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lizthewriter · 5 months

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like snow on the beach / theodore nott

PAIRING theodore nott x bubbly!fem!reader

SUMMARY christmas is your absolute favorite time of the year! the tree, the lights, the music, the food . . . however, to you, the most important thing about christmas is spending it with your loved ones.

your world falls apart when you find out you can't go home for the holidays. you're stuck at hogwarts with a bunch of stuffy professors and zero loved ones. however, you make an unlikely friend who also happens to be stuck at hogwarts for the holidays . . . and you find out he despises christmas. you make it your mission to prove him wrong.

TAGS theodore nott x bubbly!fem!reader, christmas, holiday cheer, the power of belief, reader loves christmas, this is soooo dash and lily coded, inspired by dash & lily's book of dares, grumpy!theodore nott, simp!theodore nott, i'm a slut for pathetic men 😩

QUOTE "i've never seen someone so lit from within, / blurring out my periphery, / my smile is like i won a contest, / and to hide that would be so dishonest," - snow on the beach by taylor swift, featuring lana del rey

WORD COUNT 5.7K

WRITTEN 12.4.2023

You shoved your hands in your pockets - despite the fact that you were wearing gloves in this freezing weather, you could still feel the harsh wind nipping at your skin. Here you stood at Hogsmeade station, your friends boarding the train as you watched in discontent. They were all going home for the holidays this year, but you were going to be stuck at Hogwarts. No Christmas tree, no baking gingerbread cookies, no sipping on hot chocolate while snuggled in a warm blanket, no watching holiday movies. Just the freezing cold and your own company.

You plastered a grin on your face when the train began to move and waved to your friends. They bid you their last goodbye from their compartment window. Once the train disappeared from your sight, you trudged your way back up the path to Hogwarts. Well, the sight of the castle was beautiful, in the very least. You could see snow capping the towers and covering the shingles. But even then, it was just another reminder that you were here and not there, at home, with your family. There was only one thing to cheer you up.

"Afternoon Madame Pince," you greeted softly as you walked into the library. She sent you a stiff nod in return. While she didn't really like anyone in paticular, she was at least kinder to you than other students.

You knew exactly which books you wanted to cozy up with by a warm, crackling fire. Dashing across the library, you ammassed an entire stack of books, one that was tall enough to obstruct your vision. You waddled through another row, searching the shelves for one paticular title. Spotting it on a high shelf, you found a rolling stool and pushed it with your foot until it was directly under the book you seeked. You tried to place your pile of books somewhere, but it wouldn't fit on the sheleves and you couldn't plop them onto the floor without angering Pince. Stupidly, you decided to step up onto the stool, carrying the pile of books under one arm all while reaching for the desired book. Of course, you should have expected what came after.

You lost your balance, the books tumbling backward out of your arm, the weight of them pulling you down too. You fell off of the stool and expected your head to meet the bookcase behind you, but in your suprise felt someone catch you as your books loudly clattered to the ground.

It took you a moment to catch your breath, to let the adrenaline and fear run it's course before you turned towards your savior. He was tall, devilishly handsome, but with oddly dead eyes. He had an odd way about him - devastatingly beautiful, yet there was this aura of melancholy around him. It was unusually attractive.

"You all right?" He asked, his tone short and gruff.

"Yeah . . . sorry about that. Should've just put my books down somewhere, I suppose."

"What is all this noise?" Madame Pince's striking voice ring throughout the library, her footsteps approaching rapidly. Soon enough, she turned around the corner and let out the most horrified gasp, hand flying to her mouth. She glanced at the two of you with a dark, murderous glare. You suddenly became aware of the fact that his hands were on your shoulders and your back was resting against his chest. "You two! Out of the library at once! I will not have you diabolic teenagers destroying the sanctity of this library! Out! Out!"

She shooed the both of you out of the library and slammed the door in your faces. Now there you were, banned from the library, with no means of proper entertainment. Of course.

Bah humbug, you thought.

"Great," said the boy sarcastically. "As if I have anything else to do now." He sighed and turned around, bumping his head against the wall.

"I'm so sorry!" You squeaked, a blush rising to your cheeks.

"Don't be," he responded, turning back around. "It's not your fault."

Realization struck just then - you recognized him. "Wait . . . you're Theodore Nott, right?"

"You've been stalking me, have you?" His tone was always one of solemnity, so it really wasn't your fault that you couldn't tell he was joking.

"No, of course not, I've just seen you in a few of my classes is all," you responded, quite defensively, but mostly out of embarrassment. "You're in Malfoy's gagle of friends . . . shouldn't you be at home with your family?"

"Shouldn't you?" He returns swiftly.

"Point well taken," you respond with a grimace. He didn't respond and neither did you - what was there to say? You had never really had to interact with him, you weren't friends . . . yet you felt some sort of pull towards him. Like an invisible string that kept you hooked. He did save you from falling to possible death after all. "Well, you know, now that neither of us have anything to do, we could . . . I don't know, hang out or something?"

"Why?"

You arched a brow at him. "You got anything better to do?"

A flash of a smile flitted across his face. "Point well taken."

You were once again snuggled in a large coat, a knit hat atop your head and a large wool scarf pooling out of your jacket. Theodore's hands were shoved into the pockets of his thick, plaid trench coat. His hair billowed in the wind as the two of you wandered the ground, snow falling around you.

"So!" You jumped in front of him and began to walk backwards, keeping the same pace as before. "What is your absolute, favorite part about Christmas?"

Theo simply shrugged. "I don't have one." Your jaw almost dropped to the floor - how could he not have a favorite part about Christmas? Christmas, to you, represented love, family, and compassion. You loved everything about it: the tree, the lights, the music, the food, the presents. In fact, there wasn't one thing you could pick as your favorite because you adored all of Christmas too much.

Your shocked expression didn't seem to suprise Theodore in the slightest. "You don't have one?" You reiterated in disbelief, stopping. He jolted when you stopped walking, the two of you damn near as close as you were in the library. "But it's Christmas?" Theodore shrugged again. "You don't like Christmas?"

"No, truthfully . . . my family doesn't really do Christmas," he responded begrudgingly, glancing out at the Forbidden Forest as though he were disinterested. Really, he just didn't want to get into detail about his personal matters.

"Oh," you could only respond. Now that you thought of it, you could only imagine what Nott had to deal with at home, being a pureblood and all that. You knew that a lot of pureblood families were abusive and strict.

Suddenly, everything became clear. His family may not do Christmas, but you certainly do . . . you want him to feel the Christmas spirit that you do. Doesn't he deserve to understand exactly what the holidays are all about?

He tilted his head in curiosity as a grin spread across your rosy cheeks. Your eyes glittered with excitement and something akin to child-like wonder. "You know what? No. I'm going to prove to you that Christmas is the best time of the year."

Nott let out a bitter laugh, shaking his head. He kicked at the snow, staring down at the ground as he shook his head. "I don't think you can."

"Do I hear Theodore Nott turning down a challenge?" You asked, cupping your ear with a mock judgemental expression. "Are you scared that I'm right, is that what it is?"

Nott sighed, biting back a grin as he finally met your eyes. "Fine. But I'm telling you now, it's not going to work."

"Oh, we'll see."

Theodore would be lying if he said he hasn't had his eye on you. How could he not? How could anyone not? You were quite literally the most outgoing person in your year. You were friends with mostly everyone, give a select few, and participated in many different student organizations. You were modest yet brash, kind yet firm, intelligent yet open-minded. You weren't afraid to speak your mind, even if it made you unpopular with certain crowds. He admired that about you.

So admittedly, the main reason he had gone to the library was in hopes that you'd be there. He's trying building up the courage to talk to you in the past, but he just couldn't bring himself to do it. Must be the reason why he's not a Gryffindor.

He felt an odd feeling in his chest when he saw you - as if he were so light he could float away, but also regurgitate his lunch all over the hundreds-year old carpet. He built himself up in his head and finally followed you into the rows of bookcases. When he saw you struggling with your pile of books, he froze, insecurities clouding his mind like a thunderstorm hurtling through his head. But when you were about to fall down, he instantly forgot whatever he had been thinking about and jumped to your rescue. Catching you, feeling you pressed against his chest, his nose burrowed in your sweet-smelling hair, he couldn't help but feel his heart beating incredibly fast and hard.

Finally, when the two of you were outside touring the grounds and you had so optimistically wanted to prove to him that Christmas was the best time of the year . . . he couldn't help but want you to prove him wrong.

That's why he was fussing over his hair as he stared in the bathroom mirror, tilting his head back and forth. It took him a whole ten minutes before he decided his hair would never comply and threw on his favorite plaid trench coat. You hadn't told him where the two of you were going, but he trusted that you weren't trying to pull anything funny.

You turned around as he exited the Slytherin dorm, the portrait slamming close behind him. He felt his stomach twist nervously as he looked at you - you were dressed rather festively, wearing a short green and red plaid skirt along with a mahogany turtleneck. Mini ornament earrings hung from your hears, gently bobbing as you turned to face him with an excited smile.

"Ready? Wonderful!" You exclaimed. "Come on, let's go!" He joined your side as you began walking at a brisk pace up the stairs. You lead him outside, chattering about holiday traditions you and your family had. He couldn't help but be enraptured by you - the way your eyes twinkled with joy and your hands gestured feverishly. Your bright rosy cheeks and how your scarf made them look plump and adorable.

"Oh, sorry, I've been rambling on so much you haven't even been able to get a word in!" You said, chuckling nervously, hoping that he wasn't annoyed with you.

"No, I like listening to you talk," he assured you pointedly. "Go on."

"But -"

"Honestly. I don't mind."

He could see your shoulder visibly sag with relief and you continued to explain to him as you walked down stone steps towards a small little hut next to the forest.

"What's that?" He asked you, gesturing to the hut.

"You'll see," you replied with a secretive smile. Once you were standing on the front steps of the house, the sound of a dog barking resonated from within. You knocked on the door with force, three times.

"I'm comin', I'm comin'!" A gruff voice responded from within. "Oi Fang, back! Get back, you mangy mutt!" Suddenly, the door swung open and Theodore was taken aback. Before him was a man towering at eight and half feet, a long, gangly beard running down his front, and a rather excited dog at his heel. "Ah right! You told me you were coming down today - and you've brought a friend I see!" The giant man turned towards Theodore with a friendly smile. "Rubeus Hagrid - I be the Groundskeeper. Ah! Don't want to keep you two out here in the cold - come, inside! Inside!"

He ushered the both of you into his hut, which was rather quaint. While Theo's eyes danced across the hut, you were already removing your coat and making yourself comfortable. His eyes fell upon a pine tree sitting in the corner, as well as a pile of boxes sitting next to it. He glanced back towards you and found you placing a kettle on the gas stove and setting out three teacups.

"I thought we'd start with one of my most favorite traditions - decorating the tree. Hagrid keeps a tree in his hut and he's asked me to help him decorate this year!"

"Them boxes over there are filled with ornaments!" Hagrid told them, gesturing to the boxes. Theodore noticed that the dog (Fang, he supposed it's name was) had approached you with a wagging tail and you had bent down to pepper kisses all over it's face. "I really appreciate youse two's help! Tha's why I made some of my famous rock cakes for ya to take back up wit' ya to the castle!"

"Thanks Hagrid, that's really nice of you!" Hagrid handed you a large, bulky package wrapped in a floral tablecloth. You placed it inside the bag you had brought with you. All the while Theodore watched as Hagrid slung some kind of bag around his shoulder and called Fang to join him by the door.

"O' course! Just remember to eat them while they're fresh!" He exclaimed with a chuckle. "Don' want 'em too hard. Ah, anyways, must get going. I've got to do my rounds about the grounds with Fang. You two young'uns have fun."

"Bye Hagrid!" You said as he closed the door behind him, offering a cheery wave. Once Hagrid left, you went back into the kitchen to remove the whistling kettle from the stove and pour the two of you some tea. "Here you go," you said slowly, more focused on not spilling the tea you were handing to Theo than what you were saying.

He took a sip of the tea, swallowed it, and then stared down at the yellowed water. You watched him in amusement, holding back your laughter. "You don't have to drink it if you don't like it."

He placed the cup back down on the table. "That is absolutely abominable," he told you with a sour look, pushing the cup towards you. You laughed, placing down your cup as well.

"It's not the most delicious thing I've ever tasted, but Hagrid found these incredibly rare plants in the forest with healing properties! So he's been using them for tea."

"How did you come about to be friends with the Groundskeeper, I wonder." Theodore pulled out one of the kitchen stools, rather large in comparison to himself. It wasn't easy to sit atop it, but in the end he triumphed over the chair.

You shrugged in response, taking another sip of your tea. "Well, Harry, Ron, and Hermione have known him for ages so they introduced me as well. People are kind of - I don't know - weird about him, but he's honestly lovely and gentle. He's not anything like he seems at first glance." Moving on from that topic, you clapped your hands together excitedly and ran over to the pile of ornament boxes. You separated and opened each and every box, displaying all the different ornaments. Theo approached, scrutinizing the glass balls with the tilt of his head.

"Some of these are . . . interesting, I must say." He grabbed an ornament of a brown bear and turned it around in his hand. You plucked the bear from his hand, placing it back in the box. In your other hand was a long string of tinsel.

"There are a few rules to decorating the tree," you started, walking backwards towards the mantle over the fireplace. You flipped on the radio, Celestina Warbeck's "Nothing Like a Holiday Spell," softly playing in the background. "First, you must listen to Christmas music. Second -" You held up the tinsel in your hand. "- you always do the lights and/or tinsel first. Okay? So, I'm going to need help wrapping this around the tree. I'll stand on one side and wrap it around my half, then I'll hand it to you so you can wrap around your half and you give it back to me, all right? Sound good?"

Theo nodded - this didn't seem too hard, nor unenjoyable. You didn't notice, too caught up in your jolly Christmas spirit to notice the way Nott was fondly watching you humming under your breath, tinsel trailing on the ground behind you as you stood on the opposite side of the tree. Standing on your tip-toes, you leaned up to wrap the tinsel around the top branch but struggled. When he noticed you were getting nothing out of your efforts, Theo walked behind you and grabbed the tinsel out of your hand. His chest was pressed against your back as he reached up with ease and wrapped the tinsel around the first branch.

You froze when he had come up behind you, a blush painting your cheeks. It wasn't your fault he had decided to come so close and that he was so damn attractive. You did your best to hide how flustered you suddenly felt, no matter how dimly veiled.

He didn't seem to notice, preoccupied with wrapping the tinsel around the top area of the tree that you were too short to reach. "Uh, thanks. Just, um, when you're wrapping the tinsel, make sure you don't wrap it too tight or too close to another row, okay?"

"I'll keep that in mind," he responded absent-mindedly, brows furrowed as he gave his task the upmost attention. He wanted to make the tree look perfect, just for you. He was trying to figure out how he should space the rows - as of now, are they too close together or too far apart? Maybe he should separate them a little.

"Don't think too much about it. It's not supposed to be perfect," you said, as though reading his thoughts. You grabbed the tinsel and began to wrap it around again. You handed it to Nott, who wrapped it around his side of the tree and handed it back to you. "It's supposed to look imperfect and wonky and unusual - that's what makes it your Christmas tree. Trying to make it look perfect takes all the fun out of it."

"So . . . the uniqueness is what makes it special?" he asked as he took the tinsel from you yet again. You were pretty special . . . unique. You stood out from your peers. Maybe that's why he was attracted to you - all his life, he was pushed for excellence. He was pushed to be perfect all the time and finding someone like you, so free-spirited and imperfect, well . . . he couldn't help but admire you.

"Yeah, exactly!" When you handed him the tinsel again, you said, "well, we're getting near the bottom. Just hand me the - yeah, the tinsel." You took the tinsel again and bent down as you wrapped it around the bottom of the tree. He followed you to the other side of the tree, preparing to finish the job once you passed the tinsel to him. "And I'll just finish this - oh!"

He hadn't realized you were planning on finishing the tinsel yourself and the two of you walked straight into each other. Your noses accidentally brushed together, your lips only centimeters away from his. You noticed an odd sort of glance in his eyes. It disappeared only a second later, but you were certain you saw it. A hunger, a longing. Like he wanted to kiss you.

"Sorry," he mumbled, not moving from where he was bending down.

"Yeah," you said breathlessly, quickly standing straight and clearing your throat. It must have been a flicker of light - there was no way the Theodore Nott liked someone like you. He was prim and proper, you were disorganized and eccentric. Not exactly a match made in heaven, especially in the eyes of his parents. "Sorry . . ."

You couldn't think clearly after that - all that was on your mind was a tall, quiet, brown-haired Slytherin boy who hated Christmas. But his especially those lips of his. Pink, full, just begging for a moment of your attention. Scenes in your mind played our what could have happened if either of you had made a move. Many ended with both of you in rather interesting positions.

Maybe it had just been you. Or maybe there was a spark there. You hoped, you dreamed, that he was feeling exactly how you were. You held onto this hope as you left your common room and rushed down the Grand Stairs to the Great Hall. You had another grand adventure in mind.

"What is on the roster for today?" Theodore had asked when you met him by the tall, oak doors of the Great Hall. The two of you set off towards the courtyard path.

"It's a suprise, silly!"

"Ah, suprises."

"What, you don't like suprises?"

"I didn't say that."

"How can you not like suprises?"

"If you don't mind me asking . . . why aren't you home for the holiday break?" Theodore asked as you slowly made your descent into Hogsmeade. He was kicking at the snow with his feet, secretly nervous. "You're not usually here."

"You've been stalking me, have you?" You replied with a wicked grin, remembering your first encounter. Theo flushed a bright red, his ears turning an especially poinsettia-like red. "I'm just joking." You sighed, your grin turning to a dismal frown. "Yeah, usually I'm at home for the holi's, but my parents are both away on buisness for work . . . so I had to stay here this year."

"You don't want to," he stated simply. You grimaced, shaking your head.

"Nope. I just want to sleep in my bed, my real bed, and wake up home on Christmas morning, surrounded by my family. But I'm stuck here." You sighed - talking about this didn't make you feel much better. You decided to brighten things up, sending a grin Theo's way. "At least I have you, Nott."

He stopped you. "Theo," he said, staring at you with those dark, alluring hazel eyes. "It's what all my friends call me," he added sheepishly.

The corners of your lips curled up, your heart fluttering like a fall leaf in the wind. "Theo," you repeated softly. "Well, Theo . . . perfect timing. We're here." You looked towards the shop on your right, the exterior wood painted a forest green with faded lettering. The window was frosted over, Hamilton depicting the festive scene inside. Warm fairy lights floated around the window, a variety of holiday-themed presents and objects on display not three inches from their eyes. "Holiday store. Perfect for getting gifts and getting in the holiday cheer."

"This was here all this time?" Theo asked.

You made a grand gesture towards the entire road you were standing upon. "I like to call this the Forgotten District. Great stores, but only the locals come here really. A fair few students know of it, but not many. Let's go inside."

You swung open the door, keeping it open with your foot as you entered so that Theo could enter right behind you. Though the ceilings were low and the room was so filled with whimsical trinkets and do-dads that it did feel a bit tight inside. "Hi Fred, how're you doing?"

"Good, good, and you?" Replied the man standing at the registers. He was a rosy-cheeked, middle-aged man with a round belly who looked rather friendly indeed. Almost like Saint Nicholas come to life.

"Great! This is my friend Theo! I'm introducing him to Christmas."

"Introducing him?" Fred responded in disbelief, looking towards Theo as though he were a puppy that had been ran over by a car. "My dear boy, you must have a look around. Take any one item you'd like with you, for free, I insist."

"Thank you, sir." As Theo gradually made his way into the shop, scrutinizing every little object, whether it was a spinning top or a rocking chair. You sent Fred a wide grin behind Theo's back, gesturing towards him with excitement. When Theo turned around, you stopped and quickly made your way to his side.

"Find anything eye-catching?" You asked, your exuberant mood quite obvious to all who could see you. You were grinning, watching Theo with that child-like wonder, standing on the balls of your feet while you took a good look at the place. You let out a gasp and grabbed a cute snowman mug. "Look at this! This is cute. You know, Mrs. Weasley would probably love this."

While you began to chatter on, grabbing various items and displaying them to him with starry-eyes, he couldn't help but watch with a sense of fondness. At some point, you realized he was staring at you oddly and paused. "What?" You asked with an awkward laugh, wiping your mouth with edge of your sleeve. "Is there something on my face?"

Unsure how to recover from having so blatantly worn his heart on his chest, looks away from you, his gaze void of any emotion now. "Nothing."

With each passing day, his fondness and adoration for you grew. You were so bright and exuberant, so careless in the way you bestowed that angelic smile of yours upon anyone. He felt honored, still, that he was a receptor of one.

You had begun to spend a lot of time together. Sneaking into the library and nabbing plenty of reading material, wandering about the castle and grounds, stealing food from the kitchens. However, whatever else you had planned to convince him that Christmas was indeed, gay with yuletide cheer, had not yet occurred.

You both were spread along couches by the fire in the Slytherin Common room, void of people except for the both of you. You laughed and talked until your lungs couldn't handle the action anymore - he was the first to fill the silence.

"My mother . . . she had loved Christmas," Theo said softly, his head still hanging off the couch. "As soon as November 1st came around, she would pull the decorations out of the cellar and start putting them up. Father insisted that she let the house elves do it, but she was firm in the belief that decorating was a holiday tradition that we should all celebrate together. It was her favorite time of year."

His tone sounded almost . . . sad. You pushed yourself onto your elbows and watched him. His eyes were just glazed over, water bubbling at the edges of his vision. "Your mother -"

"She's dead," he said in an empty tone of voice. Suddenly, as though realizing himself, he wiped his eyes and sat up. "Sorry, I don't really talk about that with anyone. I shouldn't have -"

"No, no, it's okay," you assured him with a kind smile. "I don't mind. Tell me more about your mom, she sounds really cool."

He hesitated, fidgeting with his fingers, before he ran his hand through his hair and leaned back on the couch. "One year when I was a young boy, she got me Fiabe italiane a cara di Italo Calvino for Christmas, or Italian Folklores by Italo Calvino. She would read it to me every night. After my mother . . . died, my father tried to erase everything that reminded him of her. Including that book."

"Oh no," you whispered, a hand hovering over your mouth.

He gave you a grimaced smile. "Yeah, but it's been so many years . . . I don't really care that much anymore, it's not a big deal."

To you, however, it seemed like a very big deal.

On Christmas morning, you woke up extra early and gathered your presents. You knew you looked ridiculous - hair frizzy and wild, still dressed in pajamas, presents flying in the air behind you. Finally, you entered the Slytherin common room and clambered up the stairs to the boy's dormitory, finding Theo's room.

Your pounding upon the door startled him awake and he practically ran to the door to yell at whoever decided to wake him at this ungodly hour. Instead, he found someone he didn't expect to be there at all - you.

"Merry Christmas Theo!" You shouted in excitement, throwing your arms around his neck. In your fervor, your focus was drawn away from the hovering presents and they soon clattered to the floor. He swung an arm around you, envolping himself in you, but you pulled away too soon to look back at your presents. "Oops."

"Merry Christmas," he responded, quite late due to the fact thatft he had just woken up. He opened the door wide so you could enter, and you sauntered inside with your presents hovering behind you once more. You say down on the floor, placing your presents gracefully down in front of you. He closed the door and turned to see you watching him expectantly.

He hadn't opened presents with anyone before, at least, not since his mother was alive. He had thought at first that he would be upset, you falling into his life and pushing him back into the world of Christmas . . . but he found that he actually enjoyed your company. More than he liked to admit. "Do you . . . want to open presents together?"

You flashed him a toothy grin. "Why else did you think I came over here, silly? Come on!" You patted the ground in front of you.

He shuffled over, gathering the small cluster of presents by his bed next to yours, and seating himself on the ground. "You go first."

"All right then." You grabbed an oddly-shaped parcel that looked like a lump of under-cooked bread. You unwrapped it with care, making sure not to tear the packaging. You pulled out a forest green sweater with the initial of your name and a container filled with mince pies. "It's from Mrs. Weasley! She knits sweaters every year for all her kids and their friends." You raised it to your nose with a content sigh. "Smells like her cooking too. All right, now you go on!"

Theod can't remember the last time he had recieved a homeade present, from someone so kind and motherly. He pulled a neatly-wrapped parcel towards him and unwrapped it, revealing a set of books he'd been wanting for a while. From Blaise. Don't go reading it all at once :)

"See? Opening presents can be fun!" The two of you continued to unwrap presents, chatting about what you had gotten. Finally, a wrapped present sat in front of you - both of you stared at it.

"You're not going to open it?" Theo asked. You shook your head with a knowing smile, pushing it towards him bashfully.

"Actually . . . it's for you," you said slowly with a nod of your head. Nervously, you glanced at him, trying to read his expression. He looked rather . . . confused.

"You didn't have to get me anything," he said, pulling the present into his lap. He stared down at it stubbornly, because he felt too guilty accepting a present from you.

"Oh go on, open it!" You encouraged, nudging him. He couldn't help but smile at your excitement, nothing the way you fidgeting in anticipation.

"All right, all right," he responded, raising his hands in mock defense. He untied the ribbon and gently unwrapped the present, making sure not to tear the paper. He froze once he saw what was sitting in his lap, staring up at him.

You watched him with trepidation. You didn't go to far, did you? You hoped that - well, you weren't sure what you hoped, but you wanted him to treasure the gift. You wanted him to say something, but didn't dare question him. You were afraid of his reaction.

"Fiabe italiane," he spoke softly, running his fingers along the spine of the book. It didn't have the weathered grooves his mother's copy had, but it felt like home. He turned towards you with an expression of disbelief. "How - you didn't have too -"

You offered a sheepsih shrug. "I wanted too. You sounded so . . . happy when you talked about your mother. But also sad, so I thought this might cheer you up. Brighten up Christmas a bit."

Theo kept staring at you with an odd expression - you weren't sure what to expect from him. You certainly didn't expect his lips to smash against yours, resting his hand on your thigh. The suddenness of the kiss left you in shock, unable to move. He took this as a sign that you were uncomfortable and unreceptive. But, as soon as he pulled away, you grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pressed a kiss to his lips, soft and tender. You couldn't help but smile as you pulled away and you noticed that his eyes had lost that melancholic darkness and was instead replaced with something much more merry.

"I think I'm starting to like Christmas."

You giggled, bringing a wide grin to his usually stoic face. "C'mere," you said, pulling him into a cuddle. "As long as I'm here, I will make sure that every Christmas you have is filled with love and comfort. All right?"

He glanced up from where you had buried his face in your shoulder. "You're amazing, you know that?" He asked, starry-eyed.

You offered a mock uncaring shrug. "I know." You were both silent before you burst out into laughter. "I'm not." As Theo started to protest, you interrupted him. "No really! I'm not, I'm just showing you what a caring relationship is like."

"I still think you're amazing." He paused. "I'm glad we ran into each other."

You glanced down at him and brushed the hair out his face, pecking him on the nose. "Me too."

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actual-changeling · 4 months

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A small 'this is how you use tumblr' for the people that haven't been here very long. These are in no particular order, and if you have any questions, feel free to ask them!

Since I probably did not mention a lot of things, you are welcome to add to this post with your own advice.

a) Reblog posts. if you like it, reblog it. even if you have zero followers and ESPECIALLY if it's art or writing of any kind. We will see the reblog in our notifications and that alone brings joy. One reblog can start a chain and push the post onto many people's dashes.

b) Tumblr is not a very functional website, if you want to survive without losing your mind, there are two things you need: xkit rewritten and dashboard unfucker. Play around with the settings until it is to your liking. Additionally, change to firefox if you haven't already and install ublock origin to get rid of ads, tracking etc.

c) If you go to your settings (account! not blog) you can find this under dashboard at the bottom. Turn off at the very least 'best stuff first' since that will fuck up your dash and not give you posts in chronological order.

The rest are a perfonal preference but it will keep your dash tidy and easy to control if you turn them off, too.

d) Apropos settings—get a profile picture, a header, write something human in your bio, anything. Otherwise people will assume you are a bot and block you on sight.

e) Blocking! Do it generously and whenever you want, this is how you keep whatever remains of your sanity. It's not a lethal offense, it is (usually) not even seen as rude or anything along those lines. You block people and they block you and everyone is happy.

f) Under account settings you will find this:

Just like with blocking, use both options to your heart's content.

g) Tumblr is not like other social media platforms, spam liking & reblogging and going three years deep into someone's account is NORMAL and encouraged. You can search a blog by post type, tags, or even go to the archive and scroll through the posts there.

h) Lastly—interaction. We already went over reblogging (I mean it, REBLOG), but there are also replies and asks. If you add something to someone else's post please behave like a kind human being and don't be an asshole; based on my experience, that's easier said than done. On top of that, the tags are ALSO used for communication, go unhinged, ramble, leave your thoughts, or simply use them for organisational purposes. Everyone loves a good insane tag wall.

An open inbox (either anonymously or with your blog attached) is to be used! Please send people asks if they have them active, use it like DMs or a comment section, use it to recommend something, ask questions, participate in an ask or prompt game—we love asks here.

(We do not like harassment in our inboxes, same rules as above.)

#alex yells at the void #tumblr culture #fandom culture #tumblr in a nutshell #how tf do I tag this. anyway #i know a lot of new people followed me after good omens 2 and still are #so this is for y'all!

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gaywatch · 3 months

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So I started watching the first episode of The Sign, right? I'd had it on my computer for a couple/few days and couldn't immediately remember what it was actually about, but I knew it was a new Thai BL genre mashup thing I'd seen on my dash and that's good enough for me.

A team of special agents infiltrate a big warehouse/facility place at night. Okay. Cool. There are bombs and a hostage? Sure. One guy tells other guys what to do, so he must be the leader, and he tells a few guys to focus on the bombs and the others to find the hostage. They encounter bad guys when they get inside, and some of the fight choreo is cool and some of it is absurd, but I'm just happy to be seeing an action-oriented BL series and I've seen worse crimes committed by a low budget, no big deal.

But it's been a few minutes into the first episode now, and I'm starting to wonder a few things. We have stakes, technically: there are bombs and a hostage--it would be bad if the bombs went off while the team was inside because they would get hurt or killed, and by default we don't want to see a hostage harmed.

But we have no context. At all. I'm five minutes in and I know nothing. Who's the hostage? Who are the bad guys? What do the bad guys want? Why do I care? I'm assuming this is like some quick action-y beginning and we'll cut to a main character at some point to see the "real" first scene of the show, but now it's been like seven minutes and we're still here in this warehouse place. If the special ops team are supposed to be the cast, I haven't heard a single scrap of dialogue that wasn't about the task at hand. I haven't even seen anyone's face yet.

Tagging @bengiyo, @lurkingshan 'cause they were interested in a side comment I made about this in some tags.

Even when they finally start to pull up their masks and talk, it's all immediate business (which is somewhat understandable given they're in danger but we're still lacking important context). Who am I rooting for? Who are these dudes? Why is this one sequence taking over ten minutes without giving me anything or anyone to latch onto? Are they assuming I read a blurb on the premise of the show and then immediately hit play? Because that's a cardinal sin--you never assume that everyone who watches your show or reads your book will know the premise, even in this day and age. You always lay in the necessary exposition/context to immediately anchor the audience into the premise and main character (or cast). (The only time you can assume everyone already knows at least the broad strokes of a concept is in fanfiction, but even then there could still be changes you made that you need to clue people in on from the get go. )

Then Tharn got his first premonition about Phaya, and I was like 'ohhhh, this is a story about a guy with some form of precognition who's in some sort of special forces. I wish they could have brought this up ten minutes ago, but okay.'

And finally, the big reveal: it's all a test! They're trainees, not officers! Well, that certainly explains why we got zero context all this time, because they didn't want to give away The Trick. Except it didn't feel like a clever rug pull at all. Worrying that the audience will clue in to what's going on doesn't mean you get to just Not Tell Them. You mislead them instead. The team could have easily rattled off the necessary details and context about the mission--after the training reveal, we would have chalked it up to practice mission prep. And with no context or reason to care about anything, I sat there for fifteen minutes only to be told that I didn't have to care anyway because it was all staged.

I would have taken any context, even something super cliche and ham fisted. "Okay boys, remember: our old mission commander is being held hostage in there and they'll kill him unless we hand over their psychotic leader. It took us weeks to track them down to this warehouse, and if they escape again it's game over. Don't let me down!" or something, anything for me to latch onto besides Dudes Doing Things. It's okay to mislead the audience, in fact you pretty much have to in order to pull the well worn "it was all an exercise" trick in the first place.

And fifteen minutes to pull all that off was a rather astonishing waste of screen time. The opening scene in the 2009 reboot of Star Trek establishes a handful of characters, makes you care about them, takes them through an amazing high stakes action sequence, and has you in tears at the end as we watch a guy we've only known for a few minutes sacrifice himself to save what's left of the crew as the film's protagonist--his son--is literally born, and it does all of that in almost half the time.

Compare that to The Sign, where in fifteen minutes we know: dudes in black fight things, one guy has premonitions, and actually they're trainees. No complexity, emotional stakes, or context beyond that. I was floored.

But what really made my jaw drop came after that.

A first episode has a lot of heavy lifting to do. You're introducing a world, a cast, promising the type of fun that's to be had, kickstarting the central relationships, etc etc. One of the most fundamental aspects to all this set up is to let us know why the main character/cast is here, what they're trying to do, and why it matters if they fail. And the entire first episode of the sign doesn't have that. At all. Period.

Oh, we're introduced to characters, the harsh training, Tharn's gift, Tharn and Phaya's initial dynamic, but once again we're given no context or emotionally relevant exposition. Who are these dudes? Why are they training? Why do they care about becoming special ops? What's their motivation? Goals? Obstacles in the way of that goal? Motive/Goal/Obstacle is the engine of story, and we're not given a single one until--and this is what blew my mind--almost halfway through the second episode.

In episode two we finally get a line from Tharn's bff about how if Tharn doesn't get onto the special ops team he won't be able to investigate his dad's (parents? can't remember) mysterious death.

A goal! A reason to care about Tharn's training! Emotional investment! Except it's coming way, way, wayyyyyyyyyyy too late. We should have known about this in the first five minutes of episode one. They should've found another fake hostage, Tharn should've lifted his mask and said "shit, if we fail this I'll never have what I need to find out how dad died." THANK YOU, now I have a reason to care.

I was shocked at such a massive oversight, like I'm gonna remember it as a cautionary example for a long time 'cause that's just wild to me.

#The Sign #critical #GW Essays

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dashboarddiaries · 2 years

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DASHBOARD DIARIES, EPISODE 1 - Tumblr, the Supernatural Website

In our inaugural episode, we delve into our own Tumblr origin stories and skim the surface of one of Tumblr's longest lasting fandoms: Supernatural. Warning: many, many incorrect things are said about Supernatural in this episode. Proceed at your own risk. And drop questions/comments/corrections about ways Dean Winchester has died in our ask box or email us at [email protected]!

Find the posts discussed in this episode in this tag!

Credits and transcript under the cut. You can find transcripts for this, and every other episode, here.

Dashboard Diaries is a production of Atypical Artists, hosted by Lauren Shippen and Cherokee McAnelly. Our theme was composed by Lauren Shippen and mixed by Brandon Grugle. Art by Shae McMullin. Transcription (which can be found on our Tumblr) by Laudable.

[intro music]

Lauren: Hello, last of the classically trained tumblr’inas. I’m Lauren Shippen, professional writer, and veteran stucky shipper, who is surrounded by not one, not two, but three artistic renderings of the line, “I’ll be with you until the end of the line.” I like to surround myself in stucky love.

Cherokee: I am Cherokee McAnelly, professional tumblr’er and veteran Twihard, who once brought a team threesome sign to a midnight viewing of Eclipse. And I’ve also re-blogged more than 50,000 posts not all about Twilight, but there’s an influence.

Lauren: Wow. That’s, that is hefty.

Cherokee: You know ... Can’t stop. Won’t stop.

Lauren: And this is Dashboard Diaries, your deep dive guide into the wild, wonderful world of Tumblr. And this is our first episode, Cherokee.

Cherokee: I’m excited. Are you excited?

Lauren: Me too. I’m so excited.

Cherokee: I feel great. (laughs)

Lauren: And for this first week, this Episode Zero, if you will, we’re gonna hit on some Tumblr classics and also talk about our own relationship to this wonderful website. I guess to start us off, Cherokee, do you want to tell me about what the last week on Tumblr was like for you?

Cherokee: Absolutely.

Lauren: We’ll start there and we’ll work our way back to the origin story.

Cherokee: I would love nothing more, Lauren. So, this has been a big week on Tumblr, as it always is. Last week, Stranger Things - Part II premiere. And we did a big Stranger Things takeover. It was fun. I spent my entire day re-blogging community posts about Stranger Things. And this week has really been about Eddie. Big Eddie week, I would say.

Lauren: Yep.

Cherokee: And on top of that, and most recently, Thor: Love and Thunder came out today.

Lauren: Yes.

Cherokee: I have not seen it yet. But I did do some light scrolling to prepare for this and I have sadly seen spoilers, but I’m kind of okay with it just because I feel a little more attached now.

Lauren: Yeah, that is a risk that we take when we scroll our dash. And a risk you take listening to this podcast. Let’s be honest. We might get into some spoiler territory. I also saw a bunch of Stranger Things stuff this past week. And I did watch the entire Volume II of Stranger Things in, like, a day. So, I was prepared to dive into the Tumblr world. And have been seeing mostly Eddie.

Cherokee: Yeah.

Lauren: A lot of love for Eddie.

Cherokee: I think Eddie is perhaps blorbo of the week?

[fanfare music]

Lauren: He might be.

Cherokee: He’s big. I feel attached to Eddie. I also watched Stranger Things Part II in one sitting and have a lot of emotions about it.

Lauren: Yeah. (laughs)

Cherokee: Yeah.

Lauren: I ... Oh man, speaking of a lot of emotions. I guess this is a little bit of a spoiler for a specific scene in Stranger Things Volume II finale. The scene with Max and Lucas and the house ... That got me real good. I was crying pretty hard at that. Just some fantastic acting from those two actors.

Cherokee: Oh my gosh, truly incredible. I did have to pause it to breathe a couple times. Sometimes when scenes are a little too intense-

Lauren: Mm hmm (Affirmative)

Cherokee: ... intense, you take a step back, take a moment, before ...

Lauren: Yeah, you maybe gotta stand up and walk around your apartment. Take a lap before coming back to it.

Cherokee: And that’s when Vecna gets you. That’s when you’re most vulnerable.

Lauren: Yes. Yeah.

Cherokee: What would your Vecna song be? What would get you out of The Upside Down?

Lauren: I’ve been listening to the Boys of Summer cover by Atari a lot recently. (laughs)

Cherokee: Specific and I love it.

Lauren: Yeah, so I feel like that could get me out of Vecna’s grip in the here and now. That’s what I’m feeling currently. What about you?

Cherokee: Well, I’ll preface with roughly quoting a Tumblr post, which said if I’m stuck in The Upside Down, just let me go because I can’t for the lift of me pick one song.

Lauren: (laughs)

Cherokee: And honest ... there are two. And I’m still gonna say two. I think they would be equal. Dreams, by The Cranberries.

Lauren: Oh, great song.

Cherokee: And Torn, by Natalie Imbruglia.

Lauren: Oh! Great song!

Cherokee: Two favs. I think those would help me get out.

Lauren: A strong showing from the ‘90s here in this podcast recording today.

Cherokee: Yeah. I mean, always. I would always run back to ‘90s. What, ‘90s kind of like rock pop. Pop rock? I don’t know. I love The Cranberries.

Lauren: Yeah.

Cherokee: And I love Torn, by Natalie Imbruglia. I couldn’t name another one of her songs but Torn, I mean, that’s all you need.

Lauren: That’s all you need. That’s all you need.

Cherokee: Look at that. Yes.

Lauren: We are two nineties babies.

Cherokee: On the same wavelength.

Lauren: And we understand each other. (laughs)

Cherokee: (laughs)

Lauren: While we’re delving into the depths of our past, I feel because it’s our first episode, we should talk about our Tumblr bona fide’s. You know? How long have you been on the site? What has your relationship to the site been? Give me the whole bio.

Cherokee: Oh, we go way back. We’ve had ups. We’ve had downs. We’ve had preppy eras.

Lauren: Sure. (laughs)

Cherokee: (laughs)

Lauren: The hipster, girly things phase of Tumbler.

Cherokee: Yes. I’ve changed now. Just not for the better, unfortunately.

Lauren: (laughs)

Cherokee: I actually was going back on my archive to prepare for this pilot recording and I realized I’ve been on Tumblr ten and a half years now. So, big anniversary.

Lauren: (whistles)

Cherokee: I joined in January of 2012.

Lauren: Wow.

Cherokee: And ...

Lauren: Congratulations.

Cherokee: I mean, thank you.

Lauren: Ten years.

Cherokee: It’s been an honor, really, to haunt the halls of the dashboard. (laughs) If you will. But yeah, I actually looked back at my first ever post was an extremely high contrast early Instagram, like square photo of the beach that I’d added the Veranda filter onto or something. You know?

Lauren: Oh, perfect.

Cherokee: I feel like the perfect way to kick myself off, or kick it off on Tumblr. I actually got on Tumblr because my freshman year of college I decided, “Look, I’m going to reinvent myself.” She’s different. She’s 18. She lives in New York now.

Lauren: (laughs)

Cherokee: My style needed to change, too. And I was saving inspo for outfits and whatever in a Word document like a collage.

Lauren: Oh ... my ... goodness.

Cherokee: Yes. And my freshman college roommate who is my best friend to this day ... So, she introduced me to Tumblr ... said, “What the hell are you doing?” And I was like, “Oh-“

Lauren: [crosstalk 00:06:23]

Cherokee: “I think I need a room transfer if you’re going to continue doing whatever this is.”

Lauren: (laughs)

Cherokee: And she was like, “You’re gonna be shocked. I need to tell you about Tumblr.”

Lauren: What a good friend.

Cherokee: And so, yeah. And then I got on Tumblr and never stopped. And have not stopped as it turns out.

Lauren: And now work for Tumblr.

Cherokee: Yeah.

Lauren: I mean, you’ve turned that love of Tumblr into a job.

Cherokee: Indeed I did. They can’t get rid of me. They tried. Not actually. So, essentially I interned there my senior year of college and they didn’t have any open roles after I left and I really wanted to work there. So, I essentially just kept refreshing the jobs page and going to every single event possible. Like, they had happy hours, they had stuff, I was there all the time. My new internship was a few blocks down the street. And finally a job role opened. I applied within probably seconds of it opening.

Lauren: Incredible.

Cherokee: And thankfully got hired as the on-boarding associate.

Lauren: Ooh.

Cherokee: When they were presenting me at All Team, our team meeting where they introduce new people, multiple people came up after and were like, “You left after your internship? We were not aware, ‘cause you are always here.”

Lauren: (laughs)

Cherokee: (laughs) And so that is the story of how I got my job at Tumblr. I just hung around enough honestly. (laughs) Everyone interviewing me was like, “You seem dedicated enough. I don’t really have many questions for you. I feel like you get it. You’re here anyway. So, we might as well add you to payroll.”

Lauren: Yeah, might as well put you to work.

Cherokee: Yeah. How about you?

Lauren: I have been on Tumblr a long time. I joined sometime in late 2008, early 2009. So, it’s been 13 or 14 years for me on this website. And I never left. I never left. And that’s partly because I just sort of move from hyper fixation to hyper fixation. So, I always have a fandom that I’m obsessing over.

But I also just really like the vibes in there. You know? Is the one social media that I’ve had since I was a teenager that I never want to give up. And I also just love diving into parts of Tumblr that I’m not necessarily a community member of. Many years ago now at this point, this would have been 2013, 2014 through 2016, 2017, I had a YouTube series, which you can no longer find, because I scrubbed it from the internet, called “According to Tumblr,” which was me trying to explain Tumblr fandom’s or trying to explain TV shows, books series, et cetera, based on what I was reading in the Tumblr tag. So, trying to summarize TV shows basically based on what the fandom is talking about.

So, it was a humorous series about differences between fandom and canon and all of that kind of stuff. And that’s sort of also how this podcast started. (laughs) Because I came to you a couple months ago and then said, “I kind of wanna bring this back in some form,” and you were so game. Because you feel as passionately about Tumblr as I do.

Cherokee: No, I am obsessed with Tumblr. It is unfortunately/fortunately imbedded in my personality at this point.

Lauren: (laughs)

Cherokee: I love it so much. I talk about it all the time. My friends are definitely ... which my entire friend group, by the way, were/are Tumblr employees largely.

Lauren: Right, of course.

Cherokee: We stick together. But yeah, they’re probably very tired of me talking about Tumblr constantly. Because it’s, “What’s going on this week? Guess what? Miss Marvel premiered.” Whatever it is, I’ve already ... (laughs)

Lauren: Yeah.

Cherokee: So, yeah, I’m really excited to be really earnest with you biweekly.

Lauren: And while you work for Tumblr, this is not an official Tumblr podcast. I feel like we should mention that disclaimer. But it’s got the Tumblr stamp of approval, as it were. They’re happy we’re doing it.

Cherokee: Yeah, it’s like a friendship.

Lauren: They’re into it.

Cherokee: Yeah.

Lauren: It is.

Cherokee: But yeah, this is just me fangirling over the place that I already work, as it turns out. But this is not an advertisement, folks. This is just being miley.

Lauren: Yeah. Pure earnest excitement. All Tumblr, all the time.

Cherokee: Always be fixating.

Lauren: Always be fixating. Oh, that’s great. We should make a sticker with that.

Cherokee: Absolutely. We could add it to the poster, the little [crosstalk 00:10:48].

Lauren: Oh, yes. Yeah. Please go and look at our art. We will post the banner version of it because it is so gorgeous. Shay McMullen, our artist, put all of these beautiful little Tumblr jokes in the art and it’s incredible. And I keep staring at it because I love it so much.

Cherokee: It really is wonderful. I almost made it my LinkedIN header and I was thinking, “Is that too far, perhaps?” It’s not my whole identity, maybe? It was a consideration, though. Maybe I’ll just make it my computer background to really ...

Lauren: Yeah. I mean, listen ...

Cherokee: Experience it.

Lauren: This is the first episode. There’s plenty of time. All right. One segment that we are going to be doing repeatedly on this show is dashboard confessionals.

[guitar riff]

Which is when we dive into our own Tumblr archive and pick something at random that we were blogging about X years ago on this date or on any random date. So, Cherokee, what do you have for me?

Cherokee: I have something that I also just Slacked to you, or messaged to you, via Zoom so that you can experience it as well.

Lauren: Excellent. (laughs)

Cherokee: It is an oldie but a goodie. The post is, “I love high contrast photos of fruit floating threateningly in the night.” I’m sure if you’ve been on Tumblr for any number of hours you have likely seen this one.

Lauren: Mm hmm (Affirmative).

Cherokee: And someone replies, “I don’t believe such a thing exists.” And Coco Lou who is the OP said, “Of course it does exist,” and shared some high contrast photos of fruit floating threateningly in the night. Which I think should also perhaps be a tongue twister that people do before, I don’t know, recording a podcast.

Lauren: No kidding. It’s really amazing how it’s impossible to image based on the description what that photo would look like, and then you see the photo and you’re like, “Oh yeah, that is fruit floating threatening in the night.”

Cherokee: Obviously. Yeah. (laughs)

Lauren: That’s exactly what that is.

Cherokee: Honestly, it may be one of my favorite classic Tumblr posts. I think I re-blogged this in 2013.

Lauren: It’s been a long time since I’ve seen it. Thank you for bringing it back into my life. Because I do very much enjoy it.

Cherokee: You’re so welcome, to be threatened by that fruit. My gift to you.

Lauren: It’s very threatening.

Cherokee: And we will be re-blogging it to DashboardDiaries.Tumblr.com – so you, too, can be threatened by fruit floating in the night.

Lauren: (laughs) So, seven years ago I re-blogged on this day a compilation of Jean Ralphio singing. I will also re-blog that to our DashboardDiaries.Tumblr.com because it is excellent. If you are unfamiliar with Jean Ralphio, he is Ben Schwartz’s character from Parks and Rec. He is probably most famous for, “the worst.” That’s kind of his tagline. And also, “Don’t be suspicious.” Don’t Be Suspicious with Jenny Slate. It’s fantastic. Just so many good moments.

Cherokee: I love Jean Ralphio and Ben Schwartz. That character ... one of my all time favorite television characters, to be honest.

Lauren: I mean, so meme-able.

Cherokee: So meme-able.

Lauren: Even now, today, in 2022 we are still meme’ing Jean Ralphio and I think that’s beautiful. What was your very first fandom on Tumblr would you say, that you kind of participated in or were very active as a viewer?

Cherokee: Hmm. Very first fandom that I participated in on Tumblr ... Gosh, what a multilayered question. Because honestly my first few years on Tumblr I was want to say in the preppy lifestyle fandom.

Lauren: Mm hmm (Affirmative).

Cherokee: I re-blogged all the, “If you’re a preppy blog follow this.” And that was my jam. But I think when I started actually working at Tumblr, which was in 2014 and I became full time in 2015. That was when a lot of ... I think that was around the time that Thor: Ragnarok came out in 2016. And so the MCU, especially Taika Waititi and his tie in to the MCU. I really participated very, very actively in that fandom. And I would also say another fandom that is a little, I don’t know ... I don’t know if you would even consider it a fandom. I would. I think the 2000s and ‘90s fandom, in general.

Lauren: Yes.

Cherokee: Like, 2000 ish is one of my favorite Tumblr’s. And I just really love the kind of like throwback, Lindsay McGuire, and That’s So Raven kind of content.

Lauren: Yeah.

Cherokee: I think the nostalgia in 2000 ish fandom is the one that really I started with and have continued through. But if we’re talking about specifics I would say the MCU just in general I think that me starting, working at Tumblr and being just really into the MCU kind of probably aligned very well. [crosstalk 00:15:45]

Lauren: MCU is a great fandom to be on Tumblr for because, what, it’s been around for as long as Tumblr has. I mean, because Iron Man came out in 2008 and Tumblr launched in, what, 2007, 2008? So, they come hand in hand. And also there’s always something going on which is really nice. There’s always a new thing being added to the MCU. Which is fabulous.

Cherokee: Always something MC-new.

Lauren: (laughs) In case it’s not clear by this point, Cherokee will be the pun captain of this show.

Cherokee: I apologize.

Lauren: You are so good at coming up with puns. No, it’s great. I love it. I love it.

Cherokee: No, it’s a passion, I would say. If I was in that fandom, too, I would say ... I mean, I was once a semi finalist at the Punderdome, not to brag.

Lauren: Is that a thing? Are you making another pun or is this is a real thing?

Cherokee: It is a thing. No, unfortunately, it is a thing, and it is a thing I’ve done multiple times.

Lauren: Please explain this to me.

Cherokee: (laughs) So, the Punderdome, it was, pre pandemic, I’m not sure if it’s still happening, but every Tuesday in Brooklyn there was this free-for-all pun competition. It went for four hours. Anyone could join-

Lauren: Oh ... my ... god.

Cherokee: ... you had to ... But there were people who had been punning there monthly for years. And essentially how it worked was everyone, you’re called up on stage in kind of like waves, groups of six, and you’re given a topic. For example, “old Hollywood.” And you have a whiteboard and you have 90 seconds to write down as many puns as you can think of that tie into this and then you have to go up and say your puns, but in kind of like a cohesive story kind of way.

So, you would be like, “I was walking down the Marilyn Mon-road today. And what did I see but the Holly woods.” You know? That kind of-

Lauren: Oh my gosh.

Cherokee: ... thing. And it was judged by clapping, essentially. So, a very scientific way to judge it. And the prizes were generally made for TV or “as seen on TV stuff. Really random shit.

Lauren: That’s perfect.

Cherokee: It was excellent in every way. I really actually like being a semifinalist because it did sometimes go till 11:30 at night on a Tuesday and semifinalists, you know, if you get cut you’re out by 9:30, which was a respectable Tuesday evening, I feel.

Lauren: Oh my goodness.

Cherokee: But I hope one day to become a Punderdome winner. That would really be my biggest accomplishment.

Lauren: A real feather in your cap.

Cherokee: Yeah. (laughs)

Lauren: (laughs) That is the most specific form of improve I’ve ever heard of in my life. I love that.

Cherokee: I didn’t even put the two together and now I’m realizing, yeah, it’s just ... Which honestly, if I was going to get into any specific kind of comedy or improve it would be punning. I’m sure. We’ve gotten so sidetracked and I apologize. What were we ... Oh, we were on fandom’s.

Lauren: First fandom’s.

Cherokee: What was your first fandom, if not the punning fandom, Lauren?

Lauren: (laughs) Deep, deep into the punning fandom. I was also very much in not necessarily the preppy side of Tumblr but kind of the aesthetic hipster side of Tumblr. I was really into nice photos and music. I was blogging a lot about music. And I didn’t really get into fandom Tumblr until I guess it had been early middle or college. BBC Sherlock came out in 2010. End of 2010 it came out in America. Because I remember I watched it over Christmas break. And that is absolutely my first Tumblr fandom. It was a slow burn at first. You know? After the first season I dove into some fan fic and dove into following some Sherlock blogs, but there wasn’t a ton of activity going on yet. And then by the end of season two it was just enormous. And I would say SuperWhoLock is a massive part of Tumblr culture. And we’re gonna get to a big part of that later on.

But the Lock part of SuperWhoLock was definitely my initial interaction with SuperWhoLock and also my main fandom. I was not necessarily a very active blogger within the Sherlock fandom, but I followed a bunch. I re-blogged a bunch. I made a couple of memes that did okay notes wise. I won’t tell you which memes they were because then you’ll be able to find all of my old blogs. But, yeah, I had a great time. And I am sure that one of these days we will do an episode on the Johnlock conspiracy because that is a huge part of Tumblr lore. And boy was I inside of that when it was all happening. An insider’s perspective.

Cherokee: I cannot wait for the expose episode on that one. As an outsider, I have thoughts as well of course. Well, an inside-outsider I would say to the SuperWhoLock community. So, you started with Lock and then did you go to Super or Who next?

Lauren: I have always been a scattered viewer of Who. I have not seen every episode. I have seen some episodes of every Doctor. And I’m absolutely going to jump in and watch the new one, because Mizero Ncuti Gatwa from Sex Education, the new doctor, is amazing. I’m obsessed with this character in Sex Education. So, I’m very excited about that. But, yeah, my next fandom of the SuperWhoLock that I dove deep into was our main topic for today.

[game show trill]

Supernatural.

Cherokee: Woo! A show I know so much about.

Lauren: So, my relationship with Supernatural ... For those of you that don’t know what Supernatural is ... (laughs) ... First of all, how did you find this podcast?

Cherokee: Are you okay?

Lauren: And second of all, are you okay? Did you just wake up from a coma? Supernatural is a television show that ran on the WB/EW for 15 years. It ended last year. And is a huge, huge part, even to this day, post the show being on, a massive part of Tumblr culture. And I hadn’t seen the show until about 2016, 2017. But the first video I ever did for recording Tumblr, this YouTube series I used to do, was me trying to explain what I thought the plot of Supernatural was as just as passive Tumblr user who wasn’t even following any Supernatural blogs but still absorbed a lot of Supernatural.

So, we thought for our first episode of the show it would be fun to have Cherokee do the same thing and have you try to explain the plot of Supernatural to me based on Tumblr and as somebody who has never actually seen more than a handful of episodes of the show. Right?

Cherokee: Yes. So, I’ll give you a little context on my experience with Supernatural, ‘cause it does go way back despite me not seeing the vast majority of episodes.

Lauren: We all go way back with Supernatural.

Cherokee: Yeah. If you’ve been on Tumblr for more than a minute or so you go way back with Supernatural. You’re part of the community, I really think. And it is an open and accepting wayward community. I know some things.

Lauren: Oh yeah, you know some things.

Cherokee: (laughs) So, essentially, my first thing I ever did when I started at Tumblr, my first big kind of partnership entertainment kind of campaign was with Misha Collins for Dish Whiz which is the Greatest International Scavenger hunt the world has ever seen, if you’re not familiar. And he does this big scavenger hunt and so we decided to do a virtual one on Tumblr during a Supernatural convention.

Lauren: [inaudible 00:23:14]

Cherokee: And so we were doing this big 48 hour massive scavenger hunt with a whole bunch of the cast of Supernatural involved and people from other shows like Once Upon a Time and shows like that, I think William Shatner briefly was almost involved. He didn’t end up being involved, but that was going to be really exciting. But anyway, so I went to this Supernatural convention and spent 48 hours locked in a conference room with Misha Collins. Locked ... no, I was willingly having a great time in this conference room. But essentially running this scavenger hunt. And so one of my co-workers, the great Amanda Brenan, who you also may – if you’ve been on Tumblr for a while – be familiar with.

Lauren: Love Amanda!

Cherokee: We love Amanda.

Lauren: She’s fantastic.

Cherokee: She’s a gem. Our meme librarian was her title at the time. I think it might still continue to be.

Lauren: Incredible.

Cherokee: Icon. And she is also a huge Supernatural fan. She said, “Look, you can’t go to this unless you have seen key Supernatural episodes.” So, this was back in 2016. I can’t even remember the specific episode she showed me anymore. I think it was maybe the first episode and then a few ... I think she picked five and we booked a conference room at the Tumblr office and piled in. And she would pause it-

Lauren: That’s incredible.

Cherokee: ... and be like, “Okay, this is this character. He’s a cinnamon bun.” (laughs)

Lauren: (laughs)

Cherokee: And so that’s kind of the experience that I have so far for Supernatural. I’ve seen probably six to seven episodes in total.

Lauren: Okay. All right. And spent a day in a conference room with Misha Collins.

Cherokee: Yes, which is all the Supernatural knowledge you need, really. I feel like I got it by osmosis.

Lauren: I mean, honestly. I do feel like we should both make a disclaimer that we both have worked with Misha Collins personally.

Cherokee: Hi, Misha!

Lauren: Hi, Misha! I was literally speaking to him yesterday about Bridgewater, season two. I write a podcast that Misha stars in. He is the sweetest man on the planet. Just absolutely great. It’s always a nice thing to discover that a Tumblr fav is a fav for a good reason. He’s just a lovely person.

Cherokee: Truly such a gem. Have loved the few times that I’ve gotten to work with him. And I am so sorry, Misha, for not having seen every episode of Supernatural. I’ll do better.

Lauren: (laughs) There are a lot of them.

Cherokee: Yes. It’s a process. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. You know?

Lauren: It really is.

Cherokee: If I start now I can be done by the time I’m 40.

Lauren: Exactly. Just pace it out.

Cherokee: Yeah, exactly.

Lauren: So, I mean, based on those six to seven episodes that you’ve seen of Supernatural and your many years on Tumblr, give me the highlights? What is Supernatural about? What are the big moments? Let’s go.

Cherokee: Okay. So, Supernatural is about two brothers: Dean and the other brother.

Lauren: (laughs)

Cherokee: Who’s mom dies on the ceiling and then ... by fire. And then decide that they must ... They are demon fighters or they must fight demons or they want to find who killed their mom. I think their dad is briefly involved. I think he comes in at one point. They have a car. It’s an Impala. It’s gray.

Lauren: Mm hmm (Affirmative).

Cherokee: No, brownish? Beige? They have a car. It’s an Impala. They like the song, “Carry On Wayward Son.” And in every episode they go around slaying the monster of the week, or the demon of the week, but apparently after season two or three it’s less demon of the week and more these big Heaven/Hell kind of threats, big existential threats, all the demons have arrived. And then there’s Misha who plays Castiel, who is an angel of ... he’s an angel. And he comes down in a trench coat and I can’t decide if he helps or hinders them. I think it might be a mix of the two. So, he’s around and there’s a big ship, Destiel which is Dean and Castiel, which became vaguely canon on November 5th, 2019.

Lauren: I thought it was 2020.

Cherokee: 2020? Okay, sooner than I thought.

Lauren: It was 2020, because it was also election day.

Cherokee: Oh, god.

Lauren: Or it was the Thursday after election day. Right? It was when ... the pandemic. We’ll get to that. We’ll get to November 5th.

Cherokee: So, yeah. Remember, remember, the fifth of November.

Lauren: Exactly.

Cherokee: So, they fight these demons and there’s like purgatory, I think some of them may be stuck in it. There’s a lot of puzzles and clues I think. There’s some relics from the dead. Osric Chau plays Kevin Tran who can read the Bible. I forget what his thing is.

Lauren: (laughs)

Cherokee: (laughs) And he sadly dies, RIP. And I think that they really love Kevin Trans because that’s a big plot point as well. I saw those episodes and it’s been a minute. And so anyway, yeah. Dean and, god, what is the other brother’s name. I swear I genuinely know.

Lauren: Oh my god, did you legitimately forget?

Cherokee: I legitimately ... I’m trying to remember. I’m like, god, I know this. But my brain just keeps being like, “Dean and Eddie.” Which obviously it isn’t ... I’m merging Stranger Things. But it’s Jared and Jensen and Misha and they’re all buddies. How did I do?

Lauren: So, I was taking notes on my phone during that. Because there were so many things that ... it’s so funny, there were so many things that you said that were so similar to the way that I described supernatural, as a person who hadn’t seen it. Which that video actually is still online and I will share it on our Tumblr because I think it will be a funny comparison point of how I define Supernatural based off of Tumblr back in 2014. Obviously, the show wasn’t over yet, so you had more context. I think my favorite thing is the idea that the Impala is beige. (laughs)

Cherokee: Is it not? What color is it?

Lauren: No, it’s black.

Cherokee: Oh. (laughs) I think I’ve been in it.

Lauren: Oh my god, Cherokee. So, the Impala, “Baby,” as she’s known, thank you very much.

Cherokee: Beige-by.

Lauren: (laughs) Is a black Chevy Impala that is mostly driven by Dean, although sometimes Sam, the other brother, does drive it.

Cherokee: That word had completely left my head. I never would have gotten “Sam.”

Lauren: It’s so funny. Yeah, I would say that probably ... Obviously there are Sam girls out there, we love you, we love all the characters, we love everybody who loves the show. But I would say, at least in my circles, I think Dean is probably the main borbo of the two brothers on Tumblr. And then of course Castiel who’s name you got right. I, having only seen it typed out, thought it ... I pronounced it CAST-YEEL. He is an angel. He’s the angel of Thursdays in actual Christian lore Castiel is the angel of Thursdays. I don’t know if that ever comes up in Supernatural or not. Not to my memory.

Yeah, I think actually helping and hindering is a good description of Cas. He normally ... I mean, he usually helps. He’s definitely on Team Freewill as it’s known, which is the three of them, and then eventually Satan’s son, Jack, which is a whole other thing ... but sometimes Cas get possessed by Leviathans or Satan or goes crazy, or what have you.

Cherokee: It happens to the best of us.

Lauren: It happens to the best of us. Everybody in the show is possessed at some point. And which is fun, because you get to see the actors try different things, which is always exciting. And, oh my gosh, what else did you say? Oh yeah, Kevin’s skill being able to read the Bible. You’re not wrong, but that’s just the funniest way to phrase it. As if the Bible is something that only certain people are allowed to read. (laughs)

Cherokee: It’s like the Declaration of Independence in National Treasure where it’s like secret codes.

Lauren: Well, I mean, that’s actually pretty close. Kevin is a prophet. And so he can read angel texts basically and he hears voices. It’s been a couple seasons since that was a thing. So, I’m forgetting the finer points of that plot. But I would say you did pretty well. I mean, you got the big stuff. They do go to Purgatory, or rather Dean and Cas go to Purgatory at one point.

Oh and then Dean and Cas go back to Purgatory in the final season to get a flower. That’s a very emotional episode. But I don’t know that Sam ever goes to Purgatory. He does go to Hell. But ...

Cherokee: Who’s the one who dies all the time? Is that Dean?

Lauren: Dean. Yes.

Cherokee: Yeah.

Lauren: Dean dies ... I think the count is like 157 times or something like that. I forget exactly what it is.

Cherokee: Yeah. Normal.

Lauren: About 100 of those happen in one episode, to be fair.

Cherokee: Which, I have seen that episode.

Lauren: Okay, mystery spot.

Cherokee: I’ve seen the episode, the meta episode where they’re on the set of Supernatural.

Lauren: Oh yeah.

Cherokee: You know what I mean?

Lauren: Mm hmm (Affirmative).

Cherokee: And I did enjoy that one. I’ve enjoyed every episode I’ve seen. It is very enjoyable to watch.

Lauren: And over 300+ episodes. They really hit every possible genre, fun trope, weird upside down world, I mean, they do everything. They go to a Supernatural convention. They see a fan fiction musical of their own lives. They fight god. It’s a whole thing. This show has everything. It really has everything.

Cherokee: It must have been ... like, what a fun project to work on for 15 seasons. To be able to think of every potential story and do the meta fandom driven episodes. I mean-

Lauren: Yes.

Cherokee: ... that must have been so much fun to be like, “How weird can we get? What can we do here?” Especially because you have this dedicated audience who loves it and is like, “Yeah, get weird. Try something. When is the musical episode?” You know?

Lauren: Yeah, exactly.

Cherokee: And so, yeah, that’s what I really obviously having an embarrassing lack of knowledge about Supernatural despite having been chronically on Tumblr for ten years. I really love the Supernatural fandom and have jumped at every opportunity I’ve gotten to do something with Misha or just any Supernatural related anything, because it’s always just so much fun and everyone is just having the time of their lives, honestly.

Lauren: Yes.

Cherokee: I mean, even at the conventions with the karaoke and everyone dresses up. Everyone is so much fun. It’s, yeah. It’s wonderful. It’s a really wonderful community. And I love that it kind of continues, it’s continued on. It will continue on. Destiel continues to be one of the top ships on Tumblr. Supernatural is consistently one of the biggest TV shows talked about. I really love that it’s taken on a life of its own. Maybe Season 15 closed but the show isn’t over. And the stories definitely aren’t.

Lauren: Exactly. And there is a prequel show coming, we should mention. The Winchester is on the CW/EW. Jensen Ackles, who plays Dean, is producing it and narrating it. But you’re so right. It is its own thing in such a beautiful way. Destiel is not only one of the top ships on Tumblr consistently, but also the most fic’d ship on AO3. As far as I know, I think sometime early this year or late last year it crossed over 100,000 fan fics on AO3 for just the Destiel tag.

Cherokee: Incredible.

Lauren: Which is amazing.

Cherokee: I am a super fan of the Supernatural fandom. I think that is the perfect way-

Lauren: Yes.

Cherokee: ... to put where I fall in this equation. I really love ... it is just wonderful that so many people are experiencing these characters and there is so much source material, so you can really-

Lauren: Yes.

Cherokee: You really can kind of guess and know how someone will react, how someone would handle a situation, which means there are infinite stories that can be told from infinite POV’s. No wonder there’s a 100k fics on AO3. That’s incredible. Has anyone read them all? This is a challenge. Someone?

Lauren: Yes, please report back to us.

Cherokee: Yeah. (laughs) We will do [crosstalk 00:35:20]

Lauren: [email protected] – email us! Well, yeah, and also there is a running joke on Tumblr that there’s a Supernatural gif for any situation, any kind of reaction, and it’s true because everything has happened on that show. And not only do I sort of think of, when I think of early days of being on Tumblr and getting to the fandom side of things, I think about Supernatural gifs, but I also think of November 5th as in some ways the beginning of our current Tumblr renaissance.

I want to hear what you were doing on November 5th. Because I remember where I was. And to me it still sticks out in my head as one of the most fun nights I’ve had on Tumblr ... maybe only with the weekend of Dash Con. But this was November 5th, 2020. So, we’re, what, six, seven months into the pandemic. I am in my one bedroom apartment in LA that I have been inside of for eight months straight without leaving. And the presidential election ... very, very high stress presidential election has taken place two days before, but we don’t have results yet because of the pandemic slowing all of the results down.

So, I’m stressed out of my mind. And me and my partner sit down to watch Supernatural. And watched the episode. Loved the episode. It’s a great time had by all. And then I got on Tumblr. And between the US politics and Destiel going canon, or somewhat canon, and everybody having the most cabin fever ever – just the memes were off the charts. The sort of 15 year mass catharsis that was being experienced all at once on Tumblr was unmatched. I mean, it was just the absolute fourth wall breaking, meltdown, excitement that was happening on that platform. I can’t quantify it. It was beautiful.

Cherokee: What a perfect way to put it. I think, yeah, as someone who is obviously not in the Supernatural fandom, but is a fan of the Supernatural fandom, I was obviously on Tumblr while this was happening. I knew the finale was that night. And our fandom blog went ...

Lauren: It was the third to last episode, not the finale.

Cherokee: Oh, it was the third to last episode.

Lauren: Yep.

Cherokee: See, I’m over here on November 20th. Oh my gosh. I apologize for not realizing that it was the third to last episode where this happened. I genuinely, to this day, thought that was the finale.

Lauren: Oh my gosh. That’s amazing.

Cherokee: Continuing with my lack of knowledge. But anyway, I have never seen my dash be so one topic’d and overtake everything else happening. It was just chaos. As someone who is not in the fandom, I have FOMO. I feel like I would have more fully experienced that if I had been ... ‘cause I didn’t even watch the episode. I just got the gifs and the kind of canon but not canon ... from my feed. And I feel like I kind of get what happened in that episode. Do they become canon in Purgatory? Is that ... they shared a little Purgatory kiss? Is that, or?

Lauren: Well ... (laughs) ... I mean, in fan fics, I’m sure.

Cherokee: (laughs)

Lauren: So, they go to Purgatory earlier in that season and they get separated in purgatory and Dean ends up praying to Cas to try and find him. And it’s like this very emotional ... like, he kneels down and is praying. And then later in the season Cas has made an agreement with the Empty, which is angel hell, that when he experiences a moment of true happiness he will be taken into the Empty, where he will live out the rest of his immortal life in an empty blank space, basically.

So, Cas tells Dean that he loves him and experiences a moment of true happiness and gets taken by the Empty.

Cherokee: It makes sense. Yep, that makes complete sense. No, with the limited knowledge I have, that sounds right. Yeah.

Lauren: Yeah. Can I share with you my absolute favorite post? I still think these words to myself on the regular. This was an exchange that happened on Tumblr either on November 5th or in the days afterwards. But somebody ... it’s just a great series of responses. Somebody blogged:

“I can’t believe Castiel went to super hell to turn Georgia blue.”

And then because Georgia went for Joe Biden that same night. And then somebody responded with, “Please god, let me find these things out normally. I am begging you.”

And then a third person responded with maybe my favorite thing that anybody’s said on Tumblr which is, “If you go to the circus for news, don’t complain if a clown tells it to you.”

Cherokee: That is ... I want that on a shirt. I want it like as a cross stitch. That is so perfect. And I really like ... yeah, regretting. I am regretting my lack of action in the Supernatural community on this day. I would have really loved to be a part of the revolution and not just a viewer on the sidelines.

Lauren: And you were there. You were witnessing the history as it was happening. Not everybody can say that. Some people weren’t even on Tumblr at all.

Cherokee: I would say probably maybe most people.

Lauren: Yeah.

Cherokee: Even though I did think it was the finale.

Lauren: You did think it was the finale. That’s so funny. It can be your finale if you want it to be.

Cherokee: Exactly.

Lauren: This is the great thing about being a fan. It is what you make it. Throw canon out the window and do your thing.

Cherokee: Throw canon, make it fan-on.

Lauren: Speaking of fan-on versus canon. I have a quiz for you.

[synth music]

Cherokee: Oh, I’m ready. Is it Supernatural related?

Lauren: Oh, it’s all Supernatural related. So, every episode, probably, Cherokee and I are going to do a game. And one of our main games is going to be fan fic versus fan fact. In which we quiz each other on essentially two truths and a lie situation. So, I’m going to ask Cherokee a question and there’s going to be three options. Two of them will be true and one of them will be a lie, and she has to guess which, as somebody who is not deeply entrenched in Supernatural. Are you ready?

Cherokee: Never been more ready.

Lauren: Okay. So, the first question is:

Which of the following is not the title of a Supernatural episode?

A Very Supernatural Halloween

Everybody Loves A Clown

Are You There God? It’s Me, Dean Winchester.

Two of those are real, one of them is not an actual episode title. Let me know if you need them again.

Cherokee: Hmm. “C.”

Lauren: C. Are You There God? It’s Me, Dean Winchester?

Cherokee: Yeah.

[buzzer]

Lauren: Wrong. That is a real episode title.

Cherokee: Oh. I was like, “She’s gonna think I think it is an episode title, so it won’t be,” ‘cause my other thought was “B,” but is “B” also wrong? “B” is also wrong. Cool.

Lauren: This one was a little bit shady of me. Because ... So, the answer, too, which is not a title of a Supernatural episode is, “A Very Supernatural Halloween.” That is not a title of an episode. There is an episode titled, “A Very Supernatural Christmas.” So, it was a little bit tricky.

Cherokee: I got both my options wrong, which is on brand and wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. (laughs)

Lauren: Perfect. Listen, we’ve got two more of these. So, you still have time to get two out of three. I believe in you.

Cherokee: I’m going to ace it.

Lauren: (laughs) All right. The next one is:

Which of the following is not a character in Supernatural?

The Easter Bunny

Misha Collins

Hitler

Which is not a character that appears in Supernatural? A character.

Cherokee: Okay, I know Misha Collins appears as himself at some point in Supernatural.

Lauren: Because you did see that episode.

Cherokee: Because I did see that episode. So, that’s eliminated. So, we’re between the Easter Bunny and Hitler.

Lauren: Yep.

Cherokee: (laughs) I’m gonna go with Hitler did not appear in an episode.

Lauren: So, I’m gonna give you half a point for this, because this is also a little bit shady. So, the Easter Bunny is not a character in Supernatural. There is a killer bunny at one point. But as far as I could find. And I have seen every episode of Supernatural, but you forget things. But I could not find that there was the Easter Bunny in an episode. But Hitler technically is a character in Supernatural. Because Dean kills Hitler and then he talks about how he killed Hitler a bunch in later episodes. Because it’s a cool thing to have killed Hitler.

It is the soul of Hitler in somebody else’s body. So, technically nobody is dressed as Hitler in Supernatural. Thankfully. But, yes, that is a whole episode in which there is Nazi necromancers and Dean kills Hitler. So, that’s a half a point.

Cherokee: Good for Dean.

Lauren: Because the way you phrased your answer, he technically doesn’t appear, but he is a character.

Cherokee: So, I found my way around it. Also-

Lauren: You did.

Cherokee: ... is there a Tumblr that has the log line for every single Supernatural episode? Because I’m gonna need to go to that. I’m sure IMDB-

Lauren: Ooh.

Cherokee: ... has it, but I want to stay organic.

Lauren: No, we want the fan perspective.

Cherokee: I want the fan written log line of each episode.

Lauren: Yes.

Cherokee: Another ... please, someone if you do it, let us know.

Lauren: Please. All right. Final question:

Which is not a way that Dean Winchester has died?

Shot by a fellow hunter.

Crashing his beloved car, “Baby.”

Slipping in the shower.

Cherokee: “B” Crashing the car?

[chimes]

Lauren: You are correct.

Cherokee: Yes! Oh my gosh! Wow!

Lauren: Although, now I’m actually second guessing myself.

Cherokee: (laughs)

Lauren: As far as I know he was never driving Baby and crashed her and died. But now I’m remembering that I think he and his dad, John Winchester, were in the car, got into a car accident at the end of season one and he’s dead at the end of season two, and that’s the first time we see Reapers. Supernatural fans? Help me out here. It’s been a while since I’ve seen the early seasons. So, the internet may have steered me wrong on this. But that ... as far as I know, you got that answer right. So, 1.5 out of 3 points. Hell yes.

Cherokee: 50%. A solid 50%.

Lauren: All right. That ties up our Supernatural segment. How do you feel? Do you feel like you know Supernatural better now?

Cherokee: I am not gonna lie, I feel like I need to watch a lot more of Supernatural, because I can’t be this not in the know these days. I’ve got to get deeper. And so I feel motivated to go beyond being a fan of the fandom and become a member of the fandom.

Lauren: I love that. And, hey, if you do, this is the place to talk about it. We can do a little sum up of your Supernatural journey. That could be very fun.

Cherokee: That would be fun. I’m in. I’ll start with season one, episode one. And just-

Lauren: Hell yes.

Cherokee: ... work my way. Hell yes. Purgatory yes. Super hell yes. Heaven yes. Empty yes. All of the yeses.

Lauren: (laughs) I mean, in terms of fandom forecast, as we round out. I think you do have some Supernatural on your horizon, but what else are you looking at in the coming two weeks in between our episodes that you are excited for?

Cherokee: Hmm. Well, first off, I know I mentioned Thor: Love and Thunder, earlier in the episode, but I am so excited to see just ... it’s trending number three right now as we speak on July 8th. But it just came out today. So, I think for the next couple of weeks I feel like that is really gonna be just a big moment, kind of like the main thing being talked about and then also this is coming out on July 22nd, but the new Jordan Peel film.

Lauren: Jordan Peel movie. That’s right.

Cherokee: I’m so excited to see that. It’s one of those things where I have no idea what it’s about. And I cannot wait to find out.

Lauren: As we round out our episode this week, let’s end with Feels Corner.

[music]

What is giving you the feels right now? What is the thing that you are obsessing over that you are crying over the gifs, that you are reading the fic of, tell me your hyper fixation of the moment?

Cherokee: So, I have a very specific hyper fixation right now that I don’t know if it’s really broken onto Tumblr yet. I’ve seen some whisperings of it. But I just watched ... I have two more episodes left of The Bear on Hulu.

Lauren: Yeah.

Cherokee: Which is that show about the sandwich restaurant in Chicago. I will preface this by saying I’ve followed a lot of people who watch The Bear and the biggest piece of feedback is, “Excellent show, so inaccurate of sandwich shops. This would never be in this part of Chicago, and this part of Chicago is nothing like you’re seeing it is.” Kind of thing. Which is so funny because that is all the feedback I’m seeing. But even the people who are saying this are still loving the show. And I am unhealthily obsessed, maybe, with Carmine who is played by Jeremy Allen White. You may know him from Shameless.

Lauren: Oh yeah.

Cherokee: The show is excellent and very well done. Ayo Edebiri is in it. Super, it’s really well done. I am watching it for one reason and one reason alone and that is thirst. (laughs)

Lauren: (laughs) And we respect that here on Dashboard Diaries. I totally get that. He’s got a real certain something about him. He really doe.

Cherokee: [inaudible 00:48:53] energy. It’s really powerful. (laughs)

Lauren: (laughs) That’s totally it. Oh my gosh.

Cherokee: It’s visceral. Not to get too horny on ‘mine here. (laughs)

Lauren: That’s amazing and you have two episodes left.

Cherokee: I have two episodes. So, I hold out for finales. I don’t watch them right away for some reason. I get close to the end of something and I put off ... I watched Stranger Things, Part Four, Part Two, days after it came out. I don’t know what it is, I just need that ... it lasts longer that way. But I have two episodes left and I will probably watch them this evening, this weekend. I’m excited to see what happens. It’s mostly just like, it’s really well shot and very stressful of a show. It’s kitchen intensity.

Lauren: Yeah.

Cherokee: But just him making beef sandwiches. Into it. I’ve never had a beef sandwich in my life, but I would ... I would do it for Carmine. Oh, so what are you obsessing over at the moment?

Lauren: Speaking of stressful shows, last night I watched this week’s episode of For All Mankind, the Apple TV show. And it’s so funny, because it’s a show that I don’t necessarily actually engage in the fandom of, or I haven’t yet. And it’s a show that’s sort of between seasons, I didn’t think all that much about. And then when it’s on and I’m watching it, it’s one of my favorite viewing experiences. It’s this alternate history of 1960s through 1990s America, NASA specifically in the space race, if we have way more advanced technology basically.

It is so incredibly stressful and I love it. Like, every episode I am clutching my face. I am moving around on the couch, total frenetic energy because I am so nervous about what’s happening on screen. And it’s the most fun I’ve had watching a TV show and being stressed by a TV show simultaneously ... well, since Barry. So, not that long. But it’s the same kind of thing where it’s like, “Oh, I can’t look. I have to look. I can’t look. I have to look. I’m loving this so much. I wanna die.”

Cherokee: What a great endorsement. I have to watch this show now. I love a show about space. I have seen it and just haven’t gotten started for no specific reason. But everyone I talk to who watches it just vehemently recommends it.

Lauren: It is so good. And if you all listening have feels that you wanna share in our Feels Corner, go ahead and send a voice memo talking about, 30 seconds or less, the thing that you are obsessing over right now to [email protected]. We wanna hear from you and we might put it on the show.

Cherokee: I can’t wait to hear the feels. I hope some of them are for our boy Carmine from The Bear.

Lauren: (laughs)

Cherokee: Come on. Come on, Bear cubs ... I don’t know, what’s the fandom called?

Lauren: Oh, that’s cute. Bear cubs is cute.

Cherokee: Yeah, I like it.

Lauren: I feel like you just named the fandom.

Cherokee: All right, Bear cubs. Let’s rock and roll. (laughs) Bear subs.

Lauren: Oh, that has layers of meaning.

Cherokee: Oh, there’s too many layers there. (laughs)

[crosstalk 00:52:06]

Took a moment to click, but yeah.

Lauren: And with that, as we say this week and every week, may your anons always be loving.

Cherokee: Your dash always refreshed.

Lauren: Your gifs always be loading.

Cherokee: And your ships always canon.

Lauren: May the fics you’re reading always be finished.

Cherokee: And the answers you seek always in the tags.

Lauren: And we’ll see you next time, or in super hell, this has been Dashboard Diaries.

Cherokee: Thanks for signing on.

[outro synth music]

#supernatural #stranger things #dashboard diaries #fandom #the bear #for all mankind #episode #tumblr #lauren shippen #cherokee mcanelly #transcript #podcast #DD 01

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berestweys · 4 months

Text

since 2022, after watching kinnporsche twice that summer and losing my marbles, i've fallen into a deep well of thai tv.

shout out to love in the air, bad buddy, and cutie pie, my 2nd, 3rd, & 4th bls watched in the fall of 2022. they were all so delightful (in very different ways) that i simply had to keep going.

in 2023 i watched 24 thai dramas: mostly bl's but 1 notable gl gap the series (and another tiny gl if you count zero photography with inkpa my beloveds), and two shows that are neither (mama gogo and the warp effect should be on everyone's watch list! so great!) i have never in my life watched this much television.

my favorite of 2023 is definitely my school president. there was a lot of competition (wedding plan! moonlight chicken! so many more omg) but msp is the only one i rewatched immediately. the chinzhilla babies stole every inch of my heart. it couldn't be anyone but them.

last twilight is still ongoing so i'm going to count it as 2024, and since it hasn't finished i can't say for certain it will end as beautifully as it started (i think it will. i hope it will.). it is currently rearranging every molecule in my body 24/7. i think it's going to be one of my favorite shows ever heyyyyyyyyy. I'M SERIOUS I AM VIBRATING

also currently watching cherry magic with taynew and it is completely adorable. my dash is soaked to the gills with the sign and pit babe, though i'm not watching either show. it's entertaining to watch them both in gifs (every pit babe post i see hacks another week off my life though. lord.)

2024 is off with a bang.

it's pretty funny that so many of us started watching thai bl's because of kinnporsche, looking for more of ~that~, because as it turns out there is no other show like kp, and yet i am completely hooked. i think i've seen enough of them at this point that i have a feel for the rhythms of the genre, though my watchlist is tiny in comparison to a lot of the blogs i follow. i love it and i have loved learning more about thai language, culture, & politics.

it's been a wild fun time, and i'm thankful to everyone i follow, including my handful of mutuals who have given me recs, made gorgeous gifsets & vids, written fic, & thrown some of the best and most hilarious tags in any fandom i've been in. you're all fantastic!!!

happy new year and let's keep collecting blorbos

#having a marvelous time #i love fandom #bl fandom

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bongo-clash · 2 years

Text

I Want To Break Free

Ectober week prompt: Six Feet

'When three members of Casper High’s football team make one mistake too many, they’ve got no choice other than to bury the evidence. But, both fortunately and unfortunately for them, dead doesn’t mean gone, and they’ve been living in a ghost town for years.'

(Content warnings in tags || fic under cut!!)

For all that Amity Park is the poster child for widescale property damage, the crime rate is practically nonexistent. There’s something about finding a common enemy in the violent ghosts ravaging their town that wards off that willingness to go against another human being’s interests like that; murder, in particular, has been shoved off the table since the moment the victims started coming back to haunt them. It’s common knowledge that if you kill someone in Amity Park, everyone is going to find out.

This is exactly why three A-listers are shitting themselves right about now.

Look, they hadn’t meant for it to go this far. It’d been such a harmless thing in theory- or, well, maybe not harmless, but it shouldn’t have gone any further than humiliation and maybe a bruise or two. They should’ve known it only takes a bad fall. They’re footballers- they should’ve known. But it’d been thoughtless, a split second decision made in the incredibly brief time the opportunity had been presented to them. All Dale had said was ‘Hey, wouldn’t it be funny if you tripped him?’.

And it had been funny, until he hadn’t gotten up again. Now Danny Fenton is dead on the shower room floors, and every single one of them is guilty.

There’s a long time where none of them know what to do. God, they’ve just killed someone, is this second-degree or manslaughter? There certainly wasn’t any express malice, but they’d definitely thought about swiping his feet out from under him without considering that he might hit his head; that could definitely been seen as implied malice. But they hadn’t meant to! They’d never wanted to, it was never supposed to go this far, and it was especially never supposed to go this far here.

‘Here’, as in some place at the end of the school day, when the buses were about to leave and the teachers weren’t waiting up for them, having let them lock up before and having been willing to do it again. ‘Here’, as in Casper High in the first place, that had already seen tragedy in a fire taking almost the entire student body in the fifties, and had now witnessed a murder in its reconstructed halls. ‘Here’, as in Amity Park, the ghost town, where there’s a non-zero chance of this literally coming back to get them.

The silence charged with the smell of deodorant and a wet body already beginning to self-digest is broken, finally, by Dash- the one to trip him, and the first one to back away when he’d felt Fenton’s limp hand for a pulse and found nothing.

“What the Hell do we do?” He whispers, voice barely reaching anyone else in the room, but you could hear a pin drop beneath the still-running showerheads, and everyone was straining to hear it, desperate to divert their attention. My dad’s a lawyer, he thinks, is there any chance he could save us from this?

As if reading his mind, and said like the instigator that knows they’ll be thrown under the bus for suggesting this in the first place, Dale interrupts the train of thought with a sturdy “We can’t go to the police.”

“Dude, are you insane?” Kwan splutters, barely able to keep his gaze from flitting back to the crime scene. And holy shit, this really is a crime scene. “Dale, we can’t just try and bury this, that’s so much worse.”

“You’re only saying that because you’re a witness!” Dale snaps, looking overwhelmed but outsourcing it to aggression, eyes wide and afraid but brow furrowed. “You’re really gonna let us take the fall like that? We’re your friends.”

Kwan, to his merit, is standing his ground, despite looking incredibly green around the edges. In fairness, all three of them probably look that way. “I’d rather be a witness than an accomplice! I can’t- we can’t-!”

“We’re the only people here.” Dash interrupts numbly, and this is probably the second most awful thing he’s ever done apart from actual murder, but all that’s running through his head right now is I can’t go to jail. His life can’t be over with one dumb mistake even if Danny’s is. “Who’s to say it wasn’t you who did it? All the teachers have seen how we act around the school; we work as a group, always. They’re not gonna believe it was just one of us. They’re gonna believe it was all of us.”

This is his best friend, and he’s convincing him to help hide a body by threatening him, because Dash accidentally committed murder and this does not in the slightest feel like something that’s actually happening to him right now. The whole world feels like a smudged trail against the lens of a window pane. There are tears in Kwan’s eyes.

“I’m never fucking talking to any of you again.” Kwan spits, voice damp with distress. “You- You’re monsters for this. It stops being an accident the moment you start trying to cover shit up, I just- this is horrible.”

The realisation that he’s never heard his friend swear before is a thousand miles away, back in some world where Dash’s biggest problem was getting detention for making Mikey late to class on Tuesday. It would’ve been funny if it wasn’t sad. “But you’re gonna help us.”

His expression is the picture of helplessness, but he doesn’t say a word in retort. Silently, the agreement is made that no one is going to know.

Figuring out what they’re supposed to do with the body is a completely different ball game, though. Kwan had enough of an interest in forensic science (wrenched from him completely two minutes ago, but he can’t erase what facts he already has) to know that dead bodies are apparently heavy as Hell, and the woods is too far to carry one towards. It’d be a terrible idea to bury the body under or near the football field- the disturbed soil would be way too noticeable- but to get to any other place with easily accessible ground, they’d have to transport the body through town and none of them could drive. That doesn’t leave them with a lot of options.

“Behind the bike shed.” Dale exclaims suddenly. “The gap between the shed and the hedge is so tiny no one even goes there to make out- no one’ll even notice the difference.”

“But won’t people look around the school if someone got murdered here?”

Dale looks to the showers nobody bothered to turn off, and down at the body with glazed eyes. “They won’t know it was here if all the blood’s down the drain.”

There’s not much to argue with there. Dale has the forethought to go outside and make sure the coast is clear while grabbing a sheet of tarp from the equipment shed, bringing it back into the room with lips pursed into a hardset line.

Kwan keels over and spills his guts into the shower drains the moment Dash lifts the body, blood and water congealing at the back of Fenton’s head and spilling onto the floor, but no one says a word about it, they just wait until he’s finished. They wrap the body in the tarp until only the ends of his hair and the tips of his shoes are visible, and Dale directs the showerhead to wash away the gore. He tries not to squirm at the knowledge of what he’s holding in his hands right now, because if there’s any time to freak out it’s not now. Not when there’s still stuff left to do.

When they’ve gotten to the spot behind the shed, there’s already three shovels leaning against the back. Dash puts the body down underneath the hedge, and grabs a handle.

“Six feet.” He says. “And no one’ll have to know.”

It’s probably the most stupid thing he’s ever done other than trip Danny Fenton in the showers, but that same night, he goes back to the place they buried the body.

He doesn’t know why he thought it was a good idea. He hadn’t, most likely, but still, a piece of him felt like he needed to go back, that dumb part of his brain where all the morbid curiosity comes from and all his meanest ideas go. Regardless of the cause, though, at two in the morning not eight hours after they’d tried to flatten the soil, Dash is back at the grave.

His heart still aches with everything Kwan had said, begging them to just go to the police and come clean, because no matter how much he doesn’t want his life ruined he knows it already is. There’s not going to be any coming back from this- whether anyone finds the body and discovers their part in it or not, this is going to follow him for the rest of his life. That soil disturbed amongst the grass from upturning, wedged between the bike shed and the hedge, the ground shaking with motion.

…The dirt. The dirt’s moving. Why’s the dirt moving?

All at once, he jumps back about five paces and freezes stock still, gaze transfixed towards the soil rumbling like the epicentre of a personal earthquake. His mind is terrifyingly blank as he watches, hearing more and more coming from beneath as the time passes somewhere between a good few minutes and an eternity, something like muttering or moans permeating the earth.

A hand grasps for purchase as it breaks through the top layer of the soil- pale, grimy, and fuzzing at the edges with translucence. The palm finds flat ground some centimetres away, and with a sound like a grunt or a cry, the corpse pulls itself out of the ground.

Danny Fenton stands in full form before him, brown blood smudged across his temple from the back of his head and dirt caking every other inch of him. The tarp is sticking out from the ground like a tongue. “Hey Dash,” Fenton sighs, like he hadn’t just crawled out of his own unmarked grave alive. “What are you doing here? It’s… oh man, it’s totally past curfew. My parents are gonna kill me for sure.”

It’s that comment in particular that snaps him out of his stupor, catching the weird look in the other boy’s eyes. “Fenton, what the fuck?” His voice is half-wheezing with disbelief, surprised he’s able to breathe between it at all. This is impossible, shouldn’t be happening, but, this is Amity. The dead come back to haunt them all the time.

“What?” He asks blithely, before tilting his head to look back at the mound in the dirt, the hole that had been filled to hide him. “Oh, that? Don’t worry about it. No one comes back here anyway, and it’s not like they’ll care if they do.”

He can’t for the life of him process the calm in Danny’s voice. “You were dead.” He says. “I killed you. We buried you.”

“But you didn’t report it to the police, huh?” Not knowing how else to respond, Dash shakes his head. “Yeah, makes sense, they never do. Still, guess that gives me less issues to deal with in the long run, and I can’t really complain about that even if the morality of the whole thing bugs me. You really should tell people about these kinds of things before they find out on their own, y’know? Oh, but Dash?”

Fenton has his back turned by now, having stretched his limbs out and began to walk off during his talk, but he turns his head just a little, then. Just enough that Dash can see the glint of sharp teeth underneath his lips. Just enough for his eyes to catch green under a light that doesn’t exist.

“No one’s gonna believe you.”

…

(When Kwan and Dale come to school with him the next day like nothing’s wrong, and they spot Danny Fenton talking with his friends by his locker like any other stupid day, they don’t say a word. They don’t make fun of him when he falls asleep in class after claiming to have had a ‘long night’, and they don’t tell their friends why they weren’t at Star’s house by eight, and they don’t ask Kwan to talk about it when they go to bathroom together at lunch and he has a panic attack over the sinks. Because Danny Fenton being alive is not possible, but if the dead won’t tell their secrets, then neither will they.)

(Neither will they.)

#tw death #tw murder #tw corpse #tw injury #Yes the title's from the Queen song I thought it'd be funny #ectoberweek2022 #day26 #dp fic #dp fanfic #danny phantom fic #danny phantom fanfiction #danny phantom #danny fenton #dash baxter #kwan dp #Bongo's Writing!!!

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