very well-crafted scene, that somehow retains a degree of ambiguity despite the implication that Will simply “doesn’t like girls.” This and the other pieces of evidence are circumstantial in real-life, but this is a TV show, and one that is meticulously written and shot.

On the other hand, Will is also depicted as being somewhat less mature than his friends. Being portrayed by a younger actor compared to the others, Will is smaller than his peers. He also lacks much of the sass or attitude that is often seen in boys his age. Season 3 also goes to great lengths to dress him in simpler, boyish outfits compared to the more mature, style-conscious choices of the others. He has an almost fanatical desire to play D&D, and is very amused by Dustin’s gadgets. These are some of the main reasons people think he just hasn’t matured to the point of wanting a girlfriend.

The problem with this approach is that it assumes eventual heterosexuality from Will. It is very possible that Will has not reached the point of wanting romantic relationships, but evidence suggests that when he does he may not be interested in girls. It may also be that his lack of a desire in romance may instead be a desire to avoid romance. 

If Will is indeed a young man grappling with homosexual desires, he would no doubt be terrified. Given the time period and the bullying he’s received, this would be an undesirable outcome. Accepting these desires could lead to isolation, violence, and even death. It would be admitting that everything people have said about him was right all along. It would mean his dad would never love him. It would mean he would be better off not growing up, never falling in love. 

Will didn’t need to worry about a girlfriend as a kid. It was completely acceptable for him to spend all of his time with his friends. With Mike. For Will, growing up could mean all of that changing. It could mean facing his feeling for Mike. It could mean losing Mike to a girl. It could mean no more trips to the arcade, no more movies, no more late-night D&D sessions. It would mean everything changing, and it’s easy to see why Will would want nothing to change. It’s not so much that Will isn’t ready to grow up as it is he is refusing to.

Will potentially being homosexual and not wanting to grow up are not issues in opposition to each other. In fact, the former is, at least in part, the trigger for the latter. 

[laufire]

@punishandenslavesuckers replied to your post:

Look I love the good wife please give your hot takes nonstop

I LOVE THIS SHOW SO MUCH. I always forget just how much until I’m watching an episode again. It’s just so, so good.

If you want me to talk about something in particular feel free to redirect me because there are so many things to talk about in this show!! I love the characters, for sure, but what gets me it’s the... “worldbuilding” sounds a bit off in this case, but it’s true. The ambiance they created in the show, the humor. The secondary characters are key to this and I love practically every single one. I love the judges’ indiosincrasies, I love the rival lawyers’ low tactics, the repeat clients and their troubles (Sweeney and Bishop are my absolute faves OFC), the parade of quirky weird people coming left and right in every episode... All the small things that make it feel real without falling into the trap of soporific “realism”, you know?

My favourite characters dance around from season to season, but at the end it comes to Kalinda and Eli; I love Kalinda to pieces, but her plots were a bit inconsistent and I’m not that satisfied with her storyline, among other reasons for all the bts nonsense. OTOH Eli’s story is always on the good side for me, and an endless source of amusement.

On that vein, I have to admit Peter is one of my favourites too LMFAO. Not as a person, I don’t really care one way or the other; but his storylines are my favourites more often than not. Getting out of jail, all of his political campaigns (but especially the first one, where he went for the youth vote and bragged about going to prison xDD), his time as governor... It was always fascinating to watch.

My other faves would be Diane (I ADORE her in TGF too; I need to catch up with that one), Elsbeth (A GODDESS), Cary (the pettiness, ILH). And I love, LOVE anything to do with the Florrick family drama (especially Alicia vs. Jackie. The joy it brings me omg. Or Zach ability to insert himself in his father’s political strategies. And seriously, was Grace queercoded af or what). Also, they are more TGF characters than TGW’s, but Marissa Gold and Lucca are really fucking gr10 too.

But really, I just like the whole cast. Even ones I didn’t expect to care that much for based on type. I tend to hate lead characters like Alicia, but I love her; I tend to have a lot of contempt for characters like Will, but I love his platonic relationships with women (Kalinda, Diane, Elsbeth...) and I sort of find him endearing sometimes, despite how much of a loser he can be? The actor looks a lot like one of my oldest friends so that might be part of it xDD.

My favourite season is definitely the fifth, but I love all of them. I’m just especially fond of that one, especially its second half. Alicia and Cary splitting from the firm and going hard against Diane and Will, the emotional rollercoaster of you-know-what for Alicia, Kalinda and Diane... It’s perfect to me.

I think my most controversial take is that I think Peter and Alicia are made for each other xDD. I wouldn’t say match made in hell because I reserve that for like, mass murderers lol, but in this show’s scale... yeah. I don’t ship it because I don’t really ship in this show, I don’t get ~feels (with MAYBE Diane/Kalinda as an exception. I just think they’re neat!), but it’s what I see. I’ve seen it since very early on. The episode where the sex worker he cheated on her with was giving interviews and humiliating them on tv? So Peter straight up threatened to sick a mob boss on her?? And when she went to Alicia for help Alicia gave Peter a kiss as a reward?? I was speechless. Fucking speechless.

They kind of remind me to Stelena, of all things xDD. An older, human version of them that was allowed to grow into their bitterness, but two damn political animals who get each other and can’t really shake each other (this made the scene where Kalinda reads Delena fanfiction to Diane -where Elena is cheating on her husband Stefan!!- all the more hilarious to me ofc).

Oh, and I don’t know if this counts as a hot take, but I adore David Lee. He’s such a raging asshole and takes such joy in it, bless him 💖

[gritsandbrits]

The OFFICIAL Jora Holiday Bio 🍄🌟

While far from complete here's an bio for my OC! Visual ref coming soon!!!

Full Name: Jora Ladybird Holiday

Age: 9; 15 in Omniverse

Species: Human

Hometown: Anneville, S.C.

Current Residence: Bellwood

Eye Color: Deep brown/blackish

Hair Color: Black

Skin Color: Very deep brown

Appearance: Jora is tall for her age, chubby and often wears her hair loose in a parted styled held together with bobby pins. She has a wide and round face, nose, and short uet very thick eyebrows. She wears very little makeup, and always seen wearing lacy pink gloves.

Attire: Varies by seasons and series but she typically wears vibrant or pastel hues with floral and animal motifs, cutesy designs, or polka dots. I'll make an outfit ref soon!

Personality: Jora is described as a super sweet if timid and shy young woman with a deep respect for life. However she bottles up a lot of her negative emotions which sometimes makes her a doormat or she ends up being really icy. She learns to beyter express her negativity, though she does retain emotional sensitivity time to time.

In the OS Jo had to overcome one of her biggest flaws, Bystander Syndrome, in order to protect herself and her friend. Throughout thr series she becomes more assertive, though she dislikes sounding too mean.

While she adheres to the theme of second chances, she has little tolerance for faking and betrayals and wants people to actively work on making amends or changing their ways. She knows that some people can't change, so instead of active revenge she would rather let the person's actions catch up to them, or hold them accountable. She despises assumptions that she's evil just because of her powers. She admits to harboring some resentment, but over time she learned to accept her condition and adapt to it rather creatively.

Likes & Hobbies: Designing her own costumes, watching trashy TV programs, reading, mycology, nature walks, flower pressing, DIY projects, casual/virtual pet gaming, fashion design, Green Cleaning, apple pie, chocolate and strawberry milkshakes, tea with sugar and cream, travel, meditation, quiet time

Dislikes: False accusations and slander, being picked on, people touching her hair without her permission, senseless destruction of nature, animal abuse, forcing someone to tell the truth if they're not comfortable, being pitied for her condition, spicy food, arguing and being made fun of for girly traits

Powers and Abilities

- Rot Inducement

- Fungi Manipulation

- Poison & Toxin Immunity

- Self Regeneration

- Minor Chronokinesis/Acceleration

- Athleticism

- Empathy

- Self Defense/dagger fighting style

Items: Amanita Staff & Pixie Daggers; handmade costumes

Strengths: Can regenerate limbs, slow the rate of decay, empowered by Phoenix Element, controls intensity of powers, incredibly strong against plant/nature elements, tenacity

Weaknesses: Powers are incredibly weak on glass, metals, rocks and minerals, and generally any type of syntheric or inorganic material. She also cannot complete shut this power off

Relationships

Family: Jeremy (father), Mavis (mother) Latasha (sister) Pattibelle (cousin) Ginger (family friend); Kendrix & Kenny and Belle (future kids), extended family

Friends: Team 10, Cooper, Substitute Plumbers (future), Zak, Wadi, Rex

OC Friends: Myra Hopewell, Azura, Kelly Arbol, Richard Mortis, Temika, Mama Gia, Shadé

Enemies: Pretty much the canon villains XD

OC Enemies: Kudzu, Mara Winters/Ice Queen, Cinnabar Rojo, Forever Princess, Mycopath/Cora Holiday, Guardians of Light, Supernatural/elemental threats

Love Interests: Ben Tennyson

Ship Name: Cosmic Toadstool or BenJo

Ben Tennyson is her major love interest, starting from a brief tense rivalry from their first meeting. Over time they began to see they had common ground and developed more friendly relations by the end. The Ben 10000 episode is particularly amusing in that BOTH of them were quite disgusting at the implication that their older selves dated each other. Ironically it was their older selves watching their example that lowkey led to them getting back together.

They restarted their friendship in Omniverse albeit clumsily as both hadn't seen nor heard from each other in several years. Not to mention new problems: Jora hadn't quite got over her shyness and was socially awkward, and Ben swore off romance after too many failed relationships ego and wanting to focus on his hero career. Layer seasons would see the two began to grow a romantic attraction to each other, with them getting together post series. I kinda didn't want them together right at the end of s8 to drive home the point of them navigating a romance and not just "fighting fate" or what not. So they'll get together on THEIR own terms.

Backstory: Jora appears in the original show as a recurring character and ally to the Tennysons. The joke is that her family, who were also on a cross-country road trip, would often show up at the exact same city or town the Tennysons would be in.

Original Series: Unlike Ben and Gwen, the timid Jo was born with her powers but was afraid of them as she could barely keep it in check. She also didn't start out friendly with the two having been put off by their constant quarreling. It wasn't until an encounter with Kevin Levin (hint: KIDNAP) where she tried using her powers to defend herself and Four Arms for the first time. It didn't exactly work out leaving her ashamed for being a bystander, and decided to remedy this by practicing her powers for better use. This leads up to the Camp Fear event where she played a huge part in containing and eventually purifying the corrupted Mycellium (and yes corrupted; there's something bigger going on).

There were a couple of more adventures: goinf to Chicago to meet up with her cousins Patti and Ginger for a music fesitval; time travel shenanigans, fighting Rojo and her niece Cinnabar, & battling the the Negative 10. Her relationship with Ben and Gwen also greatly improved to the point where they became genuine friends near the end of the show.

UAF: After the road trip ended, she parted ways with the Tennysons and headed back to her hometown of Anneville,S.C. While not fully copinf with her powers she had a rejuvenated sense of self confidence and decided to find more uses for her powers. This included clearing away invasive plant species around town, going into homes and clearing away toxic molds, and dabbling into the scientific side of her powers. She maintained contact with the Tennysons until a few years when life started to get too busy for any of them to remain in contact.

It was also at this point Jora would learn about the scorn "dark" elementals would face, as well as a conflict between dark elementals just wanting to live their lives in peace and a group called the Temple of Light. The Temple's goal was to rid the world of all evil but took rather underhanded methods to do it. Jo would also briefly battle a faction of Forever Knights led by her contemporary Forever Princess, and villainous entrepreneur Kudzu.

Omniverse: Six years passed and Jora got a request from Max Tennyson to join a new "initiative." She turned it down, feeling that she wasn't suited for actual superheroics and wanting to focus on her studies. She was also afraid of seeing her old friends; a small part of her wondered if they'd still recognize her after so many years.

A few weeks later Patti planned on moving to Bellwood for her new job. Jora came with her to help her move in, & it was that trip where she and Ben reunited, and met his new partner Rook Blonko. Ben mentioned about his grandfather picking out new teammates to protect Bellwood. Jora admitted that max sent her a letter but she turned him down for personal reasons. Feeling rather disappointed Ben states that there's always an open spot for her.

During her stay Jora and Rook were taken around town to get familiar with each other and the sites. Rook was curious about her relationship with Ben which she replies that they go way back but hadn't really talked to each other in years. Much of season one and two is spent with her and Ben awkwardly reconnecting. Eventually she becomes a bit of a consultant for the Plumbers and a major member of Team 10, further developing her friendship with Rook, and something much deeper with Ben.

Post Series: Jora's experiences leads her to try to form a villain rehab group, succeeding by forming the Substitute Plumbers. She also begins to use her status and fame to raise awareness on multiple issues from gentrification to widespread Plumber corruption. After a brief breakup and working solo, She and Ben 10000 reconciled and within a year of two married and had three kids over the span of ten more years. Jora became a consultant specializing in Earth customs.

Trivia

- Voice Claim is Kimberly Brooks

- Her theme is nature to contrast with Ben's aliens and Gwen's magic

- Also a bit ironic: she's a good character who protects and values life yet has a power linked to death/dying.

- Doesn't really have a signature color though she does wear a lot of white accents as white symbolizes death in some cultures

- She was made 1) because I'm salty B10 didn't have a named black girl character & 2) to give Ben a compelling/fleshed out love interest

- Jora has a Reboot counterpart! Largely the same except now she's a main fixture right from rhe beginning and has a slightly different power set

- She's not present in every single episode of the original; those times she'd be off with her family doing their own thing

- Her verse is called the Joraverse since it's a complete rewrite of the OS and OV as a whole (not strictly related to her btw but I'm also salty at more than a fee b10 things)

- Her alternate counterparts has different elements, personalities and even designs!

- If she existed her theme song would be the Japanese cover of Say So by Rainych

- Much of Jo's character is based on Card Captor Sakura since I've always been a fan of that show

- Just like how Ben has different aliens Jora has different costumes with different themes.

- In OV her costumes signify each color of the rainbow and has a pun of some sort. She even earns special items with different properties (elemental spells, alien tech, token of peace).

- While Jora appreciates all of Ben's forms she has a certain fondness for Four Arms and Grey Matter (he rescued her as Four Arms and she finds Grey Matter adorable)

[gayregis]

wacky and definitely incorrect idea but,,,they killed off renfri in TWN because she'd take one look at duny and be like "ok thats a predator" (pavetta is 15?!?!)and unlike Netflix!geralt (who's very busy being mean and grunting and not talking to anyone)she'd actually get rid of him(Throw HIM off a ship, etc) before he had the opportunity to plot pavetta's murder an creepily gaze at ciri/ciri's potential for immense power

netflix nerfed themselves by controversially introducing a clear protagonist (Renfri) who's interesting and likeable and complex with a strong definable goal (revenge) and then immediately killing her off in favor of following the static antagonist (Netflix!Geralt) for the rest of the season. like interesting stylistic choice! I especially liked how they had him carry around her broach like a trophy!!! Totally not creepy to take something from the 18 yr old he could have avoided killing

uhhhhh i understand this take coming from solely the netflix show and seeing the witcher as a continuous story that’s like a bunch of episodes that fade into one another, but yeah, its a “wacky and definitely incorrect idea.” 

renfri continuing to be a character in the rest of the series wouldn’t make sense for a number of reasons. to begin with, she is confined to her own story. understand that these are short stories that are meant to stand on their own to each have certain messages. the lesser evil and a question of price are different stories and renfri belongs to the lesser evil because to kill her was “the lesser evil.” she isn’t meant to be a character outside of this story because the short stories aren’t really meant to overlap. they each have their own specific cast of characters, setting(s), plot, and morals that define them. i think the best way to think of them are like fables or folk tales. if snow white suddenly showed up in another fairy tale, that wouldn’t make any sense. i’d be like, get out of here, this isn’t your story!

not to say that it wouldn’t be cool, i mean, i definitely think it would be cool if princess adda and vereena teamed up and kicked geralt’s ass back to kaedwen, but that would defeat the entire message of both of their stories.

in addition, i think you are misunderstanding renfri’s character (but this is just my opinion and interpretation of the lesser evil). renfri and stregobor are both bad people, they are both evil that geralt is forced to decide between. i see way too many netflix fans saying renfi is cool/hot/sexy/a good character solely because she is a woman that fights with a sword and kills people, when in the witcher there are many women that fight with swords and kill people and the fact that they are woman is not really something the witcher ever focuses on. i don’t think sapkowski thought of making “strong female characters” to impress an audience like lauren hissrich did, he wasn’t trying to appeal to a diverse demographic by having more diverse characters. thus, it’s not really any better when a woman has a sword than when a man has a sword in the witcher. 

the sword is a burden. the sword kills, the sword is merciless. causing death with no feeling and no remorse is a bad thing, it is so horrific to geralt that it literally drove him to part with his daughter which he loved and adored and wanted desperately to raise, it drove him away from her because he was terrified that he would give this burden to her and thrust death and killing upon her. this is the message of the witcher, that to cause death is horrible. geralt was born into a profession that kills, he was raised and trained to kill, and he abhors this about himself, he loathes himself so viciously it annoys the absolute fuck out of anyone he’s around and they end up arguing with him that he needs to stop focusing on the fact that he’s a witcher and think about himself for himself. the fact of the matter is that 

a woman with a sword killing people isn’t a revolutionary thing in the context of the witcher, it’s not intended to be a feminist statement or a “cool” or good thing to admire. in other pieces of media, it might be because that’s their messaging, but in the witcher, the gender of the swordwielder doesn’t matter, it’s about how they wield the sword. there are certainly badass women in the witcher that are cool and easily idealized and seen as role models because of how cool and powerful they are, but you have to understand why they are powerful. renfri has turned to banditry because she was scorned from her royal inheritance, she feels cheated by fate. she is hateful towards her past and has no reason to adhere to peace, she is blinded by revenge. 

revenge is a very powerful and encompassing theme of the witcher. renfri is only one taste of it. revenge consumes another princess that later picks up the sword and turns to banditry out of desperation for something to rely upon and the feeling that she has been cheated by fate. she kills blindly because she is in pain. this is tragedy. this is sadness, cutting down innocents out of one’s own vicious pain is not an act to admire.

but on TV, “a girl has a sword” is such an incredibly revolutionary statement because everyone is starved for such a thing that they all become immediately thirsty to see more of this girl, more of her actions, even when she is not meant to be an ideal, not meant to be seen as something to emulate.

i think of the scene in baptism of fire when the rats arrive and begin to kill mercilessly, ciri runs men down. she ends up sparing one of the men, who saw such hatred and fury and pain in her eyes. when he returns home, he finds his own daughter trying to dress up like ciri, wearing her mother’s scarf tied around her neck and a stick tied to her back like a sword, because she thinks ciri falka and the rest of the rats are powerful and beautiful and wants to be like them, even when the girl she is dressed up as came a hair’s width close to slaying her father mercilessly in the street.

renfri is not a protagonist by any means. she is literally the antagonist of her own story. she’s a tragic character, her life was lost long before she gave geralt her ultimatum. 

i think what is important to keep in mind here is that these were meant to be adaptations of books. books that were published 30 years ago. if lauren hissrich and the rest of the team had done their jobs correctly and successfully, they would have abided by what was written and not written their own fanfiction which detracted massively from the themes and meaning of what was written. i understand that you dislike netflix geralt (who doesn’t?) but had they actually stuck to the books which they were meant to be adapting, you would likely like him. he doesn’t waste his time grunting instead of speaking. but netflix didn’t “nerf themselves” by killing off renfri... that’s literally what happens in the books that they are adapting, and in the books it happens for a clearer reason driven by themes and messages that the story conveys to you (not just flashy gore).

i also understand wanting to kill duny because he is a 30 yo engaged to a 15 yo pavetta, but that is more of sapkowski’s effect on the story as he treats this and other situations of dating 15 yo girls completely normalized within the fantasy society he has created, which is his fault as an author and not a character flaw of the characters in-universe. they didn’t have a choice for that to be normalized in their society, they’re characters. it’s wrong, but you can retcon it if you choose. also i think the idea of killing duny is just amusing because if you kill him, you would not get the massacre of cintra, you would not get cahir, you would not get rience, stefan skellen, vilgefortz and thus leo bonhart, schirru and thus nightingale and fulko artevelde and angouleme, there would be no stygga, there would be no lodge of sorceresses, there would also likely be no thanedd coup. the entire conflict of the entire series would just be gone. so interesting idea but it wouldn’t make sense at all and would defeat the entire story

[wayward-wren]

The world sucks, I'm tired and have a headache, it's time to watch A New Hope again.

The opening of a star wars movie never fails to make me smile

A) the stormtroopers slipping all over the place amused me, b) the stormtroopers checking the downed troopers gives me clone feels

I love how much history and world is just implied. "The princess won't get away this time." "We'll be sent to the spice mines of kessel for sure" "

Vader's voice bring me back to being 8 and watching star wars on our little box TV.

"I have traced the rebel spy to here" Ah, must have been very difficult, running directly from Scarif. The opening is very amusing after Rouge 1

Man I love Jawas

Gonk!

Ooh man the CGI dewbacks are kiiiinda jarring not gonna lie.

Sunshine child Luke! It my boy!

Luke: What's this? R2, instantly, knowing full well what he means: What's what?

I firmly believe that Luke and Leia, being twins, have some Force connection even before meeting.

"I guess you're too small to run away on me if I take this off" HA someone doesn't know R2. He instantly denies having the message as well what a troll.

"He won't. I don't think Obi-Wan exists anymore, he died about the same time as your father." hhh my heart

Obi-Wan living his best life being absolutely feral in the desert what a legend

I love how the two wise old Jedi we see in the OT are introduced by one of them making weird screaming noises to scare off tuskan raiders and the other being a feral gremlin in the middle of a swamp. Legendary.

Dang i always forget his first words are literally "Hello there"

Alec Guinness is such a good actor dang.

"I don't seem to remember ever owning a droid" R2: boi you what you know me I know you know me come on now I will fight you.

I can't get over how much emotion Alec Guinness has that fits with the story so well. Like, I know I'm probably projecting a lot onto him because I know the story, but the amount of emotion he conveys without knowing Obi-Wan's story is amazing

Luke be like "I can't go to Alderaan. I have homework"

Yularan!

Tarkin.

I love Tarkin but as a villian and as a horrible person to hate.

"Your sad devotion to that ancient religion..." said religion was destroyed not even 20 years ago.

Okay for real though I legit didn't realise there were skeletons of Owen and Bereu smoking outside the house for years. I don't know if we were told to look away at that point or if I just blocked it out of my mind but when I realised they full on showed their charred skeletons I was shooketh.

Everytime I see a stormtrooper with one of those orange shoulder things I think of Cody it'd be wild if the trooper Ben "These aren't the droids you're looking for"ed was Cody.

Cantina music is a BOP it's fantastic

Dang Luke just reaching across the bar and grabbing the bar keeper's shirt is just rude

I love all these iconic creatures whose designs haven't changed much really over the years. It's so cool how much you see them elsewhere and they're still basically the same!

R.I.P. Greedo.

Oh no CGI Jabba.

Oh but Boba's here also this makes it okay.

"Jabba, you're a wonderful human being" I love Han.

I did not realise Han was the first to say "this is where the fun begins" I love how many inside jokes the films have with each other.

Tarkin needs to stop touching people's face without permission. He did it to Ahsoka, he did it to Leia.

R.I.P. Bail Organa and Alderaan.

"In my experience, there's no such thing as luck" idk why that hurt me but it did because everything has gone wrong in Obi-Wan's life he's literally never been lucky in his life.

Mouse droid mouse droid I love mouse droids!

Han just casually leaning against Chewie is iconic

The way Luke leans in before saying "She's rich" is cracking me up.

Mouse droid! Chewie don't scare it

Yularan full on walks past while Luke, Han and Chewie are waiting for the elevator that's wild.

Which probably means he was in the Death Star when it explodes so rip him.

Han bluffing at the radio is fantastic "We're fine, we're all fine here, now, thank you... How are you?" and his face after he says it.

*blasts the radio* "boring conversation anyway." legit one of my favourite parts of the movie

"into the garbage shoot, flyboy" I love Leia

Everytime I see Leia's outfit I get mad at George 'There's no underware in space' Lucas the beginning of Jedi is going to send me into a RAGE. it's a shame cos the movies are so good otherwise, Carrie Fisher's treatment and they way they treated her costumes and her weight just makes me so angry and I'm gonna stop before I go on a big rant. But my flatmate refuses to watch star wars partly because of Lucas' treatment of Carrie Fisher and part of me doesn't blame her, even tho she's missing out on a fantastic story.

Anyway rant over let's keep going.

'donk' the fact that they added a sound effect to the dude hitting his head cracks me up. Also implies that he's a clone cos they made Jango donk his head when entering Slave 1 in AOTC and Rex donk his head in that one clones wars episode as a reference and that makes me Sad.

3PO thinking they're dying when they're celebrating not being crushed is iconic

I love how Obi-Wan has just been wandering around this whole time

Wilhelm scream!

Aaaand now I am getting Obi-Wan and Anakin feels again.

Honestly kinda looks like Obi-Wan is disassociating somewhat he has a very blank stare and I'm projecting emotions again but still this is the first time since Mustifar he's seen the person who was his brother he must have had many Emotions. Not to mention this all happened in like... a day, he's had his past thrown in his face in so many ways

Luke being more sad about Ben's death than the people who raised him. I mean like same, but I guess he's still somewhat in shock from all that's happened

I love R2's chuckle

"Whatddya think, do you think a princess and a guy like me-" Luke, instantly: no. What a savage.

Lookout guy on Yavin IV is me and my brother's favourite background character. I distinctly remember a conversation about throwing food up to him and him having an umbrella in case it rains.

"This will be a day long remembered" Funny that, it's the day the time is calculated from in the star wars universe

Ey! I wasn't sure if the Biggs reunion scene was in this version I feel like it's not in all of them? Either way I wasn't expecting it and it made me happy and also buildup for more sadness down the line

Lookout guy again! I love him

X-wings are legit one of my favourite ships

I really do enjoy the dogfight and all the chatter over the coms

Wedge my BOY I love him

You can see Vader's eyes a couple points in that dogfight

R.I.P. Biggs

And boom. I forgot how good that battle was.

Where's Wedge's promotion/medal tho?

Man. I forgot how good this movie is and that's saying something cos I've loved this movie for as long as I can remember. I haven't properly watched it for years and it's been long over due!

Now I'm very keen to watch Empire and Jedi again because it's been even longer since I watched those!

Imma go watch the deleted scenes cos I don't believe I've seen em and then go to bed.

Huh Red leader met Anakin, wonder if that's still canon and if so, when.

Man the cantina rough cut really does show how much editing and post production brings to it.

The Tosche station scene is awesome, seeing Luke's friends is cool. They're also kinda mean. It also gives more character to Biggs which is cool! I should have watched it ages ago.

"Listen to how quiet I am you can barely hear me" Luke you nerd

See the downside to that deleted scene is that now I'm even more sad about Biggs' death.

And that's all folks! Headache is gone and I'm feeling less depressed, so I think it worked! Hopefully Empire tomorrow night, if I'm on top of assignments.

[bi--goodness]

“Well, you’re not going to learn much by pinning twenty feet away from him”

Alex huffed in frustration.

“Maria, it’s not that simple.”

Fiddling with her necklace, she rolled her eyes. As student librarians, Alex and Maria often chatted about books, tv shows, really anything that held their fancy. Today though, they whispered conspiratorially behind the oak reference desk about the actual cowboy in the room, belt-buckle, black hat and all. For weeks, Alex had observed the one guy everyone at UNM could not stop gushing about. Michael Guerin, the curly-haired, hazel-eyed casanova who never went to class but aced every exam. Alex glared furiously at the unaware man. Chewing on a pen, Michael simply lost himself in one of the many books piled high on his table. 

“Pheww, Alex, you better cool it. You can’t tear someone’s clothes off by staring, you know that, right?”

“Maria, I hate him. I hate his gorgeous fucking face. How the hell is he better than me? I study every day and I still come in second. All he does is browse some physics books, play hooky, and hook up with any girl mildly interested in him.” groaned Alex.

“You’ve been “observing” him for days now. Maybe you should, I don’t know, talk to him? Get him to spill how he manages to beat you in every subject? I keep telling you you’re not gonna glean anything by sitting here and gawking.” Maria gave Alex a playful wink and checked the time on her watch. 

“Okay, I’m leaving you to fend for yourself. Isobel just got out of her events management class, and I wanna grab a milkshake with her.” Alex mock gasps. “You’re leaving me? For the Queen Bee of UNM? You’ve got it real bad if you’ve already memorized her class schedule. Are you sure you don’t want her milksha––” and for that, Alex got a slap on the arm. “Shut up, Manes.” Maria gracefully stood up from her library stool, blew Alex a wet kiss, and then promptly sprinted out the library doors.

Alex couldn’t help but chuckle. She really did have it bad for Isobel Evans. Meanwhile, he was stuck loathing some cowboy troublemaker with great hair. Suddenly uncomfortable with the idea of admitting Guerin had great anything, Alex readjusted his prosthetic.

Despite his better judgement, Alex turned his attention back to Guerin, furiously scribbling in a worn-out notebook. He couldn’t figure the guy out. Why did Guerin even go to the library? The guy didn’t care for school, yet every week, Alex noticed Michael combing through the Space and Physics section, constantly writing in his black leather notebook. Manes often fixated on problems until he solved them. The current issue at hand: Michael Guerin ruining his (academic) life.

How exactly would he scope out his competition? Maria was right. He was going to have to go behind enemy lines and actually talk to the man. Could he casually bring up how he’s been looking for a cowboy hat and Michael seemed like the right guy to know? Maybe ask where he got his belt buckle. Or where the hell did he get those jeans. No matter how good his ass looked in them, it did not excuse his attitude. Yeah, Alex had noticed his ass. Whatever. 

Lost in thought, Alex heard a gentle clearing of the throat, and looked up from his chair to see the Greek god himself staring down at Alex, a slight smirk on his lips.

“So, I need a favor. When do you get off desk duty?” Michael ruffled his curls and fixed his lucent, hazel eyes on Alex.

Wait, what. This was not the plan.

“It’s almost noon anyway. Lunch. On me. Let’s go, Alex.”

And that’s how Alex found himself at the Crashdown, a local diner around UNM, across the booth from Michael freakin’ Guerin.

“So, let me get this right. You’re asking me to pretend we’re in a relationship in order to appease your siblings?”

“Yup, you got it.”

Alex rose an eyebrow. “Don’t you have a horde of girls wrapped around your finger? Why choose me to be your”–Alex paused, furrowing his brows to find the correct choice of words–”your scapegoat?”

Michael chuckled and broke into an easy smile. “I think the word you’re looking for is fake boyfriend.”

Slouching further down into his seat, Michael stretched his arm alongside the booth and spread his legs wide underneath the table, giving off a confident, nonchalant attitude. Alex wanted to punch him in his perfect face. 

 “I can’t rope in just anyone, or any girl for that matter, because my siblings wouldn’t believe me. Apparently I have some kind of reputation on campus–just because I don’t do relationships.” Michael rolled his eyes. “I need to get Max and Isobel off my back because they think I’m not ‘opening myself up enough’ or ‘giving people a chance to get to know me’. It’s gotten to the point where they are full on ambushing me up to go out on proper dates. I need someone who will really give the whole, I’m responsible and not a one night stand vibe.” Michael gestured to the dark-haired boy. “You seemed like the logical choice.”

Alex scoffed, his forehead wrinkling. “What in the world gave you that impression? You don’t even know me.”

Michael laughed, the unrestrained sound filling up space between them as Alex continued to scowl. Guerin’s smile dimmed.

“Oh shit. You’re serious...well, Alex, you’re not exactly the get wasted, let-loose type. Everyone knows you’re the most prepared guy in the room. And hold up, what do you mean I don’t know you? You’re in like three of my classes. We’re in the same double-major for christ’s sake.”

Manes huffed in exasperation. “Fine. But that doesn’t mean anything. I still don’t know you. What if you’re some alien serial killer after gay men and I’m your closest target?”

Michael’s eyes widened in disbelief. “What? Do you hear yourself right now? Alex, I just want to fake date you. That’s it. And, better yet, you can ask me for something in return. Sweeten the pot. Hmm?” Michael gave an exaggerated wink and winsome grin.

Maybe Alex really would break Guerin’s nose. The guy was infuriating. With his mess of curly brown hair, Michael probably had folks hanging on his every word. Life must’ve just been a breeze, always getting his way. Meanwhile, Alex got shipped off to war for a year by an abusive father. Too different and weak and gay to be considered a real Manes man. After an honorable discharge, he was finally able to pursue his college degree in computer science and music. What he had always wanted, but on his own dime. He neither expected nor wanted any support from Jesse Manes. College was supposed to be a clean slate from men who thought they could use him.

Alex grimaced and shook his head.

“I’m not agreeing to this.” the Cherokee boy stood up to leave, exiting out of their booth. Before he could take another step further, Michael grabbed his arm and pulled him back gently.

“Hold on. Alex, please. You’d be doing me a huge favor.” Michael’s imploring hazel eyes shined as he pleaded with the boy. “You’d only have to be my boyfriend for a month or two, tops. Then, we can break up, get messy and pyrotechnic. Break some shit. And, uh in the meantime, I’ll...I’ll...I don’t know. What can I do for you?”

Alex sat back down.

“I want you to tell me how you get first place on every exam.”

Michael raised his eyebrows. “Um okay. So, I happen to be very smart.”

“No shit Sherlock.”

“No, Alex, what I mean is that I’m considered a genius.”

The brown-eyed boy rolled his eyes. Hard.

“I’m not kidding. I don’t go to class because they can’t teach me anything I don’t already know.”

“Are you serious?”

Michael nodded earnestly.

Groaning, Alex cursed under his breath. No matter how hard he worked, this sweaty, belt-buckled cowboy would always beat him. Life was so unfair. 

“Is there anything else you want to know? Or for me to do?”

“No.”

Michael sighed. “Manes, you’re really riding me, man.” 

Guerin paused to recollect his thoughts. “How about this, you can use me as your practice boyfriend. You know, work your skills on me.”

“What skills? I’m second in my class. There’s no one else for me to beat except you, which you’ve made quite obvious is a lost cause. I can’t beat genius.” annoyed, Manes pursed his lips.

“No, you don’t get it.” Michael shook his head in amusement. “Sex, Alex. Sex. I’m talking about making this fake relationship worth your time.” He wiggled his eyebrows and licked his lips. The cowboy inched closer across the table and began to stroke the inside of Alex’s forearm with his thumb.

Alex turned a shade of crimson and shivered.

“Pretty presumptuous of you to assume I need your expertise on that, Guerin,”

[troped-fanfic-challenge]

Chopped: Holiday Trope Exchange Masterlist 

A huge thanks to every person who signed up for our gift exchange, we got 18 really wonderful fics! For anyone who isn’t sure what this was all about, this was a double blind gift exchange where each of our eighteen (18!!!) writers were assigned four tropes from an anonymous recipient, and were tasked with writing a fic that fit our holiday theme, and included all the tropes. The only guidance from their recipient were a couple of brief notes they included during the sign up, and both the writer and recipient were revealed when we shared all the fics! These fics, as with all our Chopped fics, were creative and unique, and found ways to utilise tropes that may seem so simple in really spectacular ways! If this gift exchange, or any of our other Chopped events, have sparked your interest, keep your eyes peeled on this page for some future events we have planned, and sign up to join the fun! In the meantime, we hope you enjoy these wonderful holiday fics!

Love to everyone who participated, Bailey and Sara <3 

Let it Snow (And I’ll Get Sentimental) [G] (Memori) 

Written by @mylifeiskara, for @hostagetakerandhistraitor​. The four assigned tropes were 1) friends made a bet, 2) one character kisses the other and the one who got kissed is shocked still, 3) amnesia AU, 4) ark AU (or any other AU where the story takes place in space).

All John Murphy wants for Christmas is for Emori to remember who he is.

Won’t let you go [G] (Clurphy) 

Written by sapphictomaz, for @vmreed​. The four assigned tropes were 1) childhood friends-to-lover, 2) grounder au, 3) tattoos, and 4) body painting

There is nothing shared in Clarke and Murphy's lives. They come from opposite clans who have a history of warfare between them. She lives in the jungle, while he calls the mountainside home. She celebrates the holidays by dancing the year away, and he does so by claiming dominance on another year that has passed.

They meet, anyways, and realize that sometimes, you have to make your own traditions.

Contained Constant Chaos [T] (Murven)

Written by @vmreed, for sapphictomaz. The four assigned tropes were 1) Post-Apocalypse AU (different from canon), 2) Found Family, 3)Hurt/Comfort, and 4) "You're an asshole to everybody else, but you're nice to me"

“Please don’t kill me.” He said, stupidly.

She raised an eyebrow, saying nothing, but offering him a box of tampons.

and i’ll die by your side if you want me to [T] (Memori)

Written by @dylanobrienisbatman​, for @justbecauseyoubelievesomething. The four assigned tropes were 1) based on a tv show (author chose Timeless), 2) soulmate AU, 3) fake dating, and 4) timeloop/groundhog day AU.

Murphy got tapped to come work for a special project after he was arrested for stealing a military vehicle right off of the base (long story). Turns out the special project... involved time travel... so theres that. About 6 months after he signed on, it all went horribly sideways, and now they were chasing their friends across history, trying to stop them from making a horrible mistake.

Thats how they end up in the middle of World War I France on Christmas day in 1914. Thats how she dies.

And then... somehow... the day begins again. Can he figure out a way to stop The Blake Siblings from wrecking history forever and also save the girl?

This Christmas, You're All That I Want (Just Don't Tell Anyone) [G] (Bellarke)

Written by @bellarkestitchdelena​, for @captaindaddykru​. The four assigned tropes were 1) Joke kiss turned serious, 2) The main ship must share something (can literally be anything), 3) Two characters giving extremely biased flashbacks to an event, and 4) Secret Relationship.

It all starts trying to prove Murphy wrong

Season’s Grievances [G] (Multi)

Written by @hostagetakerandhistraitor​, for @teeandsnowflakes​. The four assigned tropes were 1) a terribly loud crash and one of the characters yelling ‘IM OKAY’ from another room, 2) huddle for warmth, 3) found family, and 4) one character is ‘icy’ and slowly defrosts. 

Bellamy and Raven have been best friends for over 3 years. They found each other at their low points and bonded to turn each other into better people. But when Bellamy starts dating Raven's ex, Echo, things get icy. This is a story of family, friendship, romance, betrayal, culinary inaptitude, with a slight zest of things I wanted to be canon. Also a Blake family Christmas party.

Kiss Me Babe, It's Christmas Time [M] (Bellarke)

Written by @eyessharpweaponshot, for @shen-gong-oops​. The four assigned tropes were 1) One character has a child, 2) Characters are not together but are mistaken for a couple, 3) Terribly loud crash and one character goes ‘oops’ in a casual voice, 4) Two characters giving extremely biased flashbacks of the same event.

How long have you been in love with him? Seven years now?’ ‘Eight’ Clarke corrects him, her voice muffled through her hands as she cups her face. She’s still trying to calm her heart rate down. Murphy simply laughs, his amusement of this clear as day. ‘Don’t know what you’re laughing at. You were in the same boat with Raven’ Clarke reminds him. ‘Not for eight years, I wasn’t.’ Clarke rolls her eyes. She should never have told Murphy. The results of too much wine and being the last ones standing after a night in Grounders a couple of years ago. ‘Look, all I’m saying is it might be worth telling him’ he shrugs, leaning against the broom in his hand. Clarke gives him a pointed look. ‘Nobody is telling Bellamy anything.’

Christmas time, a harbouring secret and a festive get-together. The perfect combination.

where the love light gleams [T] (Murven)

Written by @teeandsnowflakes, for @kuklash​. The four assigned tropes were 1) meet cute, 2) first kiss, 3) surprise proposal, 4) pregnancy AU.

Raven hadn't been home for Christmas in four years, but the one year she did, she met Murphy, new in town since she had last been there, and learns a very important lesson about the holidays.

i know you can feel the magic we don't need to talk about it [T] (Bellarke)

Written by @captaindaddykru , for @eyessharpweaponshot​. The four assigned tropes were 1) exes, 2) jealousy, 3) protectiveness, 4) modern au. 

Christmas eve, Clarke's sort-of-ex shows up at her door in the middle of an awkward family dinner and so she ends up flashing him. Holiday spirit and all.

Dance Your Way Home [T] (Becho)

Written by @justbecauseyoubelievesomething​, for @dylanobrienisbatman​. The four assigned tropes were 1) historical AU (1920′s or earlier), 2) almost kiss/interrupted kiss, 3) holiday party, and 4) sunrises.

“We need to get you home. You’re freezing.”

Home. She has no home.

Everyone Telling You Be of Good Cheer [G] (Clurphy)

Written by @kinetic-elaboration​, for @hopskipaway​. The four assigned tropes were 1) amnesia, 2) found family, 3) oblivious pining, and 4) and mistletoe kiss.

“Merry Christmas, by the way,” Clarke adds, which settles that.

“You too. Merry Christmas.” He takes down Bellamy’s NYU mug without thinking, tries to shake the feeling that he’s no more than an extra in Clarke’s amnesiac version of Groundhog’s Day. That this is, somehow, normal. That he is not wondering, the thought like an invasive little jingle in his ear, what she thinks yesterday was.

The day after Murphy, Clarke, Bellamy, and Raven return from disappointing family Christmases, Clarke wishes that they could have spent the holiday together instead. A fall down the stairs, a bout of amnesia—and suddenly it’s Christmas again. And again. And again. Reliving the day puts even Murphy into the holiday spirit, and helps him learn to open his heart to his friends, and to the possibility of love.

3 Times Murphy Lost a Fight, and 1 Time He Didn't  [M] (Clurphy)

Written by @kuklash​, for @mylifeiskara​. The four assigned tropes were 1) 3+1, 2) Oblivious Pining, 3) Work Party, and 4) First Kiss.

Dec. 20th, 2003

"This party is gonna fucking suck, Clarke."

"Of course it’s gonna suck, Murphy, but if you want this job you have to schmooze," the blonde said with an eye roll. "The best place to schmooze is the company Christmas party."

A Little Brighter [G] (Bellarke)

Written by @shen-gong-oops​, for @bellarkestitchdelena​. The four assigned tropes were 1) Rivals to Lovers, 2) Arranged Marriage AU, 3) Pregnancy, and 4) Sunsets.

Taking a deep breath, he turned towards Clarke. "If I were to take up your father's offer for knighthood, please know, I do not wish to be the knight to the princess of all Arkadia."

Or: Bellamy takes a really long time to realize he's being a hypocrite.

when i’m feelin' alone (you remind me of home) [G] (Clurphy)

Written by @hopskipaway​, for @probably-voldemort​. The four assigned tropes were 1) royalty au, 2) marriage pact, 3) clumsy character, and 4) roommates. 

Within the walls of the palace, Princess Clarke of Arkadia lives a quiet and lonesome life.

That is, until John Murphy waltzes into her life and changes it forever. She’s not complaining.

sweet dreams of holly and ribbon, mistakes are forgiven, and everythin' is icy and blue, and you would be there too

make my wish come true [T] (Murven)

Written by @probably-voldemort​, for @kinetic-elaboration​. The four assigned tropes were 1) almost kiss / interrupted kiss, 2) holiday movie (as in being in a holiday movie), 3) friends with benefits, and 4) band au. 

It's been ten years since the Delinquents went off air, so clearly it's time for a reunion in the form of a Christmas special. Yeah, it sounded like bullshit to Murphy, too, but he hadn't seen the crew since Raven's wedding a few years back, and he'd managed to convince Kane that his character should have a dog, so there was no way it could be all bad.

Right?

Last Christmas [NR] (Bellarke)

Written by @bellarkeshoe​, for @hiddenpolkadots​. The four assigned tropes were 1) Exes, 2) Fake dating, 3) Kiss under the mistletoe, and 4) Modern Au.

Bellamy Blake never thought he would see Clarke Griffin again in his life. At least, not after the way things ended. He wished that things had gone differently because well, he cared about her. He loved her and he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. He never even really got the chance to tell her that.

Everything happened so fast. One moment he is as happy as he can be, enjoying his life as a professor with an amazing girlfriend, and just like that, his world came crumbling down and over one huge misunderstanding.

But when they ended it, they both said some things they didn’t mean, or well he hoped she didn’t mean what she had said, he knows he didn’t.

But that is all in the past now, he can never forget about her, he still thinks about her everyday, but there is nothing he can really do about it. Clarke hates him for some reason and he doesn’t know if he’s totally over the fact that she ended things.

He is sure she had a good reason to. I mean at least that’s what he hopes. If the love they felt for each other was genuine and real than she should have had a very good reason to end things, right?

your eyes outshine the town, they do [T] (Bellarke)

Written by @hiddenpolkadots​, for @thelittlefanpire. The four assigned tropes were 1) magic au, 2) competing businesses, 3) secret relationship, and 4) kiss in the snow.

“I’m going to make you enjoy Christmas,” she tells him, her confidence in herself almost overwhelming. “I can’t do anything about the weather but I’m pretty sure I can handle the rest. By the time the season is over you’re going to love Christmas.”

“I highly doubt that,” he says, staring at her hard. “I may just tolerate it at best.”

“I’ll take it,” she says, “Bellamy Blake, prepare to have the best Christmas of your life.

or, sometimes christmas is you and your rival falling into a snowbank together.

Taste of Arkadia [G] (Bellarke)

Written by @thelittlefanpire​, for @bellarkeshoe​. The four assigned tropes were 1) Rivals to Lovers, 2) Character A catches Character B crying, 3) Modern AU, and 4) Competing businesses (author’s choice).

Before Christmas, the Chancellor of Arkadia charges his son with the task of repurposing the city’s warehouse district into a cool, hip hub for commerce and camaraderie.

At its opening, an impromptu competition among the many businesses in the area begin for the best spot in the ARK.

Take a read! Leave a kudos/comment! These fics are so unique and fun and the authors worked so hard on them. Thanks so much!

[bowlegsandbiceps]

Top 10 Favourite Characters

I was tagged by @not-a-natural-born-idjit and then flailed because they’re one of my absolute fave writers! (Seriously go to AO3 and read everything right now) 

Rules: list your favorite character from 10 different fandoms and tag 10 people

1. Castiel | Supernatural I know I flail a lot about Dean and I love Dean’s face but Castiel is my #1. He’s fierce and brave and impatient and selfless. I don’t know how a being that’s been around for millenia can be innocent but he is. I like how messy he is, and he can be such an effective antagonist without being the big bad. Any friction he has with The Winchesters is from disagreeing on the right course of action and as viewers we can decide who to side with because both are inherently good. It’s their decisions that cause problems and that is a much more compelling narrative than “this thing is just evil.” I ship him with Dean (duh) but also Sam occasionally and I’d honestly love to see some Cas/Rowena action.

2. Hannibal Lecter | NBC Hannibal/Hannibal-verse Long before NBC decided to grace us with the absolute masterpiece that is Hannibal, I have loved this character. I think I was 14 or 15 when I fell down the Thomas Harris rabbit hole and I’ve yet to find a more perfectly crafted psychopath. He’s so refined that you really can believe that no one would suspect him of being the Chesapeake Ripper. His crimes are heinous and many without feeling sensationalized. Harris was originally a crime reporter which I think gave him the ability to ground Hannibal in reality. I really liked how the TV show fleshed out the main points that in the books Clarice Starling and Will Graham continually have to remind people of which is that he does these things to amuse himself. It was really amazing to watch him set up the dominos and then stand back to let everyone else knock them all down. I ship him with Clarice or Alaina mainly but I LOVE me some murder!husbands. It’s the slowest of burns and I will bask in those flames forever.

3. Malcolm Bright | Prodigal Son First of all Tom Payne okay. Second of all, poor, sweet damaged Malcolm. I really like that he has that rich kid air about him but it’s super subtle. He’s obviously very damaged by his father (Martin Whitley is a good example of one of those over the top “legendary” killer characters, though Michael Sheen’s performance REALLY goes a long way to making that believable) and the show doesn’t make his mental illness the forefront of his character. Malcolm works and visits his family and occasionally dates very similarly to any other main character but he’s doing all these things with severe PTSD, anxiety and depression. He’s always portrayed as upbeat and determined to push through any handicaps his mental health issues might cause. There are also times when he can’t and those are shown not by concerned family and friends banding together to throw him in a treatment center but it’s usually him, white-knuckling through it or attempting to work it out on his own which is another extremely realistic portrayal of how people deal with trauma and depression. I ship him with OFC because he and Dani have ZERO chemistry (I’m sorry Brightwell people). I like the IDEA of him and Edrissa but no one is writing it and I can’t even really get MY head around how to write it so I feel this serious urge to PUT HIM WITH SOMEBODY but there’s not been anyone on the show I’ve seen him have real chemistry with yet. 

4. Tyrion Lannister | Game of Thrones I love Tyrion so much. I love him so much I named my cat after him. I loved him so much that I lived in CONSTANT. FEAR. that GRRM was going to kill him off at any moment. I like that despite everyone always thinking the worst of him he still does his best and not even with any intention of proving anyone wrong. He plays into their expectations with the booze and women but deep down he’s got a drive to be fair and especially kind to anyone who’s on the receiving end of pain and humiliation that are undeserved. He’s also fierce and clever enough to deliver crushing judgement and justice when deserved whether its through setting the wheels in motion or wielding the crossbow himself. I ship him with Sansa, shut up I know I just love the idea of them growing to love each other despite the rocky start.

5. Hermione Granger | Harry Potter HP was my first real brush with fandom. Like I’d been a Justin Timberlake fangirl since I was 12 and despite his level of fame the fandom was very small. When I started the series at 17 the breadth of content available was staggering. You could literally find ANY combination of ships you could fathom and it all ran the gamut from fluffy to downright depraved. I also find it interesting that while I like Hermione as a character in the books/movies she is far from my favorite character but she’s literally the only character I stan in the fanfic world of HP. I mainly shipped Hermione with Draco or Snape (forgive me I know it was a simpler time where we ignored everything problematic with certain kinks and narratives) and sometimes Harry. She’s such a strong female character that no matter who you pair her with the dynamic is going to be different and complex. 

6. Peeta Mellark | The Hunger Games While I relate to Katniss on a very personal level, the boy with the bread absolutely fuels my little fangirl heart. The pining from a young age. The complete disregard for his own safety or survival in the games. Selfless and just good to the core, his subsequent torture by the Capitol and Katniss’ carelessness with his feelings is like taking blow after blow. And when they strip his loyalty to Katniss and his district away it’s even more tragic because he was just this sweet kid who had a crush. UGH feels. I ship him with Katniss. I just really can’t see him with anyone else.

7. Alexander Hamilton | Hamilton THIS was one where i just identify SO. HARD. with Hamilton. While I definitely didn’t endure a childhood like his, I did end up transitioning from a blue collar upbringing to a white collar career and experience the same chip on my shoulder and drive to prove myself. And I too write like I am running out of time. I ship him with his wife or maybe Angelica a little.

8. Persephone | Greek Mythology Not sure if there’s a “fandom” for this persay but Tumblr went through a phase in the early 10s where there was a ton of meta about Persephone and how her narrative as a damsel stolen by Hades didn’t do her justice. The flipped the script and made her Queen of Hell, powerful enough to sway the God of Death and terrifying enough to keep him in line unlike all the other Gods that were sticking their dick in anyone and anything. It’s such an empowering narrative, a girl taken from everything she’s ever known seizes the opportunity to become a force to be reckoned with. I love it.

9. Gregory House | House M.D. I was going to say Sherlock here but I never really went hard for Sherlock either the movies or the BBC show. I loved the show but really more for the canon and meta which is only half the fandom life. With House, I just love that he is so unapologetically hateful to anyone he deems stupid. But he’s also earnest and good too with a heavy dollop of man pain... you know... my favorite *cough*Dean Winchester*cough* I ship him pretty exclusively with Cameron beacuse I really like the dynamic. Her hero worship/white knight complex his emotional constipation but fondness of her optimism and ideals. Great dynamic.

10. Edward Cullen | Twilight This is my favorite Trash Monkey character in my favorite trash monkey series. The books are horribly written, the movies are better but not by much. But goddammit something about his level of obsessive fuckery speaks to my girl lizard brain and I am just rooting for this sparkly idiot and his clumsy human jar of mayonnaise. I ship him and Bella because apparently the universe didn’t find the fact that he’s my favorite character in this series humiliating enough.

Tagging (please don’t feel obligated to participate if you don’t want to): @navajolovesdestiel @chevrolangels @cas-you-assbutt-dean-needs-you @castielific @rauko-is-a-free-elf @astral-almighty @only4myfandoms @ charlie-bradburi @notfunnydean @blowthatpieceofjunk

[littletayyswriting]

The Sun Still Waits Here (With the Moon and Stars Beside It)

Title: The Sun Still Waits Here (With the Moon and Stars Beside It) (3/?)

Author: LittleTayy

Rating: Teen

Characters: Marisa Coulter, Lord Asriel, Lyra Belacqua

Summary: Marisa and Lord Asriel certainly try their best. They love their daughter. But Lyra Belacqua is undoubtedly her parents’ child.

( An AU story, set in our modern world. )

AN: This is based off the TV Show.

Read On: AO3

Chapter Two

she’s slipping through my fingers

The first day of school can, at times, be an emotional and hazardous experience. And in the Belacqua Manor, that morning was no different. 

Lyra was now five and bubbling over with energy. School was going to be a big, new adventure and Lyra was excited for it! She'd never been around so many other children before; there was Tony and Billy Costa, Mrs. Costa’s sons but she got bored of them sometimes. Tony was already in school and didn't much like taking orders from Lyra and Billy was practically still a baby. 

School was going to be fun. There was going to be all new people to meet and new spaces to explore. She knew almost every nook and cranny of the Manor. It was like a dream come true for Lyra. 

But it seemed like her excitement wasn’t shared by her mother. Not that Lyra was giving much thought to her Mother at  all  that morning. She’d pulled her uniform on almost as soon as she’d awoken and though she didn’t much like the red and blue plaid dress her mother insisted she couldn’t get dirty, or the shiny Mary Janes she had to wear for school; she felt very much like a big girl. 

She ate her breakfast fast and let Mother style her hair with clips and ribbons and two plaits down to her shoulders. The excitement was palpable for Lyra and by the time it was time to leave, she was already bouncing eagerly by the door, rucksack already on her back. Her father was already beside her, coat on and looking as bored as Lyra was excited; but mother was somewhere in the Manor, taking her time and Lyra would not stand for it. 

“Mummy!” She whined in a huff, little brows furrowing as she gazed up at her father, hoping he’d get Mother to appear. “I gotta go to  school! I’m gonna be late,” she complained, stamping her little feet in frustration, glaring at him in a look so reminiscent of Marisa that Asriel was stunned for a moment. 

“Don’t be silly Lyra. You have plenty of time to get to school,” Asriel replied, watching as Lyra huffed in annoyance. His amusement at his child was short lived as Marisa came sweeping slowly into the foyer, fingers fiddling with the thin watch attached to her wrist. She seemed not to have a care in the world and Asriel’s eyebrows rose. 

The cool, calm exterior didn’t fool him, she’d been a wreck for days leading up to this. Apparently, Lyra starting school had brought about some feelings in Marisa; the kind that always popped up when Lyra was involved. School was a step to Lyra gaining independence and becoming her own little person, not that she wasn’t already, but it seemed that Lyra starting school was causing Marisa to lose her already tenuous grip on moulding their child into a mini version of herself. 

The thought of another Marisa running around the place was actually quite scary for Asriel. Marisa herself was hard enough to control, Asriel couldn’t imagine what it’d be like if Lyra turned out anything like her. Not that he didn’t love Marisa of course, but one of her was most definitely enough. 

“Well,” Marisa started, eyeing father and daughter curiously, a wide sweet smile settling on her features. “What are we waiting around for? Don’t we have to be getting someone to school?” Marisa continued, voice light and charming, as if Lyra and Asriel hadn’t been waiting on her for ten minutes already. 

“Yes, yes! I gotta go to school!” Lyra exclaimed in answer to her mother’s rhetorical question, smiling just like Marisa. “Come on!” 

Asriel shook his head at mother and daughter, watching them as Marisa took Lyra’s hand, gripping tightly as she lead them out the door. He knew it was all a facade. Lyra was  too  excited about going to school and leaving the Manor, according to the dreary commiserating Marisa had been doing just the night before. The last several weeks truly had been filled with  Lyra this  and  Lyra that  out of Marisa’s mouth and Asriel had had half a mind to take a trip just to get away from it all. 

The drive to school didn’t take long, after all the primary school was only 20 minutes into town. But even in that short time, Asriel could see that Marisa was slowly losing her composure. Her need to have a watchful eye over Lyra and have her under her thumb was almost overwhelming at times and Asriel was sure that now Lyra was starting school, it’d get infinitely worse. Just driving their child to her first day of school seemed to make the woman tense. 

Pulling up in front of the school, Asriel was less than impressed. If he could, he’d have shipped her off to a boarding school but Lyra was still too young. Which meant the local primary school would have to do for now and he’d have a few more years to convince Marisa of the virtues of boarding school. 

Lyra’s face was pressed to the glass of the window, eyes wide as she looked on in awe at the new environment and all the children milling about. Surprisingly, she waited until Marisa had exited the car before climbing out after her, reaching for her mother’s hand. The gesture was most likely an unconscious one but Asriel could see how it warmed Marisa, even if he knew the grip she had on the child’s hand was too tight.  

“Daddy, are you coming?” Lyra asked, casting a glance back at him curiously, her expression a picture perfect rendition of Marisa. 

Asriel simply grunted his reply, following along with Marisa and Lyra. They certainly made a sight, the three of them. Asriel in his disheveled sweater and slacks set, Lyra in her perfect little school uniform and Marisa in a gorgeous blue, silk wrap dress and heels. It was very obvious that they stood out amongst the other parents about the school. It was clear that they came from more money then most of the other people in the area, though it was hardly something Asriel even cared to dwell on. 

They stayed for half an hour, meeting her teacher, Marisa charming the woman with ease. Asriel simply watched along from the side, eager to get back to the Manor and to his work. He could see the tears welling in Marisa’s eyes as the first bell rang and the teacher announced it was time for class to begin. Of course, his lover didn’t let them fall, she’d never do anything so gauche as to cry in public, let alone at her child’s school. 

She bent down so she was eye level with her child, hands sweeping away at the stray hairs around Lyra’s face as she spoke to her. “I’ll miss you. I’ll be right here to pick you up this afternoon,” Marisa told her with a smile, trying to keep their child’s attention even as Lyra fidgeted away, eager to go to class. 

“A’right! Bye mummy! Bye daddy!” Lyra exclaimed, smile bright as she gave Marisa a quick hug. She pulled away easily, before her mother’s hold could tighten and was off, running towards her teacher and the rest of her class. She didn’t look back, too wrapped up in her new environment to see the thunderous expression on her mother’s face. 

--

“She didn’t even care Asriel!” Marisa exclaimed, as she sprawled herself across the sofa in Asriel’s study, a pout on her lips. 

Asriel wasn’t looking at his lover as she spoke, too absorbed in his equations and calculations to really pay attention to her. He simply grunted a reply at her, as was his tendency to do, knowing at times that Marisa simply liked to  rant. 

He heard a huff escape his beautiful, belligerent lover and it wasn’t until he heard the door to his study slam shut that he even noticed Marisa had left the room. By the way the door and windows rattled, Asriel knew that Marisa hadn’t needed to just rant; she’d wanted him to actually  contribute  to the conversation. A sigh escaped him as he set his work down, steeling himself to follow Marisa out of the room and deal with his irate lover. 

It was easy enough to find her, though he was surprised by her location. He simply had to follow the sounds of slamming doors and banging pots. Asriel’s eyebrows rose in amusement as he stood in the door way of the kitchen, a place neither of them spent much time in at all. They had staff, of course. There was no need for them personally to be in the kitchen except when Marisa was making her famous hot chocolate. 

Which, Asriel realised, was exactly what she was doing. 

“Isn’t it a bit early for hot chocolate?” He mused, arms crossed as he regarded the dark haired woman moving angrily around the kitchen. 

All he got back in return was a haughty glare. He knew Marisa was simply trying to make herself feel better. Chocolate always helped with that. 

Neither of them spoke for several long moments, Marisa still angrily making herself a hot chocolate and Asriel watching her. It was as she was mixing the chocolate and milk together that Marisa finally spoke, eyes blazing with annoyance as she looked over at Asriel. 

“She didn’t even look  back  Asriel. She didn’t even care!” Marisa snapped, pouting almost pitifully. If it had been any other woman, Asriel would have thought them pathetic but it wasn’t. It was Marisa and Asriel knew that Marisa hated when things were not under her control; Lyra being most definitely one of those things. 

“She is five Marisa,” Asriel stated, bemused more than anything. 

“I am her mother! This was her first day of school. She should have wanted to never leave my side,” Marisa mused sourly, still clearly upset by the events of the morning, though she shouldn’t have been. 

At this of course, Asriel had to resist the urge to roll his eyes or make some kind of smart comment. It was very clear to him that Marisa was on a precarious edge and he didn’t particularly feel like getting into a fight with her. Not when he should be focusing on his work instead. 

“It’s the first day, the newness will wear off. Besides, Marisa, she’s always been an independent child. You shouldn’t be surprised,” he told her roughly, preparing himself to get out of harms way in case her temper took a turn. She’d never actually hurt him, in all the years they’d been together, but he didn’t fancy having to deal with her more violent tendencies. 

Marisa pouted, glaring at him. “It doesn’t matter. She should’ve been more…”

“More what?” Asriel interrupted, barely able to keep the scoff out of his voice. Marisa’s flair for dramatics, though rare, could at times be so tedious. It was one of the only flaws Asriel found in Marisa that he didn’t like. “Dramatic? Upset?” 

A long suffering sigh left her then, as she turned to focus on the hot chocolate, deciding it was done and pouring it carefully into the mug she’d set out beside the stove. “If you’re just here to be a bastard, then go back to your study and your research!” Marisa snapped, turning to glare at Asriel from over her shoulder. 

She turned back to her hot chocolate then, taking a small sip, choosing to ignore Asriel as he moved further into the kitchen and towards her. She was steadfast in her refusal to turn around for him, even as he slipped both hands around her hips, squeezing tightly and pressing her against the counter. 

Asriel laughed, leaning down to press a kiss to her neck. “I’m always a bastard,” he reminded her. “It’s only her first day of school, of course she’s excited. There’s no need to be  jealous,” Asriel continued teasingly, his voice smug. 

“I’m not jealous,” Marisa drawled, pushing his hands away and slipping out of his grasp. “I simply think we could have homeschooled her. We’re two of the smartest people in the country, Asriel. We could certainly have taught her more than that simple primary school we’ve sent her too,” Marisa continued with a huff, turning to face him and leaning back against the counter, a troubled expression on her features. 

Asriel laughed at her words, shaking his head at her. The whole idea was delusional and he’d told her as much a month ago, when she’d first suggested homeschooling to him. 

“And just let our own work fall to the wayside? My research would be stalled and your project would be all for naught. Is that  really  what you want?” His voice was haughty and as he watched her expression change, he knew he’d beaten her. Just as he had a month ago and by the way her eyes narrowed at him, Marisa knew it too. 

Marisa chose to ignore him then, taking another sip of her hot chocolate but Asriel could tell it wasn’t helping to calm her down. It was unfortunate, of course, Marisa did love her chocolate and despite the fact he had work to do, he had a much more pleasing idea of how to calm her down. 

Asriel took a step towards Marisa, his hand reaching out to pluck the half empty mug from her hand with ease and placing it down on the bench top behind her. Marisa didn’t fight him over it, her arms moving to cross over her chest as she eyed him with disdain, a mask of indifference slipping over her features as he trapped her against the counter and pressed his body close to hers. 

“You know, there is an advantage to having her out of the house for 6 hours a day,” Asriel told her firmly, dark eyes finding her own as a smirk grew on his lips. 

“Is there?” Marisa replied challengingly, voice light as her head tilted up towards him. 

“Of course,” Asriel nodded, using a hand to uncross her arms and wrap around her waist, pulling her closer. “It’ll be a good distraction,” he reassured her, voice low and husky as he pressed a rough kiss to her lips. 

A distraction indeed. 

--

Three o’clock rolled around faster then Marisa realised after their little midday romp. Asriel had refused to come and pick Lyra up with her, mumbling something about being too busy and needing to catch up on work. Marisa was absolutely fine with that, she wanted to spend the afternoon with Lyra all to herself anyway. 

The school bell rang and after a moment or two, a wide, genuine smile grew on Marisa’s face. “Mother!” Lyra called out excitedly, running full speed out of her class room and straight towards Marisa. Her hair had come loose, falling out of her plaits, a ribbon missing from around one end and looking far more dishevelled then Marisa would ever usually allow but for now, she couldn’t care less. 

“Lyra, darling!” She exclaimed, squatting down as Lyra ran full tilt into her arms, hugging her eagerly. Marisa squeezed her close, happy to have her daughter back in her arms and eager to get her home. “Did you have a good day today?” She enquired, finally pulling back to look at Lyra’s face, though keeping her hands firmly around her child. 

Lyra sighed, her expression flitting between emotions before nodding her head excitedly. “Yes! I made friends! And I ran around with Tony Costa! And they have a  playground,” Lyra started, her words running together as she bounced on the balls of her feet. Her little nose scrunched up in distaste then, reminding Marisa so strongly of Asriel, it was like she was looking at the man himself. “But my teacher’s  mean. She said I was telling lies! But I wasn’t Mama, I  promise,” Lyra continued, a slight whine to her voice. 

Usually Marisa would scold her for the whine in her tone but she was far too pleased that Lyra’s first day at school hadn’t been as perfect as she’d been envisioning. She pressed a kiss to Lyra’s forehead, hands smoothing out her daughter’s unruly hair before standing up and grinning at her child. 

“I believe you. How about you and I go have afternoon tea?” Marisa suggested, taking Lyra’s hand and guiding her towards their chauffeured car. “And you can tell me all about your mean teacher,” she whispered conspiratorially, smiling down at Lyra. 

“Yes!” Lyra agreed enthusiastically, beaming up at her mother. Her first day of school had been great.

[artmutt]

A Little Knowledge...

I grew up with educational television. I was always discovering something new and unexpected, something that went beyond what I learned at home or in school. Channel 11 in Chicago, WTTW, your “window to the world,” was indeed a crucial part of that. I should also note, however, that in the 1950s and ’60s, mainstream television was a very different place than it is today. I recall amazing musical performances and dance and theater on Sunday mornings on CBS, and programs like “I’ve Got a Secret” brought in people like John Cage or John Cale. My parents were slightly appalled when I started watching The Magic Door on Sunday mornings, a program that was about Judaism. And they were taken aback when I started spouting Russian after watching a language program on PBS. They must have wondered if educational TV was making me smarter or turning me into a wise guy.

I have recently been thinking that two of my favorite programs on PBS, specifically This Old House and Travels in Europe, have not just provided me with entertainment over the years, but have also contributed to national and global problems. (Let me warn you in advance: I’m not really blaming these TV shows for larger social issues, any more than I really blame the Brothers Grimm for the rise of German nationalism and subsequently for World Wars I & II. But it has been on my mind lately. Please try to keep a sense of humor here.)

I’ve been a dedicated watcher of This Old House since it first came on the air in 1979. I grew up in a house that my father always seemed to be in the process of renovating. When we weren’t stripping and refinishing the floors, we were putting up paneling or painting the dining room or making some kind of change to the place that disrupted the normal patterns of living. My dad also had a workshop in the basement where he dabbled with different kinds of projects. I also had a good friend who, after graduating from college decided to become a house carpenter, and I spent a number of hours helping him rip out drywall, or do other kinds of demolition work in houses. And my former brother-in-law was a house painter, and I used to work for him occasionally during the summers when I was in college. So This Old House struck a nostalgic note with me on several levels.

What wasn’t anticipated was that the show would prove successful and spawn a kind of minor industry of derivative shows. Shows about people repairing or updating their homes, or shows about buying houses and flipping them for a profit. And while the folks on the original program still amuse me, many of these other shows just kind of bewilder me with their egotism and reality TV show mentality. What began to disturb me was driving around the city and suburbs, and seeing the proliferation of people making “additions” to their homes. Somehow, after watching TOH or one of its strange offspring, people were leaping into projects to expand and “update” and glamorize their homes. Not enough to have a functional bathroom: it needs mirrors and a rain shower head, and glass doors, and and and…I’m sure the construction people and contractors don’t mind, but a lot of the stuff I see happening looks architecturally challenged. Riding the El in Chicago, you see a lot of back yards, and people have made some very alarming and tasteless expansions of their homes over the years. I also wonder how many “McMansions” out there were built for people who were dedicated watchers of TOH-style programs. I can’t lay all of these violations of taste on TOH, but honestly, I suspect that the impulse these people felt to remodel may well have come from watching TOH as they grew up.

And what about Rick Steves and Travels in Europe? Well, I have done a fair amount of traveling myself, so what I’m about to say is about my own sense of guilt. World tourism today is one of the chief contributors to environmental stress. This is chiefly due to jet air travel. I recall taking an Environmental Geology class, and we talked about the weather and the phenomenon now called “Climate Change.” I vividly recall the instructor talking about the impact that jet planes had on the so-called jet stream in the upper atmosphere. Heating up the upper atmosphere, stirring it around if you will, was likely to have a destabilizing affect on the planet.  Living in the American Midwest, near one of the world’s biggest airports, I watch in dismay when I see arctic air dropping down as far as Texas, or causing snowfall in Los Angeles, or resulting in snowfall in late April and early May. The jet stream that used to flow with some regularity across the country now dips and drops and bends like a fever chart, resulting in horrible weather conditions.

Tourism has also brought environmental and social damage to popular destinations. The city of Venice, for example, is ravaged by Cruise ship tourism, that disrupts the waters of the lagoon, and disgorges hundreds of people every day, who are only in the city for 24 hours, and who deplete resources without staying long enough to spend money and reinforce the economy in more meaningful ways. The rise of Airbnb apartments – real estate owned by people who rent out the apartment to travelers, in essence like a hotel room – is damaging both the social fabric of neighborhoods, and making it difficult for locals to find places to live. As a result, there are now very few Venetians actually living in Venice. Why am I traveling somewhere except to interact with locals?

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not laying all these issues on Rick Steves. He seems like a very nice guy, and I know he encourages people to travel thoughtfully and to genuinely engage with local culture. But I can also tell you, from my own travels, that I’ve seen plenty of people, armed with Steves’s guidebooks, thoughtlessly wandering around the streets of European cities, and not exactly being goodwill ambassadors for America.  Steves’s message is, you don’t need a guide, you can travel on your own, it’s fun, it’s doable. I think many people arrive and hit the wall when they discover just how non-American Europe can be. Not everybody speaks English! Again, why are you traveling if not to engage with locals?

Moreover, Steves likes to provide viewers/readers with his “special secrets,” his little places that aren’t on the major travel maps. I was annoyed, while attending Mass in the church of St. Sulpice, to see tourists wandering around, Steves’s guidebook in hand, looking for things in the church he had mentioned. As much as his shows caution respect, unchaperoned Americans can be a handful. Those charming little “secret” places he tells people about sometimes find themselves overwhelmed with American tourists they can neither accommodate nor desire to have around. (Ask any of the Italians in the little hill towns that Steves “discovered” years ago, that now find themselves overrun with tourists every summer.) This is true of travel writing in general: someone writes about a gorgeous deserted beach somewhere, and the next year, it’s overrun with tourists, who are all looking to recreate that special moment they heard about, now impossible because there are dozens of people around. Steves isn’t solely responsible, but his guidebooks and TV programs have very long legs. His son Andy, who kind of grew up on his father’s programs, is now running tours of his own, aimed at young people who might be put off by his Boomer dad.

In the case of both This Old House and Travels in Europe, I am struck by the old saw about how “a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing.”

[goodticklebrain]

Q&A August: David Prosser of the Stratford Festival

Remember back when I called Austin Tichenor my Comedy Fairy Godfather? Well, the subject of today’s Q&A August interview is my Shakespeare Fairy Godfather. David Prosser is the Literary and Editorial Director at the Stratford Festival of Canada, and is also indirectly responsible for much of Good Tickle Brain’s growth and success. (Also, if he’s reading this, I would like to sincerely apologize to him for all grammatical errors in today’s post, most likely related to misplaced punctuation, the correct disposition of which I have never properly mastered.)

I met David on Twitter a scant four months after I had started Good Tickle Brain. Fresh out of the gates, with few followers or readers, I was desperately trying to get my work in front of as many eyes as possible. To that end, I went on Twitter and promptly followed everyone I could find who was remotely associated with the Stratford Festival. One of the people I stumbled upon was David, whose wonderfully dry and witty tweets immediately attracted my attention. On day, embroiled in a bit of an ongoing brouhaha with some Oxfordians, David tweeted a riff on “Duke of Earl”, rewriting the chorus as “dupes, dupes, dupes, dupes of Earl”. Never one to shy away from a song parody, I provided the rest of the lyrics. David was amused enough by my efforts that he followed me, and started retweeting my comics. I cannot tell you how much that meant to me at the time.

Later on that year, I was visiting the Stratford Festival with my family, and (of course) tweeting about it when David slid into my DMs and invited me up to the Festival offices to have tea with him before that day’s matinee. I jumped at the chance, and we spent a wonderful half an hour or so chatting in the sunshine on the Festival Theatre balcony. It was like meeting my long-lost benevolent Scottish uncle. David was not only immediately supportive and encouraging of my work, but he also began actively brainstorming ways in which to help me reach a larger audience, specifically among the theatre community. To that end he introduced me to the Shakespeare Theatre Association, which quickly became my Shakespeare family and has helped me grow and develop Good Tickle Brain into what it is today.

There is absolutely no reason why the Literary and Editorial Director of the largest classical repertory theatre in North America should have given the time of day to a random person on the internet who drew sub-par stick figures and routinely committed egregious spelling errors in her text. However, David did not hesitate to lift me up, and has been a constantly warm, supportive, and thoroughly entertaining presence in my life since then.

But I’ll let him talk now. He’s much better at it than I am. 

1. Who are you? Why Shakespeare?

Who am I indeed? Isn’t that the mystery that haunts us all? “Who’s there?” asks Barnardo in the opening words of Hamlet, and that same question echoes down through centuries of subsequent literature. Call me David. Or Prosser, David Prosser.

I was born and grew up in Scotland, where, in early childhood, I first encountered Shakespeare as the author of the “Scottish play” and didn’t realize till some time later that he’d written anything else; came to Canada in my twenties; had a fourteen-year career at a small daily newspaper, where, among other things I was the theatre critic (boo, hiss) and editor of the TV listings (zzzzzz….); then quit in order to spend more time with my wife and cats and to pursue new opportunities for financial ruin; and finally washed up on the shores of the Stratford Festival, where, under various unconvincing job titles (most latterly that of Literary and Editorial Director), I have been an in-house wordsmith for the past quarter-century.

And why Shakespeare? As a nearly dead white male myself, I have a particular affinity for the work of dead white males in general—and Shakespeare in particular has intrigued me ever since childhood, when my father (an English teacher) showed me some black-and-white slides of scenes from a staging of that Scottish play referenced above. I’m sure if I could see them now, those images would prove cheesy; at the time, though, they haunted my imagination; it wasn’t till some time later that I began to discover that there were words to go with them.

As I started to discover the actual plays, I found to my excitement that they had the mind-expanding power of dreams, in which human life is transformed into something rich and strange—an alternative universe of experience, if you like, but one that brilliantly illuminates the “real” one.

2. What moment(s) in Shakespeare always make you laugh?

Sticking with the Scottish play, I generally laugh at Macbeth’s (oops, said it) “‘Twas a rough night,” and I always smile whenever an actor has to tackle the unsayable “O horror, horror, horror! Tongue nor heart / Cannot conceive nor name thee!” Also, I’m afraid I can never suppress a schoolboy snigger when Mountjoy, in Henry V, comes in and announces himself with the words “You know me by my habit.” I can’t remember where I heard it or read it, but someone, somewhere, made a joke about the entire English army responding with rude gestures suggestive of that habit, and I have never been able to get that out of my mind.

3. What’s a favorite Shakespearean performance anecdote?

See Mountjoy above. Also this, one of the many stories from the late Richard Monette’s memoir This Rough Magic: an autobiography “as told to,” er, well, me. Peter Ustinov was playing King Lear at the Stratford Festival in 1979; Richard was playing Edmund.

“At one performance,” Richard recalled, “Peter began, ‘We two alone will sing like birds i’ the cage. . . .’ and then he dried. ‘We’ll sing . . .’ he repeated, ‘and then we’ll sing some more. Oh, we’ll laugh. . . . We’ll dance. . . . And then . . . we’ll sing some more.’ Realizing what had happened, I tried to save him by coming in early with my line: ‘Take them away.’ He regarded me with mild curiosity, then waved me away with his hand—'Foof, foof, foof’—and began the whole speech over again, determined to say it all.”

4. What’s one of the more unusual Shakespearean interpretations you’ve either seen or would like to see?

In 1998, or thereabouts, at a theatre festival in Quebec City, I saw a production of The Tempest directed by Robert Lepage. More precisely, it was La Tempête, a translation into French by Normand Chaurette. What was novel about it were the settings, which were computer-created projections—but not just flat background images. The audience wore polarized 3D glasses throughout, which created the illusion of a three-dimensional landscape and objects (such as the royal ship) that seemed to come floating out into the auditorium. It was a stunning effect, perfectly suited to the magical powers referenced in the play, and it had a huge effect on me.

5. What’s one of your favorite Shakespearean “hidden gems”?

An obvious one, obviously, but it’s the “wretched strangers” speech from Sir Thomas More.

6. What passages from Shakespeare have stayed with you?

I am constantly on the alert for opportunities to work any of the following into my conversation:

“Thou turn’st mine eyes into my very soul, / And there I see such black and grainèd spots / As will not leave their tinct.”

“I’ll no pullet sperm in my brewage.” (Have to be careful about that one when placing an order in a bar or restaurant, though, or the server might spit in my Sauvignon.)

“For this relief much thanks.” (Always apt in washrooms.)

More seriously, I always get a wave of nostalgia for the homeland when I hear Macbeth say, “Light thickens, and the crow makes wing to the rooky wood.” For some reason that line evokes Scotland for me so strongly for me that I feel sure Shakespeare must have toured there when the plague was on in London.

7. What Shakespeare plays have changed for you?

When I was an undergraduate, a professor told me that Titus Andronicus was an absolutely dreadful play, what could Shakespeare have been thinking; and for many years I believed her. Then I actually read it, and thought, wow.

8. What Shakespearean character or characters do you identify the most with?

Wow, that is a question, isn’t it? Erm, well…. Oh, I don’t know: it might be…. Or, no, maybe not. No, shoot, I just can’t make up my mind. Sorry, I know I’m procrastinating, but I’m going to have to set this aside for a while, while I think on it more precisely. Maybe get a bit of sea air to clear my mind….

Okay, that’s better. I’d like to think it maybe would be Benedick, but I’m very much afraid it might be Falstaff. Or King John.

Actually, a few years ago, I really identified with the King of France, but, lacking a Helena, I had surgery for it, and I’m fine now.

9. Where can we find out more about you? Are there any projects/events you would like us to check out?

I pop up from time to time on Facebook (though not Instagram, which I’ve never seen the point of). Occasionally I make snarky remarks on Twitter. Otherwise, I can sometimes be found in the lobby of the Festival Theatre, giving Lobby Talks before selected performances. C’mon down! They’re free!

(Back to Mya) Thanks so much to David for taking the time to answer my questions! If you can, pick up a copy of former Stratford Festival artistic director Richard Monette’s memoir, This Rough Magic, which David worked on. It’s a wonderful read.

COMING THURSDAY: My other self, my counsel’s consistory, my pocket dramaturg!

[aurora-the-kunoichi]

Chance Meeting Chapter Five

Reader and turtles

Donnie bent down and pulled the manhole cover open revealing the ladder down into the sewer. With wide eyes you looked at him then to Leo who was still giving you that adorable crooked smile. They were going to show you were they lived?

“No bag over the head this time fellas?”

Leo shook his head ushering you towards the open hole in the ground with his hand on the small of your back, “Nope, you passed the test.”

“Test?” you asked following Donnie down the manhole slowly.

“You went to the police station to give your statement and said nothing about us. You kept our secret, didn’t even talk to Rebecca about us either. So, we figured we could give you something in return.” You heard Leo call from above.

Donnie helped you from the ladder and with a heavy thud Leo jumped from the street to the bottom on the opening in a single leap. He landed before you in a crouch then stood to his full height never taking his eyes from you. Hot, did it feel hot down here?  

His large hands moved to your shoulders and you swayed a bit in his grasp. His blue molten gaze almost took the breath from your body and your knees nearly buckled under your weight. This was unfair, did he have any idea what he was doing to you?

“Turn around and follow the bouncing Donnie.” he clucked smoothly turning you with his hands. Allowing the large mutant to move you, you saw Donnie already several feet from you heading down the tunnel. Willing your lead feet to move you quickly caught up to the tall purple turtle and you could instantly feel Leo’s presences just behind you. They were quick.

A 10 minute walk later you were entering into their home, you could see Mikey and Raph playing video games on their TV and Splinter watching from the kitchen table a steaming cup of tea in his furry hands. You watched the old rat for a few moments, his small hands turning the fragile tea cup with the pads of his fingers. His dark eyes focused in on the two turtles laughing and nudging each other as they fought to win. A faint smile pulled at his long snout making your feel warm at the adoration of his sons. Seeing that put to rest the final pulls of uneasiness in the back of your mind.

“We’re back with our little flower.” You heard Leo chuckle behind you. “Little flower?” you mouthed silently turning around to give him a look of disapproval. A pet name really?

Leo could see your dissatisfaction with the pet name he had just given you and clicked his tongue in the back of his mouth in amusement. He was having fun pressing your buttons, it was a good way to get to know someone. How much poking and prodding could you handle before your let him have it? Would you enjoy the fun he was having, and could you give it right back? The little display on the surface was an indication you were enjoying it. The gentle brush against him avoiding him completely going straight for his brother was a bold move. He hadn’t expected it and was surprisingly disappointed you didn’t greet him with the same enthusiasm. Well played.

He found himself craving physical contact with you, anyway to get your scent on him without looking like a creep, he just had to figure out how to make it happen.

You made your way over to the couch that held the two brothers in orange and red. They were playing a video game you have never seen before and the scowl on Raphael’s face indicated he was not winning. Sitting down on the arm of the couch you watched them battle it out. Out of the corner of you eye you saw Leo move around you and lean down resting his elbows on the back of the couch between his two brothers.  

“We have a guest guys, turn the game off and interact.” Leo used a deeper tone for his brothers when he was giving orders. Deeper and a little more powerful, it didn’t help the situation between your legs and you swallowed dryly. You watched him stand back up, the muscles in his arms stretching beneath his green skin and walk towards the kitchen to see his father. It was difficult not to stare at his ass as he took the short set of stairs up into the kitchen.

“Yeah yeah fearless we’re almost done, I’m catching up to him.” Raphael growled keeping his eyes on the screen his fingers moving over the controls in a blur.

“Now you two, I told you when Donnie and I left that we’d be back in 30 minutes with her. You’re being rude.” Leo snapped again turning to face his brothers again. You watched Donnie come up behind splinter resting one hand on his father’s shoulder a fresh cup of coffee in the other.

“Ahh she doesn’t mind.” Mikey quickly looked at you with his sparkling eyes and then back to the Tv screen making sure not to lose his place.

In truth you didn’t mind, you still had no idea what you were going to talk about. So, with them distracted you could settle your distracted mind and figure out some questions.  

If your senses weren’t running on over drive you wouldn’t have heard the whizzing of the quarter that Leo threw. With precision it connected with the gaming systems power button turning the game off ending their match earning Leo a few choice obscenities from the two angry brothers.

Blinking in disbelief you marveled at the accuracy of Leonardo’s throw. That button was tiny and across the room and he hit it with a fucking quarter. That itself solidified the whole “ninja” claim, he was good. That was an impossible throw without years of training. You wondered if they were all as good as Leo? Which opened up the line of questions you wanted to ask.  

After Raph and Mikey whined to Leo about ending their game abruptly Master Splinter raised his palm silencing the two squawking turtles. The look Raph shot Leo was deadly and you figured their relationship was a bit rocky. You would hate to see them duke it out, there wouldn’t be anything left to this place.

“My dear.” Th soft voice of Splinter broke through your thoughts. You looked up to him motioning you forward to the kitchen. Getting up from the couch you crossed in front of Mikey and Raph their eyes on you the entire time and soon followed you up to the kitchen table where you sat near the old rat.

“My sons have told me you kept out secret and I am grateful for that. They are everything to me and wouldn’t know what I would do if anything happened to them.” You saw Donnie’s hand squeeze his father’s shoulder a bit at the declaration. Splinter continued after resting his hand on his sons. “As you can see we don’t have many friends. Many people wouldn’t accept us with our appearances alone. But we do have a select group; a new reporter, a detective, a camera man and the Chief of police. There are a few police officers that know of our existence but do not know our location. So, we need to be careful who we let into our lives and you my dear have proven yourself. You risked your life for another a stranger at that. You didn’t shun my sons or I after being exposed to us and kept our secret to yourself. We’d like to offer you a glimpse into our lives, do you have any questions for us?”

All of a sudden, all eyes were on you making you feel very hot and anxious. All the questions you had floating in your head were gone along with your stupid voice. You opened your mouth and closed it again when words refused to form.  “Talk.” You scolded yourself twisting your sleeve in your fingers. They were looking at you, Leo was looking at you, the playfulness gone in his eyes replaced with a stoic stare his lips parted slightly. His tongue darted out wetting his lips which made your throat dry, you needed water. Your eyes moved to the sink and Donnie noticed the frantic look in your eye.

“You want some water?” he mused moving from behind his father to the sink. His long arm grabbed a glass from the cupboard and poured a generous glass and handed to your greedy hands.  Once the rim of the glass hit your lips you poured the water down your throat quenching the uncomfortable desert that had formed behind your tongue. Deep breaths, take deep breaths you reminded yourself setting the now empty glass on the counter with a clink. Your eyes returned to the four mutant turtles and their rat father. Swallowing again you licked your lips and made eye contact with Leo who looked suddenly uncomfortable. You could see him swallow and noticed he was looking at your now moist lips, again you darted your tongue out and he visibly flinched his fingers curling into his palms.

You were affecting him as well, good, the cocky bastard. With renewed confidence you remembered all the questions you had thought of and started out with the first one that came to mind. “What happened to you that made you the way you are today?” it was the most important question you could think of. From the beginning, you wanted to hear everything from the beginning.

Splinter took the lead and began their story from the start where they were injected with the mutagen in Sack’s lab. He left no detail out as he continued through their lives even the shredder and krang were brought up. Tt had been several years and they all were in their early twenties and had found a nice rhythm to their lives but craved more human interaction. They patrolled the city helping those in need, taking down gangs and all those that threatened the good people of New York. Splinter even let it slip that April O’Neil the reporter was their closest friend but was more like family if anything.

They were the reason you weren’t dead from that chemical Erik Sacks wanted to spread over the city years ago and they had stopped that alien invasion. You remembered that day the most. You had been nearly crushed to death by falling debris that had been broken off by a piece of the assembling ship. When it hit the side of the building you were under. You were trapped for almost a whole day beneath it luckily only encased and not crushed. You had sustained several cuts and bruises, but you were lucky to be alive, there were several people who weren’t so lucky.

They were heroes, you were looking at real living breathing super heroes. The world owed everything to these four and they would never know it. And that made you sad which must have conveyed in your expression.  

“Its ok really, we prefer the shadows.” Donnie smiled sitting down next to you.

“But you could be up there living normal…..well somewhat normal lives. You guys are heroes and are amazing and everyone should know it.” You had a hint of anger in your tone. This was unfair, they lived down in the sewers away from the light. Unable to enjoy the simple things you took for granted. Things like going grocery shopping or going out for a meal at a restaurant. They deserved that, they deserved to enjoy the finer things in life.

“We don’t want a normal life, we enjoy being hidden, helping when we can. Yeah, the sewer isn’t the greatest place to live but it’s unique and Donnie has given us all we could ever need down here. The genius even gave us a tricked out garbage truck.” Raph laughed.

In the back of your mind you knew the reason they stayed hidden, you knew the world just as much as they did. This world was cruel to those who were different, no matter the circumstances, no matter what they did. This way they were safe from prying eyes, from blog posts and tabloid newspapers. You would keep their secret to the day you died, and you would be there for them, Whether it was friendship or something more.

Chapter Four

@lunarkittythings

[brightsun-and-darkmidnight]

Heartbeat: A Fragile Reminder

TITLE: Heartbeat: A Fragile Reminder

CHAPTER NO./ONE SHOT: Chapter 21 / ?

AUTHOR: brightsun-and-dark midnight

ORIGINAL IMAGINE: Imagine Loki falling in love with a Midgardian and his words to Thor about Jane during Dark World coming back to haunt him. “It would be a heartbeat. You would never be ready.”

RATING:  M for Mature

NOTES/WARNINGS: ~▪︎~FOR THE WHOLE STORY~▪︎~

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Check Masterlist. It's going to be a long read. I try to keep each chapter around 3,000 words.

My Ao3: brightsun_and_darkmidnight

!-!TRIGGER WARNING(S)!-!

So many triggers, read ALL of them!

Swearing. Angst. Death. Depression. Violence. Self-harm. Regret. Carelessness for safety. Doubts. Torture. NSFW. Smut. Fluff. And Of Course- Mischief.

Summary: The new image.

 ~ ~ ENJOY  ~ ~

Alicia woke up in pain. Her head was splitting and her stomach- Alicia jumped out of bed and barely made it to the bathroom. As the annoying dry heaving continued, Alicia noticed she was prepared for this morning. Hair tied up and in suitable clothes to get rid of or to lounge in. Loki must have,

"Love. Breakfast is here." Speaking of him...

Alicia saw Loki in comfortable clothes… oh she hoped could relax today. Her head remained in the toilet for another minute as she gasped and tried to relax. She wiped a stray hair back. Loki gave her a warm cloth he actually rinsed by hand. Alicia breathed carefully and flushed the source of the terrible scent in the air.

"You don't have to be here, smell that."

Loki chuckled, "You obviously forgot last night."

Alicia stopped momentarily to ask, "what did I do...oh no. Susan…" Alicia knew it was not going to be good...

Loki took great interest in his sleeve, "most of it is being replayed on the news."

Alicia rinsed her mouth then sighed. Loki chuckled at her deep sigh as she went to the common area. The TV showing Alicia being held back by Loki, her snarling something about her list. Alicia rolled her eyes and trudged to the table.

"Do you remember anything?"Jane was glancing at Alicia.

Alicia lifted her hand and teetered it by the sides in a lazy way. "I know that guy pissed me off. I imagine that was a death sentence." She shrugged as she poked her food, eating toast instead. Marcibeth was sure to find the guy, he was probably being tortured right now as she drank her coffee and ate a microwave sandwich.

"We need to go over the mission for that information on Luit. But you are cleared for the rest of the day, Alicia."

"Thanks Thor." Alicia mumbled as she took a sip of orange juice. She felt better after eating but her stomach still hurt. She went to the library and found some interesting books. Some were Asgardian. Alicia ran her fingers over the patterns wondering what the beautiful curves and dashes said. 

She felt the gentle yet firm hands on her, wrapping around her as a heavy head was placed on her shoulder. A smooth and low voice she first fell in love with spoke, "the witch found peace among her visions. Her real eyes might have been stolen long ago, but she was able to see the future before everyone else. Knew what to say to keep a peace around her. She saw moments of new family members in her arms and was able to see the wonderful faces of her grandchildren. Knowing about her death approaching, she pushed further and saw the birth of her very distant descendant. Full of power as if a pure blooded family member despite the mixture of many bloodlines. The descendant saw the worst of the future.. however the descendant made the best choice to save all of existence-with a sacrifice of her……."

Alicia fingered the bloodied page, "it doesn't finish?"

"It is a prophecy from thousands of years ago. A very crafty healer was able to speak this as a story, but could not tell the price. No one is sure if this prophecy happened yet…. There are many visions that foretold great loss."

Alicia hummed, "Will I lose my eyes?"

"Some witches do...it is common for them to look in the future to be able to see. As said in the story."

Alicia didn't want to lose her eyesight.. she could barely handle visions now. She couldn't even remember them. How would she be able to force a vision? Would she remember? Would she forget what everyone looked like? What if she had children and never saw their faces the same time Loki did? Would she trip over things and be clumsy? She turned and took in Loki's face. Admiring the sharp features, dark curls that were untamed and fell beautifully, then those eyes...

"I don't want to lose my eyes. I don't want to forget what you look like." Her hand rested on his cheek, traced his jaw then pulled him by the neck. She kissed everywhere. Holding the book so it would not get between them once lips met and he pulled her closer. "I love you. So much." Her forehead rested with his. "Can we just… I don't know… I would like a little space...having you around is..comforting.. could we relax separately but in the same room?"

"I love that idea."

Alicia smiled when he placed a light lingering kiss on her forehead.

Loki was staring at her, "Would you like to relax here after the meeting?"

Alicia nodded and then the AI told everyone to meet for the mission preparations.

Alicia sighed as she heard everyone talk. She healed her headache and spoke with a clearing head, "Look. We just need to stalk around, listen to conversations, take those who know important things, and ship them to my sister."

"You would be surprised as to what people put on computers." Natasha suggested to stick with the original mission.

Loki informed everyone, "Luit does not record anything."

Valkyrie spoke up, "His partners might. Those he worked with were very predictable."

Alicia didn't like this… something was off. SHIELD didn't have much information and SHIELD was the keeper of all important knowledge. Marcibeth wasn't getting too much information currently either.. Loki had to be right.

"We go with the original plan. Reindeer games will get; sour patch kid, spider boy, woman master assassin and capcicile in for information and out with no issues. The rest of us will be on the sidelines waiting to be tapped in."

Alicia didn't even react to the nicknames Tony just threw around due to being annoyed too much already.

Everyone ate together on the common living room. The TV was on and Alicia did her best to ignore it.

"Sweetheart turned seductress? OR was she always that way? Loki did say she had charm."

Alicia rolled her eyes as she took a bite of the Chinese food with a slight rumble in her throat.

Hearing Loki's hum made Alicia glare at him in warning but he suggested with a purr, "would you like to use that charm on me later?"

Alicia heard Peter snort and try to cover his laugh with coughs.

Tony waved his hand in Loki's direction, "no. You stop now. Peter stop laughing."

Alicia glared at Loki but she couldn't help but laugh at Peter trying to explain that was not the reason for the laugh with his stuttering over words and continuous trench digging through his explanation. Tony trying to get Peter to shut up must have been Loki's master mischievous plan...

"I.i.i. it was Thor's face."

"Is there something amusing about my face?"

Peter shrugged as he talked, "well it was. Ya know..you looked like"

"He will make you a cooked spider. Better be careful." Loki smirked and took another bite and Alicia could see Loki was content with Peter being nervous and with everyone's irritation.

Alicia's eyes rolled so hard that she could feel the strain behind her eyes. Everyone flustered over a little comment and not worried in the slightest about red flags concerning a mission. Was Alicia the one everyone was worried about putting lives in danger?

Thor's phone went off and he quickly stood and walked off. It got everybody's attention. Then Loki heard his name being called from across the room. Thor waved for him to hurry, prompting Loki to give Alicia a reassuring squeeze before leaving.

Thor leaned forward to whisper, "it is about a healer. Eir has chosen."

Relief surged through Loki as he lowered his voice, "When will they be here?"

"They are already on their way."

"Well, who is it?"

Thor looked in Loki's eyes and the relief left.

"Only two survived.. out of 13. Emma is her healer… Eir is considering using the other healer once they are able to heal themselves.. As well. Alicia was assigned a healer because the only ones available survived."

Loki's hands fisted and he closed his eyes. What the Hel did they see? Two healers left? Loki heard of healers trying to tell the vision they saw to warn people. Was she going to be in that much danger? Loki knew she was reckless and he had a feeling that could be it. His hand felt the familiar pinching and pulling.

Thor gave Loki's arm a squeeze. "Eir is confident in Emma. Rest knowing the healers were not in any state other than confidence and a small amount of doubt."

"The others that talked… were they gloating?" Loki's damn skin was insistent on healing.

"When they talked, it as if they knew something important but didn't know what to do. All of them tried to be smart in their warnings but it was too soon to get even a whole sentence. Recurring words were 'ship' and 'join' nothing else was understood."

"I suppose the Oracle is refusing to give more information."

"You are correct. Only the two surviving healers and Alicia will know the future."

Loki inhaled and exhaled deeply. "This is very odd. To be confident, but risk their lives to share information? Confident with the worst vision? She literally just had a vision come true that is likely linked to her torture." Loki picked his finger and ripped the nail very deep and sighed, "she was, rightfully, upset with the visions of her father… but when she had the following vision of her torture she was so confident."

Thor finished Loki's thought, "she must be in danger."

"Because she sacrifices herself."

"You know things will work out how they are supposed to." Thor clapped his hand on Loki's shoulder, "shall we tell everyone she has a healer?"

"Just leave it at that."

Things work out as they should? Thor was insane. How bad was Alicia going to sacrifice herself? It better not be the end of her heart. Loki could not bare to think about a life without Alicia. More specifically not to not see that smile so warm her eyes became bright enough to cast the darkness to flee. Loki walked to Alicia and held her hand. He pulled her to him and walked to the window. She stroked his hand and gave him a small smile.

"Want to talk about it?"

"Yes." Loki smiled with charm. "Your healer is on the way."

Alicia smiled. "Good. Less stress on you."

Loki's voice raised l in pitch, "Don't believe I'm not going to worry. There are still going to be times I will have to pull visions."

Alicia played with that finger he picked at the nail. "What are you so worried about?" She traced her finger over his and soothed it with her magic.

"You don't need to worry." The dip of volume and the breath before the last word gave him off his lie.

He knew Alicia noticed when she rose an eyebrow, "you are poorly maintaining your reputation, God of Lies."

"Everything will be fine. I refuse to believe anything else."

Alicia hummed watching the small wounds heal slowly and Loki swore she was trying to soothe all of his stress away through his finger. She looked up through her lashes, "God of Truth?"

Loki chuckled, "I have never lied to you."

Alicia snapped at him, "Bullshit. You tear your hands apart in worry and tell me it is nothing."

Loki muttered, "There is nothing that gets past you.." Loki pulled her to sit with him in the chairs by them.

Alicia childishly popped the second symbol, "Nope." She ran her glowing fingers up his arm to his shoulders and rubbed. "Are you relaxed?"

"Yes Darling."

"Are you learning anything because I would love one of these later."

Loki's hands found her knees and his thumbs rubbed the inside gently, "Put you to sleep after touches so relaxing and mind clearing?"

Alicia giggled, "stop it."

"Are you ready to relax Love?" Loki smirked at her indecisive look, he chirped, "Let's go to the library."

Finally, it was just Alicia and himself in the library. They stayed quiet except a little squirming Alicia kept staring at him. He refused to call her out on her actions because he wanted to act as if he was not actually, "in the same room." He wanted to give her some sort of space. It was unlikely they would have much time together once her witch specific training began. Though Alicia seemed uncomfortable, maybe too used to having him around.

"Can I sit in your lap?"

Loki laid so she could sit with him. He draped his arm over her as his other held the book. He did notice she was playing with her wrist a bit, but didn't comment, just relaxed his arm more to add pressure. Thor and Eir walked into the library after announcing they had Emma. Alicia was quick to stand and she looked shocked. Brown and white robes, Emma's dark red hair illuminated by the candle Alicia had insisted on lighting for the scent.

Alicia spoke with a wide smile, "I'm glad to see you are better."

Emma nodded, "It is thanks to you I am alive. I wanted to do this to repay you."

"Thank you but I held no debt."

"Because of you I am alive, and my family. I owe you more than I will ever be able to repay you." Emma lowered into a bow.

"No.no.no. don't do that. It is not necessary. I assure you I am difficult to take care of.. I'm quite stubborn so, I will thank you for accepting to be my healer." Alicia giggled, "you might not get an apology again."

"You don't need to thank me at all. It is my job to care for you now."

Eir spoke up, "Emma is in charge of your health for the most part. Especially concerning your visions. I would like to see your training start today. Now actually."

Alicia stuttered, "sure."

Once in the special room, designed by Asgardians, for magic training Alicia was forced to sit on the floor with her back against the wall, sketchbook in hand.

Eir explained in a very teachable way, "Emma is going to force you into a vision, walk you through it and try different phrases."

Alicia nodded and all Loki could do was watch.