Seven Reasons The West Was Wild

a blog dedicated to the magnificent seven tv series (1998-2000). " it's a coffin full of  r o c k s,  jd."

[heavensghost]

[7men]

AU: The guys do not come back in time to save the town in "New Law". What happens next?

Assuming no one’s left in jail (lookin at you, Buck) and are collected outside the town trying to devise a strategy and just… don’t come up with one in time, or it takes too long to get things together once they have a plan,

1 If they’ve already started marching down to the town when they see the flames, they might not have a choice. They don’t have enough horses to get everyone down there in time to put out a fire in a wooden town once the flames have taken hold, especially not when the people who set the fire? Totally not gonna just let you walk in an undo all their work. This is it, the town’s done for, there isn’t going to be a town shortly so you may as well get your tears out now.

2 If they’re seen by the hired goons who set the fire and think they’re worth troubling themselves over things might get… Bad. Seven men cannot protect how many civilians against dozens with nocover. It’s another thing in a town they know well, but on the open road it doesn’t go so well. People will die.

3 But honestly once the town’s on fire the job’s done, there’s a good chance the goons ride into the sunset and it’s not all blood and destruction (just destruction) so they have a choice. I mean, you can rebuild a whole new town from the ashes of the old one, sure. But there is no way they’re going to be allowed to rebuild without some serious pushback from Stuart James and co. And the little farmers might be a little safer than the townies, but not by much. (Collector did a number on them already with the railroad coming in, too.) So it’s not the most prudent choice to rebuild exactly where they were.

4 I’m pretty sure the Seven give the choice to the others. Rebuild, escort you to another place, what? Some people have already headed for relatives, even more people might do that, but I think most will want to hang together just because of the fear that there will be people coming after them. We can make for Eagle Bend at least. Send a wire to the Judge from there. Let him know the town’s gone but at least the people survived, Mary and Billy among them.

5 ‘We’re family. We stick together. Wherever we go, we go together.’ someone says, probably Mrs. Potter, while fighting back tears. The boys agree. Do they have any idea wherethey’re going? no. They probably head for Eagle Bend just because they have more supplies, telegraph lines and beds. The boys can sleep on the trail all right, the townsfolk are less accustomed, and there are the kids and….

(Ezra ends up with all the kids hanging out around him when they settle down for the evening, telling stories and doing card tricks. Billy sandwiches himself between Mary and Chris if he isn’t sitting on Mary’s lap. At least one kid ends up hanging from Buck’s neck.)

6 When they make it to Eagle Bend it’s like a military operation. Buck, Nathan and Josiah take charge of the townsfolk, making sure everyone has a place to go, things to do, everyone knows what’s happening. The Eagle Bend townsfolk, rivalry and past animosity aside, are shocked and dismayed and heartbroken and more than a little afraid. It happened to them, could it happen to us? And we don’t have any Seven Men to protect us… Everyone pitches in and Gets Shit Done, it’s glorious. Ezra is sent to the telegraph office with a message for the Judge, agreed upon beforehand. (He may also be organizing an angry mob on the downlow once he’s done with that, regardless there is a complete lack of sympathy for the baddies.) Chris and Mary, meanwhile, head for the newspaper office. (Does Eagle Bend have a newspaper office? Too bad, if they don’t have one then they go for the claims office.) They need Maps. Vin comes with, he knows the territory well enough that he’s a great help. And they pick out a new place for a town.

7 It’s a few months before things are even vaguely settled. There are buildings to be put up, wells to be dug, planting, fences, outhouses…. It’s a lot of hard, hard work, and it’s all done under guard because no one trusts that this is safe any more than Four Corners was. But as soon as there is a liiiiittle bit of time Ezra and Vin, the quietest scary ones, the ones who are ‘could have been an assassin’ and 'actual bounty hunter’ disappear for a few days. Chris doesn’t seem concerned. They get a lot done, and return with razor-sharp smiles and, in Ezra’s case, a lot of signatures on a lot of paper that is going to do a lot of good. Money, deeds, confessions, contracts, you name it. They are a terrifyingly effective team.

8 The best revenge is living well. But there’s also more concrete revenge, and both are very, very sweet.

[7men]

‘kindness is the most radical thing you can do with your pain and anger’ (post) is a weird and delightful explanation of Buck’s philosophy on life, I think.

Because Buck is kind. He stuck by Chris through thick and thin and is delighted to see him even when Chris basically drove him away. He doesn’t have to give JD the time of day, but he takes him in and teaches him and keeps teaching him and making him feel at home, makes sure he has a family even when the rest of the boys aren’t too sure about this kid, or letting him stay. He takes the time to give Miss Millie a hug after he saves her in the beginning of ‘New Law’, doesn’t just shove her inside and dive back into the fray. He’s seen people do terrible things, he’s killed people, and he is still kind, and sweet, and gentle, and does the right thing even when it’s not something he wants to do - he comes to cover their escape in ‘One Day Out West’ even though he doesn’t have to, he goes to get to know Lucy when he thinks she’s having his baby because they’re the right thing to do, because he can.

Chris was probably kind and soft and sweet, but his reaction to his trauma isn’t fuck you I’m going to make someone happy today, it’s fuck you, you can’t take anything else from me if I don’t have anything to take you sonofabitch try and get me now, and cloaks himself in anger and the desire for vengeance and rage.

And Ezra is kind too, he plays with the kids at the Seminole village, and even if it’s not canon I think we all agree that he babies the hell out of Chaucer, but he struggles so much more with it, and he’s still in pain too, and angry, and he’s messed up and conflicted and has problems and struggles by the dozen. He is not pure kindness, his kindness is layered and conflicted and bound in by a dozen things.

JD hasn’t learned to be angry yet, not really angry. Angry that his mom died, yes, but he still thinks people are basically decent, and, well. He’ll learn one day, but if the boys can help it it won’t be today or tomorrow. Josiah keeps his anger and his kindness separate. He is both, but he is far kinder than he is angry, and he doesn’t convert one into the other. Vin isn’t angry except in extreme circumstances - sad yes, hurt yes, but anger is something different, something reserved for threats to the people he loves.

Nathan’s really the closest to this other than Buck - ‘I have seen the worst of humanity, and I am going to save as many people as I can anyway’ is the way he lives his life. Because Nathan knows people can be horrible, he knows it better than any of the others, but he also knows that people can be kind, and good and risk themselves to get him two steps closer to freedom, to help a stranger, and that makes people worth saving. He has his anger, he definitely has his anger, but Nathan is far kinder than he will ever let himself be angry, even when Ezra pushes his buttons and they deal with all sorts of racist bs. 

[scvenreasons]

↳ every episode of the magnificent seven: s2e8; chinatown

[scvenreasons]

↳ every episode of the magnificent seven: s2e6; wagon train (part two)

[scvenreasons]

↳ every episode of the magnificent seven: s2e5; wagon train (part one)

[scvenreasons]

↳ every episode of the magnificent seven: s2e4; vendetta

[scvenreasons]

↳ every episode of the magnificent seven: s2e3; love and honor

[scvenreasons]

↳ every episode of the magnificent seven: s2e2; sins of the past

[whatif-animagineblog]

I’m stuck on writing so I did this instead. 

Now have more saved, but now I just want to do at least one of these for all my fandoms. Because this is honestly like my favorite thing

[whatif-animagineblog]

Oops I made more.

MAG 7 TEXT POST 3/???

[scvenreasons]

↳ every episode of the magnificent seven: s2e1; the new law

[scvenreasons]

↳ every episode of the magnificent seven: s1e9; inmate 78

[scvenreasons]

↳ every episode of the magnificent seven: s1e8; manhunt

[7men]

AU where Vin and JD meet because JD moves into the apartment above Vin.

Now Vin doesn’t live in a very nice neighbourhood (it’s not called Purgatorio for nothing). The neighbours themselves are lovely. It’s just the gangs. And the drugs. And the arms deals. And the crime. And the complete lack of any law enforcement personnel for a square mile except Vin.

Most of the people in Vin’s building just can’t afford anywhere else, period, and they’ve banded together into a pretty tight-knit community. So Vin’s justifiably concerned when JD moves in. The kid’s practically got SUCKER tattooed on his forehead and nothing good will come of this, Vin’s sure.

It actually doesn’t go too badly, overall. After a while the people in the building like him. Vin can hear him moving around at all kinds of weird hours so after a while he starts talking to him and trying to persuade him to keep something resembling normal person hours (this has nothing to do with the fact that Vin’s a really light sleeper and there’s no insulation in the walls/floors and he can hear JD’s every step, nothing at all, just being a good neighbour sure). And Vin finds JD flat broke and helping university students resurrect their laptops in the middle of the night for a few extra bucks and helps him fix his sink because he can’t afford to call a plumber and shows him how to stay warm when the heat goes off in the winter and how to make sure his bike doesn’t go missing and helps his Spanish and street smarts in general, and JD helps Vin with his computer and dyslexia and installs programs to help with that and improves the cable and internet signals in the building through ways Vin thinks may be illegal but he’s not going to ask. Vin gets JD to help with the rooftop garden and the one in the empty lot next door so he gets some sun, it can’t be healthy to sit inside all day, and Vin gives JD Guns and Horses 101 and they become really good friends. Even if JD does stay up all night.

[allfandomsandmagnificentsev-blog]

I just realized something about Mr. Larabee. I was trying to figure out why he seemed so different in Inmate 78. It’s because when he’s in charge, he’s an awesome kick-butt man he every listens to because his glare alone could kill them, but when he isn’t in charge, he turns into a sarcastic sass-master who doesn’t listen to anyone who’s supposed to be in authority. That’s why he seemed different instead of quiet and broody, he was sarcastic and sassy.

[allfandomsandmagnificentsev-blog]

Or maybe it was because he was actually sober, idk though.

[warqueenfuriosa-deactivated2018]

This really got me thinking. The men in charge during the Inmate 78 episode abused their power significantly. Their positions of authority were used for nothing but bullying and terrorizing people. They were not good leaders at all. And that’s ultimately the main theme underlining so much of this show. These seven men have zero tolerance for bullies. Chris fought back physically where he could without his gun. But when he couldn’t fight, he used his words (the most sarcastic, scathing, “yes sir” I’ve ever heard) and showed he would never cower in the face of these small men who puffed themselves up with hurting and manipulating other people.

[shelleyjesse]

Chris Larabee