#but he is also middle eastern and I feel like people forget that we have specific features that should be accounted for
Text
I’ll always be a Mizrak defender when Olrox saved him in the abbey. Yes it was sweet and romantic but wholly selfish on Olrox’s part because people forget that Olrox left Richter, Annette, Maria, and Tera to die in the abbey with an omnipotent vampire cat goddess. When they were yards away from the abbey Mizrak was still trying to save the others and struggling to break free from Olrox.
Olrox was manhandling him and Olrox being a vampire, Mizrak was in a huge disadvantage of strength and no matter how much he struggle Olrox would not let him go if Olrox didn’t want to. Even though Olrox saved Mizrak he is keeping Mizrak detained against his will. The first thing on Mizrak’s mind was the others that Maria and Richter are trapped and are in danger. Richter and Maria seem to be pretty familiar with Mizrak. They were causal acquaintances or even friends to say the least— especially the winky face Richter gave Mizrak after visiting the Abbot in ep 1.
Mizrak just has a guarded exterior, he’s like that with everyone else and with Olrox. It’s not personal. Though we do see him falter just a tiny bit in most intimate scenes with them together. It’s nothing personal with Olrox, it’s just Mizrak’s character.🗿 Mizrak is just a tough cookie to crack and Olrox is his glass of milk and he’s the only one that can soften him up and make him ooey gooey. 🍪🥛
Despite the harden exterior he cares for Richter and Maria and when he learned the truth about the Abbot he went against him and tried to save Maria from getting sacrificed! After Mizrak alerted the others he KILLED all the knight brothers because they were in his way to save Maria!
After Richter gets tossed around by the force field magic shit from Erzsebet, Mizrak charges up to avenge Richter but Olrox scoops him up and leaves everyone in the abbey to die.
What did people expect Mizrak to do? Should Mizrak twirl his hair? Kick his feet in the air because Prince Charming swooped down and saved him from certain peril? Olrox saved Mizrak but left everyone else to die! Mizrak felt he was the only one who can could protect Richter, Maria, and Tera from Erzsebet! Even thought he’s the only normal human with no magic he still throws himself into the fray. But Olrox took Mizrak away his first thought is who is going to protect them now?
Olrox now wants to talk about feelings and confess to each other while the world is ending? Time and place Olrox, time and place! The world is at peril and the people Mizrak cares about are getting brutalized! Mizrak called him “animal who lost his soul centuries ago.”
What he’s saying is that Olrox is selfish. He doesn’t have people he cares about or risks his life for but Mizrak does. Essentially calling him heartless because Olrox only saved him and deep down Mizrak feels like he isn’t even worth saving. But he’s able to save other people at least. Try to save the world or die trying.
People intrepid Mizrak being a racist to Olrox because he’s an indigenous man and indigenous people were called animals back then and think Mizrak is a white man. Which I don’t think that’s what Mizrak means that in any capacity.
Also, Mizrak is not white. He’s Middle Eastern/North African, and was probably called an animal too by the Christians since Christians or anyone who doesn’t follow the Abrahamic faith that was specifically theirs called anyone animals. Especially pagans. Yikes!
Not to mention Mizrak’s origin is Maltese and this is the time of Knights of St. John: 1530-1798 during the Knights Hospitaller. Where thousands of Muslim slaves were captured and taken to Malta. In mid-18th century there were around 9,000 Muslim slaves in Hospitaller-ruled Malta. So yea, Mizrak was most likely enslaved during sometime in his childhood and converted to Catholicism when he joined the Clergy of Knights.
So no, Mizrak is a not racist Christian calling Olrox an animal. Mizrak has also been effected by colonialism too. Just how Olrox spoke how he lost his people to due to colonialism kinda made Mizrak be beside himself too.
Almost forgetting about his own home and how he was enslaved to by the very same faith he fights with and that had also caused so much devastation to other parts of the world. Olrox and Mizrak are the same except Mizrak assimilated while Olrox resisted it.
Mizrak was probably a child when he was enslaved while Olrox was a grown adult man when the Europeans came on to his shores. Olrox was able to resist and fight back while Mizrak a child was impressionable and was converted. They have the same backstories but different circumstances.
I went on a tangent here, but Mizrak calling Olrox an animal is because animals are easily spooked and run away from danger and to him he views animals as heartless and only caring for their own survival.
Mizrak chews Olrox out of anger the same way Annette called Richter a “useless fuck,” because he ran away from the cellar.
Mizrak and Annette are very much alike. Both are hot headed and stubborn and not afraid to charge into danger, idealistic and not afraid to get killed. They both share the same philosophy of Anti-Running Away From A Fight
Olrox and Richter are alike in many ways too. They are both are cautious planners and are a more grounded than their partners. They take time to think before they make up a plan— not charge headfirst. And also they both retreated. Richter when he had a panic attack when Olrox spooks him. Olrox pulling Mizrak away from a fight and leaving everyone behind.
Mizrak has every right to be pissed and angry. To put it bluntly he doesn’t have time to deal with whatever this is going on between Olrox and Mizrak right now! This isn’t the time for confessions— they aren’t in the safety of the inn when they are the only two people that matter inside the walls. They are in a middle of a battle and the people Mizrak cares about are trapped with a malicious cat GOD bringing in the destruction of humanity. He doesn’t have time to think of this right now and what he said was out of anger, hurt, and the heat of the moment. He lashed out at Olrox, nothing more.
After he leaves Olrox he runs back to battle yards away to find his friends to see if they survived.
Olrox remains behind because he doesn’t have attachment to those people but Mizrak does he has people he cares about.
Back at the inn Mizrak asked if Olrox was going to turn Mizrak into a vampire he said no because he doesn’t love him. Olrox turned his lover into a vampire because he wanted him to be with him forever. Mizrak was wondering if this— one night stand or anything was something Olrox had planned to do or this is what vampires do when they fancy somebody. When Olrox coldly says he doesn’t love him, and Mizrak thinks Olrox doesn't even care about him . Remember Olrox rejected Mizrak first when he said he didn’t love him.
It’s way too early if Olrox and Mizrak love each other or not. It started out as a one night stand and slowly began to catch feelings for each other. Who knows what we are going to see in season 2 and I don’t think Mizrak hates Olrox he’s just pissed and felt betrayed at the moment. I hope these two can reconcile and worked together to defeat Erzsebet!
62 notes
·
View notes
Note
hi hello! may i ask 13 for Near and Mello?
13: Unpopular opinion about XXX character?
hey hi! Oh that's juicy. I feel like I have WAY more unpopular Mello than Near opinions, since some of my unpopular opinions have become popular over time just as the fandom has evolved (I've been in this hellish fandom, shyly, since I was a wee baby starting highschool and I'm currently in my late 20s for context😭)
Also I realize this was only supposed to be one (1) unpopular opinion. And I provided several. Mb 🙃.
Near:
Near is too slow in taking action (conversely, Mello is too quick in taking action but I think the latter part of this statement isn't all that unpopular lol).
Near isn't weak or brittle, physically speaking. I think we all forget how in the manga buddy straight up dressed in riot gear and blended in with the police to escape an incensed zealous mob.
Near's actually fairly emotional in the series - people just can't read body language or neurodivergent behaviours well
speaking of which Near is super underrated as a character. So it's easy to put him in a box of weak, emotionless, boring, weird, and cautious when he is, like all Whammy kids, a traumatized child doing the work of adults. I also dislike viewing him as a watered down version of L.
Near isn't an angel who is morally above killing someone. I kind of like Matsuda's implication that Near is the reason Mikami is dead.
Near might not be as smart as L and that's not a bad thing. L was an adult way older than Near with more experience solving cases. I also like the imagery of Near and Mello needing to work together to surpass L.
Mello:
Mello didn't idolize L. He was obsessed with the power and glory that the title brought, as well as the concept of beating Near.
Although I think its fun to treat Mello as the "popular" and "well liked" kid at Whammy's kind of like the bully/jock in a highschool setting (and tbh, I love fics that characterize him this way) if we look at manga he's also kind of an isolated weirdo who was mean to basically everyone he interacted with.
I actually think Mello, despite his appearance, embodies a lot of domineering and masculine behaviours and he's comfortable with that portrayal. I honestly don't know how you'd survive the mafia otherwise, even with smarts, and reaching that level of power and infamy with just "faking it". This kind of goes with the point above.
I kind of view Mello as a pansexual disaster who doesn't give a fuck about gender presentation. He just dresses how he likes. But that's maybe cause I'm Eastern European, and when I go back home for the winter, the amount of dude bros in fur trim coats and leather is like a LOT haha. It's a flashy way to show you have money - not necessarily flamboyance. It's kind of like with the extremely elaborate hidden mad max-esque bunker in the middle of the goddamn desert - I think a lot of that was like "haha look how much money and power I have".
Mello could have still helped Near without revealing his face to Takada. I think his rashness reared its ugly head after Matt died (which he didn't expect to happen) and consequently, so did he.
#redmela screams#ask me anything#death note#Mello | Mihael Keehl#Near | Nate River#dude why am I like this I definitely WAY overthought this lol
8 notes
·
View notes
Note
Do you have any RTTE criticisms?
Do I? Yes. Absolutely.
And it has to go with how the writers handled their characters that weren’t Hiccup and Astrid. And while I’m completely happy with how long the series was, I feel like there would have been more room for intense characterization of more minor characters, (hell, even some of the gang were completely swiped by the shortness of the series.) as well as getting to know more about the world of httyd, filling in the plot holes at the end of the series, like Valka popping in at the last moment to take the egg (which her bewilderbeast had been ruling for two decades according to the second movie, and there was no sign of another bewilderbeast besides Valka’s and Drago’s in the second movie.), and just… general ways in handling certain characters redemption arcs (or lack thereof.)
For example, with the redemption arc of Dagur, I absolutely feel that it was too rushed, and that if we’d have been given more time, the redemption would have taken longer to happen. And Hiccup’s reaction to Dagur deserting was kind of… underwhelming? I suppose? Hiccup has never exactly been very confrontational, I suppose, but there’s also the added statement that the way Hiccup handled the Dragon Eye and Viggo’s tribe would have been out of character for him on that statement, considering the fact that he vehemently denied to give back a resource that clearly belonged to someone else, and then clearly wanting it back. (But you have to build drama so I suppose it makes sense?)
But also, the characters besides Hiccup and Astrid- there was just too much Hiccstrid in the entire show. I get that’s what people like, but especially in Mi Amore Wing there was just so much unnecessary Hiccstrid drama that seemed so out of character and forced by the directors- Astrid isn’t necessarily the jealous type- and to feel Jealous about Dagur and Mala? (Don’t even get me started on how foul that ship is; not dunking on anyone who really likes it, but it’s just- feels very forced and went way too fast to happen realistically.)
Let’s not forget the handling of Ruffnut and Tuffnut. They’re both very entertaining characters, yes, but Ruffnut gets not abject character development outside of her brother, and somewhat vice versa for Tuffnut. And T.J Miler’s portrayal, while funny, I have to admit, just makes the twins seem like too much of gags and “Buffoons”, than actual characters.
Now… I’m going to get into other small topics- Krogan. Handling him in the show must have been somewhat of an afterthought (though the way his body language, outward personality and so forth are all done extremely well by the voice actor and animators to portray a pretty accurate, albeit very much less seen in media victim of abuse and sufferer of depression and anxiety, as well as maybe even Stockholm Syndrome.) If we were given more time during the show for characters like Krogan, or Ruffnut, or Mala- Hell, even Johann and Viggo, we as an audience would be able to get a better grasp on their motivations and their real ideas for being where they are.
And, another thing- Krogan and Drago are the only real villains (besides Ryker), to not be given redemption arcs, and they’re both noticeably foreign and not from the archipelago. With Krogan being a most definite black man, and Drago being more ambiguous in his race, but maybe(?) middle eastern. It’s sus, if I’m going to be honest, and pretty racially charged that two characters who are not white are not given the same treatment as the other white villains. (Also let’s not forget that Johann is also an anti-Semitic caricature of a Jewish person, and that he’s portrayed as being a greedy, money hungry villain, who just wants fortune and cares for no one but himself.)
The series overall, is great- wonderful even, but it’s the handling of characters, and (mild) racism for me that kind of makes it a little worse, in all.
14 notes
·
View notes
Note
Hi! About the Akasha event. I read somewhere that they don’t/can’t really go like the book. Trying to find that. But if Akasha shows up, it’s gonna be hard to find one cuz no matter how badly QOTD mobile was aaliyah was just breathtaking. WHO would you choose? And regards to Akasha, si now that lestat said he did love her but he also knew she had do be stopped. Did lestat fall out of love with Louis? To later fall inlove with him. Cuz i can’t imagine Louis not being the love of his life. And I can’t imagine lestat being happy without him.
Aaliyah owned that role indeed.
But... I gotta say... I used to say that about Tom Cruise as Lestat, too. And then Sam came along.
So far, the casting for IWTV has been on point. ALL the characters vibe their characters, even if they don't look like we expected them to, and the feel right, for me at least.
I really don't know who I'd choose... I said before, I would love a black actress there, personally I love Lashana Lynch or Lupita Nyong'o a lot, as an example. But they might want to go for a contrast to Aaliyah and take up Akasha's origins, which would include possibility for a lighter skinned middle eastern actress.
IDK. I think it will probably depend on their "vibe" again *laughs*
But they better give her a headdress like that again!!!! :)))
And the love thing...
Lestat loves.
A lot of things, a lot of people. His love for Louis is... it just is, and I don't think it's comparable to any of the other infatuations.
Akasha is fascination, and also a good old dose of Stockholm Syndrome. She is undoubtedly beautiful and he definitely feels flattered and attracted, too, but lets not forget that she kidnaps him and tells him quite plainly that she'll kill him and those he loves if he doesn't do as she wants.
Queen of the Damned may read like a romance, but there is a lot more underneath, a lot more Lestat does not really want to talk about. It's in how he describes his time at Night Island, and the focus on the pleasure with Akasha at times. In how he almost apologizes for it to Louis. There is a lot unsaid, something Anne really liked to do. You have to read between the lines, to quote Lestat :))
So to conclude, Louis is Lestat's love of his life. It's in every encounter, every petty argument they have. His reaction in the last books when something does happen to Louis.
Don't worry about other love. :))
I mean, ultimately, there can never be enough love, right?^^
Eternity is a long time, and love is something positive...
5 notes
·
View notes
Text
“Hot takes” about heartstopper that are like “They’re so awkward”, “It’s so cringy”, “It’s the second hand embarrassment for me” infuriate me, that’s a given, but what really makes me mad is that these “critics” are almost always cis het people. They don’t understand the small but prominent things about growing up queer. They don’t understand what “being out” really means. They don’t understand that added layer of fear to loving someone. That very niche fear that can easily turn into panic attacks because you literally risk getting killed for loving someone or just standing there being yourself. So of course we are extra cautious when flirting with someone, of course we are less experienced, of course we have to warn our friends twice when they start liking someone. When a heterosexual person confesses their love they only convey their feelings. When a queer person does that they say “I love you and this love is worth my life and everything I have in this life”. They say “I love you and I realize that by saying this I’m giving you a weapon that can destroy me”. This story isn’t just about some teenage boys having a high school romance. It’s not just them dealing with bullies. We see a character literally cry 5 minutes into googling what bisexuality means because he is faced with the reality of being queer. He understands what Charlie feels through his own journey of figuring out his sexuality. And mind you this story depicts an almost ideal reality. This is the best we can hope for in our wildest dreams. They have an openly queer teacher, they have supportive families, they have friends, they are alive. We don’t see them get denied jobs and healthcare. What you see on screen is less than one percent of what queer people go through. We don’t see someone cry under their blanket at 3 am because they know if someone learns it they’ll die in the hands of their own parents. We don’t see someone running away because it’s out and it’s life or death. I love that those things don’t happen in this series, don’t get me wrong. I’m so happy that today’s teenagers have a positive story that isn’t all tears and tragedy. It’s refreshing, it’s a great escape from reality. It’s good to set a standard. But this doesn’t mean that we can forget the realities of being queer especially in eastern countries. The world isn’t just USA and Western Europe (not saying they’re perfect) Middle East is very much real. Hate crimes are very much real. Dead queer people are very much real. I’m not saying someone should’ve died in the series to prove a point. I’m saying how important it is to us that no one did. I’m saying that this is a valuable piece of media for us to escape to when things get tough and it’s important that it exists and it’s done right. This show is a valid description of queer culture and it’s every connotation. It shows how we text, how we dress, how we talk, how we love. It’s beautiful. While a cis het person is cringing at a scene we go “Yeah it do be like that”. Because it is like that. We recognize those faces and those looks and those people and those experiences. We went through that and probably more. This is why a cis het person isn’t allowed to have a hot take about it. If you’re cis het know that any opinion you have about any queer story is invalid. It doesn’t count. You’re always welcome to consume any media to educate yourself or to just have a good time. You’re also allowed to not understand said media or dislike it. But you aren’t allowed to make a 1000 word thread about how the show sucked especially if all of your points link back to the show or it’s characters being queer. You’re not allowed to go “It’s so weird ew no one does X like that”. When you do that you drown our voices. You invalidate our feelings and experiences. You probably cost us more than you realize.
Sharing a hot take that’ll get 3 reblogs from some bigots and 1 comment from a porn bot isn’t worth it. Don’t do it. Stay in your lane. Make hot take threads about other things. There are so many shows with shitty acting and awkward pauses. There is so much problematic content that needs to be addressed. As an internet user you have a powerful voice, use it for good. Cancel a pedophile, an abuser, a criminal… you’d be surprised how many of these people’s crimes are swept under the rug and forgotten about. Dig them out, be a sleuth. Believe me it’s both more fun and beneficial than hating on a show about teenagers for being “cringy”.
#heartstopper#long post#tw hate crimes#tw death#tw discrimination#serious#limited edition rawrda#lgbt#lgbtq#lgbtqia#lgbtqia+#queer
22 notes
·
View notes
Note
As someone who is currently learning Japanese, I often wonder if the majority of the people who make the "in Japanese, Character X actually says this"-argument (happens in a lot of Japanese-media-related fandoms) have even the most basic understanding of the Japanese language to be honest.
Thing about Japanese is, it works completely differently from not just Indogermanic (meaning European, Indian and some Middle Eastern), but any other languages out there, even the ones it's closer related to like Chinese and Korean. That's why it's so difficult to learn Japanese: you basically have to forget everything you know about language.
Honestly, I don't think it is an inheritly bad thing this happens in fandom a lot, because in 90+% of the cases, it's about trivial stuff and can actually spawn some pretty cool fanon things. However, once someone claims they write serious meta and do not have an understanding of how Japanese works as a language (not saying all meta-writers are that way, I've seen plenty who seem to have a really good understanding of Japanese actually), it can become problematic because it not only leads to (mostly unintentional but sometimes deliberate) misinterpretations and misunderstandings, but also gives people a completely wrong impression of the language and by extension, the culture. Language and culture go hand-in-hand after all.
Of course we're all human, and mistakes, misinterpretations and misunderstandings happen. That is okay, and I don't want to tell anyone to not write Meta that takes the original Japanese versions of their source material into account. After all, plenty of people are also learning Japanese and this can be a great help. However, I think a meta should never be regarded as "more valid" because it takes the Japanese version of something into account. I also think that anyone who doesn't have Japanese as a first language and includes it in their meta should disclose this, especially if using someone else's translation to go by.
I do think that we, above all, need to remember that even people who have been speaking the language for years with a relatively high competency level can still make mistakes just because of how opaque Japanese can be sometimes.
I think it's absolutely irresponsible for someone who doesn't know much, if anything, about the language to try and use it like this without confirming with someone who does know the language really well. And I think it's obvious to everyone who saw that take that either the guy had no knowledge of Japanese and tried to read/use it anyway, or he was getting some really bad advice from someone who doesn't have a very solid understanding of it.
And mistakes happen! Mistakes are fine, so long as you correct those mistakes when they are pointed out to you, as soon as they are pointed out to you. To not do so is just irresponsible and honestly kind of offensive in this particular case. Like, you're literally treating this language and culture like a prop for your argument, regardless of what it actually says or how all of the people who have corrected you feel about it.
2 notes
·
View notes
Text
Friday the 13th (2009) - Original Theatrical Trailer
youtube
Jamie AKA Jason was there and he heard what he thought was a conspiracy against him why all of them and I think he did hear it and the max orchestrated it and had them do it from in the midst of themselves and they also are killing off the ones that he is attacking and taking their stuff. It is mass homicide what your witnessing in the movies and Jason is not coming out ahead. They orchestrated him to be the victim and the person getting supposed retribution he does and they're trying to do something that there's something below but they can't keep it together and they don't and it is horror it's why the movies are horror movie for one reason. But I was there and I dunked the queen of Britain now into the water and I fell in I wasn't supposed to. And they're supposed to be an accident. And it was just me with hormones and we were in the shallow area it was not even that it wasn't even talked about that much and people laughed and they tried off and stuff thought it was funny and like some a spectacle and they're going up there and they're treating it like that and acting like that when did there's no way that. First off there's something there and they all want it and it is something different it's like Israel and I don't know what it is it would make people so nuts that they would destroy Jason as an excuse and feel they need to use it. Then he goes there and he remembers the conspiracy being formed and he heard it and he saw it and he studied it and he goes back there and Drew you there with the hammer one of our hammers and it's my hammer she says and her is still there. Not knowing what they are or what we are doing or if we were doing it. And there are a lot of questions people have but this is how it goes there going to the lake and getting hit by him and he's furious about what they did in Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern areas and as for the oil and gas for their ships and they did have a choice and they chose not to the line and he would have had money but it's really not as much money as he could have had during other things and they're stupid and fell for the empire's trick now they are below and they were in their midst and back Daddy can tell you what it is if you're nice to him and then Arnold and they have a skillet there and things like that but I'll tell you there's a mystery about that lake and it doesn't have s*** in it.
Zues
He knows why He's there he says I know what happened there too I was watching and he's flirting and he's alone the idiot and forgets he's not forgetting now he says ever again and I get that and I want to turn it up and this is how so I'm going to have a meeting with the women so it's going to get done
Hera
I went there and I stayed there I was at that party and I heard them conspire. I studied it and that's what it is and I hear you there's something there and it's not kosher it's something different and he thinks he's been missing it whatever it is he says it might be cadmium and I think he's right they're mentioning the metal and it's not anything that makes you sick and it's hard to tell so sitting there and one of the episodes and he asked me to take a look and it was this one last night so I got loose and I healed up a little and I went down I looked and there it is and that's what it is and the question is what do they want to use it for the most this is that the cadmium on the planet is enough to use on a big ship to approach Saturn and several big ships in order to deflect massive hits from lasers and it doesn't work so good or lasers but with the shield it does and it also used to cast The shield out and to be able to use it at high power and it can be used on Stone chips as dope and it cuts them in half or it goes straight into a planet core even Saturn a high power laser from adjuster to go 500,000 MI in just a few minutes and if you redid the laser with the cadmium because it makes couplings it would be a lot faster now I see what it is it makes sense and I'm not going nuts over that I'm going nuts over the conspiracy which is ruining us and destroying us so does that make sense he says of course it does he's doing it too and I'm one of the guys who wants to cut his pay he's not doing too much to me because it's a backup but he doesn't need the damn help so I do understand it stupid but I keep doing it and it's another front that I don't need but it's happening I said I'd get him other money and he doesn't think I can do it so I should take over social security that's stupid
Jason
Oh great another contender but at least you do the job maybe I don't say that last part but for Christ's sake and he's really saying I'm unreasonable and stupid and a retard and go home to Africa where you belong now I'm starting to see something it's not a kind of business if you have to do something and you can't and he says to get the f*** out of here and you're not doing it on purpose which is stupider if you understand that and we're probably doing what we can which is nothing and thinking we're doing something he says no you get this s*** kicked out of you tons you die every month cuz you're trying to mess with it like idiots so I see something it's stupid and we're losing now we're going to lose for real
Garth
We approve this message to go out and it is all true and a son and daughter hit it right on the head there are other uses they wanted for that basically that's what they're going to do and it is great for coupling use and it's great for using animators and blasters as a component and it's very effective
Olympus
So you see we have a mission and we can't let them do it and amplifies the power of a huge death Star by two which is way too much
Thor Freya
I'm on this and I'm having a meeting today and this is what we needed out
Zig Zag
0 notes
Text
Rice Fields Forever (Part 1)
This week on "Cooking Up Feminism" at Scarborough Arts, we covered our beloved Rice based dishes. South Asia alone has such a wide and popular variety of Rice dishes, such as the ever royal Biryani and Pulao from the Mughal kitchens of India and other favourites across communities: the Khichri or Daal Chawal. Jamaican food cultures are famous for Rice & Beans or Rice & Peas. Many Middle Eastern and Eastern European culinary communities stuff seasoned rice with various proteins and/or vegetables + herbs into grapevine leaves. Rice-based dishes create a larger yield and can be shared with many. When eaten with the hands, which is how Rice based dishes are commonly consumed in South Asian countries, these dishes can foster a sense of community and togetherness.
There are many legends and stories around Rice, specifically grains of Rice, in Pakistan. My elders would often say Allah's name is written on each grain of rice and so dropping a single one on the ground is forbidden. Others would stress that Rice will one day talk in front of the divine to complain about how we wasted the grains and so to eat every last one.
My father always eats Rice with his hands, despite the availability of cutlery. He even serves it onto his plate by reaching into the tray, grabbing a handful, moulding it into a round ball and then gently transferring the grains from one vessel to another. In all of these years of having witnessed him eating, we've never seen him drop a single grain of Rice on the table or the floor.
Let's head over to the Scarborough Arts table and see what our wonderful and creative workshops participants have shared as we unpack the Rice theme in "Cooking Up Feminism."
Soaking Rice & Lentils by Zeni
"I learnt this trick from an old, Tibetan women. People up in the mountains don't have access to too much variety, due to their remoteness. So I was advised, that if you just put a little bit of daal (lentils) in the rice, it makes such a difference to the taste, as well as the quantity. Similarly, it goes the other way. If you're making daal and you put just a tablespoon of rice in it, it makes the daal really, really good."
Herbs & Spices for a healing Pulao by Zeni
"I had a family member that was really sick, and this is the kind of food my mother used to make for us when we were sick. It's really affordable, and it's very tasty. It's like a Pulao, but not the heavier kinds, and it's not Khichri either, it's somewhere in between. It's a Pulao but for when you're not feeling well. It's not very showy, but it tastes really yum! It's lovely to just eat it with your hands." ~ Zeni (Workshop participant, Cooking Up Feminism)
A variety of Rice based dishes by Lady P with edible centre pieces and ornamentation.
Lady P cooked up a storm in her kitchen bringing us multiple Rice based dishes that she grew up eating and feeding her family.
"I made fried, wholegrain rice. I decorated the rice with roasted peppers. On top of that I roasted some mushrooms and put them on the skewer. Whole grain has to be cooked for a long time, because it's natural rice. In the other dish behind the fried rice, I have some colourful rice. I had a pepper from my garden and I stuck it in there. We have some vegetables here, Jamaican Callaloo as well as roasted chicken. Jamaicans make a lot of Callaloo, especially with rice. I also decorated the table with fruits, like apples and pomegranates just in case someone wants to put the pomegranate or apples in their rice, or squeeze some lemon over it. I also made some rice pudding which is usually eaten with a dollop of yogurt."
Ann Marie instantly recognizes a drink placed intentionally in the background of the dishes on display. Lady P always finds a way to include a food product that honours her Jamaican heritage in some way. "Lady P, wow, how did you find time to cook all of these wonderful dishes and when can I come by to eat? Also, don't forget to save me a Red Stripe." Lady P, and our entire group erupts into laughter. "Oh, I placed the Red Stripe there intentionally. I went into my storage room, grabbed a Red Stripe and said, why not? You know, in the islands, when you're eating, you always want a beer or two as well."
"There are so many varieties of rice out there that we can cook, harvest and share. It's important to know where they're coming from and why. I've bought a little bit of black rice recently, and I'm going to cook it up next time."
"Rice Fields Forever" will continue over Part 2. We can't wait to see what the other participants are bringing to the table.
All of the recipes and stories we share in "Cooking Up Feminism" will be published in a unique cookbook by Scarborough Arts, available to the public in 2023, so stay tuned. Bookmark our blog and follow along. Thank you for your support.
~Mariam Magsi (Workshop Facilitator, Scarborough Arts)
#Cooking Up Feminism#Healthy Arts for Seniors#Scarborough Arts#Scarborough#Toronto#BIPOC#seniors#community#friendship#feminism#food#art#photography#culinary wisdom#ethnic food#mariammagsi#rice#grains of rice#chawal#sustenance
1 note
·
View note
Text
It sure would be nice if folks remembered that Helion is meant to be a Persian man with features that match the group of people he’s based on and shoulder-length black hair.
#helion spell cleaver#helion#let the brown folks get their rep please lol#he is dark skinned yes#but he is also middle eastern and I feel like people forget that we have specific features that should be accounted for#the og artist of the coloring book worked with Sarah to draw him that way#but it just gets ignored so often#In the text he’s even described with shoulder length thick black hair that he frequently runs his hands through#like ??? come on y’all#i say this as yet another artist doesn’t draw him the way he should be drawn#and I guess artists are entitled to draw however they see fit but like#respect what he was inspired by maybe#this topic always gets me worked up lmao#I mean this in the most respectful way possible but it’s really frustrating to me that different POC groups gets disregarded sometimes#it’s disappointing
44 notes
·
View notes
Note
Do you suppose 'The Breaking of the World' means anything east beyond Rhun? I must imagine that between the War of Wrath and the Fall of Numenor, the bent of history might well be inverted depending on who experienced what - the War of Wrath destroyed the West, but it freed the East from Morgoth's reach where the elves (presumably) never bothered, with the possible exception of the Avari. And the Fall of Numenor is just straight up the wholesale elimination of the colonial power dominating everything.
I just have this funny image in my head of eastern scholars of Middle Earth being like, 'Cataclysm? Tragedy? Breaking of the world? We became free for the first time in all our history.'
As one does, I immediately had imposter syndrome about my own memory and went to go reread Chapter 17: “The Coming of Men Into the West.” LOTS of interesting stuff there.
First of all, a quick geography recap: the men originally came from Hildórien in the east. The exact location of this place is a bit screwy, but the maps seem to say it’s closer to Rhûn than Mirkwood. Definitely nowhere in Beleriand! So the origins of men are likely to be somewhat close to the region you’re interested in later in time: falling off the edges of Tolkien’s fuzzily bordered maps.
Here’s the interesting thing to me: Morgoth did reach out to Men in their original lands to the east to see what he could do with them. Morgoth sent spies there to plant evil but had some mixed success.
“To corrupt or destroy whatsoever arose new and fair was ever the chief desire of Morgoth; and doubtless he had this purpose also in his errand: by fear and lies to make Men the foes of the Eldar, and bring them up out of the east against Beleriand. But this design was slow to ripen, and was never wholly achieved; for Men (it is said) were at first very few in number, whereas Morgoth grew afraid of the growing power and union of the Eldar and came back to Angband, leaving behind at that time but few servants, and those of less might and cunning.”
And what’s even more interesting to me is that this memory doesn’t come down to us through the Men themselves! Finrod, who first found Bëor, was only told, “A darkness lies behind us… and we do not wish to return thither even in thought.” And furthermore, this darkness in the Men’s hearts is explicitly compared to the the Kinslaying and the Doom for the Noldor. These are telling examples because those events were partially self-inflicted. We can argue divisions of fault—I sure have—but the Noldor aren’t blameless. If we take this metaphor somewhat literally, neither are the Men for their darkness.
In the discipline of human geography, mass migrations can have both push and pull factors: aka reasons to go, or reasons to leave. I think we’re looking at both things here. Melkor clearly got up to some shenanigans with the early Men; he sent spies and traitors to sow dissent even if little came of it for him personally. But I think that something bad happened far to the East—something so bad that the Men deliberately excised it from their cultural heritage and stories. I’m speculating on some kind of treachery and in-fighting—definitely some senseless destruction. That’s Morgoth’s characteristic work style, and the Men’s conclusion was to forget this darkness rather than use it as a cautionary parable. “Don’t trust the dark and don’t look back” isn’t a complicated lesson and it doesn’t require elaboration.
But we also have a pull factor: Bëor’s people and later clans are chasing the “Light” over the mountains. He says that “Westwards our hearts have been turned” and leaves it at that. And this is a frustrating case of real world considerations clash with fantasy logic, because… what??? Light? Who put that on their hearts? Presumably Eru, but that feels like cheating from an out-of-universe standpoint. Personally, and you can disagree with me if you like, I think this “Light” probably evolved as a natural need for an opposite to the Dark they left behind. It’s a simple template. Leave the Dark in the East; go the Light in the West. Pass it down enough generations, and it’s easy to turn that dichotomy into a semi-religious belief that inspires you cross a two entire continents.
And here’s the other thing. People will not keep moving unless there’s a reason. It sounds basic, but it’s worth emphasizing. Mass migrations can take generations. Groups splinter and settle down along the way, just like the Sindar on the Great Journey. And so the most reasonable view for the clans who made it to Beleriand is that they are a very small fraction of the people who scattered from the mysterious Darkness in their original land. People probably went in different directions and stopped after different distances.
And I think there’s a solid reasoning for different groups to have different oral traditions of remembering the Darkness and Morgoth’s corruption. Certainly Bëor’s approach—excising it from their histories—is not the only approach. So other groups will tell stories about this to their children. It’s the nature of legends—as the time depth would make these things—to get rearranged in the retellings. But the core? A Darkness that drives you from your homeland because of the foul whispers of the Enemy-over-the-mountains? Oh no, it isn’t going anywhere; it becomes the boogeyman and the antagonist and the thing that frightens children into good behavior. It’s the enemy with a thousand faces but the same essential truths. There was evil in our past. We fled to escape it. But it is not truly gone. And that is what the generations will pass down to each other.
And then we return to the thing you actually asked about, because I’ve gotta save the good stuff for last! I think that the Breaking of the World and the defeat of Morgoth is relevant to the far-East people, but more in a way of “Oh, that sounds familiar. You lost your home to the Darkness too? So did our ancestors. That’s rough, buddy.” Maybe losing a continent and getting displaced is hard, but it isn’t your continent, is it? At the end of the day, not being personally invested in the fight mostly says you’re not personally invested in its outcome. Maybe some people are impressed that the legends do have an answer—the Shadow was conquered after all!—but life goes on.
Well, until it doesn’t, and until the Darkness strolls eastward in the person of Sauron. And then sometimes you may wish you paid more attention to how the people over the mountains managed it the first time.
#my post#asks#valasania the pale#tolkien#silmarillion#hildórien#bëor#the coming of men into the west#how tf do I even tag this#idk man
45 notes
·
View notes
Text
Always be my plus one - part 2
Ok I know that I should use a different gif for each part but I'm not going to. But here's part 2! It's longer than the first part so have fun.
People to thank who are amazing and I owe my whole life to even though I'm probably forgetting someone because I'm the worst: @zinka8 (I CAN FINALLY TAG YOU) @hockeywocs @calgarycanuck @chara-hugs @justjosty anyone who sent in an anon and again I'm forgetting someone so if you helped me with this and I forgot, yell at me.
But here we go! This is about 9k words, and, fun fact, this is also my 5,000th post on this blog, so that's exciting!
Hope you like it!
Read part 1 here!
Series masterlist
--------------------------------
New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day
New Year’s Eve is the last day of the Georgian calendar year, marked with celebrations that last well into the next day. Huge parties take place around the world, one of the most notable being the ball dropping in Times Square in New York City, marking the new year for the eastern coast of the United States, televised with Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve hosted by Ryan Seacrest. This special each year includes a packed Times Square, performances, interviews, and general excitement to put whatever happened in the past year behind them. Likewise, in Canada, the CBC has hosted a similar countdown special since 2017, including live music and coverage of festivities in each of the provinces and timezones the country spans.
New Year’s Day is the first day of the Georgian calendar year, again marked with celebrations. In the United States, various parades take place, including the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California, or the Mummers Parade in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In addition, various sporting events take place as well, including the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida, the Outback Bowl in Tampa Bay, Florida, the Rose Bowl Game in Pasadena, California, and the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, Louisiana, all post-season college football games, and the National Hockey League's outdoor game, the Winter Classic, typical showcasing a major regional rivalry. The day typically includes people already failing at keeping up with their New Year’s resolutions, whatever it was they promised to do every day of the year (such as working out, flossing, getting more sleep) already not going well.
=============
December 27, 2021
Lucy had insisted Anne go with her to the mall to go shopping when she found out that she was going to a New Year’s Eve party with Tyson’s teammates. Once her older sister found out that Anne’s ‘mystery man’ was a professional hockey player, she went practically bat shit trying to figure out more information about the two of them since Anne had yet to tell her anything.
If only she knew there was nothing to tell.
“Come on, what about this?” Lucy asks, holding up a dress. Anne wasn't sure that it would go past her butt, not to mention the open back and the plunging neckline. Lucy had to know that Anne would never, on any occasion, wear a dress like that. It would look good on Lucy, and Lucy would be comfortable in it, but not Anne.
“No,” Anne tells her, continuing to look through the rack for anything that had more fabric to it than what Lucy was offering her. There was nothing wrong with the dresses, really, and Lucy was normally pretty good about picking things out that Anne would actually like, but something about this being a dress for what sort of was, sort of wasn’t a date with a guy she spilled her coffee all over was making her more nervous than she needed to me.
“But it’s for your man. On New Year’s Eve. It doesn���t hurt to look a little sexy,” Lucy begs, making sure to add a little shoulder shimmy at the word ‘sexy’ for emphasis.
‘He’s not my man,’ Anne wanted to say. But she wasn’t about to spill that secret before Lucy even met him. It would be easier to just tell them they broke up by Valentine’s Day. “Tyson wouldn’t want me to wear anything that would make me uncomfortable,” she lets out instead.
Lucy sighs, pulling out dress after dress to show to Anne. “Ok, how about this: what color do you want to wear and how long do you want it to be?” Anne shrugs, not having thought about it in the slightest. “Well what’s Tyson wearing? Are you matching with him?”
“I don’t think so?”
“Annie!” Lucy practically screams the nickname her family decided they were going to call her, a few of the other store patrons turning to glare at Lucy’s outburst. “How do you not know what your boyfriend is wearing to a Colorado Avalanche New Year’s Eve party?”
'Not my boyfriend' she thought. “I don’t dress him. Do you know what Jason is going to wear for every party?”
Rolling her eyes, she holds up another dress that Anne turns down. “Well, since I’ve known my man since we were in diapers, I know his style, and therefore, know what he could potentially wear before I tell him what he’s going to wear.”
Anne lets out a sigh, wandering away from her sister while she continues to go through what seemed to be endless rows of dresses. Part of Anne wished she was like her sister: lucky enough to find a man that she would love forever when she was young, never having to worry about anything. The other part of Anne wished her family wasn’t so annoying about her finding a man, wishing that Sebby didn’t steal her phone and see Tyson’s name, and that their mom hadn’t come down and jumped to conclusions before she had a chance to defend herself.
“Hey,” Lucy comes up to Anne, “Why don’t we grab some food and then try a different store.” Anne nods, Lucy linking her arm in her sisters before taking her out of the store. “Have you met any of Tyson’s teammates before? I mean, you have to mean a lot to him if he’s bringing around the guys he spends the most time with.”
“He’s told me a little bit about all of them, but I haven’t met them yet.”
“You know this is big, then, right?” Lucy says, finding a line at the food court for them to order from.
Even if Lucy hadn’t picked a place that Anne wasn’t too fond of, her words made Anne lose her appetite. As far as she knew, Anne’s family thought they were dating, which they weren’t, while Tyson’s teammates thought they were friends, which they were. That’s what they had agreed to. They just needed to make it to New Year’s Day and then this would all be over.
Lucy keeps talking, rattling off information about Tyson’s teammates that Anne was sure she had found on their Wikipedia pages, Lucy’s ‘top of her class,’ ‘photographic memory’ coming out while Anne stayed silent.
“Look, Anne,” Lucy says once she gets the food she ordered for both of them, “if he likes you enough to bring you around his teammates, that’s a good thing. Think of it like Jason asking me to go to his soccer games when we were freshmen. He wants you to be at something important for him.”
“I’m not worried about that,” Anne shrugs, “I’m worried about bringing him into the belly of the beast the next afternoon.”
“Why, because you’ll be hungover and Ma and Dad haven’t seen you that way yet?” Lucy asks, smiling with her fork between her teeth.
Throwing her head back and groaning, Anne starts, “No. Ideally, we’ll still be drunk and calling you or Matthew to come to pick us up. Remember what Mom was like when I introduced you all to Andy?”
“Well, yeah, it was hate at first sight. And she was right to feel that way, obviously. If you think Tyson is the ‘one,’ then you’ll be fine.”
Anne chokes on the fries she was picking at when Lucy says that. “The ‘one’? Please. I wouldn’t know if he was the ‘one’ at this point. Right now, he’s my ‘plus one' at best.”
Lucy shrugs, a sly smile on her face as the two of them continue to eat in silence.
The two of them venture to another store, Anne not having high hopes in finding a dress, knowing that she was going to have to resort to wearing something old that probably wouldn’t be very ‘New Year’s Eve’ themed, or borrow something from Lucy, who, albeit having great style, definitely didn’t have anything that she would want to wear. Maybe she could call Stephanie or her cousin Lauren and see if they could pity her enough to let her borrow something.
Lucy went to the dress rack, Anne just wandered around the store. At this point, she didn’t even care if she found a dress; a long shirt would be just fine. She was nowhere near her sister or the dresses, but she saw something out of place, a skirt and sleeves peeking out in the middle of pant legs. She picked up the dress, solid black, which would probably fit her like a glove, off the shoulder. A black choker, which she had, and a nice pair of heels would make the dress perfect. And it was even on sale. Someone had probably put it there in order to hide it, but Anne didn’t know that for a fact, so could she really feel bad about wearing it?
She practically ran through the store to find her sister, grabbing her by the arm to the dressing room despite the stack of dresses on Lucy’s arm that were probably going to end up back on the rack or in Lucy’s own closet.
Anne looked at herself in the mirror, excited for the first time for Tyson to see her on New Year’s Eve wearing something like that. The two had been talking nonstop, but Anne had made it clear they were friends and that she wasn’t looking for anything. If something came along, she would know it, and honestly, she didn’t know it with Tyson.
But picturing him seeing her in the dress gave her a glimmer of hope that it was Tyson, even if he wasn’t the ‘one’ like Lucy had been badgering her about earlier.
“Hey, Annie, come on!” Lucy snaps Anne out of her fantasy, banging on the door to show her, “Jason texted me that he and the girls are going to be home in an hour with dinner so you can’t take all day.”
“You really think putting on this dress is going to take an hour?” Anne huffs, opening the door from the dressing room stall.
“Well, it depends on how many dresses you try,” Lucy starts, cutting herself off when she sees her sister in the dress. “Oh, Anne.”
“You like it?” she asks, feeling the heat rush to her cheeks. It was a simple dress, knit and insignificant. She had no idea why she was so excited about it.
“I do,” Lucy says, coming up behind Anne and resting her chin on her sister’s shoulder as the two of them admire Anne in the mirror. “And you know who else is going to love it? Tyson.”
Anne took in a deep breath, Lucy rubbing her back between her shoulders before she let her get changed back into her clothes. ‘Tyson was going to love it.’ Anne hoped so.
=============
December 31, 2021
Tyson said he was going to be at Anne’s place at 9:15 to pick her up and drop off stuff at her place to stay over. Since they were going to be together all night, it was easier if Tyson stayed with Anne after the party before needing to drive to Anne’s uncle’s house the next afternoon.
But it was 9:30, and Anne was sitting on her couch, waiting for the boy who was supposed to fake being her boyfriend tomorrow to show up to take her to a party with a bunch of people who had no idea who she was or that this scenario was going to be happening the next day.
How did Anne end up like this? What if he didn’t show up? Why did she let her mom and siblings take over the conversation about her life and let them believe that Tyson was her boyfriend? And why did he agree to it?
Anne gets snapped out of her downward spiral of thoughts by her phone ringing, Tyson calling to hopefully tell her that he was waiting to be let in. “You said you were going to be here at 9:15,” she answers, not letting Tyson say anything.
“Well, traffic,” he explains, “It’s New Year’s Eve and I didn’t want to speed, either, and end up getting pulled over for that. Can you come let me in? It’s cold.”
Anne gets up from her couch, venturing downstairs in the slippers she was keeping on until the last minute. The heels Lucy had let her borrow weren’t uncomfortable, but she wasn’t about to wear them around her apartment building if she didn’t have to. She spots Tyson sitting on the couches in the lobby, going up to him. He was looking down at his phone, but seeing him made her heart race. He had on a white button-down with the top two buttons undone, a black jacket, and black pants on. She goes up to him, resting her hand on his shoulder to get his attention.
Tyson looks up, unable to find the words when he sees Anne. He stands up, his mouth opening and closing like a fish. Anne sees this and lets out a small laugh. “Are you ok?” she asks, her nerves of seeing him dissipate while he acts like this.
“You’re,” he starts, letting out a breath as he looks her up and down. He shakes his head, a lazy smile on his face. “You’re beautiful.”
Anne laughs, grabbing his bag for him and leading him back upstairs to her apartment. “You’re not too bad yourself.”
“You know,” Tyson starts when the two of them get to her door, “pretending to be your boyfriend really isn’t going to be that difficult.”
“Yeah,” Anne scoffs, putting down Tyson’s bag with a thud by the couch, “and if you keep flirting with me like you mean it, then they’ll really believe you.” Anne’s back was turned to Tyson, so she didn’t see the look on his face, him biting his lip at her words that she thought he was just pretending. “You’re staying over for a night, what the hell could you have brought with you?” she asks him.
Tyson clears his throat, still not over Anne’s little dig about him pretending to flirt with her. He’s been flirting with her since they met, has she really not noticed? “Uh, you didn’t tell me how formal or casual this is at your uncle’s so I just packed a few options.”
“Huh, I never pegged you for a fashionista,” Anne teases, putting on her shoes and coat as Tyson orders the Uber to take them to the venue.
“Apparently you’re never going to peg me at all,” Tyson mumbles, not loud enough for Anne to hear.
“Sorry?”
“Uh, the Uber will be here in a few minutes so we should get downstairs,” he tries to save himself.
“But,” Anne says, locking her door and following Tyson back down to the lobby, “You can pretty much wear anything to Uncle Vince’s house as long as it isn’t a Juventus shirt.”
“Juventus?”
“That’s Napoli’s biggest rival. It would be like me wearing, I don’t know,” Anne says as they both get into the car that had pulled up, “a Red Wings or a Wild shirt to something for you guys.”
Tyson can’t help but smile, even though he knows it’s probably meaningless. Anne had made it clear that the two of them were just friends. But what if, “you like hockey?”
Anne shrugs, looking out the window as they drove into the city. “I don’t hate it, but I couldn’t tell you much about it. I’m more of a basketball girl, honestly.” Tyson scoffs, Anne turning to him. She had a smile on her face, trying to hide the slight insult she felt by the noise he made. “What?”
“Hockey is clearly better.”
“You’re just biased.”
“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean I’m wrong,” he teases her, reaching over and nudging her arm. His hand lingers on her arm for a little bit, not really thinking about Anne’s noticeable settling into his touch. “Um,” he clears his throat, taking his arm back and praying that it was dark enough that Anne couldn’t see the red on his face, “What are your teams?”
“Men’s are the Nuggets, of course, women are the Seattle Storm, and college I go for UConn.”
“Did you go there?”
Anne shakes her head, Tyson admiring the way her hair framed her face, thankful that she was looking out the window instead of at him. “Nope, I went to CU Denver. My dad’s other brother, Johnny, went to UConn, and when I was born, that was around the start of the women’s dynasty that they have. When my dad was away on trips and mom was working, he and Aunt Lisa would watch the four of us and always have the UConn games on. I fell in love with Diana Taurasi, Sue Bird, Maya Moore, Stephanie Dolson. I grew up wanting to play basketball and be like them, so I played basketball.”
“Did you in college?”
“No,” Anne laughs, looking at the building they were pulling up to. “I played until high school, and was definitely not good enough to play in college. I still love it, though.”
Tyson smiles at her, getting out of the car and rushing to the other side to help her out, linking his arm in hers to escort her in. “I love that,” he whispers to her, walking in and thankful that he had Anne on his arm that night.
The guys weren’t necessarily on his case about finding someone the way it seemed like Anne’s parents were, but that didn’t stop the chirping about him never having a girlfriend for as long as he was on the team. They knew she was his friend, but, hey, it was better than nothing.
Anne had no idea where Tyson took her, not recognizing the building they had walked into, but she was speechless at the sight of the grand ballroom, the lighting just dim enough that she couldn’t help but feel at peace, the noise from Tyson’s teammates and their families taking that away and leaving her overwhelmed. Tyson had slipped away to hang up their coats and grab drinks, leaving Anne to fend for herself for the time being.
She knew they weren’t late by any means but based on the sobriety, or lack thereof, that everyone was displaying, an outsider would think that Tyson and Anne had shown up hours late, everyone seemingly on at least their third drink of the night, if not more. Anne worked her way to the side of the room, giving herself a good view of the bar where Tyson was, hoping that he could find her after he was done chatting with whoever it was that had his attention.
“You look almost too comfortable for someone just watching everyone on the side. Who are you here with?” someone interrupts her thoughts. She snaps her attention to the mystery man standing next to her, leaning against the wall and looking out at the crowd as they danced and sang, drank and had fun. He was the same height as Tyson, just about, probably not that much younger but the rosiness on his cheeks made him look years younger than both her and Tyson.
“I’m here with Tyson,” she tells him, waving to the guy who was supposed to be by her side that night.
“You’re the girl who spilled her coffee on him when we went to the hospital for the charity event,” Rosy Boy laughs.
Anne scoffs, “I wish that wasn’t my legacy, but here we are.”
The two of them stand and watch everyone, laughing as some of the kids pretend to chase around the adults, one of them catching someone by the leg as the man pretended to fall down. “That’s our captain, Gabe,” Rosy Boy tells her, “being chased by Naylah, Nazem’s daughter.”
“So, Gabe, Nazem, Tyson,” Anne says, pointing at the only three men of the Avalanche that she knew, “You?”
“Cale Makar.”
“Anne DeFormicola.”
Cale smiles at her, turning his body so he was facing her directly. “A beautiful name for a beautiful girl.” Anne could feel the heat rushing to her cheeks, thankful that her hair was down to cover the red that she knew had appeared on her ears. “Uh, are you and Tyson together?” Cale asks, his voice shaking as he prayed he didn’t make the mistake of flirting with one of his teammate’s girls.
“No,” Anne tells him, “We’re just friends.”
Cale lets out a sigh of relief. “Good, I, uh,” he stammers, Anne’s confused look making him nervous despite the smile that was on her face, “I mean, good, good for me. You? Us? I don’t know what I’m saying.”
The two of them laugh together, Anne seeing Tyson out of the corner of her eye. He didn’t look particularly thrilled as he watched her and Cale talking, the distance between them shrinking as the conversation proceeded.
Before she knew it, Tyson was by her side, a glass of wine in hand for her that he practically thrust in her hand. “So, how’s Cale treating you?” Tyson asks, not hiding the discontent he felt seeing Anne and Cale so obviously flirting.
Anne watches Tyson down his drink, a little too fast for her liking, especially considering Cale was obviously uncomfortable by what his teammate was doing in that moment. “Very well, we were having a good conversation.” Anne sips her wine, Cale mumbling something and slipping away. “What was that about?”
“I want you to be careful?” Tyson says as if it were obvious, even though he was lying. He didn’t want to have to see Anne flirting with his teammate all night.
“Of who, Cale? Didn’t you tell me he was the human equivalent of a puppy?” Tyson rolls his eyes, looking over to the bar and already wishing he had more to drink before having this conversation. “What’s the worst he’s going to do? Bite my ankles? Bark when he wants to go play outside?”
“Ok, you’re being mean.”
“And you’re being ridiculous.” Anne studies his face, the way he bit his lip as he tried to find his words. “You remind me of Sebby.”
“Your little brother?” Tyson asks, not really wanting to be compared to him.
“He’s really protective of me. We’re all protective of each other, but he’s especially protective of me. You’re probably the same way with Kacey, right?”
Tyson swallows hard, nodding. “Yeah.” He wasn’t even just friend-zoned: he was sibling-zoned.
“You just don’t want me to get hurt,” Anne reasons, already finishing her wine. It’s not like it was that much in the glass. “I think if anyone was going to hurt me, it wouldn’t be Cale.”
The two of them stand there, watching Tyson’s teammates dancing as the music changed to something more upbeat. On the nearest table, Tyson put down his and Anne’s empty glasses, extending his hand out to Anne in a bid to lead her to the dance floor. Anne hesitates, not really too fond of dancing, but then Tyson smiled at her, raising his eyebrows, and for whatever reason, she felt like she had to go with him.
His hand found the small of her back, holding her close enough that they could still talk over the blaring from the music, his other hand in hers as he tried to get her to move to the rhythm of the song. It’s not that Anne was uncoordinated, but she just wasn’t that great with dancing. “I would have thought you were better at this,” Tyson teases her, looking down at their feet as Anne steps on for what he thought was the fourth time.
“I will gladly go back to my place against the wall and watch you make a fool out of yourself by yourself instead,” she jokes, rolling her eyes as Tyson spins her around.
He pulls her in closer than before, the music changing to a slower song. “I don’t think you want to do that,” Tyson tells her, his forehead pressed against hers. He could kiss her right now if she let him. This was technically their second date, if they considered the coffee place their first. And Tyson did. He didn’t know why he wanted this girl in front of him so badly so fast, but there was just something about her that he had to be with her.
Before Anne could say anything, she feels someone tapping on her shoulder. Pulling away from Tyson, she sees Cale standing there, his hands in his pockets, looking down at his feet. His entire face was red, clearly nervous, as he started, “Uh, sorry, but I was wondering if I could dance with Anne?”
Anne smiles at him, looking over at Tyson to signal that she wanted to. Cale was adorable, and something about him left Anne unable to say no to him. Tyson gives a sad smile, releasing Anne from his grasp. “I’m going to go get another drink,” he says, leaving his date and teammate alone to be closer than they were before. He couldn’t be with a girl that didn’t want to be with him, he thought, downing the drink he got probably too fast. At least tomorrow he could pretend that the two of them were together, pretending that he was hers and she was his.
But for now, he had to watch Anne smiling and staring at Cale, his teammate holding her so close that Tyson wanted nothing more than to be Cale.
Tyson had his back against the bar, watching Cale and Anne dance and have fun when JT came up to him. “Didn’t you bring a date?” JT was the only one Tyson had told about the fake dating plan between him and Anne.
“Yep.”
“She in the bathroom?”
“She’s dancing with Cale,” Tyson says, raising what he thinks was his third drink in their direction. He was praying that they couldn’t get any closer than they were now, but the way Anne was smiling, he knew that was what she wanted.
JT looks between Anne and Cale together and Tyson’s near angry expression as he took another sip of his drink. “Oh, I get it,” JT realizes, Tyson side-eyeing his friend. “You like her, and now you’re seeing her with Cale and you’re jealous.”
Tyson could feel himself start to panic. He did like her, but he wasn’t about to let everyone know that. “No,” he lies, JT scoffing at him. He hated that he knew him so well. “Maybe.”
“Well, then why aren’t you the one dancing with her?” JT asks, Tyson watching Anne throw her head back laughing, Cale burying his head in her shoulder, a smile just as big as hers on his face.
“She wanted to dance with him. What was I going to do, say ‘no?’
“Yes.”
“No,” he rebuts, signaling the bartender for yet another drink. “At least I can pretend to date her around her family,” he shrugs.
“Yeah, until she pretends to dump you because she’s really dating Cale.”
“Maybe in the new year you should try to be more helpful instead of whatever you are now,” Tyson snaps. “Sorry,” he mumbles into the fresh drink he was bringing to his lips, planning on downing it as fast as he got it. If he had to watch Anne dancing with Cale, he might as well be drunk so he can’t remember it in the morning.
“It’s almost midnight,” Cale whispers to Anne.
“Yeah,” she smirks, having a feeling she knew where this was going, especially judging by the way his grip tightened around her waist.
“Uh,” he clears his throat, getting nervous about what he wanted to ask her. “Who are you kissing at midnight?"
Anne can’t help but smile, his innocence endearing to her. Tyson and JT were still watching the two of them dance even though Anne and Cale were too focused on each other to notice. “I think it depends on your answer,” she flirts.
“I was kind of hoping it would be you,” he tells her.
Anne laughs, “Yeah, I got that,” she tells him, running her hand through his hair at the nape of his neck, sending a chill down his spine. “I was hoping it would be you, too,” she tells him, closing her eyes with their foreheads pressed against each other. She almost wished she had spilled her coffee on Cale instead of Tyson, not needing to pretend to date him tomorrow and instead just date Cale and date him for real. It might have been the alcohol or the night that was making her feel this way, but Cale was not a hard guy to like.
“I’m going to the bathroom,” Tyson mumbles, not wanting to see Anne and Cale anymore, setting his drink down and leaving the room before JT could protest.
Soon after, everyone began their countdown to midnight, chanting while Anne and Cale stayed silent.
Anne knew Cale wanted to kiss her before the countdown was over. He was hovering against her lips as soon as someone yelled ‘ten!’ She didn’t know what it was about him, but she was ready to kiss him, not waiting for everyone to get past ‘five’ before she connected with him for a second, already wanting more as soon as they started.
Cale pulled away fast, smiling, moving his hands from her waist to cup her face, kissing her as soon as everyone around them was screaming ‘Happy New Year!’ When they finally pulled away, Cale’s entire face was red, and Anne knew that there was some color on her cheeks, too. Kissing Cale was something else, but something was missing. She just couldn’t put her finger on it.
=============
January 1, 2022
Anne and Cale danced a little longer, some of the guys and their families starting to leave.
“I think I have to go find Tyson,” Anne tells Cale, realizing she hadn’t seen the boy she came with for the better part of an hour.
“Uh, wait,” Cale says as Anne starts to pull away, Anne stopping as Cale smiles at her. He puts on her jaw, tilting her head up to kiss her again. “Can I see you again?”
Anne smiles, biting her lip. “I’d like that. But I really have to find Tyson.”
The two of them start walking around, trying to locate their lost boy. “Are you coming back with us?”
“Us?”
“Tys and I live in the same building,” Cale explains, part of him wanting to ask Anne to go home with him.
Before he can, Anne starts, “No, Tyson is staying at my place tonight. We have something tomorrow. Today,” she corrects herself.
“Oh, ok. Well, then, can I get your number?”
“When we find Tyson because he has the ticket for our coats and my phone is in my coat,” she explains, regretting giving everything to Tyson.
“Anne!” they hear someone yell, turning around to see Tyson stumbling over despite JT trying to help him up. Anne hadn’t told him not to get very drunk out of caution for having to deal with her family in a few hours, but now she was regretting forgetting.
“How much did he drink?” Anne panics, slinging Tyson's free arm around her shoulder.
“When I got to him he was already on four and I think he had at least three more while I was with him. I couldn’t tell you what he had on his own,” JT explains, the four of them getting their stuff and trying to get out while Tyson could barely walk.
Tyson mumbles something, trying to lean his head against Anne’s shoulder while they walked, despite the three-inch height difference that would have been bigger had Anne not been wearing heels. JT asks him to repeat it while he orders and Uber to get Tyson and Anne home. “Anne’s so pretty,” Tyson says, practically screaming it in Anne’s ear.
“Thank you, Tyson,” she says, trying to be as sweet as she could despite her anger she felt for him getting this drunk.
Tyson keeps babbling incoherently, none of them wanting to try to figure out what he was saying while they were waiting in their Ubers.
“Hey, Anne, hand me your phone,” JT asks, trying to reach out to her with his free hand while also making sure Tyson didn’t fall over or fall on Anne. She does as he asks, Cale standing there wondering why he didn’t just do that in the first place. “Text me when you two get back to your place and let me know how he is before you leave for your Uncle’s.”
“Yeah, of course,” Anne says, not even thinking about how he would have known where the two of you were going later.
Before Cale can ask for Anne’s phone, the Uber for her and Tyson pulls up. “Are you sure you’re good to get him back?” Cale asks her while JT gets Tyson in the car safely.
Anne nods, putting her hand on Cale’s bicep to reassure him. “Yeah, he should sober up enough to walk with just me during the drive back. Thank you, though,” she says, giving him a quick kiss before climbing into the car.
“I wish it was me,” Tyson slurs, his head on Anne’s shoulder as the Uber pulls away.
“What’s that, Tyson?” Anne asks.
“I wish it was me that was kissing you.”
Anne looks at him, his eyes closed as he fidgeted with the hem of his shirt. “When?”
“At midnight. I wanted to kiss you at midnight. I just hope you didn’t kiss Cale. That would make me sad,” he says, letting out a yawn.
Before Anne could say anything to respond, Tyson was asleep, leaving her alone with her thoughts, and the Uber driver probably hoping they remembered this to tell their friends in the morning. Why would he have wanted to kiss her? They were just friends. They had both made it very clear that everything they were doing was just out of friendship because they both needed someone to be there for the other and just pretend they were something they were not.
This wasn’t going to be like one of those ‘fake dating’ tropes that Anne had read in books when she was a teenager or in rom coms. Those weren’t real life. That didn’t happen.
Anne gets Tyson up to her apartment, surprised that she was able to drag him out of the Uber and balance him long enough that he didn’t fall over and take her with him to the ground. She practically threw him onto her bed, getting him in position so no matter what happened he would be fine. He was asleep almost immediately, a soft snore coming from his lips.
Anne pulls out her phone to text JT that his teammate was asleep, getting herself ready to go sleep on the couch.
The next morning, Anne woke up to Tyson sitting at her kitchen table, already having helped himself to a cup of coffee. “You look like you’re feeling great,” Anne commented, Tyson clearly hungover from the night before.
“Why did I wake up in your bed and not your couch?” Tyson asked.
Anne shrugs, fixing herself a cup of coffee to join him. “You’re my guest and the couch isn’t the most comfortable thing to fall asleep on if you aren’t used to it.”
“You are?”
“I’ve fallen asleep plenty of times while I was reading on that couch,” Anne tells him, wishing she had something to offer him to eat. “Uh, when we get to my uncle’s house, there’s going to be a ton of food so if we didn’t eat now, it wouldn’t be that big of a deal.”
Tyson nods, looking down at his coffee. He wished that he didn’t have to pretend to be Anne’s boyfriend. He already wanted to be more, but Cale was already closer to that in one night than Tyson was in how many weeks. “What do I need to know about your family before I meet them?”
Anne starts rambling about her family: her grandparents moved back to New York which was where they grew up so she hasn’t seen them in a while because they’re too old to make the trip out here and she hasn’t had time to make the trip to see them. They were going to her Uncle Vince’s house, her dad’s older brother. He has three kids, Michael, Emily, and Spencer, all of them dating someone. Then there’s Uncle Johnny, her dad’s younger brother, who has two kids, Lauren and Landon, and three grandkids from Lauren: Christopher, Lydia, and Henry.
Tyson didn’t even know if he was going to remember everything she was saying; from the food that Johnny brings just for Landon because of allergies, or the food that was designated as ‘the kid's food’ which was absolutely off-limits unless you were under the age of five years old. The Sam Adams’ beer is only meant for Aunt Lisa and Aunt Laura unless they offer it to you, but the wine is a free for all because it’s guaranteed that everyone of age brought their own bottle anyway, including Anne.
“Wait, but I don’t have a bottle,” Tyson asks, both of them getting up to get ready.
Anne smiles at him, going into one of her cabinets. “You want white or red?” she asks, holding up two bottles. “Because, as you know, I’m partial to red.”
Tyson laughs, taking the bottle of white wine from her, not even sure if he should be drinking anything given the night before. He was just lucky he somehow didn't feel worse despite how much he had. “I knew you were my kind of girl.”
They stand there for a second, neither of them sure how to react or what to do. “We should go get ready,” Anne says, bringing the bottles over to where she kept her keys so she wouldn’t forget them.
She retreats to her room, leaving Tyson to get ready out in the open of the rest of her apartment. That wasn’t a moment they just had in her kitchen, she tells herself. She puts on a pair of jeans, trying to find a shirt suitable enough for her mom to not nag her about, finally settling on a sweater that she was almost sure was Lucy’s that she stole a few months ago.
“Hey, Anne,” she hears Tyson calling her. “Someone’s calling you.”
An unknown number flashed on her screen in Tyson's hand, her forgetting she left the phone by the couch. Normally an unsaved contact was something that she wouldn’t answer, but the Calgary area code, for no reason whatsoever, told her that she had to answer it. “Hello?”
“Anne? It’s Cale. Sorry, I got your number from JT.”
Anne smiles, looking at Tyson who could hear his teammate's voice just loud enough that it made him upset. Tyson’s words from the night before rang through Anne’s mind as she finally answered him back, “Hey, no, it’s fine. What’s up?” Anne goes back into her room to finish getting ready, putting Cale on speaker as she does.
“I just wanted to check on you. And Tyson, I mean, that you were ok with him last night.”
Anne laughs at his nerves, the same ones that came through when they were first talking last night that she was thankful had faded as time went on. “Yeah, we’re fine. We’re getting ready to head out, though.”
“Any idea what time you would be done? I was wondering if you wanted to grab dinner tonight?”
She could hear his voice shaking, wishing that she could say yes. “I can’t tonight, but maybe another time?”
“Yeah, that sounds good,” he says, both of them saying goodbye as Anne grabs what she needs to head out.
“You ready?” she asks Tyson. He looked good, a simple black button-down he had paired with jeans. Why did he have to look good? Tyson nods, grabbing the wine while Anne grabbed her keys.
The two of them drive in silence, her phone plugged into her car with Cale and JT’s contacts popping up on the screen on her center console as they were texting her. “I’m glad you got along with some of the guys last night,” Tyson tells her, finally breaking the silence between them.
“Yeah, me too. Especially since someone seemed to enjoy the bar more than anything else,” she teases.
“Hey, the bartender was attractive, and giving free drinks, what was I supposed to do?”
Anne laughs, knowing that wasn’t the real reason he was there the entire night. She didn’t know what that reason was, but it wasn’t because of the looks of the person giving Tyson drinks. “What do you remember from last night?”
Tyson hesitates, really not sure what to answer. “I remember the drinks and you were dancing with Cale at some point.”
“You remember none of the Uber drive back?”
He almost did. He knew he had fallen on Anne’s shoulder, but he didn’t remember getting into the car with her. He wasn’t even sure that Anne was the one that got him in the car. “Not really, no.”
“Ok,” Anne says, partially thankful for that. She wasn’t sure she would want to relive the part of the night, nor did she think Tyson would either.
She pulls up to her uncle’s house, already seeing Lucy’s car and her cousin Spencer's sitting in the driveway. “Ready to enter the belly of the beast?” she asks him, patting his thigh as a sign of encouragement.
Tyson looks out to the house, seeing someone standing in the doorway waiting for them to get out of the car. “We’ve gotta start acting like a couple, now, don’t we?” he says, leaning closer to her across the center console.
Anne rolls her eyes, knowing that he wanted a kiss or something, anything to show Aunt Laura that Tyson was actually her boyfriend. She does kiss him, sweet and slow. Tyson was sure if they weren’t being watched, he would have gone for more, but knowing he couldn’t was killing him. He had to make the most of the time he had with Anne’s family.
When Anne pulled away, she reached up to Tysons face, grazing her thumb along his beard as his hand connected with hers. She didn’t know why, but she kissed him again, their foreheads pressed together as they sat there in her car. It was different kissing him compared to Cale. A good different, and like last night, she couldn't put her finger on why. She almost forgot where they were, startled by Aunt Laura knocking on her window.
Anne’s face had to be bright red, embarrassed that her aunt saw whatever moment, real or fake or whatever that was, while sitting in the driveway of her house. She greets her aunt as she gets out of the car, handing her the two bottles of wine.
“You must be Tyson!” she says, more excited than Anne thought she would be. “Teresa’s told us so much about you, come in, come in,” she gestures. Anne was sure that she would have dragged him in by the collar of his shirt if she didn’t have the wine in her hands already.
Tyson looks at Anne, confused. “I have no idea what my mom could have said to her,” Anne says. Tyson shrugs, grabbing Anne’s hand as she leads him into the house.
Lucy comes running up as soon as Anne steps through the door, a baby that couldn’t be more than a year old in her arms. “Hey there, Hazel,” Anne coos, taking her goddaughter from her sister. Hazel reaches out, grabbing Anne’s hair as Anne winces at the slight pain from the baby’s pull. “This is Tyson.”
“Hi, pretty girl,” Tyson says, Hazel reaching out, squirming to get away from Anne and into Tyson’s arms. “Is it ok if I hold her?” he asks Lucy, waiting for her to nod before Anne passes her off to him.
Lucy pulls her sister aside, a silly grin on her face. “He’s perfect,” she gushes, “Look at him!” Tyson was bouncing Hazel up and down, Hazel shrieking with glee with him.
“He’s not perfect,” Anne says, “but he might be close.” The sisters laugh, Lucy hugging Anne from behind while they continue to watch Anne’s ‘boyfriend’ interact with Lucy’s youngest daughter. Anne wasn’t even sure if she was really pretending as the rest of her family came into her uncle’s house.
Teresa was practically attached to Tyson the entire time, as were Skylar and Harper once Tyson started playing with them. Literally, Tyson was walking around Uncle Vince’s house with Skylar and Harper clinging to each of his legs. Tyson was the center of attention, Anne wishing that it wasn’t because everyone was just finally excited that Anne found a man.
“What do you think of him?” Anne asks Sebby, the two of them watching Tyson and Matthew talking as if there was no one else was in the room. She had heard ‘touchdown’ and ‘linebacker’ come up in conversation, meaning Matthew was going on a rant about the Broncos, something that he did way too often.
Sebby looks him up and down, pursing his lips while he thought about it. “I’m not sure I trust him.”
“Oh, come on,” Anne whines.
“He’s an athlete. And a professional one, at that,” Sebby throws his hands up in defense. Growing up, Sebby was the only one who didn’t really like sports, feeling they were a waste of time when he could be doing something like reading or studying. Sports were only relevant when his siblings were involved, otherwise, he hated them.
“Give him a chance. Please?” Anne begs, not even sure if it were necessary. “He’s not Andy.”
Sebby narrows his eyes at his sister, jumping slightly as Tyson and Matthew start laughing. “Why didn’t you mention him before Christmas?”
“If you remember, I didn’t mention him at Christmas, you did,” Anne scolds him, trying to figure out what story to tell her brother. “And, it was still new. I didn’t want to say anything if it wasn’t going to be something.”
“Is it?”
“Maybe. I think so,” Anne lies. At least, she thought she was lying.
Tyson comes over to Anne while she was talking with Sebby about his upcoming semester, his last one before he graduated from college and hopefully entered law school. He wraps his arms around her, kissing her cheek before resting his chin on her shoulder. “You think I could steal her for a second?” he asks.
Sebby narrows his eyes, Tyson a little thrown off by her brother’s reaction. “Sure.”
Tyson brings Anne into another room, praying that no one would walk in on them. “We didn’t talk about anything we could say to your family about how we met,” he brings up.
“I was planning on deferring that to you since I normally can’t get a word in otherwise,” she admits, even though she hadn’t thought about it before.
“That’s not fair,” Tyson says, looking over Anne’s shoulder to see someone in her family looking at the two of them. “Your family is watching.”
Anne follows Tyson’s gaze, turning and waving at Landon and Lauren. She reaches up and puts her hand on Tyson’s cheek, Tyson taking it with his own and kissing the palm of her hand. “When you see how I get pushed aside at dinner, you’ll understand why it’s fair.”
The two of them continue talking about how they were going to go on with the rest of the day, Anne telling Tyson she was fine with everything he had done so far and really didn’t care if he kept doing it. Anne, not wanting to tell Tyson, liked what he was doing. It felt right for some reason. Was Tyson right that it should have been the two of them kissing at midnight and not her and Cale?
Tyson’s drunken confession from the night before was still ringing in her mind when everyone got called to sit down for dinner. Tyson was still, unsurprisingly, the center of attention. His hand was on Anne’s thigh for most of dinner, Lucy’s eyes never leaving as Anne rested her’s in his. The usual rounds of conversation started, asking Lucy about her medical practice, Jason about Andersen’s, his restaurant that bore his family’s name, Matthew and Steph about work at United, Sebby about how he was feeling going into this last semester of college.
Then the conversation was supposed to turn to Anne, normally swamped with questions about Anne’s lack of love life. Instead, of course, the conversation turned to Tyson.
“How did you two meet?” Teresa asks, giving a smug look to her daughter, “Anne hasn’t told us anything about you.”
Tyson hesitates, figuring Anne wouldn’t want her family knowing they met when she spilled her coffee on him. “I was out with some of my teammates after practice one day,” he starts, hoping that whatever was about to come out of his mouth was good enough. “We were at a coffee shop, and I saw Anne there grabbing something before her shift at the hospital. I saw her smile at the barista when she thanked him for taking her order and,” he looks at her, taking Anne and putting it on the table for her family to see. “Something about that smile of hers I just knew I had to talk to her. I needed her in my life and I’m happy she’s in it.”
He kisses the side of her head, whispering, “we have to remember that story now,” against her skin. When he pulls away, Anne smiles at him, signaling that she would. There was no way she could forget that honestly. Why was pretending to like him so easy?
The conversation stays on him for a little longer, Anne never being asked anything. Finally, Emily stands up with Jimmy, saying they had an announcement. “We’re engaged!” she squeals, holding up her left hand with the ring that she either just put on, or no one noticed as the family congratulated her. Jimmy had proposed at midnight, down on one knee right as whoever they were with said ‘Happy New Year!’
“Another wedding!” Teresa yells, Tony rolling his eyes next to her. He didn’t hate weddings, he hated his wife’s need to spend an extravagant amount of money on a new dress and presents for the couple every time. “And then maybe we’ll have one for Anne in the next year, too, oh Tony we’ll get to plan another wedding.”
“Mom!” Anne scolds, Tyson’s face getting bright red. “That ringing in your ears is not wedding bells.”
The rest of the dinner goes on fine, Anne and her siblings off in one of the rooms while their spouses and Tyson were nowhere to be found.
“I think Tyson’s scared of me,” Lucy says, examining her nails.
“He might just be intimidated by you, Signoria Perfezione,” Anne teases her with the nickname Lucy got when she was little, her need for order prevalent from a young age.
“Yeah, he said that Anne told him how smart you were and he didn’t want to feel stupid around you,” Matthew points out.
“Well, shouldn’t he be intimidated by Anne?” Sebby asks.
“I know you’re trying to compliment me, but your tone says otherwise,” Anne says. “Why don’t you like him?”
The three of them look at their youngest siblings. “There’s something off,” he starts, Anne feeling her heart start to race. “He’s like borderline pretending to be with you.”
“Come on, man, you’re paranoid,” Matthew scoffs, Lucy agreeing.
“I mean,” Sebby explains, “He looks at Anne like he wants to be with her, not like he actually is with her.”
“You’re just over analyzing. We’re together. Probably more together than you and Collins are,” Anne fires back, part of her hating that she was lying to her siblings, the other part of her wondering how much of it was a lie.
Sebby shrugs, “Well yeah, because we broke up.” Anne’s jaw drops, Matthew raises his eyebrows in shock, Lucy the only one to scream and actually make a verbal acknowledgment of what he just said. “Yeah, the other night. She finally blew up over the whole, ‘I don’t want to move to Boston or California,’ thing and said if I wasn’t willing to move to be with her then I wasn’t good enough for her.”
“Oh, I don’t like that,” Anne says.
"Why didn't you tell us," Lucy asks.
"I see how they act about Anne never being with someone," he says, Anne glaring at him. "I'll just find someone in law school and not say anything unless they ask. Plus, I don’t want to be that far away from you guys. Why would I stay with someone who wants me to do that?” he admits.
“Aw, you do like us!” Lucy teases him, her and Matthew tackling him in a hug while Sebby yells for them to get off, yelling louder when Anne joins in.
“Hey, um,” Tyson interrupts, “Sorry, you’re having a moment.”
“No, no, what’s up?” Anne breaks off, going over to him.
“Your aunt said dessert is out,” he tells them, or, rather, tells Anne with her siblings in earshot.
“See, you’re delusional,” Lucy tells Sebby as they walk past Anne and Tyson into the next room.
Tyson looks at her confused, waiting for an explanation. “I think Sebby’s catching on to us pretending,” she shrugs, really not that worried. She and Tyson could talk later about how long this would go on, and if anyone in the family were to find out that it was fake, Sebby would be the one to keep it quiet.
She goes into the next room, leaving Tyson there by himself. “Yeah, pretending,” he says to himself.
#tyson jost#tyson jost imagine#tyson jost fic#tyson jost oc fic#colorado avalanche#colorado avalanche imagine#colorado avalanche fic#avalanche#avalanche imagine#avalanche imagines#nhl#nhl imagines#hockey#hockey fics#hockey imagines#nhl fics#tyson and anne
110 notes
·
View notes
Text
*slams fist on table* i’m still not done
i think this episode (last night of the proms) also represents how racism, xenophobia and patriotism can be unifying forces amongst white british people, which is used to create a feeling of safety. I think that gender is also an important theme, shown in the differing “duties” of the male and female characters when faced with a “foreigner”. This is especially shown in the "hiding the crime scene” montage and the last scene(s).
Penny pretends she has never seen yusuf before in front of her white relatives in order to align herself with them. After Yusuf is killed, the family’s row stops. Despite her believing brian to be a monster, dawn takes and cleans the knife he used to stab yusuf. The men, mick and brian, despite their differing opinions and sexualities, leave to dispose of the “foreigner’s” body together. Meanwhile, the women are left to clean up and “look after” the home ; dawn wipes clean the God Bless This House framed sign and medicates ralph. Brian suddenly says something that seems patriotic/nationalistic: ‘We had to defend ourselves. Englishmen’s home and all that.’ to align himself with the others, and to reinforce the safety they all want to feel. He even joins in when mick and dawn start singing, and tries to touch penny, whom he had previously pushed away. Penny only seems to regret wronging the middle-eastern man because he might have been jesus, not because what she did was inherently wrong. she rejects the hand of her gay husband, and reconciles herself by believing the middle-eastern man was christ (or at least christ-like) and would forgive her for her treatment of him. here she absolves herself of her white guilt, and tries to forget the “sins” of her and her husband
an edit bc i forgot to mention: i also think it’s important that the child throws up and is put to bed, and therefore doesn’t appear to witness the murder or the cleaning up of the crime scene - just as young white british people are shielded from their country’s past and present wrongdoings, so that they are more likely to continue them
#inside no 9#inside number 9#inside number nine#steve pemberton#reece shearsmith#last night of the proms#if you saw the original typos in this#no you didn't
102 notes
·
View notes
Note
Why was Lorenzo such a jealous bitch nd why does this fandom treat him like he's a good person😑
okay so i know that this is a rethorical question but i've actually thought about this a lot so i'll take my crack at answering this - WHY is lorenzo such a jealous bitch?
the only thing he's said about why he hates magnus - that i remember of, at least - is the line "he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. his fame is not based on talent, it's all nepotism"
now, anyone who knows anything at all about magnus knows that not a single fucking word of this is true. magnus was born poor in a recently colonized country under a lot of oppression, there was no damn silver spoon in his mouth, and after that he was thoroughly abused by his demon father. his fame is also absolutely based on talent - he invented portals, for fuck's sake! and the "nepotism" comment barely makes sense. i assume he means it's just that magnus' power is all due to the fact that his father is demon royalty, which makes magnus more powerful than most warlocks
so, that explains what lorenzo is jealous of - magnus' power and prestige among warlocks (such as having been HWoB for decades) - but not what the fuck lorenzo's deal is (i mean, we've met plenty of other warlocks in the show, many of which weren't really fans of magnus, but no one other than lorenzo has this idea that magnus doesn't deserve his fame), or why magnus (because while like, yes, magnus is very powerful, i assume he's not the only son of a prince of hell, considering asmodeus is not the only prince of hell and these guys get on the loose, like, weekly. and lorenzo is obviously OBSESSED with him, he deliberately went out of his way and abused his power as HWoB several times specifically to antagonize him, and also, you know, TRIED TO KILL HIM)
lorenzo talks about magnus almost as if magnus took something from him. it's not just that magnus is powerful and that he supposedly doesn't deserve it, lorenzo obviously feels as if antagonizing magnus is some sort of vengeance. i know plenty of jealous people, but going as far as forbidding anyone other than himself from giving magnus a magic transfusion, specifically saying that if it went wrong he wouldn't help, and then refusing to take back the magic when he KNEW perfectly well that would kill him, is to me very obviously a thought out plan TO kill magnus. lorenzo had been hoping from the start that magnus' body would reject his magic and the transfusion would kill him - why else would he specifically say, the second he agreed to the transfusion, that if it went wrong magnus would be on his own?
and it's not like lorenzo even gains anything from that, other than killing magnus. and humiliating him, which lorenzo has said explicitly was something he wanted to do (i believe the term he used was "breaking his spirit", but potato potatoh). if it was about magnus' position of power, he already had that - lorenzo literally already had the HWoB position. if it was about magnus' magic, he had already lost it. lorenzo had absolutely NOTHING to gain from magnus, so his personal vendetta against him doesn't even make sense from JUST a jealousy standpoint. he had already "won" over magnus. the only explanation is that he wanted some kind of revenge
but revenge from what? well, we know that magnus and lorenzo don't like each other, but magnus never really TOOK anything from lorenzo. considering how he wouldn't miss an opportunity to talk about how much he hated him, i think lorenzo would have brought it up if that had been the case. and magnus is just not the kind of person to pull the rug from under other people's feet - look no further than the whole show for evidence of that. he literally puts the others above himself at all times (which is unhealthy but that's another story and something i've talked about plenty of times already)
so why does lorenzo feel so much resentment towards magnus? why does he act as if magnus' power took something that was rightfully his?
i think lorenzo feels that he was entitled to be the most powerful, to have the most prestige, to be above magnus, and he resented magnus because that was simply not true
why?
let's go back to the only thing we know about lorenzo's backstory - the baby painting. yes, it's a huge meme, but think about that for a second. lorenzo has a huge ass painting of himself as a baby that he displays proudly in his home and that's, like, his #1 stop at the house tour. the baby painting. "needless to say, being born in spain during the siglo de oro was quite the experience". is the first thing he said
let's make this abundantly clear: this line makes it canon that lorenzo is a colonizer. the siglo de oro ("golden century" in spanish) started (roughly) in 1492, year of the """""discovery""""" of the americas, and ended (roughly) in 1659, the year when spain signed a treaty and lost a bunch of their territories to france (link to source). altho the term is usually used to refer to the boom of the arts in spain, it's obvious, just from these historical landmarks, that the siglo de oro is about colonization. it's about the fact that at the time spain was at its peak colonial power, and could afford to exploit what later became third world countries, and put part of that money (in fact, the literal gold they were stealing from latin american countries) into arts and other luxuries (because in the renaissance portraits were a luxury item and a symbol of status - link to source) for the ultra rich that benefited from colonization
so, lorenzo is not only a colonizer, but he's a part of the elite. the fact that his family could afford to have a painting of him as a BABY (portraits were almost exclusively adult portraits, and usually of the whole family, unless you were even richer than the rich. and even then individual portraits were usually to celebrate important achievements such as a marriage or acquisition of state - a baby being born doesn't qualify, especially because at the time most babies died not long after birth anyway), and a HUGE painting on top of that, shows that they were just. loaded in an incomprehensible way. im talking jeff bezos level of riches. they were the elite of the biggest colonial empire of their century. so, ironically, lorenzo was born with a silver spoon in his mouth - everything that he had, he was born having, and he specifically had because it was being stolen due to a dramatically violent process of genocide and slavery, that he believed to be entitled to simply because he was born a spaniard/white. that is all canon, because in the shverse mundane history is the same as in real life. EVERYONE who was born in the colonial elites was taught that they were entitled to shit from other countries, that they were superior not only to other ppls but also to their own people - let's not forget that this was way before the advent of republics, those were monarchies. the ppl who were part of the elite straight up believed they were superior to others by virtue of god
"woah woah woah but lorenzo is played by javier muñoz who's brown" yeah, which is unfortunate, but he is still canonically a colonizer. first off, because it's not like they wanted someone to be lorenzo and were looking for brown people - they were looking for someone javier could play because he's a bigshot broadway actor who was also a fan of the show, and then they picked lorenzo. probably because the sh showrunners don't fucking know the difference between a latino and a spaniard. or maybe they do, but they thought, "eh, close enough". either way, lorenzo is a spaniard, and he was born a colonizer - ergo, he is white, regardless of what race his actor is, regardless of even what he looks like. there are plenty of white spaniards with similar skin tones to lorenzo, because what today is spain used to be a territory occupied by middle eastern ppl, and there was mixing. what makes whiteness is not skin tone, it's context, and the context of being a literal colonizer directly benefitting of the oppression of black and brown people is as white as it gets
so, to recap: lorenzo was born a white colonizer, and he was RAISED believing that everything he had, he was entitled to. he was entitled to it by virtue of god, because he was born a part of the rich elite in the richest colonial power in the world, and he had access to everything he could possibly want. and he wasn't just entitled to riches and power - which he still has, look at his fucking mansion, dude - but specifically to superiority to his peers. especially black and brown people, the source of his riches, the people who owe him the wealth he takes from them
and then he joins the warlock world, and not only is he not royalty (because presumably he is the son of a regular demon, not too high up in the hierarchy) but some brown guy is. and this guy is in a position of power over him (high warlock) and he is better than him (at magic, specifically, but also at everything including being a human being, but lorenzo doesn't care about that). and lorenzo is fucking livid, because he believes himself to be entitled to be the best, entitled to be treated as a superior, entitled to admiration and to servitude, especially from people like magnus (let's not forget that the philippines - colonized by spain during the siglo de oro - are right next to indonesia [link]). instead, magnus is, politically speaking, his superior
and it's not like it even means much because the high warlock position is implied to be kind of like, the mayor, and it's not like magnus ever abused his power (unlike some people - and sidenote, i think this backstory is also why lorenzo was so comfortable using his power to antagonize magnus: because he was raised in a context where political power was pretty much boundless and politics and the personal feelings of the ruler were not separated). so in practice its really just that if lorenzo had a problem, he could go to magnus, and if magnus made a decision that referred to all warlocks, lorenzo was supposed to follow it. it's nowhere near like, actual subservience. but it's way too much for someone who was raised to be entitled to the level that lorenzo was
so that's why he has this feeling that magnus took something from him - because in his head, everything magnus has, lorenzo should be entitled to. because in his head, any and all power rightfully belongs to him, and if magnus has it, then it has been stolen. and that might not even be conscious of his part or whatever, altho i doubt lorenzo doesn't think in explicitly racist terms at least in private, but that had been ingrained into his head for centuries on end. if it's still ingrained into the heads of white spaniards born TODAY, imagine one who was actually born at the fucking height of racist exploitation
so. yeah. that's why lorenzo is such a jealous bitch. that's why he hates magnus so much - because he feels that magnus having anything at all lorenzo doesn't is theft, and ironically, he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, but believes that he earnt what he has whereas magnus didn't. it's not just jealousy, it's a profound feeling of racist vendetta, and i'm sure the sh writers didn't mean it that way, they were just writing a big villain to bring malec together, but death of the author, baby! and this explanation actually makes sense without having to change anything in canon, so, i feel very comfortable saying that's why lorenzo behaves the way he does
THIS POST IS NOT ABOUT THE BOOKS
40 notes
·
View notes
Last Seen Blogs
ar-redux
You do you, I'll do me
stuffgranolaslike
Stuff Granola Girls Like
nicomoru
Nico
kikipuff
Untitled
solroskajan
Sunflower Jackdaw