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originalwinnercheesecake · 2 years

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My Personal Ranking of the CBS ghosts season 1.

Okay so I gave CBS ghosts a chance about a year ago when I kept seeing the trailer and thought it sounded like a cool idea. Honesty I am big fan. Yes the first 3-4 epsidoes drag some, yes even after it picks up its cliche sometimes. But the show isn’t going for some fantastical, new original, no one has seen before. Its a American reboot of an already existing British comedy (I have not seen BBC, I do not have the streaming service it is on), that’s goal is just have colorful characters, make it’s audience laugh, and have the occasional really deep/sweet moments sprinkled into the comedy. For those goals I would say it succeeds. I laugh at most episodes, and a lot of the sweet moments (Alberta telling Issac about her father, Jay pulling out all the stops to for Sam during their homemade prom) hit. As for the characters I wanted to do a ranking list for them all through season 1, but never got around to it. With season 2 about to start I am telling myself that I cannot watch an episode until I do this. From the bottom up. slight spoilers may be below for anyone who hasn’t finished season 1

12.) Elias Woodstone: I do not like him as a person, or as a villain. I can generally “like a villain as a villain” when they are written to be very good at being bad.But Elias was bad in a way that was not funny, it was disgusting. When he learned what happened to people he walked through, he did it them on purpose. I am glad he is in Hell

11.) Stephanie: The cliche bratty teen, mean girl.I kinda understand why; she died on what was supposed to be this really magical night, and never got to finish growing up. Feeling sorry for her is not the same thing as liking her though. Her needing to sleep 364 days a year also kinda turns the lights out on most stores and development she can receive.

10.) Flower: Flower has felt human to me exactly once. When she talked about Basketball, how she played it a lot as a living and was really knowledgeable about it, but because she is a women who grew up in the 40′s-50′s before dying in the 60′s no one took her talent or knowledge seriously. Other than that one time I have found her completely unfunny, and to just be a collection of every annoying pot-head and stupid hippy cliche I have seen in every other sitcom and cartoon to contain potheads and hippies. I do not blame her actress. Of the main casts of ghosts, Flower and Sass get the least screen time, Maybe with more time the actress and could get more of a handle on flower and make her better. Maybe.

9.) Nigel Chessum: Okay let me make it clear I do not dislike Nigel. I think he and Issac are cute. The reason he is so low is that in season 1 he shows up so little we do not learn anything about him more than “Cute British guy next door”. I fully expect to move him up on this list once we see more of him in season 2.

8.) Nancy: Nancy was in 3-4 episodes last season, with 1-2 minor appearance and 2 bigger ones. I did not like the way she treated Pete in her first big appearance (how she kept embarrassing him and then threatened him). But by the next episode she really grew on me , and I love that her and Pete become real friends once she is able to help him to start standing up for himself. Also I am glad that she has not been forgotten about in season 2. Here’s to hoping she will make no less than 4 appearances this season too.

7.) Pete Martino: Pete is a nice guy, and I don’t mean that as in a “nice guy” (Yet,. Please don’t tun him into one later down the road), I mean that as in he is a genuinely nice guy. I love his bromance with Jay, and I am rooting form him and Alberta to eventually get together... While I like most of his stories I just do not think his whole boy scout schimick is as funny as some of the other characters.

6.) Trevor Lefkowitz: If I say “suit wearing playboy who works a sleazy uper-class wall street type job in NY,but is actually a real bro and a not completely terrible person” am I talking about Trevor or Barney Stinson. Well if I said that “the comedy of them is Legend-wait for it-dairy” I would be talking about Barney Stinson. If I said “You know what? They are kinda cool” I would be talking about Trevor Lefkowitz. Trevor is a pretty funny, kinda cool character. But he is written so much like a Stinson knock-off, and no one is ever gonna top Neil Patrick Harris’s performance as Barney in regards to that particular genera of playboy.

4-5, 4&5?) Hetty Woodstone & Issac Higgentoot: Do not make me chose between these two besties. My opinions on them are largely similar. I think both characters faltered some in the beginning of the show when the writers and actors were not sure completely how to portray them. But that once the characters were understood they hit it out in almost every episode. I also think these two had some of the best exploration/development out of everyone in season 1. I loved watching Hetty re-examine her life and beliefs, and become more of a modern day feminist, while still maintaining the elegance and class from her time. Issac is the first time I have seen a closeted queer character in a sitcom be in control of deciding when they want to publicly express that part of their identity, and up until they decided to them not being ready was written as being a fair reason to wait, that other character respected. It should be portrayed that way every time, but for the sake of drama it isn't. It was nice to see here.

3.) Thorfinn: The big, burly, scared up guy with a questionable past...is actually a big softie and adores small children and animals. This is one Cliche that I absolutely love and am here for. It doesn’t hurt either that Thor is absolutely hilarious. He had to be in my top three.

2.) Sassappis .Sass is in my opinion the funniest ghost out of them all. I love his dry wit and cynical humor, and I have since all the way back in episode 4, when he pretended to be an accountant who died at a Halloween party (and was totally convincing at it for a second). The reason he is second is that he was just criminally absent and underused in season 1. More Sasappis in season 2.

Da da da daa

1.) Alberta Haynes: Can we give a round of applause to Danielle Pinnock? Is it any wonder I put Alberta as the top when this actress has brought A level game to her character since the beginning and with each thing we learn about Alberta, Danielle’s acting has only gone up. Alberta is loud, she is sassy, she is boss, and powerful, You really feel her sadness when talking about how racism kept her father down in his career, and she feels like she let him down because it affected hers as well. You feel for her again when she tells Pete that when alive she always chose bad guys because maybe deep down she thought that she didn’t deserve to be with a good man, and now she thinks she missed every chance.

Alberta killed at season 1 and there is so much they can still do with her in season 2. Give me more backstory, work on solving her murder, work on getting her and Pete together (they are a slow burn right?), with her connection to Alexa put her in charge of music stations at the B&B, she would be good at it.

That’s my feelings on the Ghosts for season 1. IF you want my feelings on the livings. Farnsby neighbors are annoying. the construction guy Mark is alright. I like Jay as a main better than Sam, because he has more of a range of emotions happy/sad/excited/concerned/mad, while Sam’s type-A personality seems to means she always has to act perky and almost always has to be enthusiastic.

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bubblegumlefty · 2 years

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Okay. So now that I finally was able to see my first live payperview, here are some highlights I listed.

1) I finally learned what "TV Magic" is. They had one entire side of the stadium blocked off, and it was either that they always did this without me ever noticing, or that they didn't get enough ticket sales. Or maybe it's both.

2) Bayley finally came back after several months (which made my fan sign useless! 😂). Two other stars returned too, but I can't remember their names at the moment. I was secretly hoping for Ezekiel or Elias to come out later during the show to complete the experience, but alas, I only got half. Still better than nothing.

3) Miz VS Logan Paul actually wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Was actually kinda funny at points (like the Miz with his own pokemon card? C'mon. 😂) Also, for some reason, seeing Tomasso Ciampa wear bright green ring gear was strangely hilarious to me. Probably because it just looked so jarring. Logan actually suprised me, ngl. Say what you want about his intolerable behavior as a person, but if there's one thing that he's good at, it's how to generate good heat. His wrestling ain't too shabby either.

4) Usos VS street profits was nice. Entrances were sick, their wrestling was exciting to see, and the way they were teasing the street profits' seperation just hurt in all the right ways.

5) Seeing Judgement Day's entrance was epic as hell. Too bad I was too far away to get good pictures of Finn, Damian, and Rhea in all their sexy glory. Seeing Rey and Dominick wrestle live was pretty cool too.

6) Edge returned to an awesome ovation. To say that the section I was in was made near deafening noise would be an understatment. Me and my Dad literally jumped out of our seats and cheered once we heard the unfamiliar music. Don't even get me started on his Brood like entrance with the fire and shit. I really hope that'll be his new permanent entrance for now, cause it's absolutely badass.

7) As the sun set, the stage turned on a giant bright light that was for the entrance way on the side of the roof that shone directly in front of the nosebleed section. The entire section began to chant "we can't see" and "turn the light off". Obviously it didn't work, but it was still funny regardless.

8) Austin Theory VS Bobby Lashley was decent. It wasn't until Bobby's entrance did some Pyro finally go off. It was super close to our seats and nearly scared the living daylights out of me and my family, lol.

9) Don't have much to say about Ronda Rousy VS Liv Morgan except that their entrances were pretty cool to watch (then again, I guess that applies to every entrance). Don't get me wrong, the match was fine enough, but it just felt too short to me. At least Liv retained the championship.

10) Pat McAfee's entrance was great with the choir and everything. I know his wrestling reign won't last very long, sadly, so I'm just gonna appreciate it while it lasts. Corbin is just meh. Not terrible, not fantastic, just... Meh. Neutral feeling I guess.

11) Glenn Jacobs made a cameo. Not gonna get into the political stuff, thank you. But seeing him raise his arms up for the fire and pyro after his little speech was neat to see.

12) Seth Rollins made an appearance. Not for a match sadly, but still there regardless. Entrance was cool with everybody singing his theme and everything. Riddle was just being riddle, talking about Randy Orton and how he got injured and stuff. After Seth had curbstomped him and was walking back up the ramp, one of the fans commented to his friends that he was gonna go back for a second one. Didn't happen.

13) The Main Event was fantastic. Definitely the best match Roman and Brock have had during their feud. Roman's entrance was amazing to watch. I even did the pointing thing. Pyro was awesome, music was awesome, kinda repeating myself at this point. Brock's was cool too. He brought a freaking tractor to the ring and pulled a cool and funny sounding introduction. Props to him that he can finally manage to do his own promo work after so long. As for the match itself, it was *chef's kiss*. The several near count-outs, the way brock dumped Roman's body on the canvas with the tractor (lol) and literally lifting AN ENTIRE QUARTER OF THE FUCKING RING. (btw Roman falling the way he did when it happened is just pure meme potential. Loved it. Paul Heyman also took an incredible table spot, which is amazing for his age ngl) Theory tried to cash in his briefcase, but failed (my Dad was literally saying "bullshit" as soon as his music hit. I had already theorized that it would potentially happen. Good thing he failed to cash in, that would've been one of the quickest ways to get X-pac heat since Roman defeated the Undertaker. Ending was satisfying. Honestly, I think the Usos interfering and covering Brock with the debris of their work for the win was one of the more believable approach to having him lose in my personal opinion. Sadly, I was forced to leave before the fireworks went off, so I basically missed the grand finale of the show (thanks dad 🙄), had an anxiety spike when I was trying to leave the stadium, and ended up tripping on the crack in a road when we got to the car and ended up scraping my knee terribly. So not a pleasant way to end the experience, but hey, it is what it is.

So my overall experience for my first live payperview ever? 8/10. Had some downsides here and there (unable to hear the commentary, too far away to actually see the wrestlers clearly due to poor eyesight, as well as the other stuff I just mentioned) but overall, it was generally a fantastic experience that I would love to participate in again sometime in the future once I get the money and transportation required for such a thing. Oh, and lesson learned? Get the more expensive tickets/closer seats as your first choice in ADVANCE!!!

#wwe #world wrestling entertainment #wwe summerslam #summerslam 2022 #summerslam highlights

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voiceless-terror · 3 years

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TMA Fic Recs

It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these, so here are five fics I very much care about. I don’t read fic as often as I used to, but these are ones that caught my eye and are definitely worth a read. Four of these are WIPs, one is completed. Heed the tags on the fics!

nature has taught her creatures to hate by @polysyndetonaddictsupportgroup Rating: T Current Word Count: 81k

The door to Mr. Spider's home closes, and Tommy Bradstaff disappears behind it, and the book does not.

Jon picks it up.

Or:

Sometimes Jon wonders who he'd be if Gertrude had taken his Statement that day.

A fantastic AU where Elias attempts to make an avatar out of Jon very young, and Danny is alive. Need I say more?

sitting pretty on the throne, nothing more i want (except to be alone) by @inklingofadream Rating: T Current Word Count: 10k

In his two centuries as Head of the Magnus Institute and leader of the Cult of Beholding, Jonah has never encountered something like Jonathan Sims.

Jon really wishes he hadn't attended that lecture, or, failing that, he found it easier to dismiss his kidnappers' paranormal claims.

AU where the Eye is truly a cult and really, really loves Jon. Big fan of this one.

it will be like this, always by @bluejayblueskies Rating: M Current Word Count: 16k Pairing: Jon/Martin

Jon coughed again, and blood stained his lips and blood stained Martin’s hands where they pressed against Jon’s back and blood stained the floor beneath them and help, they needed help.

Martin doesn’t remember shouting. He barely remembers the faces that had surrounded them, wide-eyed and terrified, all utterly unfamiliar.

Jon and Martin wake up somewhere else. Jon begins a slow path toward physical recovery, and several important, long-put-off conversations are had as they begin to navigate a new world that they hadn’t thought they’d be alive to see.

The post-200 fic I needed tbh. Addresses a lot of the things that bugged me about season five, very cathartic and lovely read.

Sucker’s Bet by @theinternationalacestation Rating: T Word Count: 61k (Complete) Pairing: Jon/Martin

27M seeking The Perfect Man: must be passionate, rich, attractive, charismatic, honest, and ready to love.

Jonathan Sims, Avatar of the Web, is the perfect man. He likes Martin, and Martin likes him back. He probably doesn't even have egg sacs. What's the problem?

Well, there's Jon's vain and ditzy personality. There's his overprotective family and meddling sister. And there's the small matter of a two way bet between them: that Jon can't make a man into a monster, and that Martin can't make a monster into a man, in ten days.

There's no way this can go wrong. Maybe there's no way this can go right. And if Jonathan Sims knows, why isn't he telling?

Romcom turned upside down, ft. Web!Jon and Annabelle sibling relationship, plus Gerry and Agnes. This fic made me laugh and cry, sometimes at once. Highly recommend.

The Backup by Anon Rating: E Current Word Count: 35k Pairing: Jon/Martin, Others

Jonathan Sims never signed a contract with The Magnus Institute, and Sasha James succeeded Gertrude Robinson as Head Archivist, just like she always wanted, and bound herself to powers she had no understanding of. Yet.

Some things change. A lot of things don't.

For one, Jonah Magnus never lost sight of the potential he saw in Jon.

AU where Sasha is the Archivist but Elias still keeps Jon around, with terrible consequences. This is a rough one (please heed the tags) but is incredibly well-written and I’m excited to see where it goes.

#tma #the magnus archives #fic rec #fic recs

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venfx · 3 years

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magnus fic roundup

as tma comes to a close, i thought i'd post some of my favorite fics to come out of this fandom. most of these are classics, listed in no particular order.

A Weather In The Flesh by @cuttoothed | 3K | S1-S4 | Jon/Martin | Complete

"There is a span of years where Jon doesn’t touch anyone other than the occasional hand shake. It’s not so bad. He’s never been someone who’s needed physical affection."

Jon has never been any good at making people want to stick around.

↳ this is such a well-done exploration of jon’s character and his relationship with touch, and i’ve re-read it at least five times. sweet and sad and phenomenally well-written.

in the chillest land and on the strangest sea by imperfectcircle, singlecrow | 20K | Safehouse, S1-S4 | Jon & Daisy, Jon/Martin | Complete

Jon remembers a statement he read years ago given by a Jesuit priest, who said that the shortest prayer he knew was, just, fuck it, as in fuck it; it's in God's hands. He takes Daisy's hand and trails on after her.

or; hope is a thing with feathers.

↳ hey, you wanna fuckin..... feel things? read this.

The Magnus Institute hires a Data Protection Officer. He sets about diligently booking in meetings, writing policy documents, and training all the staff in the importance of confidentiality. Now if only he could get hold of the Head Archivist, who seems to have vanished again...

(Jon is only trying to save the world, but apparently some people think he should still be doing his day job.)

↳ i’d be surprised to find people who haven’t read this series, but it’s the definition of “the magnus archives is a workplace comedy”. also, alasdair stuart has actually read some clips of this on Twitch, so that’s a fun bonus.

In accordance with the Ride or Die Pact of 2009, Jonathan Sims can call upon Georgie Barker at any time for aid with no strings attached. Despite their rocky history, their childhood friendship, and Jon’s barely recovered alcoholism, this pact is sacred and must be upheld.

Georgie Barker may regret this. She may regret it when she discovers that the world is full of monsters and eldritch gods and dickhead managers. She may regret it when a punk rocker who should be dead collapses on their doorstep, a teenager again who needs their help. She may regret it when her stupid ex-boyfriend starts selling his soul for knowledge and the ability to keep his new family safe.

But she probably won’t. Georgie isn’t scared of anything - not a Clown’s apocalypse, not the apocalypse that Jon is destined to begin, and not Jon’s own loss of humanity.

Maybe she should be.

↳ if you’re looking for an everyone-lives-no-one-dies-happy-ending fic that also happens to be massively chaotic, look no further.

The Reverb in These Holy Halls by @wolftraps | 98K | AU, S1-S4 | Jon/Martin | Complete

Undoing the apocalypse would have been enough for Jon, if all his people survived. Without them, Jon's only recourse is making it so it never happened in the first place. He's going to do better this time.

↳ quintessential time travel AUs. plot-wise, i feel like these can be difficult to write, but op does a fantastic job of tying things together in a way that makes sense. plus, it’s just fun to read.

jon sims v the nhs by @thoughtsbubble | 12K | Series | S3 | Complete

Joan Bright has a new patient. He's carrying an old tape recorder and is covered head to toe in scars. Jonathan Sims looks dangerous, but Dr Bright has dealt with all sorts of atypical individuals. She has no reason to be nervous.

Right?

↳ if you’ve ever thought “hey, jon should probably go to therapy”, then 1) you’re absolutely right and 2) this is... probably what would’ve happened. prior knowledge of The Bright Sessions is not required. also, apparently, this fic is written by the showrunner of The Underwood Collection? wild.

Family, Found by Dribbledscribbles | 9K | S4 | Complete

It’s Basira who catches onto it.

The collective shift that seems to come over them when heading in or out of the Institute. Not just the oppressive sensation of being observed, their every move catalogued for the voyeuristic cravings of some unseen Eye(s). That feeling remained with them even when they left the Institute these days, but it was always stronger inside its walls. That wasn’t the change. Nor was it the point.

The point was: making life worse for Jonathan Sims.

↳ i think being part of the avengers fandom circa 2012 has given me permanent found-family-trope brainrot, but you know what. jonathan sims can have a little happiness, as a treat.

n. an important moment of insight, typically one that leads to a dramatic transformation of attitude or belief

Or, in which Tim becomes an avatar for the end of all things.

↳ tim dies and then he doesn’t. there is catharsis and world building. just....read it.

Come, Change Your Ring With Me by @backofthebookshelf | 29K | S3 | Peter/Jon, Jon/Martin, Peter/Elias | Complete

The Lukases demand the Archivist marry into the family, and the Institute relies on them too much to say no. Peter is smug. Elias is fuming. Martin is suffering. Jon thinks this might be tolerable if only Peter would hurry up and leave him alone already.

OR, the soap opera we call an Archives revolves around Peter Lukas this time.

↳ superb evil-bastards-in-love content, feat. martin pining, tim being obnoxious, and jon being... well, tired, mostly. i will literally never get tired of how op writes peter.

creatures that i briefly move along by @dotsayers | 16K | Series | AU, Post-S4 | background Jon/Martin

Mr Sims was so weird, was the thing. Miss Grant always said calling people weird was rude, and Anna sort of agreed, but she didn’t know what other word to use to describe Mr Sims.

He’d only been in with the class for a few days, really, and half of that he just sat at the back listening, but that didn’t stop her from making a swift judgement. 5BG had had student teachers before, back when they were 3ST, and they’d been uniformly normal.

Mr Sims was… actually, Anna had a better adjective. He was interesting.

↳ i just.... love teacher!jon fics. this series delivers.

Once Bitten by @apatheticbutterflies | 1K | S4 | Jon & Daisy | Complete

Jon Sims has always been a jumpy kind of guy. Nervous. Twitchy. Daisy used to think it meant he was guilty. Turns out he was. Just not of what she’d thought.

Daisy learns how to peel an orange.

↳ daisy and jon’s relationship is an example of an instance where i’m happy to say “fuck what you wrote mr. jonny ‘chocolate torte of tragedy’ sims, i want them to be friends”.

pins and needles by mutterandmumble | 13K | S1-S4 | Complete

He’s got a reputation to uphold anyways; an uptight, rigid reputation that dictates the way that he interacts and functions and is such an integral part of him that he can’t let go of it anytime soon. He likes his safety nets. He likes his contingencies. He likes his privacy, and everything around this place right down to the walls seems to have ears, so he’ll stay tight-lipped up to and beyond the threat of death.

He’s good at that.

In which Jon takes up embroidery and bumbles through life the best that he can.

↳ out of all the introspective jon pieces i’ve read (and there are many), this one stands out. maybe it’s the symbolism or the characterisation, or maybe it’s the fact that i have an embroidery kit lurking in the back of my closet along with a hundred other half-pursued hyperfixations. whatever. this is excellent.

sleeping in by @ivelostmyspectacles | 5K | S2 | Jon/Tim | Complete

“Who are you trying to convince?”

Jon gives up, letting his head sag against Tim’s shoulder. “I don’t know.”

aka Elias gets tired of Jon and Tim's bickering, sends them away for a "team-building" weekend trip, and is sure to book them a room with only one bed

↳ this has everything you’d need from a “oh no there’s only one bed” fic. someone please get these men therapy.

if you try, sometimes (you get what you knead) by @ajcrawly | 3.5K | S1-S4 | Jon/Martin, Tim/Sasha | Complete

It starts with an abundance of boeuf bourguignon and ends up as a team tradition.

Food and love in uncertain times.

↳ more found family fic, this time with a diverse og!archival staff and food as a metaphor for love. hurt in all the right ways. made me hungry in the process.

#tried to keep this shortish but i might just make a part 2 #people in this fandom are crazy talented #tma #the magnus archives #tma fic recs #fic recs #long post #txt #mine

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laurenairay · 3 years

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2) “You’ve been avoiding me, why?” with Jacob Markstrom please!🖤

Here you go @danglesnipecelly – thank you for letting me borrow your man! 😘

This is the last of my prompt list blurbs so I hope you’ve all enjoyed them!

“You’ve been avoiding me, why?”

Drinking always had repercussions. You knew that, not even because you were no longer young and naïve. Sure, your tolerance had gotten better over the years, but the amount of time you went out partying had decreased in turn, so it all balanced out. And by that, it means that casual drinks were absolutely fine, but one big night out would knock you off your feet.

And now, one of your newest friendships was suffering because of your dumb actions.

Three weeks ago was Elias’s birthday. Annica had invited you as you were one of their neighbours and you’d grown quite close with her over the past couple of years since she and Elias had moved to Calgary. Through them, you’d met Jacob this year…and you knew the moment that you saw him that you were in trouble. No-one should be that tall, that handsome, and that sweet – it just wasn’t fair. Luckily you’d managed to keep your heart eyes to yourself (although you had a feeling that Annica had her suspicions) as well as keeping your cool around him…until the party three weeks ago.

You’d managed to make excuses to avoid group gatherings, only meeting with Annica when it was just the two of you, but she had begged you to come to the casual party Elias was throwing at their place tonight, and you hadn’t found it in your heart to tell her no, even though you were dreading facing the man you’d made a fool of yourself in front of.

It had only taken 30 minutes before you found yourself cornered by Jacob in the kitchen.

“Finally, I thought I’d never get you alone,”

You cursed under your breath before looking up at the Swedish giant with a nervous smile, making Jacob frown slightly, before his face smoothed out.

“You’ve been avoiding me, why?” Jacob asked softly.

Was there any point in lying?

Probably not.

It’s not like he didn’t know…

“Because I made an absolute tit out of myself last time I saw you?” you offered, smiling wearily.

Jacob laughed, making you wince, but he just shook his head.

“That’s why you’ve turned into a ghost? I thought I’d done something wrong!” Jacob mused.

Oh god no, that was the furthest thing from the truth.

“You were wonderful. It was me who was a dumb drunk mess,” you grumbled, face flaring with heat.

“You were not the drunkest person there – so far from it. And you weren’t a mess…you were cute,” he insisted.

Cute? No, he didn’t mean it like that. You sent him an unimpressed look but he just grinned back at you. Where to even start?

Even just thinking about the events of the night three weeks ago made you cringe so hard. The evening had started well, don’t get you wrong. You’d worn a cute flowery dress and put your hair up in a pretty braid, with a little light make-up to finish off the look. Annica had greeted you with a big hug and a large glass of white wine…and that’s where the night went downhill.

In short, you’d gotten absolutely smashed on white wine with Annica.

Wine drunk was a different level – while you knew that you definitely weren’t the only very drunk person that night, everything you’d done…ugh. Not okay.

“What do you remember from the night?” Jacob asked, smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

“Everything, unfortunately,” you grumbled.

“It can’t all have been bad,” he teased.

Hah. That’s what he thought.

You admit, it started slowly. A bottle of wine shared between you and Annica got you started on karaoke (who brought the machine with them, you had no idea), with a whole queue of people continuing after you.

Then came the second bottle of wine – when you’d finished that, a lot of other people were drunk too. Elias himself was so drunk that he fell off the sofa laughing at something that Noah had said. And instead of helping him up, you and Annica had sat behind him and braided his hair, each of you having a spare hairband around your wrist to secure the two messy braids (and you were certain Jacob himself had taken a few photos of the braiding session).

You knew you’d eaten after then. And drank some water too. But that didn’t stop you from getting drunk-teary as Milan’s wife showed you the cutest new photos of her kids (they were just so cute!). Drunk-teary, like seriously. Thankfully you hadn’t full-on cried but that was bad enough. Annica had saved you from that…by dragging you into the kitchen and pouring you another glass of wine.

This devolved into the two of you going back and forth, telling each other you’re so pretty, no you’re so pretty, until Elias and Jacob stopped just watching in amusement and interrupted the love fest, with Elias taking Annica outside into the backyard for some fresh air, Jacob just getting you some more water.

As you recounted it all to Jacob, the smile on his face only grew.

“None of that was bad! I told you so – you were happy drunk and no-one thought bad of you, I promise,”

“I wish I could believe you,” you sighed.

“Anyone that remembered anything, which was very few people because vodka was flowing heavily, only thought it was cute and funny, I swear,” Jacob grinned.

The way that he kept insisting, the way that he kept repeating that you hadn’t made a fool of yourself, gave you a spark of hope. Maybe?

Then his face went serious, making your stomach fill with butterflies.

“And do you remember what you said to me?” Jacob asked softly.

You swallowed heavily. There it was. How could you not? It was why you’d been avoiding him.

“Yeah, I do,”

When he’d gotten you the water in the kitchen, you’d told him he was the most handsome man you’d ever met. With the biggest drunkest smile on your face. You wish you had Annica’s memory-loss bliss, but unfortunately the memory was seared into your brain. You could only thank your fairy godmother that instead of doing anything even more stupid, you’d just skipped off to find your friend afterwards.

But being here with him now, knowing in your gut that he remembered everything too, that gave you the heaviest feeling in the pit of your stomach.

“You said I was handsome. The most handsome guy you’d ever met,” he said.

Almost word for word. Wow. Fantastic. Just what you needed. Even just hearing the words said out loud again sent another hot rush of embarrassment flooding through your body, and it was all you could do not to shudder.

“Yeah I’m well aware. Can you just forget it, please?” you sighed.

But Jacob shook his head, confusing you. What? “Why would I want to forget?” he asked, frowning.

“Please, J, it’s embarrassing as hell and I’d like to still be able to show my face around here,” you pleaded.

Why was he being like this?

But then he stepped closer to you, impossibly closer, one hand rising to cup your face. You inhaled sharply as his thumb stroked over your cheekbone, unable to look away from his beautiful blue eyes.

“Why would I want to forget the most beautiful woman I know, telling me that I’m the most handsome guy?” he said seriously, towering over you in a way that took your breath away.

He…you…what?

“You can’t just say that,” you murmured, feeling helpless, but in no way that you wanted to be rescued.

“I mean it. I’m not just saying it either. I wish I told you sooner,” he said firmly.

“Jacob…” you whispered.

You trailed off, unsure of what to say. Did he mean it? Did he really mean it? Jacob saw the uncertainty mixing with hope on your face, and licked his bottom lip nervously. The thumb that had been stroking over your cheek brushed over your bottom lip, making you gasp.

“Can I kiss you?” he asked quietly.

Even though the two of you were in public, in the open kitchen, it felt like you were in your own little world. You were completely consumed by him.

“Yes,” was all you could whisper in reply.

Jacob wasted no time in leaning his head down to press his lips to yours. You couldn’t help but whimper as he kissed you firmly, no hesitation, no nerves, just kissed you over and over and over until your head was spinning.

And then he broke away, making you gasp for breath, heart racing even more at the intensity in his eyes, the wet shine on his lips.

“I’ve wanted to kiss you for so long,” he murmured.

You just clutched at his shirt, your knees feeling weak, words escaping you. He’s wanted to kiss you? Was this really happening? Jacob could see how overwhelmed you were, his eyes desperately searching yours for any sign of discomfort, but he found only surprise. So he took a deep breath to settle his nerves.

“Let me take you out on a date. Let me show you how beautiful I think you are,” Jacob asked softly, smiling hopefully.

The smile that spread across your lips felt ridiculous, but you couldn’t stop it. “I would love that,” you replied, smiling shyly.

Jacob just grinned before ducking his head to kiss you again, his hands travelling down your body to clutch at your waist as your hands slid up around his neck. This all felt like such a dream, a wonderful impossible dream. But there was no way you could’ve imagined the way his body felt pressing up against yours, or the way his tongue sent shivers down your spine. This was better than any fantasy, and you couldn’t wait to see how it played out.

#my writing #prompt list blurb #jacob markstrom #jacob markstrom blurb #i too would definitely tell marky he was handsome while drunk #thanks for letting me borrow your man K!#jacob markstrom fic #jacob markstrom x reader #jacob markstrom imagine #prompt lists #hockey writing #hockey blurb #hockey fic #nhl writing #nhl blurb #nhl fic

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pitviperofdoom · 3 years

Text

I wrote something for Aspec Archives Week!

Prompt: Wish/Pride

Warning for internalized aphobia, some elements of exclusion

(AO3)

He had a test the following day on a unit that had been giving him trouble, so he was too absorbed in his lecture notes to notice the growing gathering until someone brushed past him to join it.

Jon glanced up, faintly irritated. He didn’t have much of a right to complain; he was in a student lounge, not a library, and there were no rules limiting chatting and gathering here. There was only one of him, after all, tucked away at a corner table where no one was paying him any mind. He could always move.

His memory tugged at him. He’d heard something about a club meeting here today, hadn’t he? Someone had announced it, at some point…

Halfway across the room, one of the other students glanced up and noticed him staring. A tentative smile broke out on her face, and she jerked her head at the others settling down on the couches and armchairs. “You here for the meeting?”

“The…” Jon hesitated. “What was it, again?”

“LGBT coalition,” she answered. “We meet here every other week?”

“Oh! Oh, I…” Embarrassment stalled his tongue—his presence now felt like an intrusion.

She was still looking at him, polite and open and welcoming even though what she was offering wasn’t—it didn’t have a place for him, he didn’t need it, and they certainly didn’t need him taking up their time and space—

“I’m just ace,” he blurted out, lamely. The word felt odd on his own tongue. He’d never spoken it out loud before, much less to describe himself, and the moment it was out, he was seized in the grip of sudden doubt. He longed to take it back—what if he was wrong, what if he just wanted the attention that came of stepping outside the norm—? “I’m not really…”

The girl shrugged, still polite. “That’s okay. Everybody’s welcome, if you want to join us.”

It wasn’t—he didn’t really count—

“Thank you,” he said, and turned back to the notes in front of him. The girl must have turned her attention back to the group, because she didn’t press him, and neither did anyone else.

The meeting went on, but Jon had a test coming up and only one day left to study for it, so he tuned them out.

That was fine. It had nothing to do with him anyway.

***

Jon wasn’t altogether sure when his mind made the switch. There was no spark, no grand epiphany, anymore than there had been when he first understood himself at all. It was a gradual process, full of maybes lingering in the back of his mind, testing it like ice beneath his feet, until one day he simply understood it to be true.

He thought about that day from time to time, that quiet afternoon he’d spent in the student lounge, surrounded by notes, with possibility blooming just within reach.

He hadn’t reached. And now here he was, his school days well behind him, smarting from the missed opportunity.

The button was a small victory, but it felt like a hollow one. The point of these things was to share them with someone, to show them off to those who understood, and now…

It was with quiet resignation that he fixed it to the strap of his bag. Too little, too late—the time to show these things off was long past him. All he could do now was wear it and imagine a world in which he’d been a little less pathetic.

***

“Nice button.”

Jon’s eyes were beginning to smart from the screen. He’d missed his required break again, too absorbed in the project in front of him to acknowledge the promise of a tension headache in his forehead. He looked up reluctantly, and did a double-take when he realized that Tim was sitting on his desk, on top of his accumulating stack of printed articles.

“I beg your pardon?” Jon blinked hard, several times. Tears welled up from strain, and he wiped them away on the heel of his palm. The research office was drafty, and his hands were cold enough to soothe his aching forehead, as well.

“On your bag,” Tim explained, pointing. “Spotted it from across the room and thought, thank God, you know? Last place I worked was a bit stuffier, you’d never see people showing off.”

“I’m not—I’m not showing off,” Jon spluttered. Truth be told, he’d forgotten the button was even there.

“Right, wrong choice of words,” Tim said, wincing. “Think I’ll get yelled at if I swap my mouse pad out for one of my own? It’s got bi colors.”

Jon relaxed, just a little. Tim was older than him by a few years, but he’d only started at the institute last month, and the idea of having any sort of seniority on him was… odd, to say the least. “I doubt anyone would mind,” he answered. “No one’s said anything to me.”

“Fantastic!” Tim beamed. “Reminds me of my uni days. We should start a club.”

Jon laughed humorlessly. “Now that might catch Elias’s attention.”

“Might be a good thing. You do anything for Pride around here?”

Jon paused, wracking his brain for a moment. “What month is that, again?”

“Take that as a no, then.”

“I’ve never had anyone to do it with,” Jon replied, which wasn’t quite true. He’d had Georgie, once. But that had been a long time ago, and they’d never…

It’d just been too new to him. Too much like a gray area between two sides of a binary, before he’d known better.

“Seriously?” Tim went on, oblivious to what was going on in his head. “Where’d you go to school? Nobody does pride like university kids.”

Instinctively, Jon glanced around at the rest of the office. The other desks were unoccupied, which was odd considering how sure he was that someone had been around to overhear this. Where was everyone…? Oh. It was lunch already. Where had the time gone?

“Just never had the chance,” he said. It came out unexpectedly bitter. “At the time, I was…”

His voice trailed off. He’d never told anyone about this. Georgie had already been out of his life, and he’d just… never had anyone else to tell. But here was Tim, looking at him without a trace of judgment, open and expectant like he was actually interested in what Jon was saying.

“I knew I was ace at the time, but I didn’t realize I was anything else, yet,” he finished. “So I just… never joined any of the…” He gestured vaguely.

The expression on Tim’s face shifted. It was the first time Jon had ever seen him look cautious. “You know ace counts as queer, right?”

“Oh, yes,” Jon replied. “I know that now.” He shrugged, easing a page out from under Tim. Obligingly, Tim got off his desk to let him. “But I didn’t then, and… well, that’s that. Missed my chance, I suppose.”

Tim snorted. “Jon, you can’t miss your chance to make friends.”

You can if you’re me, Jon thought. Out loud, he said, “Still wish I’d known better, back then.”

“Ah, well. Least you do now.”

“I suppose.” Jon finished neatening his research notes. “Was there something else you wanted?”

“Yeah,” Tim said brightly. “I’m still a bit new to the area. Where are the good lunch places?”

“There’s a cafe just down—” Jon began, before Tim waved him off.

“That won’t work, I’m afraid, I’m useless with verbal directions,” he said airily. “In one ear, out the other. You’ll have to lead the way.”

Jon stared at him. Tim stared back.

“I have work…” The protest withered on his tongue. “Fine. But I won’t be making a habit of this.”

“Sure,” Tim said brightly.

It was not the first time Jon had ever been wrong about himself. It would not be the last.

#AspecArchives #the magnus archives #jonathan sims #tim stoker #tma fic #fanfiction #tales from the pit

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aerialflight · 3 years

Text

Fic Recs (cause it's always nice to give a shout out and get people into things I'm into rn)

[The Magnus Archives] (I recently finished the podcast and I fell into a hole for a while so here you go)

Sing a Song of Sixpence by Kaiel

Ship: Jon/Martin

In which Jonathan Sims is a Siren, and he fails to notice any new abilities granted to him by the position of Archivist. Or really anything about the Entities at all.

Takes place in season 1 featuring Jonah Magnus’s slow decent into madness

(The new mythology interwoven with tma's worldbuilding is so freaking good and I love how all the characters change and develop because of these changes. Also, f you Elias)

Along Came a Spider by Dribbledscribbles

Ship: implied Jon/Martin

Sasha James is the Archivist, as expected. Martin Blackwood is menaced by Jane Prentiss, as expected. Elias Bouchard weaves his web, as expected.

All goes as it should.

At least until something calling itself Jonathan Sims steps in.

(Web!Jon in this makes me want to weep, it's so freaking good. A pretty long, very excellent oneshot on what could've happened if Jon got taken by the web when he was a kid. And Sasha as the Archivist is ALWAYS so cool, we love her in this house.)

A Break in the Clouds by Ash_Rabbit

“I’m eight.” the kid sniffs as if eight was any different from four, maybe not an unspeakable horror then, just a regular horror. “And I heard that the Magnus Institute deals with-” his little nose scrunches, cute. “-spooky things.”

“Do you have a-” he cracks a grin, and then rethinks it as small hands tighten against their burden.”-spooky thing to deliver?” gods he hopes not, it’s bad enough when adults walk in and lay out all of their baggage, but for a child-

“There’s a spider in this book.” the kid says solemnly, raising his textbook sized parcel. “It ate Evan Pritchard.” a bloody fucking Leitner. Of course an eight year old would find a murder spider book. “This seemed like the best place to bring it.”

(I never thought about what the Original Elias could've been like AND NOW I CAN'T STOP THINKING ABOUT IT BECAUSE OF THIS FIC. I LOVE HIM, HE'S COMPLEX AND HE CARES AND JON CARES AND THEY BOTH CARE ABOUT EACH OTHER. THIS IS THE CONTENT I WANT, OMG. Also, Jon being even smaller than usual is adorable, so cute. No wonder Elias wants to hug him, a LOT.)

See the Line where the Sky meets the Sea by The_Floating_World

Ship: Jon/Martin, Jon/Oliver Banks

When Jon is a child he looks into the infinite abyss of space. The Vast looks back into him.

(One of my all time fave fics in this fandom, no questions asked. I have reread this three times and am open to doing it again, god. Vast!Jon, such a concept. It's written so beautifully and the relationships Jon develops, so good. ugh. My heart. Please please read.)

Sweet As Roses by Prim_the_Amazing

Ship: Jon/Martin

“Come in, Martin,” he says, not looking up from his notes.

“Hi, Jon,” he says, and Jon stops writing at the sound of his voice. “We’re out of the green tea, but we’ve got lemon?”

Jon looks at him. Martin smiles at him in his usual tentative way as he sets the mug of tea down on Jon’s desk. Heat spikes so sharply in his gut that he twitches with it.

“Thank you, Martin,” he says, mouth dry, and he stands up.

“Oh,” he says, sounding almost surprised. He smiles again. “No-- no problem-- um, what are you--”

Jon takes Martin by the shoulders, leans up on the tips of his toes, and kisses him.

(You have no idea how much I howled through this fic, my god. *buries face in hands* The number of times I wanted to cry from sheer hilarity and horror reading this good lord.)

Things Could Always Be Worse by theOestofOCs

Ship: Jon/Martin, Georgie/Melanie

Sometimes, the most horrifying thing of all is what might have been.

Somewhere, Jon could swear he heard a crowd laughing.

Or: in which Jonathan Sims is forced to swap places with his alternate self—a tall, chivalrous hero extraordinaire, who knows neither fear nor nuance—and is sent to the aggressively straight alternate universe the Magnus Archives was never meant to be.

“Whatever place this is,” Jon announced, “I just want to be sure it knows I hate it.”

(I will say this once, THIS IS THE MOST CURSED THING IVE EVER READ EVER. Like holy hell. I can't believe this thing exists. please read it oh please please please)

[Supernatural]

heard from your mother (she don't recognize you) by Schmuzz

Ship: Dean/Cas, Jessica/Sam

A man named Cas wakes up in 2003 with no memories, but he's able to piece together a few things:

1. Supernatural creatures exist, and most of them will hurt innocent civilians if he doesn't stop them; 2. He has abilities that no human hunter should have, but he knows enough about human hunters to keep that to himself, and finally; 3. He keeps running into another hunter named Dean Winchester, who seems to be about as lonely as he is if he's willing to put up with those former facts long enough to help Cas unravel the mystery of who (or what) he really is.

For his part, Dean's still (not) dealing with Sam's departure to Stanford, and figures distracting himself with a bit of mystery and intrigue is as harmless as it gets, right? Right.

(THE fic I'm most into right now, been following this from the very start and it's AMAZING. Cas has agency and is making friends and S1 Dean is growing out of John's influence and is becoming a Person and the both of them first being friends then more. The slow burn as their relationship develops, SO GOOD. SO SO DAMN GOOD. *screams* Seriously one of the best spn fics I've read in a long, long time.)

anamnesis by cenotaphy

Ships: Castiel/Dean, Sam/Eileen

Chuck is depowered, Jack is the new god, and the world is free. Dean and Sam get into the Impala and chase down the miles on an endless highway, and their story is finally, finally their own to follow. At least, that's what Dean tells himself. But the diners and motels and painted interstate lines are blurring together and the smallest details keep catching at his brain like tiny fishhooks and he can't quite shake the feeling that not everything is exactly as it should be.

* Fix-it/alternate series finale. Canon-compliant through the end of 15.19.

(THIS IS THE FIC THAT GOT ME THROUGH THE FINALE OKAY. WHY COULDN'T THIS HAVE BEEN CANON. It's Disturbing and honestly plot-wise this makes more sense. Why couldn't we have had this. *screams*)

[Avatar: The Last Airbender]

where the stars do not take sides by WitchofEndor

Ship: Sokka/Zuko

When Azula is nine, she becomes an only child. She hears the Fire Lord call for Zuko's life, and in the morning, her mother and brother are gone. Azula may be young, but she isn't naive. She knows what happened to them.

Which makes it all the more surprising when Azula tracks the Avatar down and fights his group of peasant friends, only to find herself staring into an eerily familiar face.

(The fact one of the tags in this fic is, "Sibling Dynamic: Fucked Up But Wholesome" should give you an idea what this fic is like. Chaotic as HELL and I just love Azula here, she loves Zuko so much in her messed up way and Zuko loves her back in the exact same way lol. It's batshit and I am Here For This.)

[Naruto]

Eclipse by AislingRoisin (JayBird345) for HybrisAnaideia

Ship: Nara Shikaku/OFC

"In life, it's easier to remain stagnant and wallow in your troubles. But life isn't merely about continued existence, nor is it meant to be gone through alone."

(This is a fic that's slept on and I NEED people to read this. A self-insert fic that I find really interesting in its approach and the worldbuilding for the post-third war shinobi world is fantastic. I feel like there's a certain pattern with self-insert fics, not that is a detriment in any way to how much I enjoy them, so this fic feels fresh to me in a way I haven't read in a while. I am waiting eagerly for this to get updated! Please read!)

On Freedom and Other Formalities by iaso

Ship: Kakashi/Genma/OFC

When push comes to shove, Hiwa Inuzuka doesn't go down easy. Reborn into a new, dangerous world? She puts her past life as a spy to work. Thrown into a war? Hiwa does her duty, for Konoha. And when she's forced into an arranged marriage? All there is to do is beat them to the punch and get married first. Thankfully, Genma Shiranui is willing to lend a hand. Literally. SI/OC

(Listen, LISTEN, it's about the slow burn, the longing, the communication (it both has and hasn't and isn't THAT great??), the messy way you fit three very different people together, it's so freaking good! Also, Kakashi is so Chaotic here this is my fave characterization of him, you can't change my mind. And Genma is a Good Boi who is Doing His Best, along with the Self-insert character who I LOVE SO MUCH, SHE'S FANTASTIC FNEIWOPAF. Sped past this fic in the speed of light, I could not stop reading!)(Honestly, read all of the author's fics, they're all really REALLY good!)

Building a Castle by WhisperingDarkness

Without needing anyone to tell her, Sakura knew that talking to someone no-one else could see or hear would make her weird. It would draw the bad kind of attention to her, something people could make fun of her for.

She didn’t like being weird, but she did like the voice. Her inner voice was helpful and it was a part of her that had always been there. The idea of it not being there would have been so much weirder than anything else.

It was during her first year at the Academy that Sakura realised the voice was not in her head at all, but that it came from a cloudy shape floating next to her.

(Basically a short-ish retelling of Hikaru no Go. Only with more Shogi and Nara and Ninja's)

(Sakura can see ghosts (I'm noticing this is a popular trope for her) and it's really cute haha! Her relationship with Tobirama is sweet and I just enjoyed reading this so much.)

[The Magicians]

So Long (And Thanks For All The Books) by IncompleteSentanc (Erava)

Ships: Quentin/Eliot, James/Julia, Quentin/Margo/Eliot

When Quentin is told Julia wasn't admitted to Brakebills, he realizes he has a drastic decision in front of him. If he tells Julia about magic, he'll have his mind wiped as well as hers. But he can't just leave her behind, either. He can't lose his best friend, and he can't let her life a life with her magical potential stolen away from her.

So he makes a third choice.

(Really, and I mean REALLY well-done canon divergent fic, this is the Quentin & Julia friendship fic I have been looking for forever. It explores so much of what could've happened and I just love Quentin here, I really really do. Characterization done so right. I also recommend the author's other works too. Been a follower of them for a long time, they're great.)

[Game of Thrones]

The Road to Victory by writing_as_tracey

Too late in preparing for the Night King and the Long Night, the last stand at Winterfell is close to falling. Bran takes desperate measures to ensure victory, and Jon, Sansa, and Arya pay the price for it in a time unfamiliar to them, on the cusp of another war. [GoT, time-travel fix it]

(I swear, this fic made me laugh so many times, all the Stark are BAMF and fantastic, and Rhaegar gets Wrecked lol. It's crack btw, and the plot goes in directions you'll never guess and it's amazing hahaha!)

[Haikyuu!!] (I am very very late to the fandom but here I am)

Ballare (To Dance) by MidnightSparks

Ship: Iwaizumi Hajime/Kageyama Tobio/Oikawa Tooru, and platonic Kageyama & Kentarou (really love their friendship)

Kageyama’s first love is volleyball. His second, however, is ballet.

In one world, Kageyama Tobio is left behind by his parents. In this world, the existence of soulbonds keeps Kageyama’s parents in Miyagi and leaves Kageyama in the care of his grandma and grandpa.

(In which soulmates exist and that changes everything and nothing at the same time.)

(*buries face in hands* I have fallen for this ship so hard and I can't get out fudge me. I understand now. Their DYNAMICS FIEWONPAF)

Kings of Tomorrow by bokubroya (liarielle)

Ship: Kageyama Tobio/Oikawa Tooru

On the eve of Tobio’s 16th birthday, he counts down the seconds to midnight, and emerges with Oikawa Tooru’s name on his wrist.

It’s been two years since then, and Tobio thought they had an understanding. A silent, never spoken about understanding that this thing between them is nothing, and they’re going to pretend it doesn’t exist.

Of course, it’s just like Oikawa to change the game and leave Tobio wondering what comes next.

(I am WEAK for soulmate fics between these two, I don't even really like soulmate fics half the times what is WRONG WITH ME-)(Please suffer with me, I'm begging you. Its a good fic, thumbs up.)

[Crossover]

Honey and Magic by JustARatherVerySillyWriter, White_Squirrel for Super Carlin Brothers

Fandoms: Matilda (yeah you read that right), Harry Potter

Everyone knew Matilda was a rather extraordinary child, but even she didn't know she was a witch. Matilda Honey receives her Hogwarts letter in the year of the Triwizard Tournament, and soon, she will leave her unique mark on the magical world.

(Do I even need to explain how amazing it is to have Matilda in the wizarding world? And Matilda is a HUFFLEPUFF AND I WILL DIE ON THIS HILL THIS FIC IS GREAT PLEASE READ!!!)

An Eye for an Eye by DpsMercy

Fandoms: The Magnus Archives, Welcome to Night Vale

In which Jonathan Sims is not from the UK but instead, if you took his origins and turned them sideways twice then flipped them over, he technically would be from the US, the town of Night Vale specifically. Elias can’t do shit about it and gets a headache and slowly creeping madness instead.

(Look, I know probably everyone has read this because if they haven't, what have you been DOING with your lives??? Jon interning at Night Vale is Incredible, nothing phases this man, it's Delightful. I laughed so many times reading this, I'm not even kidding right now. Read or perish.)

The Favour by R_Cookie

Fandoms: Harry Potter, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Ship: Original Percival Graves/Harry Potter

Percival is ten years old when his grandfather tries to tell him that he's ensured the greatness of the Graves legacy for him, that he ought to be eternally grateful - but the explanation is hijacked by a stranger who manages to intimidate Chester Graves with an ease never seen before.

or: Hadrian (Harry) Potter is the Master of Death, who grants Graves a boon. Nobody could have known that the Deathly Hallows didn't turn you so much into the 'Master of Death' as into the anthropomorphic personification of Death. And so, Death becomes Percival's guardian angel, and Percival does not spit out his cereal.

(Look, I don't know how I stumbled back into the FBAWTFT fandom either, it just happened and I'm grateful for that. Otherwise, I wouldn't have found this amazing fic. Their relationship is slow and strange and I just love how Percival is characterized here. Also, one of the tag promises that it deviates from canon so I am really, really excited for that! XD)

baby that's what i do by natanije

Fandoms: Naruto, Katekyou Hitman Reborn!

"Are you telling me," Hidan exclaims, incredulous, "that you collect money all this time to give to orphans?!"

Kakuzu pauses. He blinks a few times.

"Huh. I guess I do."

(Tsuna reincarnates as Kakuzu and it's HILARIOUS. HE'S SUCH A MOM HAHAHA)

#Fanfiction #AO3 #Fic Rec #Fic Rec List #Podcasts #The Magnus Archives #Supernatural #Avatar The Last Airbender #Naruto #The Magicians #Game of Thrones #Haikyuu!!#Crossover #Matilda #Welcome to Night Vale #Harry Potter #Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them #Katekyou Hitman Reborn

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eagles-translated · 2 years

Text

"Eagles 2022 – Everything about the final season"

This is a translation of a Swedish blog post which you can find here. I don't know if this is an SVT-approved article, but it basically recaps the plot points from last season and gives a run-down of what will be explored in season 4.

Most of it aligns with the season 4 episode descriptions but also confirms additional details, so if you'd rather go in blind when the season premieres I would ignore this post!

At the end of the article I've written a short paragraph of my personal thoughts.

Friday the 28th of January is the premiere of the fourth and final season of Eagles on SVT Play. The final season will touch on how to take command of your own life, orthorexia, and what to do when the life you've gotten used to is shaken up and a new chapter begins. Who gets their dreams fulfilled? Who was shot on New Year's Eve? And will Ludde and Felicia have a happy ending?

The synopsis for Eagles season 4

The last semester of high school has begun and everything should be fantastic. However, the characters are instead faced with transformative events and life choices. Felicia (Alva Bratt) is in rehab after her suicide attempt and she just wants to focus on her well-being and graduate. But the person she needs the most to be able to move on is not there. For Ludvig (Adrian Öjvindsson), the weight of the shooting between Jack (Filip Wolfe Sjunnesson) and his brother Andreas (Oskar Laring) weighs heavy on his shoulders.

Amie (Yandeh Sallah) tries to find the balance between her music career and just being herself. But her record label has completely different plans in mind. Amie and Elias (Edvard Olsson) are also at the beginning of their relationship, but Elias has a completely different focus. He trains manically, keeps a strict diet, and is completely engrossed in achieving his hockey dreams. Whatever it may cost.

Klara (Sarah Gustafsson) feels like she carries the whole of Oskarshamn on her shoulders. The GECED company will be closed down and a large portion of the jobs in town will disappear. Now it's up to Klara to prevent that.

Eagles has been, and will also end, as a drama series about the life choices and emotions teenagers experience. Among these things are first love, friendships, betrayal, and dreams about the future.

SVT Play Friday 28 January at 02.00. The episodes are published in pairs every Friday.

For those who missed the three previous seasons, or want to catch up before the premiere, the episodes can be watched on SVT Play.

The cast in Eagles 2022

Felicia – Alva Bratt Ludvig – Adrian Öjvindsson Amie – Yandeh Sallah Elias – Edvard Olsson Klara – Sarah Gustafsson Naima – Tina Pour Davoy Andreas – Oskar Laring Jack – Filip Wolfe Sjunnesson Mats – Per Lasson Petra – Anna Sise Leila – Charlotta Jonsson Irene – Maria Alm Norell

Source: (x) Posted on January 19th, 2022 by admin

—

There's a lot to unpack here, so I'll just go in chronological order and try to keep my thoughts brief.

First off, if the information in this article is accurate, that means the writers are actually going for an eating disorder storyline with Elias. We knew they were doing something with Elias as we had one scene of him overworking himself in the gym and another scene with Mats commenting on the fact that Elias mostly consumes powdered nutrients instead of real food.

I think a storyline like this has potential to really educate the audience. First off, orthorexia nervosa isn't something that's seen that often on TV. On top of that it's even more rare to show a male character with an eating disorder. I'm really interested to see how this will play out, maybe with the focus shifting a little from Felicia's mental health to instead focus on Elias's which has mostly been a question mark throughout the first three seasons.

Speaking of Felicia, the article mentions that she's out of rehab and that the person she needs the most isn't there. This could be either Ludde or Elias, but I'm leaning more towards Elias since he's her brother. Based on the episode descriptions we also know that when Felicia gets home from rehab, Elias is supposedly out partying.

They're keeping the details on the Andreas and Jack situation pretty hush-hush, but that's understandable.

As I've speculated before, Amie and Elias are probably heading for a rough patch now that we know Elias's focus lies more with his training.

This article also confirms that the GECED company is shutting down, but we'll see Klara try to prevent that.

The last thing I'd like to comment on is the cast list. Pretty standard, right? I'm not so sure. After listing the five main characters, there's an additional name wedged between Klara and Andreas (both pretty major characters). That name is Naima, played by an actress called Tina Pour Davoy. It seems that she'll have a significant role to play if she's included in the cast list. Just what that might be remains to be seen.

If you guys have any theories on what this might bring to the table in season 4, I'm very eager to hear them!

#eagles svt #svt eagles #article

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maybeonedayillfindout · 10 months

Text

i think we as a society need to stop drawing the gender bent versions of crowley and aziraphale younger and hotter. we have seen crowley present as a woman before and she is clearly still middle aged and lanky. and aziraphale probably wouldn’t get very much shorter or younger. draw them with the wrinkles, cowards

#what’s the post abt the derry girls sister michael and the other woman?? anyway that’s their truest form #they’re only sexier if you as a person find women more sexy #not because they’re drawn as such #ineffable husbands #good omens #aziraphale #crowley #good omens season 2 #maybe/elias' fantastic new thoughts

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polysyndetonaddictsupportgroup · 3 years

Note

For the character prompts: Jon, of course! And, if you’d like another, Danny :)

Jon:

general opinion: actual love of my life

hotness level: hot jon rights, i'm making a new category for him, hot in a feral, unhinged sort of way, i will die on this hill

hogwarts house: ravenclaw through and through

best quality: he! is full! of love! this man makes my heart hurt. he tries so hard to hang onto his humanity and he makes these awful, clumsy, human decisions which, at the end of the day, ends up being driven by the fact that he just. loves people. he was heartbroken over sasha when he discovered the not!them. he killed elias citing the friends he had lost. the hunters had a knife to his throat and he still was defending gerry's memory. he tried to save jordan kennedy in the only way he could. he loves in such a clumsy, human way and i love that for him. Alternative best quality: he's a total bitch and that's great

worst quality: the boy can't think two steps ahead to save his life. literally. he has almost died several times because he can't plan worth shit.

ship them with: martin, i love them together, but i also ship him with gerry? they shared exactly one (1) episode together but they had a fantastic dynamic in it and they both legitimately treated the other with respect as a person? which is just so huge for characters that were systematically abused and used? they're both people who are isolated and used and still trying to be good. it also just has a huge ships-in-the-night aspect to it. gerry was working with gertrude when jon was at the institute. they just missed each other. and maybe, if it hadn't, they could have had someone legitimately in their corner for once

brotp them with: tim. they! were! friends! I relistened to season 2 a few months ago and tim shows such genuine concern for jon towards the beginning, before it gets messed up. and in season 1, jon trusts him to look into the oliver banks statement when he was worried it was a prank from the other two. we see so little of their early friendship but they seemed to legitimately care for each other?

needs to stay away from: elias bouchard. jimmy magma. that man. my favorite part of nhthcth comments are all of the death threats elias gets. it's great.

misc. thoughts: he's just such a tragic character and he was human until the end. he was deeply flawed and i love that because it made him so human? he wasn't your typical hero protagonist. he was just. some guy. trying his best. and in the end, he didn't win. i love that. like, the real tragedy of jonathan sims is that he was human and failed in human ways, and losing his humanity was what people accused him of most.

Danny:

general opinion: actual love of my life

hotness level: absolutely off the charts hotness, he gets a new category too, this is not me saying this this is god's truth, canonically he is obscenely hot

hogwarts house: gryffindor, my only character inspiration for him was himbo and all the boy wants to do is explore exceedingly dangerous places, the boy is just here for a good and potentially fatal time

best quality: he's very straightforward in what he wants? i'm speaking specifically of him from nhthcth, i don't have much to work with when it comes to canon danny, but like, he doesn't get caught up in a balancing risk and reward like most people. he's going straight for the gold and not getting caught up in logistics. like, he's not willing to play the sacrifice game. tim is. tim is willing to say, i'll sacrifice myself to this job because it gives danny better odds. danny would have said tough shit, we're going to succeed on the shitty odds because that's the one that actually saves us all, fuck off bouchard. like, he would die for the people he loves but he's not going to crucify himself or anyone else early. he's very solid in what he wants and what he's willing to do to get there but he's very hard to play because he's going to go the distance even if it's risky

worst quality: he will not. fucking. back down. ever. which can be a good quality in some things but it can be a really really bad quality in others. he's stubborn as shit and willing to go to ridiculous lengths to realize what he wants and sometimes that leads him to be way more reckless than is necessarily good for himself or for his greater team. he's also kind of bad with nuance? like, with jon, jon's a good person to him. he does good things with his powers. jon is good and what he does is good. simple as that. which means he fails to grasp the sheer cost of the powers and how they're legit bad to use. like, this isn't one of those things where the power is a tool and all that matters is how you use it. the power is feeding an evil god and if you use it, you're choosing to torture the person on the receiving end every single night for the rest of their lives. and yeah, jon's using it against bad people, but the act itself is bad. doesn't necessarily mean jon picked wrong when he decided to do it that way, but it does mean that jon picked something bad.

ship them with: nhthcth danny is actually aroace and has no prospects in my mind

brotp them with: jon. i love him and jon as friends. danny legitmately does not want to use jon, which is something nhthcth jon needs so badly. danny really just thinks he's a cool guy he'd like to get to know and he'd treat jon like a person, not someone who can help him get what he wants. even tim is guilty of that, to an extent. jon is tim's way of saving his brother. for danny, jon is a huge part of keeping him alive, yeah, but he doesn't want jon in his life because it's helping him. he thinks jon is a great person to have in his life because he's the sort of guy who would risk his life for a stranger. also, he's an absolute riot, holy shit, keep saying those words you crazy magic man

needs to stay away from: Grimaldi, the clown wants to peel him like an orange

misc. thoughts: kind of heart, dumb of ass. force of chaos. love is stored in the danny.

#nhthcth #tma #ask game #danny stoker #jon sims

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jaysworlds · 3 years

Text

T4TMA Day Five - Community

“How’s it going, Miss. James?”

Sasha carefully avoids looking up, pretending to focus on her paperwork. “Something the matter, Mr. Stoker?”

Tim laughs, pushing the stack of papers (extra work from Jon; punishment for something that had been entirely Tim’s fault) to the side so he can sit down. “I was just thinking…”

“Funny that, me too.”

“Oh? Care to share?”

“Yes, actually. I was thinking that whatever you’re planning is a terrible idea.”

“I have great ideas.” Sasha finally looks up, fixing him with a glare that she hopes is suitably withering. “I’m still dealing with the fallout from your last ‘great idea.’”

“Alright, alright, I can admit that one was flawed.” He runs a hand through his hair, seemingly unbothered by her best glare. Maybe she should work on that.

Maybe she should work on making him fear her a little more, though she has a suspicion that any attempt would probably start a prank war, and she is not looking to get fired any time soon.

“But this new one is great!”

Sasha groans. “I don’t suppose you could just leave me alone? I haven’t forgiven you yet.”

“You haven’t forgiven me? Me, your best pal?”

“Yes. You.”

Tim sighs, dramatic and long-suffering. “What cruelty. Do you want to hear my idea or not?”

Sasha groans again, smacking her head into her paperwork. She can’t admit she’s interested, though her curiosity is going to be the death of her one day.

“Fine.”

“Perfect!”

“So? Hit me.”

“Archival pride trip!”

Sasha sits up, staring at him. “Are you actually serious?”

“Yeah! London Pride is in a couple of weeks, and it would be a great bonding experience, don’t you think?”

“I think you’re mad if you think Jon will agree to that.”

Tim flaps his hand around. “I see no reason why he wouldn’t. It’s a bonding experience!”

“You said.”

“God, you’re boring. Wouldn’t it be fun, though? Just you, me, Jon, and Martin. Maybe they’d even kiss!”

Sasha snorts. “Tim, you’re living in a fantasy world.”

“Maybe we’d kiss.” He waggles his eyebrows at her, and she can’t quite supress a smile.

“How about this,” she says, because she can’t deny she’d like to watch Tim get shot out of the sky by Jon telling him going to pride would be ‘unprofessional’ or something. “If Jon says yes to us going to pride then I’ll kiss you there, alright?”

Tim grins and throws his arms around her shoulders, nearly knocking them both onto the ground. “I knew you had it in you. I’m going to get that kiss, mark my words.”

Sasha laughs and shoves him off. “I don’t think so.”

Someone clears their throat from behind them and Sasha freezes. It’s Jon, she knows it’s Jon, and if he gives her more paperwork she is going to murder Timothy Stoker.

“Hey, boss!” Tim says, standing up and brushing himself down. Sasha turns around in her chair to watch.

“You’re not on a break, Tim,” Jon says, giving him a disapproving look. Theirs is even worse than Sasha’s, and unsurprisingly Tim does not cower. “Please stop harassing Sasha. I’m sure you both have enough work to be getting on with.”

“Sure,” Tim says, wandering over and slinging an arm around their shoulders. Sasha cringes a little, but surprisingly enough Jon doesn’t shove him off. Just sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose.

“What is it?”

“I’ve had a wonderful idea for a group bonding exercise,” he says, steering Jon towards their office. “I’d love to talk to you about it.”

“You have five minutes,” Jon says, and then the door to his office bangs shut.

Sasha snorts. There’s no way in hell that Jon is going to agree to this.

“Hi, Sasha.”

“Hi, Martin,” Sasha says, leaning back against her desk and grinning at him. “You’re never going to guess what Tim’s trying to arrange.”

“Oh dear,” Martin says, brow furrowing. “Is it a prank war? I’m really not any good at pranks, you know. I would put salt in people’s tea, but that just seems really predictable, you know?”

Sasha laughs. “Oh, god no. I don’t think he’d announce that, just start … filling Jon’s office with plastic spiders or something. No, it’s not that.”

“Bar crawl?”

“Nope.”

“Some sort of competition?”

“Nope. I told you, you’ll never guess.”

“Fine. Tell me.”

“Archival pride trip.”

Martin laughs, almost nervously. “Jon’s never going to agree to that. Right?”

“I hope not. I’ll have to kiss Tim if he does.”

“Oh, really?” Martin frowns, getting a look in his eye that Sasha doesn’t completely like.

“Yes. What’s that look for?”

Martin gives her a little smile that she really doesn’t like. “Oh, nothing. Is Tim talking to them now?”

“Yes,” Sasha says, narrowing her eyes. “Martin Blackwood, what are you planning?”

“Nothing!” Martin says, and he’s such a bad liar. “I’m just going to, um, take Jon their cup of tea, alright?”

“Don’t encourage Tim,” Sasha says warningly, as Martin starts backing towards the office. “I mean it! You’ll make an enemy for life!”

Martin just laughs and disappears into Jon’s office.

God, why had she told him about her crush on Tim? He’s going to use that knowledge against her, she knows it.

She growls to herself and turns back to her paperwork. Might as well get something done, right?

“Sasha!” Tim announces, almost five minutes later, and she can tell by his tone of voice that he’s won. Somehow. “You’ll never guess what we, as an archive, are going to do next week.”

She groans and turns around slowly, not wanting to see the smug grin on his face. “Oh, I couldn’t guess. Please, enlighten me.”

“Our wonderful boss has decided that it will be a fantastic bonding experience if we all go to pride.”

Sasha shakes her head, turning to give Martin, just emerging from Jon’s office, her withering glare. Unlike Tim he actually shrinks a little, giving her a smile that might be apologetic, from a certain angle.

“Did you encourage him?” she growls, and Martin laughs nervously.

“I just suggested it, that’s all.”

“You are the worst,” she tells him. “I’m never trusting you again.”

Tim laughs, triumphant. “He’s my partner in crime!”

“He’s going to be your partner in suffering for this.”

“Oh, stop it. We all know you want to kiss me so bad it makes you look stupid.”

“The thought makes me feel violently ill.”

“Shame, because these lips are going to be on yours in two weeks’ time.”

Sasha turns to glare at Martin again, only to find that he’s already disappeared. Probably wise, really. Maybe she should instigate a prank war.

Tim actually brings flags into the archive over the next two weeks, and the worst part is that Jon actually lets him hang them up. She’s considering going into his office and demanding to know who’s stolen him and replaced him with a boss who actually lets Tim carry out his dumb ideas.

She has to admit it’s kind of nice, though, having the flags around. Tim has bought himself and Jon bi flags, Martin several little rainbow pins, and an enormous trans flag for all four of them that he’s somehow managed to tape to the ceiling. There’s even an ace flag on Jon’s door, and she’s considering letting him bring her a pan flag. Considering.

(She lets him, in the end. It’s not like she doesn’t have one at home, but it’s her home flag, and having one on her desk is nice, actually.)

She still doesn’t understand how he convinced Jon to let him do this, but she has a suspicion that he bribed them, though what with she isn’t sure. Maybe the flags are the bribe.

The morning of pride is … exciting, actually. Jon’s given them all the whole day off work (she thinks he must have bribed Elias. Maybe with whatever Tim bribed him with) and they’re planning to meet at Trafalgar Square. Maybe she goes a little overboard with getting dressed, but what’s the point of pride if you’re not going overboard?

Tim has gone even more overboard than she has, to be honest. He’s painted his whole face blue, purple and pink like he’s going to a gay football game, and he’s wearing a trans flag as a cape, complete with a he/him broach. It’s kind of cool, really. Not that she’d tell him that.

Martin has, predictably, gone pretty simple, just a few badges on his shirt (which reads ‘come to the gay side, we have rainbows.’ Sasha’s certain Tim bought it for him) and a little paper flag.

Jon, to her surprise, isn’t quite as straight-laced (ha) as they usually are. They’re wearing a skirt which wouldn’t meet the institute dress code and honest-to-god fishnet stockings.

“Looking good, boss!” Tim calls, when they arrive, and they give him a small, almost embarrassed smile.

“Thank you, Tim,” they say. “You too.”

Martin is, predictably, staring, and Sasha elbows him gently. As cross as she is that this is at least partially his fault she doesn’t want him to embarrass himself.

It’s a good day, actually. A really good day. Tim has brought a polaroid camera, and he insists on documenting everything. Martin has to keep the photos safe, as the only person who’s brought bag, but Tim doesn’t seem to mind.

“Right!” he says, after a few hours, and hands the camera off to Martin. “One of you owes me a kiss.”

Sasha rolls her eyes and walks over to him, perhaps a little more eagerly than normal. “I’ll try not to be sick.”

“Like you haven’t been looking forward to this for the past two weeks.”

“Talking to yourself?”

Tim laughs, pulling her closer. “Shut up and kiss me.”

And she does. He’s a good kisser, actually, and it’s nice. It’s really nice.

“See?” he says, when he pulls away. “That wasn’t so bad.”

She rolls her eyes and kisses him on the cheek. “There. That’s all you get.”

“What do I have to do to get a date as well?”

She huffs, glancing over at Martin. He grins and waves a fresh photo at her.

“I’ll think about it,” she says, finally. “Come on, let’s go.”

“That’s not a no,” Tim says, gleefully.

“Come on,” Jon says, rolling his eyes, though Sasha imagines it’s rather fond. “We can’t stand around here all day.”

“Coming, boss,” Tim says, and grins at Sasha.

And if she reaches out to link her fingers through his, then that’s nobody’s business but her own.

#t4tma #tma #timsasha #timothy stoker #sasha james #jon sims #martin blackwood #theyre ALL TRANS you cant change my mind #bi jon #bi tim #pan sasha #gay martin #i do love aro sasha but i wanted to write timsasha so shes pan now #under a cut because its long whoops #pride #the gang goes to pride #honestly this makes me happy i love it #i miss the season one gang

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epiphany-of-a-madwoman · 4 years

Text

The Last Dragon | The Witcher & Game of Thrones

Chapter 8 | Melancholy and Dreams

Summary: Visenya Targaryen is the eldest and only surviving child of Rhaegar Targaryen and Elia Martell. When Robert Baratheon’s rebellion was won, instead of being slaughtered by the Mountain like her mother and siblings, she was saved by Ned Stark and taken as his ward. Years later, after she’s killed at the Red Wedding, she wakes up outside Blaviken. Now she finds her destiny intertwined with the White Wolf on her quest to go back home.

Word Count: 4,633

Note: Click here to read the previous chapters ♡

💕 Shout out to my Beta: @thisbreakableheaven , I always say it, but I’m going to say it again, thanks for listening to all my plot rambling as I try and piece together all my strange plot / chapter ideas! 💕

Silence. Somewhere between dreams and reality, Visenya stirs awake. There’s no crackling fire, birds singing, or steady breathing; it’s dead silent and the air is stale. The room seems colder than last night. It’s not the type of cold that can be staved away with a roaring fire while bundling into a pile of blankets, but the kind that follows a sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach. And reaching one of her hands out confirms it, the other side of the bed is ice cold, almost as if no one ever occupied it. For a moment she convinces herself last night was a fever dream, a hallucination born from the flesh eating wound she sustained from the wraith, But the ache in her bones and the small love bites wrapping around her body contradict that brief thought.

She slowly opens her eyes, the crust of sleep that coats her lashes causing them to stick together uncomfortably. Drowsily, Visenya sits up, running her hand over her face, rubbing away any traces of last night. The hairs on her body stand straight up upon feeling the cold air, her breast band the only barrier between air and skin. A deep sigh leaves her mouth as she mentally attempts to piece together her surroundings, everything past foolishing running into the night in a haze, fact and fiction blurring together until it is so intertwined she’d have to spend decades untangling them.

Looking around the small room there’s no trace of Geralt ever having been here, despite this originally being his room. Not a thing is out of place, besides her discarded armor that lies on the floor from when she haphazardly wrestled it off. While unsurprised, a wave of sadness hits her, a small sliver of her had been hopeful he would stay, even if only for a few minutes. But that feeling quickly gets shoved away, if there’s anything she learned from what happened to Robb when he married Talisa and what she’s seen time and time again, is that love is the death of duty. So like all her other feelings, she tucks it into a small locked box to be forgotten.

“My loveliest and fairest Jane, please consider this your wake up call!” Jaskier exclaims from the other side of the door, knocking obnoxiously as he does. An annoyed groan escapes her mouth, the beginnings of a headache forming. Visenya blindly reaches behind her, grabbing onto the first pillow she touches. With more force than necessary, she throws it, sending the pillow soaring through the air, until it hits the door with a soft thud before falling to the ground.

“Shut up Jaskier,” Visenya yells in a hoarse voice, stretching her arms in front of her as she yawns. The door clicks as it opens and once again as it shuts. There’s a soft patter as Jaskier steps into the room, his footsteps so light he’s almost gliding. Despite being untrained - as far as she knows - Jaskier manages to be lighter on his feet than Visenya could ever dream, something he makes sure to always remind her of.

“Oh good, you’re awake and wearing clothes...sort of,” Jaskier says, seemingly unbothered by her less than friendly greeting. He’s wearing another one of his overly frivolous outfits - this one a combination of purple and a soft blue - that clearly defines him as a bard. No one else would dare to wear something so ostentatious in a backwater town. He pulls up his sleeves and grabs the chest piece of her armor.

“Now up up up! We have a day of traveling and adventure to start.” Jaskier says, tossing her discarded tunic towards the bed. It hits her in the face as she angrily groans at him, vision still disoriented from sleep. “Quit your groans and moans of protest my dear. Maybe if you didn’t stay up all night with our riveting hero you wouldn’t be so tired.”

“Do you ever shut up or is that a myth?” Visenya asks, slowly standing from the bed. Her back cracks as she stretches. Her hips are sore from Geralt’s death grip from the night before, a glaring reminder of what transpired between them and just as she thought, discolored bruises in the shape of fingers mar her skin. Jaskier exaggerates an offended gasp, opening and closing his mouth three times like a fish before responding to Visenya.

“You need to eat some food, missy!” he says, wagging a finger in her direction. He attempts to use a stern tone, but the merry glint in his blue eyes gives away his playful intentions. She throws her tunic over her torso, not bothering with the ties.

“Have you always had those injuries or are they new? Nevermind, I won’t ask because I don’t want to lose my head.” Jaskier answers his own question, moving towards the door to leave the room, his tone too bright and his footsteps too peppy for her liking. “Get ready to leave and I shall return with a feast for you my lady,” and with that, Jaskier shuts the door behind him. The force of it causes the wall to shake for a moment but quickly stops, taking all noise with him and leaving Visenya in silence.

With the door shut and the bard gone, Visenya quietly sighs. She lifts up the shirt inspecting the bandages. To no one’s surprise, Geralt expertly wrapped the bandages so they wouldn’t unravel while sleeping and...other activities. They’re slightly discolored but not oozing pus and blood. Carefully in an attempt to not disturb the wound, she unravels the bandages, exposing the semi-fresh cuts to the cool air. Two human-like claw marks drag across different parts of her abdomen. They’re raw and painful to the touch but appear to be healing fine. They’d need to be cleaned before redressing them, but that’s something to focus on after eating.

She expertly laces her shirt up and begins attempting to sort out her hair. It’s a tangled mess that resembles a mangy wild animal, something that would’ve caused Sansa to faint from shock if she ever saw. The strips of leather she used to tie it back yesterday are tangled with her knotty hair, making it difficult and painful to pull them apart. A grunt that’s a mixture with pain and frustration is released through her nose, similar to a bull getting read to charge. When Visenya is nearly ready to give up, the door clicks twice, once as it opens and again as it closes.

“Here we go. Some meat, eggs, and potatoes. Oh, and a fresh cup of ale.” Jaskier practically sings, setting the food on a small table in the corner. Upon seeing Visenya attempting to sort out her hair, he rolls his eyes. “Oh, quit that, you’ll tear out all your hair. Let me.” Jaskier glides across the room, swatting away her hands as he pushes her into a chair. With expert hands and minimal pain, he begins weaving the ties out of her hair and brushing out the knots with his fingers.

“I’m not a child,” Visenya mutters, her face flushed with embarrassment at not being able to manage her own hair.

“Oh no, of course not! You’re a big, mean, angry lady with a large sword,” Jaskier teases, his tone dripping with sarcasm. “But you’re a big, mean, angry lady with a large sword who’d be bald without me.”

“I’d defend myself, but considering the state of my hair when we met I don’t think I can in good conscience,” she replies. A small smile forms on her face, the tingling sensation rippling through her body as he plays with her hair. It brings a sense of peace and serenity that’s been void from her life for so long; taking her back to being four, sitting between her mother’s legs as she braided Visenya’s hair, telling her fantastical tales. But also because, despite her best efforts, at some point between their first meeting and today, Jaskier wormed his way into her heart, like a parasite that you grow fond of. He chuckles quietly, a bemused expression on his face.

“What? What’s so funny?” Visenya asks, unable to put any of her usual bite in her words. She attempts to turn her head to face Jaskier, but he simply swats her head with one of his hands before forcing her head forward with an iron tight grip his soft and uncalloused hands shouldn’t have.

“You’re much cheerier this morning. Maybe you should spend more time with Geralt...if you know what I mean,” Jaskier says, suggestively wagging his eyebrows at Visenya, mirth filling his eyes. Visenya snorts at his answer, unable to stop her eyes from rolling.

“We didn’t have sex,” Her voice is even and deadpan, not wanting to inflect too much emotion, lest he use that as ammo against her.

“Sex, trading battle stories, or braiding each other’s hair while gossiping about boys - it doesn’t matter to me! I think this is the longest conversation we’ve had without you threatening me.” Jaskier continues. By this point, he’s managed to unravel all of her unruly hair and began the task of braiding it.

“I’d pay good gold to see Geralt let someone braid his hair while gossiping about boys,” Visenya says, playing with the ends of the ties on her tunic. Jaskier replies with a snort, twisting another section of her hair into a braid.

“He seems pretty relaxed with you, maybe try that out the next time we come across our dashing Witcher. He might just let you, free of charge.”

“If, Jaskier, if we see Geralt again.” Visenya says, already knowing the direction he’s steering the conversation.

“Oh please, you may be good in a fight, but you really are naive in social settings aren’t you, Jane?” Jaskier teases. And before she can turn around and hit him so hard he’ll be feeling it for days, he pulls the braid he’s weaving incredibly tight, the force pulling her head back. “Oops, my finger slipped.”

“Whatever,” she mutters, a scowl on her features, both from annoyance and the pounding pain in her head.

“Now don’t get all grumpy with me, missy. If there’s one thing I can say without a doubt, is that both you and Geralt are incredibly complicated people, who seem to be very comfortable around each other. It’s only natural things might progress further,” Jaskier continues, taking care to be extra gentle with her hair, lightly running the tips of his nails through her scalp, soothing the headache he created.

“And what do you possibly know about me?”

“I know that something terrible has happened to you, something that left you angry and bruised, figuratively and literally. But I also know you care more than you let on, that much is obvious with how you handled Filavandrel.”

Visenya snorts, rolling her eyes in the process, staring up at the ceiling before gazing directly in front of her, seeing but not really at the same time.

“Geralt did most of the heavy lifting,” she mutters.

“Oh sure, of course our mighty Witcher did with his reverse psychology, Kill me, I am ready,” he lowers his voice significantly, attempting to mimic Geralt’s own growly one. “--but the Jane you want everyone to see wouldn’t have empathised with the elves. The Jane you want everyone to see would’ve at least threatened to beat a few of them before we had to drag you out.”

Silence falls over them, the only sound in the room Jaskier’s soft humming as he finishes braiding her hair. Her mind is in overdrive, unsure of how to handle Jaskier’s observations that are too accurate for her comfort. And when he steps back, waving his hands in the general direction of her hair as he exclaims that his master piece is finished, she reaches her hand up to feel the style. He braided multiple strands of hair into small braids that come together into one large braid that falls down her back. Practical and stylish, Sansa would’ve approved.

“There we are. Now eat up and prepare your best scowl!” Jaskier says, taking a step away from Visenya and motioning towards the food with a ta-da hand gesture. She moves towards the table, the frown on her face slowly fading away as her vision grows clearer.

“Might want to stock up on more hair dye, by the way. Your natural hair color is showing,” Jaskier nonchalantly says, perching like a bird on the edge of the bed. Visenya stops in her tracks, hands immediately touching her head while she looks at Jaskier, panic clearly painted on her face.

“What are you --” She begins to say, but Jaskier cuts her off.

“You didn’t think a refined man such as myself wouldn’t notice that your hair isn’t naturally that way, thank the gods,” Jaskier says. Visenya levels a glare towards him, trying to push down the anxiety bubbling inside her. In response, Jaskier simply throws his hands up. “I’m just saying, your hair texture isn’t the best.”

“Whatever,” she says, sitting down at the table to begin eating.

The duo is silent while Visenya eats until Jaskier breaks it when the light reflects something that causes it to glint in the corner of his eye. He stands up from the end of the bed and goes over to a side table.

“Well well well. Looks like our favorite Witcher left behind a token of his love,” Jaskier says, his tone similar to a smug child saying I told you so. Visenya turns to look at Jaskier, a sharp insult on the tip of her tongue. She racks her mind trying to figure out what he could be talking about. But of all the things that run through her mind, what she sees isn’t what she expected.

Renfri’s broach.

o0o0o0o0o

“Have you ever been in love Jane?” Jaskier asks, breaking the silence that envelops the duo. It’s their second night of travel, and with the nearest inn being two days away from their current location, they’ve taken to camping off to the side of the main road. Visenya had found a small clearing in the heavily wooded terrain, the thick foliage surrounding the camp heavily obscuring them from anyone passing by. The radius of the camp was tiny, only large enough for the two of them to comfortably fit their belongings and light a fire.

Visenya sits on her bedroll, leisurely reclining against the tree behind her while mindlessly chewing on the rabbit meat she’d hunted earlier. Her leather armor lies discarded beside her, leaving her in a light undershirt and a pair of trousers, the cool air feeling refreshing against her warm body. Jaskier is huddled near the fire he started when they first set camp, getting as close as possible without being burnt. Visenya’s eyes lazily move towards Jaskier, whose gaze is already firmly locked on her. A muffled sigh escapes her mouth as she looks directly at a tree on the other side of camp. For a moment she considers lying or telling him to fuck off.

But unconsciously her thoughts wander back to Winterfell. To all the quiet nights she would sit with Jon in the Godswood. The towering trees surrounding them would block them off from the outside world, allowing them to just...be, creating a world with just the two of them. Even if only for a few stolen moments, they were just Jon and Visenya, not a bastard and an exiled princess. Neither of them would dare to speak, afraid that if they did the bubble would burst and this delusion they’ve created would come crashing down. In the sanctity of the Godswood, the reality that they’d never have more than unspoken words and an eventual goodbye was avoided. Sitting under vivid red leaves that fell around them and swirled in the biting cold, everything seemed simple. Even though they both knew it wasn’t and never would be.

She’d smile at him so warmly that sometimes Jon fully believed it could melt all the snow in the North with a glance and he'd wield a small grin that made Visenya’s heart race. There’d be a crinkle at the corner of his eyes that reminded her of a mischievous boy that snuck into the kitchen to steal pastries with her. And the grim mask Jon often wore whenever in Winterfell would slip away while the ghosts that followed Visenya would melt like snow in summer until she couldn’t remember their names. Their hands would lie on the ground, just a hair away from each other. When either of them were feeling brave, their fingers would delicately brush against the others. Her purple eyes would trace the curves of his face while he would do the same, albeit subtler than her.

Her mind retraces all the times they stood in sunlit rooms, filled to the brim with people who chatted between one another, never fully looking at Visenya and Jon, like they were illusions created from the reflection of the sun. They’d steal glances at each other when no one would see, their smiles speaking a secret language only they knew. Her eyes would meet his and she’d see colors that she's never seen with anyone else. The world always felt boring and grey without Jon, being with him showed her colors she never knew existed. And sometimes Robb would be in the room, noticing their glances, but he'd say nothing, feigning ignorance if it was ever brought up. Because he knew their fate as well as they did.

“Yeah, I guess,” she responds after a few moments of silence. Her lips curve upwards unknowingly as she gets lost in her melancholy. Jaskier carefully watches her, a solemn expression on his face. He memorizes the look on her face, the tilt of her lips and the stars in her eyes.

“What happened?” he asks, curiosity clawing at his mind. In the year they’d been traveling together he was so sure he’s seen all sides of her, and yet it seems not.

Her lips pull downwards into a frown, and like the brightest star in the sky burning out, her eyes dim until they’re dull and lifeless. It’s not the same cold indifference he’s always seen in them or the teasing glint that sneaks past her cold exterior against her better judgment. It’s sadder, like her life has been nothing but a tragedy disguised as a fairytale. And maybe it has been.

She remembers trying to fight for it - declaring that she didn’t care about his status. Her father - as foolish as he was - abandoned his duties for love; Robert Baratheon started a war for a woman! Why should Visenya accept their fate lying down? She’d beg him to just run away with her, but he never agreed, just like Visenya knew he wouldn’t. But there were some days, in the quietest moments of the night, when the moon was at its highest and the stars were all but gone, where she swore he nearly cracked, almost let her have her way. But he didn’t, his fear that he’d never be able to give Visenya what he felt she deserved holding him back. But she’d fight anyways, stubbornly gripping onto him so tightly only for it to slip between her fingers anyways, like water falling through the cracks. Because no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t change their ending that was written in the stars long before she even met him. Chasing him was like chasing shadows in a blackened room. And she knew-- gods she knew how it had to end, but that knowledge didn’t lessen the sting he left behind. Jon was the only thing she’d ever wanted since she could remember wanting anything.

Her gaze moves over to Jaskier, whose eyes are still firmly locked on her. She tightens her lips into a thin line, but there’s a slight quiver in the corners of her mouth. For the first time, Jaskier wonders how old she truly is. Her golden eyes in an eternal glare, with ivory skin turned steel, she holds none of the childlike nativity she should have. But with the warm glow of the fire reflecting off her face, she doesn't look like a hardened warrior. She’s just a child playing pretend, wearing her mother’s shoes while trying to wield her father’s sword that’s too heavy to lift properly. She’s just a kid, only a few years into adulthood.

“Nothing,” she replies, her voice barely above a whisper. Jaskier's ears strain to hear the whisper over the wildlife ambient noises. She shifts her eyes away from him as she focuses on the flickering fire.

She remembers watching Jon ride away on his horse with his Uncle Benjen. Hidden away from prying eyes in the ramparts she watched him leave her behind. The memory is so vivid she can nearly taste the salty tears that fell from her eyes. A hollow feeling in her chest as he did. How desperately she wanted to lash out and scream, to run to the stables and take a horse to chase him down - demand that he give her a proper goodbye. She didn’t want to just let him go, allow him to leave her with all the grace of the princess she should’ve been. Because despite what people may whisper behind closed doors or cupped palms that cover their mouths, she loved him, she really did. And a part of her was determined to fight for it, convinced that maybe it would be enough to make him stay. But she did nothing, her pride rearing its ugly head, unwilling to let herself make a fool of herself for the sake of a man that was always just out of reach.

“He went his way and I went mine.”

“Do you miss him, still love him?” Jaskier asks.

The question brings her pause. Does she miss Jon? Without a doubt, yes. But does she still love him, if she ever did to begin with? She’s not too sure. He still lingers in the back of her mind, but grows fainter and fainter with each passing day and new adventure. Yet, some nights when she’s haunted by the what-ifs, the memories hanging around like smoke in a burning room, she’s convinced she did love him, if only for a moment in time. But who could really know, especially now that they’re worlds away.

“I- I don’t know,” she says, her voice hoarse and croaky, like she just screamed for ten minutes straight. Jaskier opens his mouth, unable to stop the questions from spilling out of his mouth, but Visenya cuts him off. The tremble of her lips grows harder to conceal each passing moment, Westeros beginning to drown her with all the tragedy that haunts it. Her previously dull and boring eyes begin to glisten, but not with stars or warmth, but with tears. The perfectly curated facade of disinterest she wears like a mask begins to crack; pride being the only thing keeping her together.

“We should go to sleep, early day of traveling tomorrow and all,” she says, the emotionless tone of her voice back, and as if it never broke, Visenya places the mask back on. Without awaiting a reply from Jaskier she shimmies between the bedroll and lies down. She closes her eyes, willing sleep to come sooner rather than later. She hears Jaskier quietly sigh before he begins rustling around, settling himself in his bedroll to get some sleep as well.

Despite herself, she thinks of home one last time.

How conflicted she was, angry at the world and angry at herself for how happy she was with the Starks.

Until Robert Baratheon came and whisked them into the game of thrones.

o0o0o0o0o

The woman moves into what appears to have once been a magnificent throne room. However, it’s now been turned into ruins, a dull comparison to the shining gem it used to be. The vaulted ceilings lie in a pile of rubble littering the ground, exposing the sky that’s thick with ash. It falls from the sky, covering the floor in a similar fashion to the thick snow that coated the North. Pieces of it delicately land in the woman’s shining silver hair, creating a sort of crown on her head. A diadem of fire and calamity, naming her Queen of the Ashes. Her purple eyes focus solely on the throne ahead of her which was still relatively untouched by the fire that destroyed the rest of the city, leaving it a prize for the madness she succumbed to. But it wasn’t madness -- not to her.

In a trance, she moves towards it. The soft patter of her heels clicking against the stone floor echoes in the room. Her heartbeat aligns with her breathing, growing quicker and unsteady the closer she gets to the throne.

Her throne.

The only thing she ever wanted.

Halfway across the throne room, something reflecting out of the corner of her eye captures her attention. Her movements halt, turning her body to face the source of the distraction. It’s the remnants of a stained glass mosaic lying smashed on the ground. Slivers of the glass cover the floor, surrounding a piece of the artwork that still stood intact, tall and proud and almost defiant. It’s jagged and uneven, the original art it depicted indiscernible. She moves towards it, eyes locked on her own reflection that becomes clearer the closer she gets. The crunch of glass beneath her boots causes an unpleasant sound, but her eyes refuse to leave her image to try and avoid any glass.

Within a moment she stands before the glass. Her reflection is distorted and discolored due to its design, but her face is clear as day. Soft purple eyes stare back at her, hiding the storm brewing inside them. The soft curves of her face are replaced with harsh lines and the mischievous smirk that always pulled on her lips is instead in a tight line, but the most distressing thing is her eyes. They go from a soft purple to a fiery amber - similar to the flames that consumed the city around her. They’re bitter and cruel, unlike the warmth they held in years past.

With a harsh gasp, she physically recoils from the reflection and immediately turns away from the glass. With her mindset on the throne once more, she moves towards it again, her pace faster than it had been previously. For some reason, the change she’d seen unsettled her more than she’d care to admit. Finally, she crosses to the other side of the room, standing mere inches away from the throne, and with an air of reverence, she walks up the steps leading to the dais that it rests on. Carefully, she reaches a pale hand out to touch it, desperate to know this is real and not a delusion the darkest parts of her mind created. Only a centimeter from grasping the left arm of the throne, a large shadow flies ahead. The woman looks up, watching the dangerously beautiful creature proudly flying above the ruins. Its large form blocks out any sunlight that manages to peek through the ash. Its vivid golden scales are a stark contrast to the shades of grey the city had been swallowed in. A terrifying screech escapes its mouth as it beats its massive bat-like wings, the force of it disrupting the settled ash on the ground.

“Visenya.” a distorted voice calls out. The woman’s eyes flit around the room, attempting to discern the source of the voice.

“Visenya!” it calls again, sounding more frantic than before.

“Visenya!”

With a harsh gasp of air, her eyes snap open.

o0o0o0o0o

Tags: If you’re name is crossed out, it means Tumblr wouldn’t let me tag you.

#geralt fanfic #the witcher fanfiction #geralt x reader #geralt imagine #geralt of rivia #the witcher #game of thrones #game of thrones fanfiction #Crossovers #targaryen!reader #targaryen!oc #jon snow x reader #mentioned

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sorptomber · 3 years

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My thoughts on the TMA finale

before we even get into it: this is a negative post. I am not happy. Does this mean you can’t be happy? Of course not! If you got the ending you wanted then im happy for you but figuring this is where I posted all of my magnus stuff, I might as well make one last post about it here. Spoilers, obviously. (also jonny if you see this dont take it personal xx)

My english teacher always tells us that if we’re in an exam and we’ve written a few amazing paragraphs on an essay, if there’s only 10 minutes left in the exam then you’re better off just ending your essay there rather than add on a shitty rushed paragraph because it’ll bring down your mark rather than raise it because you wrote more. This is exactly how I feel with tma, especially season 5.

I got into magnus around this time last year, it definitely took me a while to fully enjoy it though. After listening to the first 10 episodes, I hopped onto the tma subreddit and basically asked “is every episode statements?” because I wasn’t interested in them in the slightest. I’d heard about the podcast from jonmartin fanart so I expected a lot more character interaction. I fought through the first two seasons, loved the third season, adored the fourth season just for the angst and got a start on season 5 (I was fully caught up by the time 171 came out) I thought to myself “oh hey, one episode per. domain that’s cool, whatever, kinda boring but at least we’re getting to know this apocalyptic world.” What poor little me didn’t know was that the majority of season 5 would just be worldbuilding. over and over and over again. The fact they repeated fears for domains had me more horrified than any of the other statements. I obviously stopped listening a while afterwards because I genuinely found it so boring.

I read the transcripts, if I even bothered looking at the episode at all. And I think this is where season 5 absolutely fails and kind of fucks up the entire show. We’re used to one base setting, the archives, and we’ve never really been told much about it’s appearance because it looks like a normal ass archive. Before or after each statement we’re used to having SOME sort of character interaction, jon and tim fighting or melanie going fuckin ham, thats the shit I actually listened for. In season 5 it’s all just walking and talking with jon and martin and while that doesnt sound bad, NOTHING ACTUALLY HAPPENS BETWEEN EPISODES. they just talk about the same things, have bad communication and maybe have a few cute moments so that it isnt all doom and gloom, but besides that there’s not actual substance. tma was a show where it kind of caters to two groups, the lot who just want short horror stories read by a random ass british dude and the lot who want plot and character interaction. Seasons 1-4 had both but season 5 was majority just horror anthology. That’s not a bad thing in concept, but it’s a bad thing if you suddenly get rid of most characters and decimate anything actually interesting for the remaining characters to talk about other than “what do you think will happen,” “where do you think this person is,” and random exposition, exposition which is so constantly repeated that characters within the show bring up how it’s said so often.

What frustrated me so much about the finale was that there was literally no need for it. We’ve spent nearly 30 episodes being told everything, more than everything, about this apocalyptic world, yet when it comes to the finale it’s ALL up to interpretation? I’ve listened to so much shit about this world that really failed to interest me all, telling myself itll be worth it for the ending, just for it to end with “i dont know, you decide.” It really feels like a fuckin punch in the gut. It was predictable (which isn’t always a bad thing, but this was VERY predictable) and unsatisfying. I know I’m not alone on this either, I’ve spoken to friends who have thought the exact same thing. It was altogether just a very disappointing end to such a fantastic show.

Personally, I feel like it could have ended pretty nicely at season 3 or 4, maybe jon could have died at the end of season 3, leaving martin behind to deal with elias plans, thats pretty tragic. Or at the end of season 4 maybe jon could have actually killed jonah himself and then run away with martin to safe house, maybe they decide to start a new life there and they never hear from Basira, Melanie or Georgie again, neither of them know what Dasies fate was. Obviously this is just off the top of my head, and I’m pretty sure Jonny had this planned out from the start. I think he still made an incredible piece of media, it get me out of a really bad case of art block and basically carried me through the first lockdown, but I think it’s the execution that let it down in the end.

I don’t know. this is all just me rambling, but I figured I had to let it all out somewhere. magnus was a great experience and I’m glad I got to be a part of the fandom while it was arguably at it’s peak. I’ll definitely keep an eye on rusty quill and jonnys works, but I have to say that I’m just really dissappointed with how magnus ended after the amazing run it had.

#tma #the magnus archives #jonmartin #spoilers #rant

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letterboxd · 3 years

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Dream Chasers.

Mark Harris and Alicia Malone—two of the hosts of this month’s TCM Film Festival—tell Jack Moulton about Nichols and May, West Side Story, classic lockdown discoveries, and the films that make you feel like everything has changed when you walk out of that cinema.

For a second year in a row due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the TCM Classic Film Festival is being hosted virtually. Its program screens across TCM and HBO Max from May 6 to May 9. The festival, which began in 2010, was held at Grauman’s Chinese Theater and the nearby Egyptian Theater in Hollywood, a move designed to allow classic movie fans to retread the footsteps of glitzy premieres from the glamorous past.

Ahead of Steven Spielberg’s upcoming remake, the festival opens with West Side Story’s 60th anniversary screening, featuring new and exclusive interviews by living legends Rita Moreno, George Chakiris and Russ Tamblyn. The complete festival lineup includes classic programming and talent highlights, from Michael Douglas introducing his Best Picture-winning One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest to Scorsese on Goodfellas, to a comedian-heavy table read of Edward D. Wood Jr.’s infamously bad Plan 9 From Outer Space.

Journalist and author Mark Harris, who published the biography Mike Nichols: A Life earlier this year, is presenting the 1996 American Masters documentary Nichols and May: Take Two, covering the Oscar-winning director’s legendary comic partnership with Elaine May. It features iconic sketches that will recontextualize the way you think about Nichols if you thought his career started with Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and The Graduate.

TCM host, feminist cinema expert, Australian expat and Letterboxd member Alicia Malone is also a presenter at this year’s festival. (She admits she’s slacking on her Letterboxd logging this year, but used it to track her viewings over lockdown, topping over 500 films.) Neither Harris nor Malone have been able to go to the cinema since they closed over a year ago, but both are eager to return to their local arthouses in Maine and the Upper West Side of Manhattan as soon as they’re ready.

We caught up with Harris and Malone shortly before the festival commenced for a classic edition of the Letterboxd Life in Film.

‘The Poseidon Adventure’ (1972).

What’s your fondest memory of seeing a film in the cinema? Mark Harris: This is embarrassing, but for me it’s The Poseidon Adventure. At the time, my parents were a bit stricter than other parents so the other kids were already getting to see so-called ‘adult’ movies. The Poseidon Adventure was the first ‘not-kids’ movie that I ever got to see in a theater and at the age of eight, I immediately thought ‘well, clearly this is the best movie of all-time’. Everything in it was new information to me, such as how adults talked to each other and Stella Stevens playing a prostitute—I had no idea what that was. I found it so scary, I believed everything I saw on the screen. The joy of taking in something I hadn’t seen before has never left me.

Alicia Malone: It would probably be seeing Amélie. I was living in Canberra but my older sister had moved to Sydney, which to me was the big smoke, I really wanted to live there when I grew up. I got to visit her by myself and stay in her flat which she was renting by herself and it seemed so cool. She took me to the local arthouse cinema where Amélie was playing and I was so swept away. I know that film gets a bad rap now for being overly sentimental and quirky, but I just felt like I was being seen. I had such a kinship with the character of Amélie because she’s a dreamer, always in her own head and that’s how I was. I was always comparing my life to movies and playing movie scenes in my head. I remember walking out of that cinema and it felt like everything had changed—the color was brighter, it was special.

MH: We have to talk Turner into an Amélie-Poseidon Adventure double-feature!

AM: What a double! That would be amazing.

John Garfield and Ida Lupino in ‘The Sea Wolf’ (1941).

Which classic films that you discovered during lockdown had a major impact on you? MH: I wanted to dive into some directors that I really didn’t know well so I started watching all the Luchino Visconti movies, because Italian cinema is not my strongest area. That was an incredibly rewarding experience. I also saw the big seven-hour Russian War and Peace, which completely blew my mind. Those were probably my big pandemic discoveries.

AM: Something I really loved was getting to do the TCM Star of the Month for John Garfield because he’s such an interesting character and was a pre-cursor to Marlon Brando, Robert De Niro and those types of method actors. I’d seen him in various films—such as The Postman Always Rings Twice—but I’d never sat down to watch a lot of his filmography and learn more about his personal story. To see films like The Sea Wolf and Body and Soul, I really gained a newfound respect for him as an actor. You can see some of the beginnings of that kind of tough-guy, everyday-man archetype with a brilliant actor putting his emotions right there on his sleeve.

MH: I should also say that the Women Make Movies Festival was huge for me. All those movies are on my DVR and I’m still going through them and discovering them. I recorded everything and that was and continues to be a gigantic education for me.

AM: Yes! Thanks for that reminder. That was such a fulfilling experience to get to be one of the hosts on that with Jacqueline Stewart. What was so brilliant about Mark Cousins’ documentary is that there are so many clips of films that you think how have we not seen this? How are we not studying this film? How do we not know about this particular filmmaker?

Meryl Streep and Jack Nicholson in ‘Heartburn’ (1986).

If you could only pick one, which is the most overlooked film by Mike Nichols? MH: The most under-appreciated film to me is Heartburn. That was a real rediscovery when I was working on the book. I remember liking it, but I didn’t remember how sharp the performances were, how funny the comedy was, and the really acute social observations. I was so surprised when I was coming across the reviews—almost all of which were by men—and all of them said some version of “Why is he wasting his time with this? Why would he tell this woman’s story? Why doesn’t he tell the other half of the story?” Surely no-one would leave this character unless she gave him a good reason to leave! It was really shocking to me how dismissive and contemptuous a lot of the critical reaction was. I’m so happy that I’ve gotten to stick Heartburn under a lot of people’s noses because it’s a movie they seem to be really liking once they find it.

AM: I’m obviously not as deep into his filmography as Mark is, but I have to agree that Heartburn is a film that I can’t believe has been so overlooked. I came to that movie through Nora Ephron, who I just adore. [Heartburn is adapted from a semi-autobiographical novel by Ephron.] I rewatched it recently and I was blown away by it. Of course, Meryl Streep is amazing, but just getting to be in those characters’ worlds again and watching it after I had listened to the audiobook—which features the voice of Meryl Streep—about a year ago added a whole new experience. I loved how in her book how she has all these recipes dotted through it that you see in the movie as well.

MH: That’s one of the great audiobook readings of all time. It’s great to listen to [Streep] do that.

John Cassavetes and Peter Falk in ‘Mikey and Nicky’ (1976).

Where do you recommend film lovers start with Elaine May? MH: It’s only a four-movie body of work as a director so I think it’s perfectly fine to go in chronological order. A New Leaf is fantastic and feels 100 percent her. You really get a great deal of her sensibility in that movie. I would just start there and go to The Heartbreak Kid and then to Mikey and Nicky, which is not the place to start but is a fascinating movie, and then you’ll be ready for Ishtar.

AM: See, I would say Mikey and Nicky straight out of the gate.

MH: Really?

AM: I love subverting expectations of what a female director can do and that is such a masculine movie. It’s a film that you wouldn’t expect for a female director to make. I love the back and forth, the rapport between [Cassavetes and Falk]. I find it really compelling and exciting every time I see it. So I say, go hard, go in with Mikey and Nicky then, yeah, A New Leaf and The Heartbreak Kid, but maybe skip Ishtar.

Iconic comedy duo Elaine May and Mike Nichols.

Thinking of Nichols fleeing to New York City from Germany, and Alicia moving to Hollywood from Australia, which ‘American Dream’ film resonates with you the most? AM: This answer is going to sound quite cheesy since it was a recent film: La La Land. I understand all the criticism about it, I agree with it, but I don’t care. I feel like it was made for me as a redhead in Hollywood, chasing her dream, and coming up against all the obstacles. I also love Singin’ in the Rain, which I know is not necessarily strictly about the American Dream but is about Hollywood in general. That is a film that really started the idea of moving to Hollywood as a young kid. It’s the idea of a magical place where you could do anything and make your dreams come true and have dignity—always dignity.

MH: This time I’m going to go hard and dark and say the first title that occurred to me, which is The Godfather: Part II. It’s a great immigrant story, though it’s a strange version of the American Dream. The whole saga is about coming to America, becoming an American, and deciding what American values are.

AM: I should say that during our TCM Film Festival on HBO Max, we have a section on immigrant stories. We have America, America, which is a great one by Elia Kazan, and Stranger Than Paradise, which I would recommend as well. It’s a warped view of the American Dream but I love the way they think they get rich and all their dreams can come true. Also Black Legion, which is a darker version of the immigrant story with Humphrey Bogart going to the darker side of ‘foreigners should not take American jobs’.

MH: I’ll just throw in a plug for another Mike Nichols movie, Working Girl. He really saw that as an immigrant story—the first shot is of the Statue of Liberty, even though they’re [emigrating] from Staten Island! I think Mike thought it was as distant of a land as the old country, I’m not sure he spent a lot of time on Staten Island.

Katharine Hepburn in ‘Woman of the Year’ (1942).

What are some of your other problematic faves? The classics we acknowledge have not aged well, but you love anyway. AM: I think My Fair Lady is one of those. I’m a sucker for make-over movies despite all of their problematic ways of showing how women need to change if you don’t fit into the mold and you should sand down all your edges. But I get worked up in the whole transformation myth and making your life better. Even though it’s got Audrey Hepburn and you want to see Julie Andrews in that role, My Fair Lady is still one that I enjoy and I can see all of the problems with it.

Another one, that we featured during our Reframed series on TCM, was Woman of the Year, which is a great example of one of those women’s pictures that, as Professor Jeanine Basinger has pointed out, is so empowering for most of the movie and then in the last five minutes it undoes everything. It’s still a great film to watch when you want to get ahead of feminism and see Katharine Hepburn in a wonderful role, but you just have to ignore the breakfast scene at the end.

MH: I was just talking the other day to some people about the movie Network, which is one of my all-time favorite movies, but if you look hard at Network, it’s very possible to read that as a story about a woman who can’t be a professional in a workplace without hollowing herself out and becoming sort of less-than-human. [Diana Christensen] is talked about terribly by the other characters and you’re supposed to learn a hard lesson about what a monster an ambitious woman can become and that does not hold up well. It’s also a movie that features some of the wittiest dialogue and some of the greatest performances of any movie of the 1970s and I’m always going to love it for that.

AM: That’s such a trope, isn’t it? The ice-cold career woman.

MH: Right, and whoever did it better than…

AM, MH: Faye Dunaway!

Alicia Malone, Mark Harris.

Which coming-of-age movie character did you find the most relatable? AM: For me, it’s Velvet Brown played by Elizabeth Taylor in National Velvet. I watched that over and over as a child when I was obsessed with horses. It was so inspiring as a young girl to see another young girl chasing her dreams—pretending she’s a boy that doesn’t speak English to win the Grand National—particularly at the time when I grew up in the 1980s, when so many of those films for kids were about young boys achieving their dreams.

MH: Haven’t seen it in a long time, but the Peter Yates movie Breaking Away meant a lot to me when I was a kid. The idea of chasing something that means something to you but trying to reconcile what your parents thought about it, and how to balance your own dreams with the expectations other people had for you. I think that’s a really lovely movie.

I still think about those performances by Dennis Christopher, Dennis Quaid, Daniel Stern and Jackie Earl Haley, and of course Barbara Barrie and Paul Dooley as the parents. That movie landed right in my heart the first time I saw it. I’m almost afraid to go back now, I don’t want it to have turned into one of my problematic faves! I want it to be one of my faves.

If we could gift every Letterboxd member two hours of HBO Max to discover one film from this year’s TCM Classic Film Festival lineup, which film would you want it to be? (My pick is Bless Their Little Hearts.) AM: A film that I just adore is Cléo From 5 to 7 by Agnès Varda. She was working in the French New Wave and arguably made the first movie ever in the French New Wave. It’s one of those great movies that is close to real time as possible—it should be Cléo From 5 to 6:30 really, because it’s an hour and a half. It’s so inventively shot and edited. I’ve done the walk that she did in Paris, I’ve tried to map that out and copy Cléo. I want more people to see it and discover it.

MH: My husband [playwright and screenwriter Tony Kushner] recently finished writing a new version of West Side Story for Steven Spielberg that’s going to come out at the end of the year. I think I would like to gift everybody the first version of West Side Story, which opens the festival, because you have to start there. It’s a beautiful movie and I think it’s a really instructive thing to see how this story was told in 1961 versus how it’s going to be told in 2021. Also, it’s two-and-a-half hours so if we’re only gifting people two hours… they’re not going to see the ending and they’re going to have to go to the new one to find out what happens!