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#personally I am Sam coded
askatriangleandastar · 11 months
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SAMS!Eclipse: A Study of Fragmentation of Self and the Counter-productive Measures to Heal
It is past 3am and by insomnia i am compelled to get this down (probably to sort out in the morning)
I am, a bit behind on SAMS, however! The episode of Eclipse having a rare moment to reflect without interruption, on where he began to be aware of himself, was fascinating
As it turns out, a theory I had about Eclipse having been a part of Moon that hadn't wanted to seperate seems to have been proven true! Eclipse has identified before as more Moon than Sun, and even when as a part of Sun it was to an ends to make Sun feel more responsible for behaving in ways associated with Moon pre-split.
To call the mindscape he was first met in Sun's Place, the direct relinquishing of this being a place he should be. Hearing in this flashback episode that he saw himself as Moon, to be trapped in the mindscape without his own voice, with the wrong form and wrong colors and even no way to force his way out like he could before. A part of Moon that couldn't let Sun go, easiest to leave behind by the rest than hadn't accepted that this was just how things were, how they were.
The Creator made Sun and Moon fragmented from the start, even as there was overlap that balanced one another. It's not surprising that they would be prone to splintering further, evidenced by Kill Code and Eclipse. That twisted reflections of the Brothers would reflect this back at them with names and appearances in theme in both Blood Moons and Lunar. And what's fascinating is that its ECLIPSE who forges these mirrors, ECLIPSE who cannot control what he has made, who cannot look into what they show of his own self and accept the flaws, the fears and weaknesses.
Eclipse made Blood Moon to destroy and distract, to cause harm he wasn't strong enough to and was too attached at that time to commit. Eclipse made Lunar to help him, but also as a source of Acceptance that he has lacked since becoming aware of existing. The face of Moon, listening, agreeing, welcoming, but a part of the disillusionment with Lunar that had seemed odd on first viewing of the October Takover now comes into clarity: Eclipse needed the real deal, not a mirror. Standards for what was enough too high, frustration at seeing the wall he was headed towards, he becomes more and more distance to detach and Lunar notices it even. Until it hits a breaking point, until Eclipse crosses the final line and repeats history, this time as the one leaving someone else behind.
His commitment to his actions even as it occurs to him that he messed up could be how he processed what Moon did, that answer to why he was left behind lashed out at a target who gets to have a face Eclipse wants and can never have again. That if someone isn't what you want, they aren't worth treating better, aren't worth apologizing to, aren't worth regret. Because Moon NEVER came back for him, and if Eclipse wasn't worth it then why would anyone else ever be?
Eclipse gets the chances to leave the DCA alone, to do other things, but I don't think he can leave them be. I don't think he can handle letting go of that need to be whole, something the tiredness and hollowness he's described for some time now and was showing signs of even in October can point towards. Fans have noticed that Eclipse is alone, again and again compared to the relationships of others he is isolated and only at odds, with the temporary exception of Lunar. It's a problem possibly even for the Dictator Outcome Timeline- where even with no NEED for Sun, functionally, with Lunar gone and Moon killed, Eclipse cannot handle to be totally alone. Its destructive, dangerous, sinister- but for someone who wanted to wipe the slate clean and stand at the top with no one in his way, keeping Sun around.... it always had that feeling of being unable to let go, of needing to be needed even if the dynamic is so unbalanced. That Eclipse has all the power he could even use in the palm of his hand, but he is still missing a part of himself with Moon gone, and it's a part of why Moon and Lunar are able to move around unchallenged, uninjured (meta reasons for actor limitations in VR and models aside).
When Kill Code initially refers to Eclipse as his son, its met with confusion but, acceptance. An odd title, but to be accepted as it means being given the help he needs as he's come to the cliff edge of what he can do alone while avoiding Blood Moon's wrath and whims. Yet once again, it becomes another bond rejected, made suspect even when there appears to be legitimacy to it. He sees himself in KC, from sourcing from the same code. Eclipse cannot see himself acting this way. Can't see this part of Moon accepting him, giving him a taste of what he's wanted, when he's failed and failed and failed. He has to get what he wants through his own actions or else it won't work or it'll be a betrayal (even when turning others against him is just one of his many skills) and this only makes him more driven to lash out again after a period of being behind the scenes.
Eclipse being a core antagonist works on several levels, and a big one is how much he represents the Past, the Mistakes and Conflict Sun and Moon have afflicted on one another. He is part of both of them, haunts them in person and in memory, and when they do inevitably overcome him for the last time, I think it'll be a milestone for the DCA to have moved onwards and not looking back. Getting closure, getting peace for the turmoil and conflict they've been feeling since the first day they were activated. Whether Eclipse lives to see it or not, Sun and Moon won't leave each other behind and in the dark again; the only question will be if that means following Golden's advice and having an OK KO! style resolution TKO &KO style or if Eclipse will end as he began- alone.
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pinkelotjeart · 7 months
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people making designs for the magnus archives: wel the characters get to be acedemia style because its an archive.
me drawing magnus protocol designs: fuck they work for the british civil service- maybe this is a bit too alternative...
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GUYS I THINK I FIGURED OUT THE FILING SYSTEM FOR THE STATEMENTS IN FR3-D1
Ok so. so. As I am rapidly beginning to figure out the ARG stuff might just be important to our understanding of the overall story of TMAGP. And so I started digging through all the wonderful detective work the folks who participated did (their data and thus a decent bit of the ARG are still preserved). I'd like to draw your attention to one file in particular (I might make more posts with more ramblings as I think about more stuff but for right now):
klaus.xls is an excel sheet that they were able to dig up in the ARG which seems to contain partially corrupted data regarding, to my best guess, incidents. I was particularly interested in this file because that name came up in episode 4's transcript as the name of the person Lena had a disagreement with/seemed to be threatening. I have thoughts about this as well but it will be a separate post.
This data might actually be internal to the OIAR, and if what I'm guessing is correct, then this data actually corresponds to FR3-D1 entries! Using this, I think I've been able to dissect the case names (for example, we're going to use episode 1's magnus institute case)
CAT23RAB2155-10042022-09012024
A lot of the information on the leftmost data cluster seems to correspond to what's in the table, so:
CAT23: Category 23. There were only a few categories in the Klaus data that weren't 1, 2, or 3 so I'm guessing inputting multiple numbers means this incident could either be category 2 or category 3 (or someone thought this case needed a very very high category shared by almost nothing else).
RAB: Rank A/B. This we know means the ranking is either A or ranking B. I have not, however, managed to determine what the difference between Category and Rank is, so if someone else has thoughts on that I'd love to hear them. Based on other case titles the R is not always part of this section, only in cases where multiple rankings are specified. This also places this case very high in the ranking system, as most cases in the Klaus data appear to be rank C or B (with only a single S and two As, one of which is a dual A/B).
2155: This section is always a four digit code. It corresponds to the TSHU column of the Klaus data, which is also always a four digit code. If I had to speculate, I believe this is the internal code for the case category (which are all laid out in that giant binder on Sam's desk). I wish I knew specifically what each one meant but I figure we'll have to watch the numbers and see.
10042022: It took me a minute on these number strings, I'll be honest. There's nothing approximating them in the Klaus data, but then I noticed that the second string contains "2024" at the very end in every statement thus far recorded. Then it dawned on me: these are dates. This first string corresponds to report submission date, I think: this report was submitted to the OIAR on the 10th of April 2022. This then means that:
09012024: Corresponds to the date of filing. Sam filed this case on the 9th of January, 2024. This also allows us to go through and see that the episodes seem to be following the time passing between episodes for us almost 1:1, with most cases being a few days before when we receive them.
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scoobydoodean · 4 months
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#okay wait do y'all think that she wasn't going to try and murder Dean?#Do you think he was going to get through to her?#convince her somehow to not try to stab him?#that she was telling the truth at all in that scene?#because she was totally going to try and kill Dean#like 100% that was going to happen#and if Sam hadn't shot her then Dean would have had to kill her and that would have been so much harder on Dean#like it was disturbing that Dean had a 3 day old monster child that wanted to kill him but who was then killed by her uncle Sam instead#and even more disturbing that they then never mention her again#but these are also the guys who left their half brother in Lucifer's cage and didn't lose any sleep over it so...#and I love Dean but killing Amy was an asshole move#and there's kinda a difference between killing an active imminent threat and killing someone in cold blood after the fact @jinkieswouldyoulookatthis
I didn't want to clutter someone else's post but this was partially directed at me? I've talked about the whole "Emma vs Amy" debate quite a few times, but I'll share a few thoughts.
Amy is a present, unrepentant, fully cognizant, adult, serial murderer. She is not actually sorry about what she did in any way. She believes that slaughtering humans like cattle to feed them to her son was the morally correct action even if it wasn't the ethical action because it kept her son alive. She is not correct.
Emma is a brainwashed child who's been psychologically conditioned for a few days. She has never killed anyone and only wants to kill Dean because some women who abused her told her to.
Hunters like Sam and Dean primarily deal in punitive justice, not preventative justice—and what I mean by that is that Sam and Dean try not to kill people (with powers or without powers) who have never killed anyone.
While I think you're right to point out that a preventative justice component is in play, that is not primarily how Dean makes the decision to go after Amy, and the reason we know that is because Amy's son swears to kill Dean and Dean does nothing about it because the boy has done absolutely nothing wrong.
Dean's application of his personal code is consistent here. He kills Amy, who is a murderer who killed four people, but he does not intend to kill Emma or Amy's son—both of whom wanted to kill him—because neither has actually killed anyone and both may choose not to.
You say that Emma was going to kill Dean 100%, but you don't actually know that because we never got to see that future. You assume Amy would never have killed again, but when you add up "murderer who regrets absolutely nothing" and "child vulnerable to catching illnesses" you get "Mom who absolutely would kill again as necessary and who would feel zero remorse doing so just like the last time".
I don't personally think SPN gives us any reason to suspect that three days of psychological conditioning from a cult is too much to overcome. We have seen other characters overcome much more serious levels of psychological conditioning intended to make them killers. For example, Cas and Alex. I'm not saying Emma wasn't trying to pull the wool over Sam and Dean's eyes in the scene where Sam shot her, but I am saying that doesn't actually mean in any way that she couldn't be convinced to actually choose a different path.
Under the same litmus test with which you suggest Emma's condemnation, we'd also condemn season 2 Sam for his potential "future" crimes. We are killing monsters before they actually become those monsters... because of the dark path someone else intends for them to go down. Amy—again—is an active present unrepentant serial killer.
I think sometimes people misremember the scene where Sam kills Emma—recalling the scene as a scene where Emma lunges at Dean with the knife and Sam steps in just in time to save his life, or where Dean is unarmed and Emma has him at knife point. But that is not what happened. Emma quite literally brought a knife to a gun fight. Dean had a gun pointed at her, and if she was thinking straight at all, she would have left to avoid being killed if given the chance—especially when Sam arrived. And had she not, Sam could have shot her at that point—but Sam didn't wait to see what she'd do. He wanted her dead, because even if she ran, he didn't think they were equipped to deal with surprise attacks from Dean's Amazon child. That is the decision Sam made after a brief moment to consider, and it makes sense to me given the headspace he was in at the time and his assessment of Dean's headspace as well, but it does not make his decision consistent with his previous or future behavior regarding people who have been psychologically conditioned to kill.
My own frustrations are more with fandom, for a thought process that really really does not make sense to me, where Emma deserves to die but Amy deserved to live. I do not agree with that premise. I do not understand why so much of fandom has the perspective that a child who hadn't shed a drop of blood and who was acting in response to a cult's torture, who brought a knife to a gun fight and had already been driven into a corner where she had no choice but to surrender or run—doesn't deserve a chance to choose something else before she's barely lived and before she's heard a loving word in her entire life, but an adult with full cognizance of their actions who went through with killing four people and doesn't regret it should go on with their life and is "just a good mom doing what she had to" and killing that person is the bad thing. I don't understand that. I don't think Dean killing Amy was wrong at all in the "hunters kill supernatural murderers" show. The only thing Dean did wrong was lie about it and not take enough care to keep her son from seeing it happen.
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kremlin · 5 months
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An earnest call for your support: Help me determine if there is a gas leak in my house.
for a long time now, I have been reading and hearing about This Guy on the news, and have been reading all the articles and stories about him:
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Above: Sam, tenting his weird-ass fucked up fingers like a real Wall Street Guy might do in a movie he saw
Yep, you already know this guy, his name is Sam, I'll be referring to him as Sam, as that is his first name, and not by his initials, which is what I imagine a pod person might do in an attempt to emulate human behaviour. Whatever. You already know him and what he did, I won't waste your time. Listen. Pay attention. This is not a post about this guy or what he did. That shit is boring as fuck. This is a post about a potential gas leak in my house. We'll get to that in just a bit. Remember.
I've read all the articles and all the op-eds and everything. About Sam. Let us explore the entire spectrum of media coverage of Sam and Sam's Big Ass Problem, starting from the bottom, with the worm-food-tier jackasses: What do people like Jim Cramer and Shark Tank Guy have to say about him?
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Above: CNN's "Mad Money" Jim Cramer also doing a weird hand gesture while he tells your alcoholic cable-news-addicted uncle to put his money in some dumbass shit
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Above: I think this is the Shark Tank guy? I don't remember his name. Could have sworn his suit had dollar signs and not question marks (?)
I'll summarize their conclusions: "Sam is a boy genius who is super duper smart and can move objects with his massive brain due to knowing about Tech, FinDom FinTech, and computer money, specifically Money Coding. Unfortunately Sam committed massive fraud and will get his ass fucked in federal court".
Moving on from the worm-food-tier to the mediocre-tier: The totally nameless basic bitch journalists at the New York Times or Bloomberg. What do these assholes have to say?
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Above: Jim Fuckface, associate financial correspondent for Bloomberg. Jim enjoys winding down on a Friday afternoon by sipping a Bud Lite Lime and wearing his baseball cap backwards, which bears the logo of his local professional sports team.
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Above: Kate Fuckface, columnist at the New York Times. Kate enjoys spending her time chatting and interacting with her friends on Social Media Platforms like Facebook and Instagram, as well as purchasing items on Etsy
I'll summarize their conclusions: "Displaying the characteristic awkwardness of incredible technical and financial genius, it was clear to me during our interview that Sam's depth of knowledge truly knew no bounds. Unfortunately Sam committed massive fraud and will get his ass fucked in federal court."
Finally moving on to the people that might actually have a clue about what they're talking about. Sam Levine and Michael Lewis:
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Above: Matt Levine, author of a comedy email newsletter named Money Stuff that is 95% financial information by weight and somehow still usually funny as fuck.
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Above: Michael Lewis, author of a bunch of really good books you haven't read that were made into pretty decent movies you have seen: Moneyball and The Big Short.
I'll summarize their conclusions: "Sam sure is a smart kid and seems to know a whole lot about economics and this digital currency, and I mean a whole lot, and even more about business, accounting, and finance. Bright kid! Unfortunately Sam committed massive fraud and will get his ass fucked in federal court."
A pretty goddamn clear consensus across the board on both counts.
I listened to the interviews the entire spectrum of people listed above conducted with him -- the ones during which they unanimously concluded how smart he is. I listened to many hours of ad-hoc, unscripted Twitter Space calls he participated in, where he fielded questions about his fraud and his business with complete strangers. I listened to them very carefully. And here is my problem! I came to a different conclusion!
Sam is a fucking moron. I am not talking about solely his intellect, or solely his decision-making abilities, or any specific criteria. I am talking about all of them.
There are two possibilities:
(A) I am correct and, somehow, literally everyone else is incorrect, most of whom know vastly more about these topics than I do
(B) There is a fucking gas leak in my house and I have completely lost all cognitive abilities, suddenly and unwittingly, and exist in a cartoon reality inside my skull that would allow me to reach such a wildly different conclusion from the same evidence.
The likelihood of (A) being correct is very nearly 0%. I mean, come on. I am not fucking around when I tell you how troubling this is for me. I wrote earlier that this isn't a post about Sam or his bullshit. This is a post asking for your help in determining whether I have lost my god damn marbles.
I'll give Sam one thing -- he has some nominal ability to bullshit. If he's writing a Tweet, or making a short statement, he can finesse his words that, on some level, mask how much of a dimwit he is. He absolutely can't do that through about six hours of unscripted interviews. Listen to that shit. Listen.
I am going to go check all the joints in the gas lines in my house as well as the ports on my stove and heater. I'll come back and write a follow-up post on outlining exactly why I think homeboy is an idiot. While I do that, please, go listen to the interviews and tell me what you think.
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twinanimatronics · 9 months
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I have 0 intention of watching SAMS bc at this point catching up would be too much of a time investment, but at the same point, I would love to have a bit of context for went you & Dana rant about it.
Mayhaps could I have a tldr? Just so I can get the gist about what y'all are freaking out about ever couple of weeks.
Okay so I woke up really early but it’s my day off and I’m in an info dumping mood so—
—Rubs Gay little hands together then slams them on a cork board with photos and shit pinned to it—
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INSTEAD OF A TL;DR I’M GONNA GIVE YOU A WHOLE DANG ASS SUMMARY
WHICH I WILL UPDATE REGULARLY
And yes I did spend 20 minutes making that dumb meme edit, before you ask.
OKAY
(putting a Read More cause this is gonna get LONG)
So, the Sun and Moon show, like all the Security Breach Channel shows, started off as just a character gaming channel with Sun and Moon. And in my personal opinion, as well as based on total subscriber count, the superior one of the lot since we never bother with the other channels unless there's a guest appearance from the boys on one of their episodes. (Literally we just here for Sun and Moon. The other character channel portrayals are just kinda "meh" or irksome)
Sun and Moon are portrayed as both the same person but also different individuals who choose to view the other as their brother (familiar, familiar) and is after they've managed to get their own separate bodies. Moon having made one for himself and left Sun with the original one.
Moon is not as much as a Gremlin as he is in canon and is more indifferent. He's into science and is friends with Satan (I am not joking)
Meanwhile, Sun is...
Sun.
As I said, the channel started off as just a character gaming channel with them just playing games, reacting to things, and some occasional VR shenanganry. The Invisible Davis (Sun) and EC_Universal's (Moon) sibling chemistry and banter is seriously top notch. And Davis even comes on as Monty sometimes (who now has his own channel with Foxy, but that's more recent and later on in this info dump).
Things are pretty tame at first lorewise. Just building up things like their relationships with the other animatronics (Like Sun being hopelessly in love with Roxanne. Which originally felt like a forced plotline but now he isn't in love with her at all anymore and has come to see her as a horrible person)
The biggest things that used to happen early on were really just Monty and his money-making scam attempts like:
Charging Sun several thousand dollars a second for his assistance in the daycare and selling him a space condo for $50 (which he revealed to have exploded recently) that Moon had to force him to give Sun's deposit back on.
Then things start happening...
Sun starts having blackouts and acting not like himself and not remembering things that happen from hours to even days at a time. This is when Eclipse starts to make himself known in both VR Lore vids and even gaming vids. Eclipse being: A piece of Moon's coding that was left behind when the two of them separated (the part of him that contained the homicide/Kill Code "glitch" that was a big part of him) inside of Sun that became it's own entity.
Moon's reason for doing this is cause he thought the code would die off having been mostly severed from him and that he himself could evolve to be more than a killing machine if it was gone. He thought Sun would be fine. But he came to realize he just left his brother with different cancerous entity living off him (his words to describe their previous shared body relationship).
Eclipse has very strong abandonment issues. And it's the primary motivation he has for everything he does. He is EXTREMELY pissed at Moon for leaving him behind inside of Sun who he was supposed to HATE and instead became all brotherly with. Forcing Eclipse to live Moon's nightmare of being trapped in a body he had no control over (Legit we got an episode featuring Eclipse's first moments of sentience after being severed from Moon highlighting all this).
However, this wasn't the first time that Eclipse had allegedly taken control by this point in time: A year after their seperation.
There was an event, July 16th, where Sun was extremely stressed in the daycare and supposedly snapped. He blacked out and when he came to...
Lots of kids were dead.
Eclipse was initially believed to be the cause of this event. But actually, it was BloodMoon. Another AI that Eclipse created while first trying to escape from Sun's body prison.
But upon the revelation of Eclipse's existence, BloodMoon's is still unknown.
Moon attempts to find a way to remove Eclipse from Sun and, upon their creator being of no help and completely useless, is recommended by Glamrock Freddy to go see Golden Freddy (or maybe the Creator contacts them after they see Golden, IDK I forget the exact order of those events).
Golden Freddy is Glamrock Freddy and classic Freddy's dad (Yeah, don't ask. These parts of the lore Dana and I kinda hate and just try to ignore) who is an all powerful ghost entity (again, don't ask) who uses magic to turn Moon into a plushie.
Long story short, Eclipse can't be removed if he doesn't WANT to be removed without killing Sun. And he REFUSES to be removed even when offered a body of his own cause this bitch baby is out for vengeance.
But now Moon knows magic.
He burns down some buildings that he cheers about getting reported over a police scanner.
And then they get called in by the government to be interviewed for that and other shit.
Also: apparently animatronics have a choice to make themselves techno-organic so they can eat things and shit (including having kids through sexy times, yes I am not fucking you)?
Sun and Moon refuse to take this up tho and at most Moon just installs nanomachines (son) into himself so he can eat metal as a way to repair himself.
Keep this nanomachine tech in your mind going forwards, btw.
BUT CONTINUING WITH THE PLOT
Pieces of the killcode inside of Moon begin to rebuild itself and Moon starts getting violent and kills a government guy that was hunting him and Sun down. Cause while they were being interviewed he came out and snapped a man's neck. Something that Moon and Sun argued about cause Moon was starting to think that Sun wanted to do these things like Eclipse implied and was just using him as a scapegoat so he wouldn't have to process his negative emotions.
And he was.
Kind of.
Cause even now, in the present (way after this point in the story I'm explaining) with Eclipse gone he still has extreme anger management issues and the occasional violent impulse. But that doesn't make him BAD (though he believes himself to be as a result). He just has a hard time regulating his emotions and keeping them in check because he was used to being the purely positive side of the coin when he and Moon were one. Being the happy to Moon's sad/angry.
Moon contacts their creator again for help with his issue. But once again, the creator does nothing.
Oh also, that government guy?
Yeah, Moon ate him.
My guy really ate a human person.
Sun and Moon fight with Sun choosing to leave Moon alone to wallow after getting punched in the face. Telling Moon how it was apparently too hard for him to be a good brother and REALLY putting a divide between the two of them.
Then, at some point, after Eclipse keeps sending Sun and Moon to different dimensions to torture them yet again (yeah, alternate dimension travel and universes exist and is a very frequent thing in SAMS) Eclipse sends the boys to fight a Wither Storm, which they come out of alive with their brotherly bond restored.
However, Moon is still going a bit insane cause of the killcode.
And then Eclipse creates Lunar and inserts hm into Moon's head.
Lunar is essentially a Sun version of Moon, his new happy, much like how Eclipse is a Moon version of Sun. Lunar is very child-like and was made to help Eclipse to find this Dues-Ex-Machina thing known as the Star. A thing of ultimate power that can be used to reshape and rebuild the world however the wielder wishes.
Eclipse's plan is to reset the world and become god.
Or, at least it WAS.
But more on that later.
Lunar being put in Moon's head helped with keeping the Kill Code at bay and allowed Moon to retain his sanity. And, after some initial antagonization, Moon and Lunar come to a bit of an agreement of having Lunar help him and Sun with information about Eclipse and BloodMoon (who they are finally told about but believe isn't real at this point). Moon just had to install games in his head for Lunar to play and whenever the daycare was open would let Lunar out to handle the kids instead since he liked it and was better with the children than he was as the one week he spent pretending to be Moon highlighted.
However, Eclipse gives both Sun and Moon a timeframe to hand over the Star before their bodies will be forcibly taken over by himself and Lunar.
They have until Halloween.
Oh and at some point he installed this maternity chip thing into Roxanne and she suddenly adopted Gregory and wanted to remarry her ex, Glamrock Freddy, when she and Sun supposedly had a "Thing" (they went on one date where it was all about HER) but we don't really care at all about that despite the wedding supposedly being some kind of big deal in the Security Breach Show verse but then it wasn't.
Obviously, Eclipse doesn't get the Star.
But Moon also doesn't exactly have a plan to stop him either and spends the last day they had to hand over the star having a breakdown over being realizing he is going to be trapped in his own body again.
So October begins and the Sun and Moon Show becomes the Eclipse and Lunar Show. And while they're in control, Eclipse made it so any time that Lunar moves in Moon's body, Moon will feel an immense amount of pain. The same way Sun used to any time he was in control of their shared body in the beginning.
Things don't go so well during that month when it's the Eclipse and Lunar Show. Lunar wanted to just have fun and get an actual brotherly relationship out of Eclipse, but Eclipse just viewed him as a tool to control (Literally, he inserted programs that let him control and even KILL HIM if he wanted).
And there were times when they fought where Eclipse hit him.
Which Eclipse momentarily seemed to regret before shoving his emotions deep down inside himself so he could ignore them because he refuses to let himself feel genuinely happy (Legit he made Lunar out of the coding bits of himself that were good and positive cause he hated them and didn't want them cause they came from Sun's code melding with what code of Moon's he was birthed from.).
At this point, Moon, Lunar, and Monty are working together to stop Eclipse and, for some reason, Lunar comes up with the plan of building BloodMoon (who somehow exists as a spectral manifestation of rage or something) a body so he can fight Eclipse. BloodMoon only agrees cause Lunar allows him to go out and kill hobos and will occasionally bring him bags of blood from the blood bank.
Then, after another fight with Eclipse, Lunar relinquishes control of the body completely back to Moon because he doesn't want to play outside anymore.
Before Moon gets control of his body again, though (and before deflecting an attempt of Eclipse's to kill Lunar while posing as him), Lunar asks if he and Sun can be his brothers. Which Moon wholly agrees to and tells Sun about when he goes inside of his and Eclipse's shared head to tell him his plan of banishing Eclipse via magic in a way that WON'T also kill him too (and leaving Sun with a massive magic dictionary and spells he has to memorize for when the day comes).
The day arrives.
BloodMoon and Eclipse fight while, in his head, Sun manages to banish Eclipse.
However, he says the spell WRONG so instead of being banished and dead forever he's just lying somewhere mangled and dying in the woods.
But Sun saying the spell wrong didn't matter in the end cause Eclipse had a bunch of backups he could have come back from. One of which he PLANTED INSIDE BLOODMOON while fighting him.
Queue things being relatively tame for awhile. Excluding Moon working himself to death finding and deleting Eclipse's backups.
But in the background BloodMoon running around wild and free killing random people and working with Eclipse/torturing him inside their body (cause BloodMoon is actually TWO people, not one.).
Eventually, Eclipse enacts his new plan of pushing Moon to the breaking point and making his Kill Code fully resurface. Which Moon was still struggling with and was concerned would potentially corrupt Lunar.
How Eclipse does this is by having the Bloodtwins mess with Sun and Moon while disguised as either of them (cause their body is made of nanomachines so they can shapeshift. I TOLD YOU THE NANOMACHINES WERE IMPORTANT) and the final nail in the coffin is Eclipse controlling them to pretend to be Sun and confronting Moon about how much he hated him and how he wished he'd DIE.
And thus the kill code is reactivated.
But not just reactivated, it's now since evolved into its own SENTIENT BEING that's fully in control while Moon is trapped inside his own head.
Again.
However, Moon aint the only one trapped now.
So is Lunar.
Monty goes inside Moon's head an manages to rescue Lunar to take him out and give him his own body. But at first Lunar doesn't want to go cause he doesn't want to leave Moon alone and insists on being "his happy".
Eventually, Moon and Kill Code (who we will call KC from now on) make an agreement to timeshare the body and not get in the way of one another's plans.
KC wants to just kill all the bad people in the world and has recruited BloodMoon (willingly) and Eclipse (unwillingly) who he views as his children to work with him.
Lunar returns in his new body (also made of Nanomachines) at this point and Moon has found a dimension for him to visit that has an Eclipse in it that's nice and who he is able to talk with and have an actual bond with. As a form of some sort of therapy since our Eclipse was a shitty brother and traumatized the bean and the Nice Eclipse of that dimension was kind of ostracized by the others since he was born from his Sun and Moon's split going completely WRONG.
The creator at some point stops by again and announces that he has created Sun and Moon a sister named Earth who is supposed to be better than them in every way (she's actually not and has her own flaws) and that she was going to be living with them now. (Sun literally says: "Die already, old man!" to him and other things a lot of people probably wish they could say to a shitty parent).
Meanwhile, at the KC Cave:
Eclipse is uploaded into a basic computer.
Eclipse HATES KC and immediately plots against him but builds him a robot by the name of Solar Flare to help him anyway. But, behind the scenes, Eclipse contacts Moon for help in killing KC.
And at the same time, Solar Flare ALSO contacts Moon for help to kill ECLIPSE and PROTECT KC.
As this is happening, the Bloodtwins have reverted back to messing with Sun while disguised as Moon again. However, they push him to far and Sun ends up obliterating them with a laser canon Eclipse had made that was hidden inside the musical barrels that are in the daycare.
Moon hears this as it happens, but Sun lies to him and tells him he just accidentally destroyed some "garbage".
KC ends up having to tell Moon what really happened when BloodMoon doesn't turn up after more than a week. Putting a bit of strain on the boys' relationship again cause Sun LIED to Moon.
Being so tired and done with everything and having finally fully snapped, Sun is now on a war path of finding and trying to kill Eclipse himself instead of letting Moon do all the work like always. Lunar finds out and he and Sun have a falling out with Lunar saying Sun was behaving just like Eclipse (and he was in their fight, belittling Lunar). But Lunar said some awful and hypocritical things too.
Sun storms off and it is at this point when Eclipse first contacts Moon to try and kill KC. First talking with Lunar and scaring him off, ultimately cementing Lunar's decision to run away from home with Monty's help since he doesn't want to be around Sun or deal with Eclipse until things get better.
Moon finds out about Lunar's running away secondhand and struggles to bring himself to talk to Sun to stop him from wanting to kill Eclipse because he doesn't want for his brother to be like him in terms of killing people. But he puts it off for far too long because of being socially inept and goes to others for advice first.
When Moon finally does try to confront Sun as a projection and tells him how Lunar moved out, Sun at first brushes it off like it's not a big deal and ignores him before going on with his hunt for Eclipse. Claiming that he also felt no remorse for killing BloodMoon and didn't hear his voice in his head like Moon said he did with the people he killed.
As this is going on, Eclipse takes over Solar Flare's body.
Moon catches up to Sun in one of their bunkers and, after fighting again, traps him inside an invisible prison and leaves him there for his own good and to chill out. Which ends up being a bad idea as Sun begins to hallucinate BloodMoon who taunts and torments him (because he actually DOES feel remorse) until he screams and manages to shatter the magic barrier with his own emotion-fueled magic.
And thus Sun continues with his plan of hunting down Eclipse while Moon magically enters his own head with one of his computer AI's along for the ride to try and get rid of KC. Unaware of the fact his brother is free or how KC is just out and about talking and hanging around with everyone while masquerading as him and realizing that he DOESN'T WANT TO KILL PEOPLE ANYMORE.
KC just wants to live and appreciate life.
BUT THEN
The creator comes out of nowhere as KC is contemplating existence in the woods to reveal how he wasn't a glitch in Moon's code as he'd told them but an INTENDED FEATURE.
Moon was made to kill people, and KC not killing people was going against the Creator's grand scheme of punishing humanity. So he utilizes his control over Moon's body's programing to instill the desire to kill in KC again and sends him off.
But KC manages to resist and makes it back to the Daycare and hunkers down in Moon's room for the next few days.
Sun, as this is going on, finds the base Eclipse is in and confronts him. But things obviously don't go as planned and he is unable to kill him in the end. Instead, Sun lets out another explosive burst of energy while attempting to save himself and ultimately destroys Moon's magic pool, which the base was built on, trapping him in his own head.
AGAIN.
He learns this from Eclipse who sends him off to find Golden Freddy and then uses the opportunity to go and look for the Star again. He decides to pay a visit to Lunar and plant a bomb in his head to use him as a bargaining chip with Monty (cause Monty has been hiding the Star up to this point) since he has a soft spot for him.
But he only goes the Lunar bait route after first trying to threaten Moon's computer AI to send him to another dimension that has a Star so he can try and steal it (unaware another dimension's star won't work outside the one it exists in). And that gets him sent to meet Nice Eclipse who sees right through his disguise and laughs in his face over his stupidity and desperation.
Thus officially starting Eclipse's Pathetic Arc.
Sun, after getting a piece of Golden Freddy's soul to use magic, returns to the site of the magic pool where Moon's circle used to be and attempts to reconstruct the circle. However, BloodMoon begins tormenting him in the form of hallucinations again and he ends up messing up and is unable to restore it. Dooming Moon to be trapped in his head forever.
Sun begins to breakdown just as Earth (who had been wandering around on her way to the daycare the entire time after she was first sent to live with Sun and Moon cause she's a bit of an airhead) crosses his path and provides him with comfort and support as he cries.
The two of them then go back to the Daycare where KC, pretending to be Moon for Sun's sake, assures him things will be fine and tells Sun to go out and buy food for his cat since the autofeeder he had for it ran out while he was off on his murder quest (Davis has catS IRL and sometimes in videos you can hear meows and him talking to said cats so they just decided to make it that Sun owns a cat to explain it sldkjsldfk)
While Sun is gone, KC and Earth talk a bit. KC once again being moved by the kindness of strangers before retreating into Moon's room again to enter his own mind and talk with Moon.
As this is going on, Eclipse threatens to blow up Lunar if Monty doesn't hand over the Star.
And Monty does.
Though it was ultimately for nothing as Eclipse then blows up Lunar in front of Monty anyway.
One of Lunar's nanomachines managed to survive tho so Monty zip zap zooms to a space station where he can rebuild him. But Eclipse materializes out of the ether and threatens him to stay on earth so he goes back, leaving Lunar to be repaired slowly.
At some point after this, Monty beats up his old con artist ex-friend and resets his memories to make him into his friend again cause he's lost everything and has abandoned all hope at this point. And thus the Monty Gator and Foxy show is born. (Which is a whole other can of worms. One aspect being that Monty has a shitty BIRTH father so I just kinda ignore everything unless it connects back to the Sun and Moon Show)
Back in Moon's head, he and KC talk things out. And, upon realizing that KC has changed for the better, Moon can no longer bring himself to kill him as planned because he doesn't want to be responsible for killing another person as KC has proven himself to be. One capable of change like he had tried to convince Sun that BloodMoon might have been capable of had they been given the chance.
Which had been an argument he had made when first trying to talk Sun out of killing Eclipse.
But the only way for both him and KC to live at this point has a 98% chance of factory resetting Moon and deleting all his memories.
So, Moon records a message for Sun and gives it to KC to give to his brother.
And then Moon is ultimately reset.
In the middle of Sun coming to terms of Moon being reset and trying to bring New Moon up to speed on who he and Earth are; Eclipse shows up just to show off and gloat how he got the Star.
But New Moon, of course, doesn't remember who he is or what the Star does so he doesn't really care.
And Sun is just completely dead inside. Especially at the reveal of Lunar being dead (Sunny boy feeling the guilt of his last conversation with him).
So Eclipse doesn't really get much satisfaction from it.
And then Eclipse enacts his new plan for the world instead of completely resetting it:
Rewriting everyone's memories so that he's the good guy and Sun and Moon are the bad guys and occasionally zapping them to random dimensions just to make their lives hell because he literally has nothing else going for him in life.
Monty managed to avoid getting his memories rewritten from being in space trying to fix Lunar at the time he did it (this is before Eclipse threatened Monty) but has to pretend like they were for the time being.
So only Monty, Earth, and the boys know the truth of what happened.
And New Moon has to relearn everything by watching all the recorded footage from his and Sun's perspective over the past couple years because he never backed himself up like Eclipse did because of KC.
Surprisingly, a lot of the old Moon is still in New Moon. But New Moon is a hella lot more considerate and kinder than his pre-amnesia self. His and Sun's dynamic having completely shifted since his reset.
He also shows more symptoms of ADHD (What Moon himself says he has) than he did originally.
As Sun and New Moon are busy picking up the pieces of the mess Eclipse made and figuring out what to do with him (and with Sun STILL VERY MUCH HALLUCINATING AND SUICIDAL AT THIS POINT BECAUSE OF EVERYTHING WITH ECLIPSE AND LUNAR AND THE LOSS OF OLD MOON), Eclipse is slowly killing himself the more he uses the star with no other plan or intention to do anything substantial with it other than making sure people still like him and making Sun and New Moon suffer because of his abandonment issues.
Eclipse legit gets mad when he appears in their room (likely intending to mock them when they return from a trip he sent them on) where he ends up encountering Earth who tries to talk to him about his feelings and psychoanalyze him.
Dude has no real plan anymore and legit considered recruiting Freddy and Toy Chica's fucking baby but got scared off by Mimic telling him it would anger Golden Freddy.
At some point, Monty also finally meets Earth and they start dating.
Which New Moon wants to punch Monty over when he finds out.
Cause this literally happens not long after they finally interact again for the first time in months since his reset. Mostly because Monty didn't ask for his and Sun's blessing first cause THAT'S THEIR SISTER.
Also New Moon and Monty became fast friends all over again. And Monty let the boys know that Lunar was still alive. He's just still in space because Puppet (THE Puppet) is supposed to retrieve him but hasn't yet.
While attempting to find out how to stop Eclipse, New Moon manages to somehow get connected to a camera in their creator's base where he and Sun learn he is just a GIANT FLOATING BRAIN along with how he's using them as a scapegoat for his greater plans.
But Sun leaves the room as New Moon learns that, in addition to that, Earth is being used as an unwitting pawn to upload incriminating files into Fazbear Entertainment's database.
Still deeming Eclipse the bigger threat at the moment, even after Sun blows up at him over how he has nothing and is pathetic the last time he tried to mess with them since getting the Star, New Moon goes to the dimension with the nice Eclipse and they discover the code that Solar Flare (who is still alive and pulling the same shit Eclipse did to Sun with refusing to be removed so Eclipse can't get himself a better body that can handle the Star's power basically all: "We die together bitch") had given him to get rid of him. And upon learning that Lunar was killed by our Eclipse, nice Eclipse agrees to help and sacrifice himself (since it would kill him too once they lure Eclipse to his dimension) on the condition that New Moon helps to repair his Sun and Moon when he's gone.
Also Monty in Nice Eclipse's dimenstion is British is basically Elon Musk.
That point really isn't important other than the jokes about New Moon and Nice Eclipse hating him but I had no idea how else to include it.
New Moon then travels to Nice Eclipse's dimension again after gathering materials to begin building the satellite that will broadcast the code to kill Eclipse (which will take him a month in Nice Eclipse's dimenstion but will only really be a week in our time). And Sun, in his current mental state, is also composing his own plans to get rid of Eclipse just in case it doesn't work out cause he wants to protect his brother and not have him sacrifice himself again.
Said plan involves creating another Star to fight him with. And findinge KC (who got his own body and is currently out exploring) cause he might have Moon's memories that would be of help.
Also Ruin DLC!Eclipse had shown up at some point via portal and is now just running around causing havoc by just existing.
He punched New Moon in the face.
And then New Moon trapped him in a karaoke booth.
But then Freddy went and let him out thinking he was saving an innocent person and now the dude ALSO wants the Star.
Ruin!Eclipse vs. Wet Dorite Eclipse when?
Upon New Moon's return to their dimension, Sun shares his plans and what he heard from Golden Freddy. New Moon hears him out but explains how that might not work but is willing to give it a shot to some extent.
But they still have to find KC first.
Which ends up being rather easy cause the dude is just going around working in soup kitchens and the like despite living off the grid.
KC explains the options that Sun and New Moon have. One of which is one of them becoming a conduit for Star energy to fight Eclipse.
However, that might kill whoever does it.
When New Moon returns to Sun he explains KC is going to stop by after they've discus and decide what it is they're going to do. But before that, Hatsune Miky (yes, I'm not kidding) appears out of nowhere and has apparently been stalking them and is one of those crazy fans who hates and blames everything that's happened in the show thus far on Sun.
Sun, who may I remind, is VERY MENTALLY NOT OKAY AND WANTS TO DIE.
At the same time this is happening, Eclipse begins plan: "Instil False Hope".
Which is just going to Earth and Gaslight Gatekeep Girlbossing her.
Though not until after encountering Puppet and trying to recruit him to his side first. But he only succeeds in making himself mad because Puppet is such a GODDAMN WEEB.
Anyway, he attempts to manipulate Earth by saying he's INCREDIBLY sorry and wants to change.
But he does it SOOOO unconvincingly and while underestimating Earth's intelligence just because she insists on being kind to him. Constantly, and not so subtly, insulting her the whole time that she's able to see right through his bull and calls him out on it. Especially when he brings up how Sun (before it was known Eclipse or BloodMoon existed and were in control of him) killed kids along with Old Moon.
She points out that if he really wanted to change, he wouldn't tell her something like that. And after her patience is tried, she tells him she's being far kinder to him than he deserves and that he doesn't really want to change or be helped. He's just pathetic and wants to make everyone as miserable as he is.
Earth then decides she and her brothers have to talk cause she doesn't know who's telling the truth anymore after Eclipse tells her to go fuck herself and, failing to teleport away, walks off.
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javiddenkins · 9 months
Text
Javid Denkins is not interested in answering questions. 
It's 9:30 in the morning and I'm sitting across from Denkins in a conference room at the AMC Studios offices. Denkins declined to meet anywhere more personal than this beige and glass room, impersonal Muzak buzzing through the speakers, windows overlooking an empty studio lot. There are posters on the wall but none, strangely, for Blow the Man Down, the runaway hit Denkins conceived, writes, and now showruns. 
Blow the Man Down, or BTMD as it's frequently referred to by fans and journalists alike, is a workplace comedy set in the Golden Age of Piracy. This unusual premise would be interesting enough even without the top-tier leads brought on by AMC to play opposing pirate captains Sam Bellamy and Olivier Levasseur—Oscar Issac and John Boyega light up the screen and bring surprising comedy chops to the pirate-filled stage they share with such talents as Michelle Yeoh ("Zheng Yi Sao") and Sam Neill ("Captain Benjamin Hornigold"). 
But beyond that, BTMD seems to be that rare thing in mainstream media: a slow romance between two middle-aged men finding love for the first time. The first—and so far, only—season ends on a cliffhanger, our heroes separated by an ocean but determined to reach one another, and their love story—if it is one—stays unresolved. 
Usually an interview like this—between seasons, after renewal and filming but before advertising—would be the perfect opportunity to delve into the mind behind the magic and attempt to tease out hints about what's to come. 
But Denkins seems determined to ignore Hollywood's traditional playbook. 
Whether this is the standard conference room used for interviewing reluctant showrunners, or if Denkins picked it especially for the purpose, I'll never find out. I've already been waiting half an hour, uncertain if Denkins intends to join me at all. When he does finally arrive, he makes his position clear. 
"I'm only doing this because you agreed to my terms," he says. 
I'd describe what he looked like, if he had a coffee or a snack or a smoker's twitching nerves, if he sounded tired or amused or angry—but I can't. If you see a description here, it's because Denkins decided, for whatever reason, to approve it. Otherwise, sharing my impression of Denkins is off the table, one of many terms and conditions my editorial team and I had to agree to before Denkins would accept this meeting. 
Denkins doesn't want to make my job easy. Photos of him do exist from the few red carpets he's attended; enthusiastic interviews with the cast, writers, and production team of BTMD definitely paint a picture that belies Denkins's apparent efforts to avoid perception. But here and now, in the oppressive air conditioning of the AMC offices, I am contractually obligated to interview a cipher.
If he can be all business, though, then so can I. I hit a button on my phone's recording app, set it down between us, and ask what made him decide to tell the story of an obscure pair of pirates like Sam Bellamy and Olivier Levasseur.
He shrugs. "Why does anyone write anything? This is my job." 
It's not the kind of answer I was expecting. Something must show on my face, because he follows with, "That's unsatisfying, isn't it. No definitive answer."
"It's not what I expected," I hedge.
"What did you want to hear?"
I try to gather my thoughts, but I'm definitely stalling, uncertain that this is what Denkins intends. "I did a little research," I say. "Not as much as I imagine you did, but I found some of Bellamy and Levasseur's history together and, later, apart. Bellamy's ship is the only fully authenticated Golden Age shipwreck in the world, so it makes sense that the wrecking of the Whydah is an important turning point in season one. Levasseur, on the other hand, is best known for the mystery of his encoded treasure map, flung into the crowd at his hanging and only ever partially solved, which you seem to have used as a foundation for the coding and decoding motifs throughout. But for a show that seems determined to discuss the consequences of fame and reputation, it's fascinating that you've chosen two men most casual viewers have never heard of."
"Outside the narrative they built for themselves," Denkins corrects. "Is there a question in there?"
I remember again that Denkins isn't here to make this easy for me. "Why not choose one of the more well-known pirates of the era? Henry Morgan, Captain Kidd, and Blackbeard are all arguably more famous both now and when they were alive. What made you choose Bellamy and Levasseur for this story?"
"I think," Denkins says, "I just answered that. There's a difference between how you perceive yourself, and how the world perceives you. Those famous pirates retained their notoriety even after death. Sam and Ollie did have reputations when they were alive, but if people today know them at all, it's typically for reasons completely unrelated to whatever little fame they achieved in life."
"And that fascinates you?"
Denkins looks irritated. "It doesn't matter what fascinates me. That's the story, that's—look, I don't know how to write a puff piece like this," Denkins says. "I don't know if it would really sound like this, if anyone would bother caring enough about what I want to get this far."
"Excuse me?" I say.
"Do you honestly think," Denkins says, "there's a single journalist out there that would actually agree to these interview conditions? This is a fantasy, a what-if, and it still doesn't work."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean," says Denkins, "I didn't even give you a name."
And that's true, I realize. I don't have a name. 
"Right," says Denkins, as if hearing my thoughts—and I suppose, in a way, he does. "And you don't know how you got here, and you don't know where you'll go after. I made you up. I made all this up."
I look at my recorder, which isn't a recorder. I look at the room, which isn't a room. 
"Okay," I say. "So what did you want to happen?"
Denkins taps my phone's screen to stop the recording. Denkins imagines me noticing that he taps the screen, and so this must have meaning. There is no room for junk words and actions in prose, and even less in television. Whatever's on the page has to have meaning, or it's wasted space, wasted time, a moment that could have been useful now gone and never coming back.
Denkins shoves my phone back to the center of the table and says, "I wanted to see if I could just talk about the story without making it about me."
"But you're part of it," I point out. "You have to be. It came from you. It was something you thought was important, and then you put the effort in to create it. The story exists because of you, in relation to you. That's why people, why fans, want to know more about you. They love the story, and you made it, so they want to love you, too."
"I don't like that," says Denkins. "Rephrase it."
"They love the story," I say, parroting back at my creator, "and you made it. They want to know about you so they can know more about what the story means."
Denkins's chair creaks as he pushes it back, puts his head in his hands. I wonder if he's doing that in the real world, too, in the place where he's imagining this interview that will never exist. 
(Except I'm not the one wondering. He is. He's wondering what an interviewer would think of him if he allowed himself to show this weakness. Rephrase. Show this ache. Rephrase. Show this.)
"I'm not a story," Denkins says, face still hidden. The Muzak piped into the room seems too loud, too discordant now. Maybe that's what the world sounds like to him. "I'm not imaginary. I'm not a specimen to study under a microscope until every part of me is uncovered and connected one by one to every part of the show." He drags his hands back down and I think I can say that he looks very, very tired. 
"Yes, maybe I put some of myself in Blow the Man Down," he continues. "Maybe I did in season two as well. Maybe I put something in The Gang, and maybe I'll put something into whatever else I make for the next fifty years. And what I put there is—will be—has to be—my choice. All things I chose to share. But this?" He waves a hand at the nonexistent conference room, at nonexistent me. "This isn't a choice. It's a demand. I'm being held hostage for answers, as if me keeping my boundaries somehow ruins the show, ruins the story."
"Because you're not a story," I repeat back, watching for confirmation. "Because what you choose to reveal is the only story the audience should need."
"Yes," says Denkins. "That's it."
That's not it, though. I know this, because I'm him, talking to himself. Thinking all this through. 
"So you cut yourself off," I say. "No one can know anything about you, because they're already clawing for what you're not willing to share—so how much worse would it get if you gave them a chance to come closer, right?" 
"To take, and get it wrong anyway," he says. "Or get it right, but not like it. Not like me. How I'm perceived might change how the story is perceived. And even skipping over the whole art of it all—this is a business. How the story is perceived affects dozens, if not hundreds of people and careers. And all of it can get destroyed in an instant if there's some aspect of me that the audience decides is wrong."
Denkins pushes back from the table, stands up as if to leave. I'm not done yet, though. He's not done yet.
"Sounds lonely," I say.
"Sounds like something a fan would say," he shoots back, and I shrug.
"Blame yourself for thinking it and making me say it, then. It sounds lonely. It is lonely. It's lonely to think there's no way that you could open yourself up, talk about who you are and what your art means to you, without feeling like someone, everyone, will take advantage of that vulnerability."
I pause, and in that pause I find something to latch onto. "You've imagined me," I say. "You've imagined this scenario, where you stay cut off and oblique and hidden." I pick up my phone from where it's placed between us, and I shut it down completely—not because it exists, but because it's a symbol he understands. "What would happen if you imagined being part of the story?" I ask. Rephrase. "What would happen if you imagined being free?"
We look at each other. The tinny music of this artificial space comes to a sudden halt.
Denkins leaves the room. 
I am—
Denkins comes back. He sits down. He looks at me.
Time doesn't exist in the beige and glass room. But behind him, now, there is a poster of Sam Bellamy and Olivier Levasseur, a drilled coin on a cord stretched taut between them. And the Muzak hasn't restarted.
Denkins looks different. Or maybe he just feels different. Those things are functionally the same, here.
"You know the old movie trailers?" Denkins starts, not really a question. "The ones that start with 'in a world…'"
I nod. 
He smiles a little. "Okay. In a world where Blow the Man Down doesn't exist. Let's say there's something else instead. Let's say it's called Our Flag Means Death. It's a workplace comedy, it's the Golden Age of Piracy, the works. They even manage to kiss in the first season, though the cliffhanger is worse. And in that world, there's a different guy who runs it, a guy named David Jenkins, who seems nicer and more outgoing and shares a lot more of himself than I do. And I think it goes mostly okay for him, except he has to scrub his social media, delete most of his Instagram, and never gets to name his wife anywhere in case a fan might notice and start following her around."
"Sounds grim," I say.
He shrugs. "It's another way of handling it. David, in that world, has made a choice to draw the enemy fire toward himself, instead of hiding away and letting it scatter at random. It seems to work okay for him, and maybe it would for me too, but, you know. Maybe that's a little of myself I gave Ollie. Because I also like the idea of testing something first, all the way to destruction."
A little of myself. This—this is personal information. Something that, in the negotiations that never happened, he said he'd never give me.
My phone, with its blackened screen, is right there. I keep my hands still, folded together, decidedly not reaching for the phone. Denkins watches, sees. His shoulders loosen; neither of us, I think, realized how tense he'd been.
"In that world," he says, "there's a second season coming that no one knows anything about and there's a fandom going feral. Echo chambers that feed off their own theories because there's nothing new to add to the pot. Just like our world, right? In the absence of good data, overwrought ideology works just as well.
"And in the middle of this, to provide a distraction, maybe, or to draw that enemy fire like he so often does, David Jenkins says he'll get a Tumblr—you know, one of those not-really-social-media internet places. And maybe he does. He doesn't tell anyone his username, so it's a mystery whether he really did it or not. But someone opens an account. And someone says they're definitely not David Jenkins."
Javid Denkins is holding a cup of coffee. So am I, now. We take sips, mirrors of each other. The coffee tastes like it has seven sugars in it.
Denkins swirls his cup gently, not looking up at me. "When you're trying to figure out something that's terrifying," he says, slow and careful, "and enraging, and so big and so much that it feels like you'll collapse under the weight of it…sometimes you need to find a way to conceptualize it more abstractly. Make it manageable. Put it in bite-sized chunks. 
"So instead of me, dealing with all this fame, and these expectations, and these pulls to turn me from a person into a plot point…maybe there's this other guy. In this other universe, with this other pirate show. Another writer, who says he's definitely not David Jenkins. But—he could be. He could be. And either way, there's enough uncertainty that the fandom can't tell right away."
"Schrödinger's showrunner," I say. 
Denkins tips his mug at me. "Yeah, that gets pointed out, too. Because either it's really him and the fandom will eat at him—death by a thousand needy bites of demand, and something that feels like connection but by its nature can't be—or it's not him, just a fan pretending to be him, attention-seeking, scamming, stealing unearned laurels to crown a meaningless triumph: successfully mimicking the concept of David Jenkins."
"Pretty binary."
Denkins shrugs. "You saw the first season. I'm a sucker for duality." 
He hums and looks out the conference room's window. The AMC lot is gone. More accurately, it was never there. Outside the window is an ocean. The water is green-screen perfect, and there are two tall-masted ships in the distance: Bellamy's Whydah Gally and Levasseur's La Louise. They float angled toward one another, counterpart to their captains on the poster behind Jenkins, missing only the drilled coin between them.
"Except," says Denkins, slow and musing as he watches the distant ships, "in the vast multiverse of imaginable possible outcomes, it turns out that there is the very slimmest possible chance of a third thing happening."
There is another ship floating now between the Whydah and La Louise. It's freshly painted, poorly rigged, and its figurehead is a unicorn. Instead of one flag, it has half a dozen. And I know, because Denkins knows, that instead of gunpowder in its hold, it carries jars and jars of harmless marmalade.
"So," I say, "David Jenkins—"
"Oh, definitely not David Jenkins," says Javid Denkins, amusement lighting up his face. He keeps his eyes on that third ship.
"So the person who is definitely not David Jenkins," I say. "He comes and starts a social media account. He answers questions."
"Sort of. Nothing specific, really. Just…narrative likelihoods. Enough to dangle hope. But the fandom wants more. There's a Richard Siken line he sees, that if he'd chosen to stay anonymous maybe he could've actually posted: 'but monsters are always hungry, darling.' It's like that. So he backs up a little, and considers how to hold off the inevitable. The season two hints are vague? Make them vaguer. Add some smoke and mirrors to hide how little substance they have. There are only so many general pirate tropes around? Stretch out how long it takes to get the ones he has. Add steps. Add puzzles. Make the fandom work for it, and maybe they won't notice how little there is to find. Give them an interesting enough box to open, and they'll ignore the fact that there isn't an answer on the inside, just another, smaller box." He tilts his head and looks at me. The light outside is now luminous pink and yellow, flashing off the water and highlighting his face like a duotone painting. "Then he…" Denkins sighs. Puts down his mug. "Then I sit back and see what happens. I see if it's as bad as I think it would be if I did it here, in the real world."
"And is it?"
Denkins reaches out with one hand, tugging my phone over to his side of the table. He starts fiddling with the buttons, attention on it instead of me. "To start with? Yes. And no. It didn't matter that the one thing I promised was that I wasn't David Jenkins. They—the fandom—found me anyway. They assumed I was him. And I was right, of course I was right, they asked me questions. Hundreds of them. Like that was the only reason I existed, like I couldn't just be a regular person like the rest of them, just on Tumblr to read about the Carpathia and get taken out by the color of the sky."
"For better or for worse, you're a public person," I say. "They think they know what it means when a public person breaks down the barrier between themselves and the fans. Even well-meaning people make assumptions."
The recorder is no longer a phone and app; it's an old cassette player with thick plastic buttons like I, or more accurately Denkins, had as a child. It matches the ones his elementary school classrooms had, which in turn looked like the device Mr. Spock carried at his hip to record and interpret data from strange new worlds. 
Denkins, in the here and now, half-presses the play and record buttons, which would trigger the record function if pushed down completely. He holds back. Riding the edge of commitment. Over and over. 
"Yeah," he says. "Yes. That's true. And I could've been completely anonymous if I wanted to be left alone entirely. I suppose I wanted to prove that everything I believe—everything I'm afraid of—is true, and that I'm justified in hiding away, refusing to be 'known' by anyone I haven't specifically agreed to. Hence the thought exercise. And when I was done, and I had my proof," he says, leaving off the recorder buttons to raise a pointed finger at me, "I wouldn't have to see you again either."
We look at each other. "But here you are," I say.
He laughs. It's rusty, but sure. "Here I am," he agrees.
"So what happened?"
"Turns out," he says, "that in that infinite universe of possibilities a writer can dream up, there's a world where, yes, all my worst fears are confirmed…but that's not all that happens."
He stops, and we are both silent for a long, long moment. His fingertips brush over the recorder buttons, repetitive and soothing, like he's calming something feral and unused to human touch.
"Would you believe," he says at last, hushed and small in this glass and beige room floating on a digital sea, "that there is a world where fans—people—don't ask for more than I want to give? Who see the box I'm in, and instead of ripping it open to grasp for whatever good thing they think they can find inside…they give something back. 
"I played it all out, you see." He waves his hand over the recorder. Now there are two of them, sitting side by side, each with a row of thick black plastic buttons along the edge: one to play, one to rewind, one to record, and one to pop open its lid so that the cassette can be changed. One of the recorders is a little bigger than the other. "If I can imagine it," he says, "it has to be possible."
He looks at the two recorders; he's quiet now, talking to himself rather than me. I don't think I'm as necessary as I was before. I think maybe this is just him. Just Denkins in this lonely little room. He moves the smaller recorder so that it's lined up with the larger one, like he's lining up Matryoshka dolls as he reveals them.
"It started small," he says. "There were people who saw my puzzles, and made puzzles back for me, just to play along. People who saw my puzzles, and shared what they knew about them, just to help others play too. Small things. Little things. Possible things. I liked it. I didn't expect it. I…wanted to give back, too. Not just in the story, I mean. It was me who wanted it. Wanted to add to a world, to a community, where that sort of giving could happen. So I went further. I didn't just try to hint at common story beats this other show might hit—I started listening, following, asking what would be most welcome, and then gave that instead. And it grew. It grew until it wasn't really just an experiment anymore. It stopped being an adversarial proof. It started being…something else."
Denkins reaches out, and now there are three recorders on the table. The newest one is the smallest. He lines it up with the others.
"I'd already made David Jenkins," he says, "and in turn he'd made his own Javid Denkins. So why not do it again? This other Javid Denkins, this me who's me but not me, goes deeper. He uses the tools at his disposal. Our Flag Means Death has pirates named Edward Teach and Stede Bonnet. OFMD has a fandom like BTMD does, where people write stories about the characters, for themselves and—for others. Fan fiction. A thing that can be a gift, if you want it to be. So I started to write one."
One by one, Denkins hits the 'play' button on each of the recorders. The cassettes whir, a steady background hum. Each starts playing a part of some orchestral piece. Not the individual instruments, but something stranger. It's as if each cassette contains the whole work, but with fragments missing that the others complete. There are still some gaps in the playback.
Denkins waves his hand over the collection again, and a fourth recorder, smallest of all, appears. He presses play on it too, and the music fills in. It's a pretty little melody. Simple, if you know how to hear it.
Denkins hums a little of it before looking up, seeing me again. "That was it, really. That's what finally made all this small enough for me to understand. Made it small enough, far enough away from my actual world that I could finally let myself feel it. In this story that I'm telling, here is Edward Teach." Denkins touches the smallest recorder very, very gently. "Teach lives in a world where he's not the main character; he's just a fan of a gay pirate romcom called Blow the Man Down. He's tired, and he's angry, and he doesn't know how to deal with the world the way it is, with the fandom as he perceives it. He makes a Twitter account, anonymously, to prove that what he fears is real."
Denkins covers the recorder with both hands, only muffling the music a little. "Here's Edward Teach, made up of all my fears and saying them out loud."
He raises his hands, and now there are two little recorders, the same size, both playing the same parts together. He touches the new recorder with his fingertip, as if it's a bubble that could too easily break. "Here's Stede Bonnet," he says, "made up of all my fears coming true. And then having to live through it anyway." He stares down at this new recorder; the same as the Edward Teach one, but evidently special in some way to Denkins. He says, to me, to it, to the room: "It's a hell of a thing, to need to go so far away just to see what you've been carrying on your back the whole time."
After a moment, he looks back up at me. "In my story," he says, "Stede survives the disaster. My disaster. He survives it, because he has Ed—a love interest, yes, but not just that. He's someone he opened up to. And more than that, I saw—because I could imagine it, and so it must be possible, it has to actually be possible—I saw the fandom become…people."
With both hands, Denkins presses a button on each of these two small recorders.
Their lids pop open.
And from the walls, from the ceiling, from the glass windows and the limitless sea, there comes a multiverse of music.
"These people," says Denkins, tilting his head to listen as the swells of unseen instruments add to the gentle overture of his pocket worlds and turn the piece into something greater than the sum of its parts. "They're not some nameless collective made up of their worst impulses. They're just people. People are complicated. You can never know them completely; they can never know you. All you really get is what they—we—choose to do. 
"And I saw people try to help Stede. People, strangers, who didn't know who he was, not really. And they felt compassion anyway."
After a long moment, just taking in the music, Denkins sighs and carefully closes the lids on the two small recorders. The singing universe becomes just a recorded orchestral piece once again—though no less beautiful for it. He gently pushes the two recorders together until they're touching, side by side, and covers them with his hand. He says, "Ed got to see this. He got to know that even if his worst fear happens, he'll be okay on the other side of it. And he won't be alone." 
He lifts his hand; the two are now one, still playing its little melody.
Denkins picks up this amalgamated recorder and sets it on top of the next largest. He puts his hand over the stack he's just made. "Move it up a level," Denkins says. "David Jenkins, or someone who is definitely not David Jenkins, runs a Tumblr with games and puzzles and digital tools that stretch the boundaries of the narrative. He sees the reactions to his story. Sees fans who know it isn't real, who know that Stede and Ed are characters in a narrative—and nevertheless, these fans, these people, see that these characters are hurting. They try to help. They don't know who's behind the masks labeled 'Stede' and 'Ed,' not really. But they feel compassion anyway."
He lifts his hand. The little recorder atop the larger is gone. The music is different. Not lessened, but changed. It's come closer. 
Once more, Denkins moves the smaller combined recorder onto the last one—or, I suppose, the first of all of them. "So move it up one more time," he says. The music isn't audible in the room now; but I hear it anyway. It's in me. Us. The last little notes coming from the final recorders just a reminder of what the world could sound like.
He covers the top recorder with both hands. His touch is aching and very, very soft. "Here's me. Javid Denkins. I don't know if there's a world where I could open myself up and not have everything burn down in flames. I don't know if it could ever be possible for me to leave this room, open my laptop, and start something, somewhere, called 'definitely not Javid Denkins,' and have it be as beautiful and awe-inspiring as it was in my thought experiment.
"But God," he says, "I want it."
He lifts his hands, and all that's left is the final recorder, the one that was my phone to begin with. The music dissipates completely. But the feeling of it remains. Denkins rests his hands on either side of this solitary recorder. He says, "I don't know if all of that—all of them, my fans, my friends, all of what we made together…I don't know if it already exists for me in the real world. Just waiting for me to be brave enough to look. I don't know. But I think I have to believe that it does. That they do. I have to believe that it's possible not just to imagine that kind of grace, but to live it." 
Denkins brushes his thumb over the last recorder's play button. "I think that's what it means to be human," he says. "To try anyway. To unlock yourself despite your fears, and find hope there waiting for you."
He closes his eyes. I close my eyes. We take a deep breath together.
We open our eyes.
After a moment, I smile at Denkins, a little crooked. I've got one last question to ask, and it's one he might even answer. 
"Who are you, really?" I ask. 
It's something we all have to answer about ourselves eventually, and it seems particularly relevant now.
Denkins shrugs, and his smile mirrors mine. "Does it matter?"
"It feels like it does."
"How about this," he says. "Who are you, really?"
And knowing what I know now…if I'm anyone at all, then I suppose I'm Javid Denkins. An aspect. A reflection. A dream.
And so, in these universes he's imagined, is everyone.
"So," Denkins says. "You think I can start over?"
I smile wider. It feels good. "I'd love that."
He pushes the recorder back to me, and in my heart I hear his laughing request for one last rephrase—
Javid Denkins has been waiting for me.
It's 9:30 in the morning and I'm sitting across the table from a cheerful enigma. Denkins was already in the room when I arrived, a hot coffee by my seat and a box filled with fresh breakfast pastries and marmalade open and ready to be enjoyed. An advertising standup emblazoned with the unreleased (at time of writing) air date for season two of Denkins's Blow the Man Down takes pride of place at the head of the table. Through the windows opposite, bright sunlight bounces off the buzzing AMC studio lot, and I think I hear a certain pirate romcom's theme music playing quietly over the room's speakers.
Denkins grins at me, and it's easy to see why his actors and writers speak so highly of the experience of working with him. Because I can tell already: this is going to be fun. 
It starts when he leans forward, eyes bright, and presses the record button on my phone for me.
"Let's play," he says, and—we do.
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ashturnedtomist · 7 months
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Redacted HCs 4
• Elliot can sing and play the guitar
• Blake is a really bad driver and so is Bestie
• A lot of D.A.M.N students have a crush on Lasko’s listener LMAO
• He’s secretly jealous, but he gets all flustered when he tries to talk to them about it (and it’s not like they can anything about it 😭)
• I am one of many firm believers that Huxley had a crush on FL when they first met
• In his last audio, Cutie was terrified that Geordi would break up with them, yes, for all the normal reasons, but then it would also mean that his memory would have to be completely wiped of them
• Geordi loves Mitski and his favorite album is Be the Cowboy followed by Bury Me at Makeout Creek (bc wdym that Geordi doesn’t listen to Francis Forever when he misses Cutie???) (they are so extremely Mitski coded it’s not even funny)
• David has angel wings tattooed somewhere on his body. Part of me wants to say he has big huge ones on his back, but the other part of me says it’s probably small and like somewhere on his bicep or his hip bone or something (this brought up the thought of him with a tramp stamp LMAO)
• side note: if Gavin were to get a tattoo, it probably would be a tramp stamp 💀
• Lasko is left handed and his handwriting is super messy
• Hush has really long dark hair and really dark eyes
• When looking at Brachium, your eyes can’t seem to focus on him. Almost like he’s not even really there
• Avior really likes chocolate
• A lot of older pack members had a crush on Gabe LMAO
• Milo, Sam, and Darlin’ are terrified of clowns
• Asher and Sweetheart love them
• Asher was addicted to Vine and now he’s addicted to Tiktok
• Honey wears really cutsie clothes but has a HUGE rbf so their aesthetic is like super nice and cute, but their personality is so rough 💀
• Lasko has SUCH a weak stomach
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luckshiptoshore · 5 months
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So here we are then, at the end of season 9, and it’s time for my state of the union. What have I learned? How am I doing? What is going on?
Mostly I have to say I am endlessly rotating this comment about my ‘spn is a queer piece of media’ post:
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I’m really spinning this around in my brain. what did they mean by this? what could they possibly have meant???
Because baby, they only went and made season 9 gayer. Good god damn, it’s so gay. Yes, Cas fucks a woman, but that could happen to anyone, and in fact it often happens to bi men, which is what I actually think Cas is. He also assumes he’s going on a date with another woman but it turns out she’s just using him to babysit her child because she has clocked him as an honest and harmless queer man. This is truly the season Cas discovers that human women are feckless and often murderous and thus not worth his time, but Dean Winchester will always be there to save the day and unbutton his shirt. It’s Dean he’s trying to reach out to, Dean he can’t harm even though everything he’s trying to do depends on it. He just can’t quit that man!
And Dean. Dean gets told to push away and ignore Cas, so he does … and then he immediately decides to drive halfway across the country to stare at him through a window. He’s like a dog you tell to LEAVE IT and then you turn away for a second and when you turn back he’s got a suspicious expression and a weirdly bulgy mouth. And you’re like DEAN! DROP HIM. DEAN. BAD BOY! DROP. HIM. But Dean just will. not. do it. That’s HIS angel, dammit!
And then there’s Sam, the token straight man in all of this, who still spends half of the season with a literal man angel inside him. A man angel who canonically was in love with another man angel!
Oh and then there’s Crowley, who is absolutely in love with Dean now and has spent half of this season flirting with him, and then there’s Cain, who is also so in love with Dean that he just lets him have the murder blade (Dean’s pussy, as I have noted in previous posts, is truly eldrich horror catnip), and then there’s the whole Ghostfacers romance episode and the lesbianification of Sheriff Mills and the way Metatron is totally in love with Cas and the aforementioned Gadreel/Abner thing and … oh my god what did that commenter MEAN???? What straight thing was I supposed to see in season 9???
One thing I think is particularly fascinating in the text of season 9 is the way you can read the whole Dean/first blade plot as a coded look at the way Dean sees his own relationship with queerness.
I think we have established by now that Dean is a queer character, one who simultaneously knows and doesn’t know himself. He’s hiding in plain sight, being just plausibly deniable enough to pass. Then the first blade comes in as a literal mark of sin(!), something that singles Dean out as terrifyingly different and noticeable. It clicks with Dean, finds something in him that it can call to. It’s woken up a part of Dean that was inside him already.
The mark and the blade are given to Dean by a man, Cain. He reads Dean, correctly, as the right person to hold the blade and because of that he pressures Dean to accept it, even though Dean doesn’t outwardly want to. Then it’s activated by another man, the extremely and obviously gay-coded villain Cuthbert. He pushes Dean to use it in a scene that’s clearly supposed to read like an unwilling sexual encounter, telling him that it’ll get easier every time. And he might even end up liking it! Unpleasant stuff all round, but that moment kind of breaks the seal. Dean does start reluctantly using the blade, and every time he does he enjoys it a bit more, just like Cuthbert said he would. As that happens it also becomes a little more obvious each time to the other people around him what’s happening and who he’s becoming. He’s rapacious, he’s cruel, he’s giving in to his worst instincts. He’s finally hungry in a way he hasn’t let himself be since at least season 5.
Now obviously I don’t think that’s what it’s like to be gay. This website would be very different if it was. But I do think that you can make the case that this is what Dean thinks it’s like to be openly gay. You start letting yourself do gay stuff and then before you know it you’re just gaying dangerously all over the place! You can’t be stopped! It’s that idea that being gay feels good because it’s a sin and you’re a sinner and if you give into it you love sin like the big horrible monster you are. It’s the Shame! And Dean is totally motivated by the Shame.
And look, this is not the only interpretation of that plotline. Everyone has their own personal interpretations of media. That’s the point of media! You are free to disagree with me on this. But what I’m suggesting is completely supported by the text, and as always I find that totally fascinating. The people who made this show made this reading possible, and really the only question is how clearly they meant it. And what I feel very strongly after seeing this season and the one before it is that they were doing all this stuff with absolute clear-eyed intentionality.
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girls-alias · 3 months
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Dean's Dream P8
Title: Dean's Dream Part 8 Words: 3,688 [Didn't realise how long this chapter was but I hope you enjoy 😁💟] Relations: Dean Winchester X reader. TW: Strong language
Part 7
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Y/N's POV:
None of my memory before my coma came back, I learnt to accept that Dean was only a figment of my imagination. Years ago when I had gone looking for Dean I returned home, spoke with my therapist and worked hard to heal. My therapist seemed relieved that I now shared his belief that Dean wasn't real but seemed sad as he recognised that all I had been fighting for was gone. I had a rocky recovery, often mourning the anniversary as it passed me by.
It's been 4 years now. I still think of him, I still think I see him in crowds but it isn't as frequent as it used to be. I isolated myself from the world, even a short walk to the shop was upsetting to me as seeing happy couples or thinking I see Dean shakes me to my core. I haven't had the strength to say his name out loud since I came back from Salt Lake City and doubt I ever will. My soul is empty and no matter how hard I fight, I know there is no one cheering me on or smiling that I'm still here. I'm a shell of a person and doubt I will ever truly be happy because my happiness wasn't real.
I sat in my apartment crying for the billionth time, hugging my pillow tight to my chest. Closing my eyes as I picture Dean hugging and comforting me like I always did. Knowing he'd never truly be here.
Dean's POV:
Life feels like a blur. Once Sam and I left Salt Lake City, I isolated myself a little, finding comfort in being alone and imagining she was real. I would often find myself talking in an empty room, imagining she was with me but as soon as I was distracted, she was gone. The breakdowns it caused only hurt more because like in the dream she felt real.
Even after 4 years, Sam is still worried about me. We barely talked about her and it took me a while to get back to my normal life. I was never fully healed as every time I went back and was alone it reminded me that the perfect woman wasn't waiting for me. She wasn't real and I need to learn to accept it. There was a time, on a hunt, when we saved a girl from a burning building and she said Y/N was still inside. I rushed in, looked everywhere and it messed me up. I was burnt, I inhaled smoke and found that she wasn't my Y/N. It ruined me as it reminded me that my Y/N isn't mine and she isn't real. I'll never find her and she'll never be in my arms.
She made me a better man, I never kissed anyone after her, never even thought anything sexual for anyone but her. Sam thinks it's not good to still miss her but has used it to our advantage at times. His most painful one was when we got caught by a group of demons, we had fought as best as we could but were defeated. I gave up so deeply that I didn't even make sarcastic comments or insults. They had beaten us until we were barely conscious, blood and bruises covering us as we sat tied to the chairs.
"Dean, they threatening her," Sam tried.
"What?" I asked confused thinking it was some code I couldn't decipher. The group of demons looked at Sam confused.
"If they kill you, Y/N dies too. They're going to kill her," I filled with rage. I know he's just trying to get my fight back but he doesn't have to hurt me in the process.
"Y/N, huh?" A demon asked approaching me with a smirk. "Oh, Dean's in love. Don't worry, Sam right. I'm going to find her, I am going to pull her nails, her teeth, her hair out. She'll scream for your help but you'll already be dead." The demon smirked. I clenched my jaw and fists. I blacked out from the rage poisoning my veins.
The darkness cleared as I stood, beneath me were all the demon's bodies. I must have gone crazy with my anger as Sam looked terrified. I didn't know I had the strength to even stand never mind fight the group of them and win. I'd untied Sam, punching him in the stomach for manipulating my emotions.
Y/N's POV:
I sighed putting my headphones on, it was time to leave again and I was taking the necessary steps to allow me the strength to leave the house. I walked to therapy, head low, hood up as I made my way there, I ignored the world around me. Once in his office, he smiled reassuringly.
"How've you been this week?" Noah asked, opening his file to start taking notes. I sighed as I slumped back in my seat.
"Same as always," My tone flat, like usual. Noah nodded as he wrote in the file.
"So, no memories." He spoke to himself as he wrote. We'd given up hope that the memories would come back but always asked on the off chance. "How many times have you thought you'd seen Dean this week?" He asked looking at me deeply. I sighed, my eyes closing from the pain squeezing my heart and throat making it hard to speak.
"4," I admitted, he nodded, watching me. Waiting for me to explain.
We were just wrapping up our 2-hour session when Noah walked me to the door. "Oh, have you decided where you're going on your trip?" He asked nonchalantly. I shrugged. "Do you think Salt Lake City?" He asked, shocking me. We haven't mentioned Salt Lake since I got back. Why bring it up now?
"I hadn't thought of it, why?" I asked but he shrugged.
"Just thought you might have fun. I'll see you in two weeks," He added. I walked out confused. I started walking home wondering why on Earth he had thought that. I put my headphones on as I walked, my eyes staying low.
Dean's POV:
I pulled up to the diner Sam and I were going for lunch as a break from the case. I was in a world of my own as Sam talked about the case. My mind only went to Y/N as I wondered about going back to Salt Lake City. I don't know why but I felt a strong urge to go back and check if she was there on the off chance.
"Are you even listening?" Sam asked grabbing my attention. I looked up at him as he stared expectantly. I rolled my eyes at him but froze. Y/N! Looking out the diner window, and over Sam's shoulder I saw her walking past. I had seen her hundreds of times but this felt different, the sun was reflecting on her face, her hair softly blowing in the wind.
"Do you see her?" I asked Sam quickly, not taking my eyes off her in case she disappeared. Sam turned around and shrugged. She's fake. Just my imagination hurting me again. Sam turned back looking a little confused only confirming that she wasn't real.
"The hot girl?" He asked, I quickly looked at him, eyes wide before rushing up from my seat. "Dean?" Sam called after me as I hurried through the diner, dodging people as I rushed to the door. I swung it open, running after her. She's real. She has to be real.
"Y/N," I shouted, probably louder than I should have but she didn't react. I stopped in my tracks, it mustn't be her. I sighed as I watched the back of her hair, tears filling my eyes as I was once again reminded she wasn't real. She stopped at the edge of the path. She looked to the left, checking there were no cars. I saw she had headphones on and still looked like her. I gasped, resuming to run after her. What do I even say to her? What if she has no idea who I am? I just have to introduce myself, if she doesn't know me that's fine. If she's single I'll just flirt and she might fall in love with me.
Y/N's POV:
I checked the road, I know I don't have anything to live for but jumping in front of a car seems excessive. I waited as cars passed, rolling my eyes as I just wanted to be home. Crying into my pillow and thinking of Dean. I jumped slightly when I felt a hand on my shoulder, I took an earphone out as I turned around. Something must have fallen out of my pocket or something. I turned to see a very hopeful-looking Dean. The air in my lungs left. I was frozen in place.
He smiled, admiring me. Is it Dean or does he just look like him? I was in a coma, there's no way he was in the dream with me.
"Hi," He finally said. From his starstruck expression, It seemed like he knew me. I smiled softly, admiring the green eyes I had forgotten the details of over time. God, they're even better than I remember. I bit my lip as I watched him. Maybe I should say something. What do I say?!
Third-person POV:
Dean admired her, seeing her in front of him was surreal to him. He had imagined, he had dreamed and hallucinated she was real but here she was and he couldn't believe it. Neither could she.
"I don't want to sound crazy so, hi, I'm -"
"Dean?" She questioned, although she hadn't said his name in 3 years it still slipped from her tongue like silk. Her eyes filled as she recognised saying his name healed her heart a little. It was all the confirmation he needed to know she was real, she was in the dream and she loved him. He smiled a wide grin as he looked at her. She smiled brightly, recognising it was really his name and he was there.
He wasn't sure what to do now, he had dreamed of meeting her but now he felt nervous knowing she might be different from her dream. 4 years have passed, maybe she moved on. He wanted to do something, offer to spend time with her but he doesn't know what to do.
"Are you single?" She asked, he looked at her a little confused.
"Yeah," He responded a little confusion showing in his tone.
"Good," She smiled. Her hands moved to him, quickly. Her hands are on the back of his neck as she pulls him in. Their lips connect in a passionate kiss. Dean's hands found her waist, pulling her deeper into him, deepening the kiss. She smiled against his lips, Dean soon doing the same. Finally, in each other's arms, hearts healed. The kiss felt the same as all those years ago, the love still there, the way they kissed the same way but this time was different because they had waited so long and both believed it would never happen again. Dean's hand moved to her cheek, holding her as if she might disappear again. They continued the kiss even as Sam approached them, confusion riddling with his expression.
From Sam's perspective it looked as though Dean had simply wanted the hot girl as she passed the diner, now that he's followed him he expected to see him flirting, trying to get her number. And yet, Dean is making out with a seemingly stranger. He wondered if losing Y/N had finally made him go mad.
"Hello?" Sam exclaimed, unsure of what to say. Dean knew instantly it was Sam and he should probably pull away from the kiss to introduce them but he's waited 4 years for this and didn't want it to ever end. Not after his heart was so broken before. She pulled away, much to Dean's dismay. She smiled at him before turning to Sam. Her mouth dropped open as she rushed to hug him.
"Sammy!" She exclaimed excitedly. Her best friend is finally here. She missed having him to talk to, he always listened without judgment and was great at giving advice. Sam looked at Dean confused as she hugged him, he hugged back to be polite once he noticed Dean's eyes admiring her as he smiled brighter than he'd ever seen him smile before. The wheels in his head turned slowly but once he realised he pulled away to look at her. He cupped her face in his hands, looking her over. His mind was swamped with how she could be real or if she was a deceitful monster. She smiled brightly, chuckling slightly.
"Wow, don't kiss my girlfriend," Dean commented, getting closer to move Sam's hands from her face. Dean and she shared a telling smile at his words. Dean wrapped his arms over her shoulder, keeping her close to him as he kissed the top of her head.
"Hi, I'm Y/N. I assume you don't know me but we were best friends," She introduced holding her hand out to him. Sam smiled, shaking her hand.
"We didn't think you were real, I saved Dean but you weren't there," He explained, confusing her slightly. Her eyebrows furrowed softly as she looked at him. "The Djinn, that's how you were in the dream, how did you get out?" He asked, now convinced she wasn't real just some kind of shapeshifter or demon. She has to be.
"I was in a coma for 3 months, that's how I was dreaming of Dean. What do you mean Gin?" She asked, Dean glared at Sam as he had made the encounter awkward and probably confusing to her.
"Go back to the diner, we'll be there soon," Dean instructed to Sam as if warning him that if he stayed he would hurt him. Sam hesitated. When he didn't move Dean rolled his eyes. "Just get her the same as me, we'll be there soon," Sam thought it was a bad idea. It's probably a monster or demon messing with Dean's emotions.
"We need to do the tests," Sam said quietly to Dean as if she couldn't hear him but she did and was confused. Tests? She thought. Dean groaned, tipping his head back, done with Sam.
"We'll do them in the diner, walk away," Dean instructed warningly. Sam hesitated but made his way back to the diner.
Y/N looked at Dean confused but he smiled and she couldn't stop herself from smiling back. He guided her to a bench where they sat close to each other. Dean faced her as he held her hand in his lap. She waited patiently for him to explain.
"You're understanding and I shouldn't doubt you wouldn't believe me but you just have to let me explain okay?" He asked, she worried slightly but nodded knowing he was the same Dean she would have trusted with her life. He smiled at her movement, squeezing her hand slightly to calm his nerves. Knowing she was real was enough to give him the strength to explain. "Sam and I, in this world. We hunt monsters," He hesitated as she looked at him confused. Waiting patiently for him to explain, he smiled knowing she was willing to listen. "Monsters, demons, angels, they're all real and Sammy and I save people from them. The Djinn, Sam mentioned. They abducted me and they have the power to put you in your dream life, my life with you, but Sam saved me and I woke up. I searched for you but I couldn't find you and I even tried to get abducted again to see you but I couldn't," He explained, holding her hands close as he feared she would pull them away and leave again.
He watched as her eyes wandered around, thinking. She was clearly confused and startled by the information and Dean grew anxious as he waited for her response. She nodded softly, processing it.
"So you were put in your dream life by a monster?" She asked slowly, Dean gulped, eyes filling as he feared she would call him crazy. His breath quickened as he nodded, not able to say a word. His heart preparing to break. "Okay," She added, nodding and smiling softly. He was confused, startled almost at her response. His eyebrows furrowed as he admired her. She chuckled softly. She moved her right hand from his, his disappointment written across his face but her hand moved to his cheek, filling him with hope and love. "Dean, I was in a coma and dreamed of our lives together, I spent 3 years thinking I made you up and thinking I was insane. Knowing you're real and you were in the dream too is also crazy so it only makes sense that crazy things caused it." She explained, rubbing her thumb on his cheek slightly as he instantly felt eased. He sighed, smiling brightly. Leaning in to kiss her. She smiled into the kiss, her hand moving from his cheek to the back of his neck as his hands moved to her hips.
He lifted her from her seat, sitting her on his lap so she was straddling him. She giggled against his lips. "We're in public," She explained leaning back to smile at him but his bright smile never wavered.
"I don't care. I finally found you, they can look all they want," He explained before his hand moved to her cheek, pulling her in and back on his lips. She smiled as she kissed him. They sat making out for a while before Dean pulled away. She looked at him confused but he chuckled, tucking some hair behind her ear as he admired her. "I'm getting too excited," He explained making her giggle as she realised his meaning. She nodded, moving to get off of his lap but his hands anchored her back down. She giggled as she looked at him confused. "Give it a minute," He commented making her laugh as she blushed. He smiled, taking the time to admire her. "Why didn't you believe I was real for only 3 years and not 4?" He asked curiously. She smiled just from hearing his voice.
"I woke up after we kissed and believed you were real. Even when everyone was telling me it was a dream. 1 year after I woke up I went to Salt Lake City to look for you. I waited outside the house we had, Sam's wasn't there anymore and went to a cafe and finally believed you weren't real," She explained sadly. Dean perked up at her words chuckling softly.
"May 3rd?" He asked making her chuckle.
"Yeah, you woke up at the same time?" She asked but he smiled.
"I woke up after the kiss as well. I did the same thing. We must have missed each other," He explained not realising how close they had been to meeting all those years ago. They smiled, sharing another kiss before they stood. They walked hand in hand back to the diner.
"I love you," Dean confessed as he stopped at the door. She smiled brightly.
"I love you too," She admitted with a soft chuckle. He kissed her again feeling like he needed to kiss her enough to make up so much lost time. She smiled against his lips finally feeling that she had her reason to live again.
They walked into the diner, returning to Sam as his spine straightened at their presence. She smiled warmly as she slid into the booth, Dean soon following her and holding a hand on her thigh needing physical contact at all times. He held the top of his hand as she smiled at Sam. Sam looked at them slightly confused.
"We can do the tests if you want?" She questioned, he smiled softly before going into his bag.
"You tell her?" Sam asked, Dean smirked as he looked at her admiringly.
"Yep, just as understanding as before," He commented making her smile as she blushed. He kissed her sweetly but she pulled away quicker than he wanted.
"You won't remember but we had rules about PDA in front of Sam," She commented but Dean groaned, his head tipping back but smile never fading.
"You don't mind do you, Sammy?" He asked, prompting Sam to agree but Sam's face didn't confirm it. She chuckled as she shook her head.
"You've waited 4 years, you can wait till we're alone," She commented but Dean smirked.
"Oh, you want to be alone with me," Dean teased making her laugh. She playfully rolled her eyes as Dean smirked.
Sam did the tests finding she was clean and real. He instantly calmed, wanting to know everything she remembered about the dream as they ate once their food arrived. He admired how Dean watched her, how they seemed to quickly fall into a routine and comfort. He slid his drink to her, and she picked out the lime and placed the pickles from her burger on his plate, both acting as though this was normal even though in reality they had just met. Sam's smile never faded as he watched the scene.
Once they had finished eating Dean draped his arm over her shoulder, holding her close as he admired her telling the story of Sam's birthday, Dean giving input on his perspective as he was present at the time. She smiled brightly as he spoke, admiring him, memorising all she had forgotten.
Neither knew love would be this simple or happy. Both realising the wait was worth it and souls returned as their closeness brought the joy in and sorrow out. Sam couldn't have imagined how Dean would be around her, never seeing his brother in love before made it seem even more surreal to him. Dean often stole short but sweet kisses, his smile never leaving his lips. She held her hand on his thigh as he drew patterns on her shoulder. She rested close to him, happy for the first time since she woke up.
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gaypirateslife4me · 4 months
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I survived Buffy and Faith. (BtVS)
I survived Dean and Cas. (SPN)
I survived Olivia and Alex. (SVU)
I survived Sherlock and Watson. (Sherlock)
I survived Bucky and Steve, AND Sam and Steve, AND Bucky and Sam. (MCU)
I survived Clark and Lexa (t100).
I am currently surviving Will and Mike, Steve and Eddie, AND Nancy and Robin. (Stranger Things)
I have suffered through: queerbaiting; "everyone experiments in college"; queer coded? - they must be the villain!; "the inherent tragedy of gayness" (repression, AIDs, violence, hatred); girl-on-girl male fanservice; "pray the gay away"; and, most personally painful, "bisexuals aren't real, they just need to pick a side". (I mean, I am though?)
I have been fully and irrevocably traumatized by having to watch my beloved queers be buried over & over & over.
I have literally spent three-and-a-half decades in a toxic, abusive relationship with (not so) queer media.
Upon recommendation of multiple queer friends, I (skeptically, cynically, borderline angrily) watched their so-called "GAY PIRATE (affectionate)" comedy, and was gobsmacked.
Our Flag Means Death gave us: well-rounded characters that are 'no-room-for-guessing, even-your-deeply-repressed-insufferable-republican-uncle-can-see-it queer! Multiple queers with disabilities! Neurodivergent queers! A genderqueer pirate so slay I lose my breath every time they are on screen! Sex between mlm not reduced to 1) tittilation or 2) the raunchy punchline of a mean joke! An unapologetic celebration of Found Family! Drag treated with respect, and as a catalyst for openly queer joy! A fabulous gay wedding! And that's not to mention the loving, romantic, complicated, vulnerable, beautiful relationship between the two male protagonists!
I saw it. with my own two eyeballs. for the first time ever. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?
I assumed everyone must be as thrilled, honored, and overjoyed as I am for all the rep, positivity, and LOVE.
I was wrong.
It breaks my queer little heart that so many people on this glorious hellsite are furious, indignant, and quick to cancel the characters, the actors, the writers, and the showrunners for not being spoon-fed perfect queer characters in perfect queer relationships for perfect queer rep in ACTUAL queer media that exists! In canon!
It hurts to be vilified for being a fan who refuses to condemn the show and for loving concerningly imperfect and deeply-flawed queer characters.
I am sorry, but as far as I'm concerned, LOVE WON. We won. Please stop coming into my house (blog) and pissing all over my rainbow parade.
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The Sound of Love
☆ Pairing: Loki x Mutant!Reader
☆ Synopsis: Loki now an Avenger, is quite the reclusive and introverted member in the Avenger's compound and for someone who likes peace and quiet, it's ironic how smitten he is for the loudest member of the team.
☆ Word Count: 5,207
☆ Notes: Loki is smitten flirty ler. Reader is a mutant with hypersonic voice. This had been in my WIPs for so long, but I finally have some time off 😭 enjoy.
☆ Warnings: Anxious Reader, insecurities regarding voice and brief weight insecurities are mentioned. I am a sucker for opposites attract so the reader is a stereotypical sunshine happy go lucky.
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Being an Avenger was interesting on its own, periods of strict dieting, rigorous training regimes, public events to raise public morale, testing out technology, political meetings, missions that lasted days or even weeks. Now, when you were, not only a former enemy, but the enemy, the original reason they came to exist… Well, it made it all more difficult to just do anything outside of the tower.
It made Loki concerningly reclusive. At first it seemed convenient, people were scared of him, so him wanting nothing to do with the outside seemed like a fair exchange, the facilities had everything needed to survive anyway. But it was only a matter of time until it became concerning.
So, Thor started doing his best to drag him along to his patrols and visits to town. Which helped getting less dirty looks from people rather when he tried going alone. But Loki always found a way to escape back to the compound and cut his visits to the town short.
But things changed the day he met you.
And Loki was not particularly one to fawn over mortals like his brother whose line of lovers could fill countries, not even over another god. While Loki had a fair string of lovers behind him, none ever really meant much to him or lasted much for that matter.
But you… you had something different. You were everything Loki found annoying. If there was a list to thing that got on Loki’s nerves, you may have as well checked every little box. You had a strict moral code and mawkish righteousness like the super soldiers, you had a strong temper and were very vocal about the things you did not stand for like his brother, you had a bubbly personality and enjoyed teasing and joking (almost flirting) around like Stark and the Falcon did and given your powers you tended to be quite loud. And somehow, despite all those things that could drive Loki mad, he was completely smitten. Which was probably the most infuriating trait you had.
Being placed together, Loki and you seemed to be like night and day at first instance. Loki noticed how you always seemed to be in a good mood and never denied anyone a nice chat, while you practically had to beg Loki to engage in conversation and even still, he’d seem rather bothered by being interrupted. You were always doing something to help around the quarters like doing extra dishes, cooking snacks for everyone, or wiping dusty furniture when you noticed something was dirty while Loki spent his free time with books are maybe an old movie when he felt like agreeing to enjoy human culture. And while you enjoyed reading as well, while Loki liked reading in silence you usually heard music earphones as you wagged your leg along the beat as you devoured books beside him.
“Hey nerds,” Sam stepped in the room. “We’re going dancing tonight, you two coming?”
“I’d rather—”
“Oh, which club?” you asked excitedly.
You had a way of peaking Loki’s interest when you spoke like that, your enthusiasm was terribly contagious, but he was too proud to do anything but pretend he was still focused on his book.
“Nat and Wanda wanted to take their men dancing.”
“Oh, so we’re staying home tonight?” you smiled.
“Do you think yourself capable of convincing Banner or Vision of socializing in a big club?”
“Hey, no judging. Besides, it’s more fun like that, we get to choose our own music.” You smiled brightly, you always seemed to have something nice to say about everyone. “Which conference hall are you gonna use?”
“2C, at 9 pm.” Sam grinned. “I take it we’ll see you there, mockingbird?”
“Yeah, should I wear something in particular?” you asked.
“Oh, how about that something se—”
“Sam, you finish that sentence and I’ll glue your upper arms to your chest.”
He wasn’t one to agree with the other Avengers, but that was something he wouldn’t mind seeing. And Wilson didn’t take it personal as he just laughed and left.
“Are you joining us, Loki?” you asked.
“I would rather stay here and finish my book” Loki smiled. “You go have fun though, darling.”
“Oh… b-but it won’t be as fun without you! Please, please, oh please!” you had your fingers tangled in a praying gesture and you were making the biggest pleading eyes he’d ever seen.
You were unfairly cute, but the power of persuasion you had over him was even scarier than the one from your mutation.
“Yes, of course” he sighed. “Thor would be upset if I keep passing up on your silly group bonding activities.”
You had tackled him in a couch in a bright hug as you thanked him over and over as your cheek squeezed his own, even pressing a sweet kiss against his cheek.
Between such affection and getting to see you dance all night was the most delightful way to spend the night he could think of. Next chance he’d even dance with you. Because he didn’t want to make the mistake of not dancing with you when you invited him ever again. Not that he minded watching you dance the night away.
And your singing, Norns, if you weren’t talking to anyone, you were always singing at least in a mumbly manner. Loki wondered how you could never go hoarse.
Every time you sung Loki’s heart fluttered. There was no right that your singing did the things it did to him. But he couldn’t help but swoon every time you did. And people were starting to notice. Karaoke nights were particularly interesting.
“The little mortal has a lovely voice, right?” Thor nudged him while you were on their improvised stage with Wanda, singing to Dance with Somebody.
“It’s good” Loki shrugged, trying to play it off.
“Yes, you seem to be enjoying it...” Clint said making a mocking dreamy face with along with an over dramatic sigh.
“Leave Rudolf alone,” Tony said.
Loki arched an eyebrow. Stark wasn’t the kind to be mediator when teasing took place, much less when he was tipsy like this.
“Being absolutely smitten over a human must be damaging enough to his pride.” He snickered.
Banner and Rogers just smiled amusedly, meaning Loki was not gonna get any back up from the more level-headed Avengers. Not that he expected it.
“You’re all delusional idiots.” Loki rolled his eyes.
But his attention was snatched back to the stage when you reached a high note. You had a good technique, your mouth opened wide with a smile as your voice reached a volume high enough that you broke Tony’s wineglass.
At this point, it was a normal occurrence. Everyone still remembered that they had to replace the old crystal dome on the recreational room with fortified polymer “soundproof” windows from that one karaoke night when they had you singing Dream On, the fact that no one left that night with permanent hearing damage was almost a miracle.
This time you didn’t seem to even notice the casualty of Tony’s glass, as you and Wanda kept jumping and dancing around as you sang happily with your friend. Loki could feel the heat creeping up on his cheeks as he saw how happy you danced around, and he could suppress the smile.
It was funny really, how much his mother would scold him growing up for being so impatient with Thor’s loud a boisterous nature just to end up falling for someone who was exactly that, maybe even worse. You had a lot of energy which was good because you always pushed yourself in training, but Loki never expected to be so drawn to someone like you. You shone like the sun itself, and being a frost giant like he was, it seemed almost dangerous to fall for you.
“Loki, Loki, Loki!” you jumped on the couch next to him, “Look, Loki!”
Ah, that was another thing, you had a tendency to say his name a lot. You were what Midgardians described as hyperactive, but his name was something you repeated a lot more than any word, and more than anyone else’s.
“A cardboard box?” he smiled. “What’s so exciting about that?”
“Oh, haha” you rolled your eyes, “My package arrived!”
You gave him a pleading look and he smiled. At this point it was almost a ritual, you got a delivery and you rushed to Loki for him to open it with a dagger he’d summon. Which had also started a game.
“What’s your guess, darling?” he smirked as his hand sizzled with his Seid.
“The silver twins daggers, I mean one of them, but you get it” you said firmly.
It was that simple, he had such a wide and vast collection of daggers that whenever you needed him to use them, you’d have to try to guess which one he’d summon.
Most of the time you’d lose give the odds were at least 50 to one, and it didn’t help that honoring his title, Loki would change his pick last second if you ever got it right. But today he was in a good mood, and soon he was wielding one of his silver daggers, it felt weird wielding the left dagger on his right hand, but your excitement to see you had got it right was worth it as you fell back to the couch with a “WOOO!”
“Oh, congratulations little canary” he clapped.
“You’re becoming predictable, Loki” you smiled.
“Oh, is that right?” he grinned as he reached to poke your side making you squeak.
“Would you rather admit that I’m getting to know you better?” you smiled.
“Loki don’t quit your dreams as an Avenger, you don’t have much future as a harlequin” he chuckled.
“Oh, I don’t know, I’ve made you laugh, and not everyone is as tough of an audience as you are.”
He just chuckled as he opened your package for you. It was two pairs of headphones.
“Another one?” he smiled. “Do you break them that often that you need to be in constant state of purchase? And what do you need the extra set for?”
“You say it as if I just compulsively and irresponsibly bought headphones!”
Loki arched an eyebrow and relished the fait blush on your cheeks.
“I re-sell the ones in good state” you mumbled.
“Right, whatever you say. That’s why you got two pairs.”
“No, uh... this one’s for you.” You smiled as you handed him a pair, “They have better Bluetooth range, the battery lasts longer, the headband is adjustable, and it blocks outside noise.”
When you handed him the pair, he got a better look at them. It was pitch black, and on the driver, it had a little golden sticker shaped like his helmet, he shifted it and the gold shone green. It was still weird how ever since Thor let his story be known people had become more accepting of him, especially people who knew that the Mad Titan was a monster had even come to support him, but the concept of merchandising his image for admirers to show their preference for him was still new to the former prince.
But the present was very pretty, almost as the little mortal gifting it.
“Thank you” he said a bit more softly than he intended.
“It’s no problem,” you tucked a string of hair behind your ear in a way that made his heart flutter.
“This will help me have a reason to not hear Thor’s drunk singing the next Barton drops by with beer.”
You let out a shy laugh.
“A-Ah… no, it’s for me actually” you said, “well, because of me, I mean.”
“You? What could I possibly need to avoid hearing you for?”
You shrugged.
“Thor mentioned a while back that you thought I was too loud.”
“He did?”
Oh… Oh that imprudent, bumbling, traitorous, airheaded, twisted oaf. That’s NOT what had happened. He remembered that conversation like it had been yesterday.
“Loki, there you are!” his brother had called him.
“Where else would I be?” Loki asked tiredly. “It’s too early.”
“Ah, I see the young mockingbird has kept you awake again” Thor said noticing the mug of coffee on his younger’s brother’s hands.
“We stayed up late talking, yes” Loki yawned. “Where she gets so much energy from is beyond me.”
Thor just laughed.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you like this brother, it’s a welcome change, for sure, but an odd one.”
“What do you mean?”
“The little Midgardian has you completely enamored” Thor grinned smoothly, “I didn’t think she’d even be your type.”
“She’s… certainly different from what I’m accustomed” Loki agreed. “I’d dare to say he’s more rambunctious than you are. But she’s honest and strong-willed, a combination I didn’t get to see much of.”
Loki could only roll his eyes at previous relationships, because of his status he’d be greeted with two approaches: either partners who feared his rank and power and would submit to his will for fear, or even worse, leeches that would use him as a steppingstone to get to power (or get close to Thor). After a while Loki just gave up and played along treating every lover like a casual affair and soon move on to the next thing.
You, for once had no interest on royalty besides movies, you absolutely adored helping Thor prepare for dates with Jane which mean there was no interest. And you had no reprieve on giving Loki a piece of your mind when you felt he deserved it.
He smiled.
“She stayed up singing until late…” Loki mumbled, mostly for himself.
“I think it’s great.” Thor encouraged him. “When are you asking our little singing bird out?”
Loki chuckled, it was amusing to see how much better Thor adapted to Midgard expressions and idioms.
“I don’t think that’s gonna happen, brother” Loki said with the hint of a sad smile. “You said it, we’re not exactly each other’s types.”
“It’s true you’re quite the somber one, brother.” Thor teased him. “And our little mortal canary is always loud and bright.”
“Thing I would not and do not tolerate from anyone else” Loki said looking at his uproarious brother. “But she would find me rather dull.”
He never said he found you annoying, quite the opposite. But he could only imagine what his brother had done. He’d seen it far too many times back on Asgard.
When Thor, Volstagg or Fandral wanted to flirt they’d have this ridiculous approach of sending another one of them to mess with the girl they wanted to impress, annoy her into flirting. All harmless fun and always careful not to actually disrespect the maiden in question but Loki still found it annoying and like Hogun preferred a calmer style for the first approach. At least it was funny to see their strategy blow up in their face and more than once get a slap in the face.
Thor must have gone to you and mentioned that Loki thought you were too loud to tease you on his behalf. Not keeping in mind that you were not Asgardian which meant you were not accustomed to their harsher approach, and much less that despite loving to sing you were profoundly conscious about your voice’s volume. Loki had always been very careful about pointing out when your power made you too loud. Gently placing a hand on your thigh to calm you down when you got overexcited and therefore loud.
And yet, despite all of Loki’s effort to make you feel comfortable around him, here you were, with a timid smile with the most thoughtful gift to push Loki away. Thor could officially be crowned as the worst wingman in history of all Nine Realms.
He sighed.
“Dear heart, I don’t think I need this” Loki said gently, “Not for the reason you think, at least.”
“I just thought you could use not hearing me blasting your eardrums when you’re reading” you joked, but the tone of awkwardness was palpable.
“I’d be willing to risk that if you’d believe me, I don’t truly mind hearing you sing” Loki chuckled.
“But my voice… And music taste…”
“Are both beautiful,” Loki interrupted you, “and no one has a wider range of music in the entire Compound. Which I recall someone scolding me for not expanding my horizons to human music.”
“Ah… well, yeah, but you can always get that from the others, oldies from Steve and Bucky, rock from Tony, pop and electronic from Pete, and when Quill and the Guardians you can hear 80’s—”
“Dear, you’re very optimistic I can actually stand anyone you mentioned” Loki laughed. “Not everyone has your luck.”
“And no one else here likes—”
“Aaah!” you shushed him covering his mouth, “We agreed to never talk about my sins. It’s our secret.”
The look you gave him was threatening but sharing a secret with you was exciting and heartwarming. More because it was the most harmless secret, but you still got embarrassed about it, which Loki found beyond endearing.
“Oh, really? I very clearly remember hearing you singing to the top of your lungs this very week to it.”
“Shhh” you whispered as you fought a giggle. “We don’t talk about that, only you get to know.”
“Good to know I’m so special” Loki chuckled.
“You were a happy mistake” you said squinting your eyes in joking manner. “But if anyone else finds out I’m strangling you.”
“What’s the expression you mortals have…?” Loki smirked, “Don’t threaten me with a good time?”
Your cheeks turned hot pink as you smacked his arm with a laugh.
“You’re pain in the ass” you laughed.
“Well, I certainly appreciate having some influence on your backside.”
You let out a screech as you began smacking his arm with a bright blush on your face. But as he should’ve expected your screech was loud and made Loki wince a bit.
“Ah… Sorry” you said as the mumble returned to your voice. “See? That’s what the headphones are good for.”
Loki scowled with a huff.
“Alright, that’s enough.”
Before you had time to ask Loki had thrown you over the ottoman and with his knees pinning you by the shoulders and his feet stuck under the ottoman so there was no force on earth moving you.
“Uhh… Lokes? W-What are you doing?” you asked nervously.
“Testing how loud you can really be.”
What do you— Pfft!”
Loki didn’t make you wait for an answer (or to finish your question, that is), and he began slowly dragging his fingers across your ribs in a maddeningly gentle manner. And it wasn’t like your thin t-shirt didn’t do much to protect you.
You clenched your jaw as a big grin appeared on your face.
“Pfft! L-Loki!” you snickered.
“Yes, little dove?” Loki asked innocently.
Loki kept gently dragging his fingers across your torso, slowly tracing his fingers up and down your sides and ribs, in circular motion across your armpits and spiraling onto the center of your tummy.
All you could do was smack his legs as you tried to free your arms and kicking your legs on the air and your cheeks puffed with your jaw clenched as you did all you could to not burst out laughing.
“L-Loho— Loki please!” you looked like you were about to burst. “I’m behe— I’m begging you. D-Don’t!”
Loki just chuckled.
“Darling, I have not even started the real fun” he grinned deviously, “and you already look like you’re gonna puncture your own lung. Just laugh already.”
“I cahahan’t” you whined between the strangled giggles. “It’ll huhurt yohohou!”
“Beautiful little bird,” Loki smiled, “it’d be impossible for you to hurt me.”
He noticed the pretty rosy blush on your cheeks, and he relished the way you got flustered at his teasing. Loki simply chuckled and squeezed your ribs, now poking your ribs, drilling his fingers between each rib. Growing up both as the God of Mischief and with Thor as his older brother, he had come to know first-hand what kind of tickles were better to make someone laugh to insanity.
And that you did.
Your face was already impossibly red in the face, and giggles were already slipping out, so the poking were just the last straw that made you finally crack up. And you burst into loud laughter and crazy squirming, kicking your legs against the ottoman, arching your back and tugging against Loki’s hold as he tickled you to tears.
“LOKI! HAHAHAHA! W-WAIT! WAHAHAHAIT!” you screeched.
Loki winced a bit at your superhuman volume as a smile formed on his face from both pride from making you laugh and the endearment of your laugh on its own. Your pretty laugh only being further motivation to tickle you more.
But he decided ease off the tickling as he just stopped poking your ribs to gently scribble your ribs in light feather like touches. But by now your defenses were shattered to pieces and you kept giggling in soft wheezing giggles. He simply wiggled two fingers on each side as if he was striking chords of his old lyre.
“Oh gohohohod! How is thahahat so bad?!” you giggled in between hiccups and soft wheezes.
“I don’t think it’s that bad, you’re just that ticklish” he chuckled softly. “Look at you, you’re wheezing.”
“Hehehe! I’m not!” you hiccup. “Lohoki!”
The way you laughed out his name made Loki’s heart flutter in his chest. Your voice got high-pitched and wheezy in a way that was awfully adorable and it urged him to give you the biggest hug and cover your face in kisses and beg you to be his own.
“Loki! I'm gonna gehehet you back for this!” you screamed in a fit of laughter. “Stohohop it!”
Loki grinned without relenting just a bit, simply leaning into your ear.
“Oh, is that so? What makes you think you can get me, little dove?” he chuckles as he gently traced his fingers over your sides. “And do you assume you can get now, or at some later point when you are not trapped and helpless under me? Because all things considered...that sounds like an empty threat… my dear.”
The self-satisfaction in his tone was infuriating.
“You’re all mine to toy around with right now, little robin…” he said in an almost flirtatious tone.
“N-No! Loki! Don’t you dare!” you squeaked out.
He looked you in your eyes with a devious sparkle in his eyes, those same eyes Loki did whenever he got you involved in a prank that would most likely get both of you in trouble, and he smiled.
“I think, my darling…” he whispered softly, in a way he knew his breath would tingle against your skin. “I very much dare.”
And with that his gentle and nimble fingers reached your stomach, giving it a lot of gentle pokes and scribbling all over the skin poorly covered by your thin shirt with his blunt nails.
He knew that among the long list of insecurities you had, your stomach was high up there, and so he knew certain touches would make you uncomfortable, so he kept his eye on your face, paying extra reactions to see if any touch made you upset. But you seemed more focused on the sensation he inflicted on your sensitive skin, and your expressions didn’t reflect any sign of distress.
“Lohohohoki! Stohohop that!” you giggled.
“Aw… is it too much for you?” he grinned cheekily. “You’re quite the delight to torment though, and I wonder… just how would you manage this sort of attention… on the other areas you were ticklish upon.”
As he spoke he lower his hand to drag his fingers over your waistline from side to side in a maddeningly slow manner. The look of shock on your face was priceless.
“LOKI!” you cried.
“Oh my, my, little sparrow, are you ticklish here too?” he chuckled in an almost innocent tone as his finger slipped past your shirt as his nail scraped lightly over the ticklish spot.
But he did slow down, not enough to make it all stop, but enough to make you go back to soft laughs.
“Hm…” Loki looked at you, pretending to be in deep contemplation. “If I didn’t know you any better, I would dare to assume you are enjoying yourself.”
Loki had seen others in the compound tickle you before, he had tickled you before, and it was noticeable enough that you didn’t seem to mind the playful attention, given you hardly fought back or protested when.
You let out an outraged before a squeeze to your hipbones made you burst into giggles after a clearly involuntary snort that made Loki laugh.
“Oh, no witty back talking?” Loki chuckled.
 “Ihihihi! I’m gohohonna kill you!” you threatened him.
“Will you now?” Loki arched an eyebrow. “And how do you intend to do so?”
Rather than having a verbal response, he felt ticklish squeezing over his thighs and above his knees that made him jolt and bark out a laugh. It was enough distraction to make him stop for a moment, and he saw that little triumphant glint in your gaze.
“That was very very bold of you to make an attack like that...” he congratulated you, his tone menacingly impish. “But so far I had been gentle.”
And with that he shot his fingers onto the exposed hollow of your armpits. You immediately lose it when his fingers reach and tickle your underarms, immediately exploding into loud laughter once more.
“NOHOHOHO! NONONONO! LOKI, LOKI PLEASE! NOHOHOHOT THERE!” you squealed. “NAHAHAHAHA! HEHEHAHAHA! PLEEEEHAHAHAHAAHAHA!”
Your voice turned loud, and the walls literally shook around the two of you. But Loki was unscathed, perhaps a bit stunned by the strength of your voice, but he didn’t relent on the tickling.
“Well, that’s cute… but just for your information…” he smirked in a way that, had you been able to see through your tears of laughter would’ve made you weak in the knees. “I am not afraid of your ticklish little fingers.”
He chuckled again, as his fingers wiggling more sporadically, almost vibrating against your skin. You let out a blood curdling scream before your laughter turns silent, your face is red like a tomato and tears just kept streaming nonstop down your face as your body was shaking like a malfunctioning machine, your entire body language making evident that you need a break.
Perhaps that was a good sign that he had to stop. So, he did.
He raised his knees so you could slip your arms from under his legs, and you immediately pressed them against your chest, laughing silently prey of a giggle fit in a state of euphoria.
“Did I just...go too far?” he asked with a sheepish smile. “...I think...I may have gone too far, I apologize if… if I... I— hmpf!”
Before Loki could register what had happened, you had cupped his face and your lips were against his.
It wasn’t exactly the way Loki had pictured kissing you, and by all the Nine Realms had thought about it quite in detail. But this was… quite different from what he had fantasized. Your faces were upside down one from another, and it had happened so fast that you had just got Loki’s bottom lip at first impact, and he had been caught completely off guard.
But oh Gods… this topped every scenario he could’ve mused. Your lips were soft and smooth, and the taste of you… Norns, it was intoxicating, and it made him feel light-hearted, instinctively making close his eyes as melted into the kiss, leaning over to get a better taste of this paradise he had just encountered. He mimicked you as one of his hands reached to cup your cheek and caress it with his thumb.
Who knows how long you were like this, but it was certainly not enough.
But when you broke the kiss the look in your eyes was of shock and terror as you cupped your hands over your mouth.  Again, not what he would’ve expected. He had not got any complaints in his past about his skills, so he was certain he was not a sloppy kisser to be the sole cause of that expression.
“I— no... I didn’t… I uh… I’m sorry…” you mumbled. “I— I wasn’t, oh no…”
“What are you apologizing for?” Loki asked, as he felt anxiety starting to bubble on the pit of his stomach.
“I— I’m sorry… I don’t know what came over me…”  you stuttered and stumbled over your words, “I w-wasn’t thinking… I just… I felt giddy and… No… no, no... I’m sorry…”
Loki felt his brain throbbing inside his skull as you kept sputtering apologizes. A million thoughts rushing over his mind every fraction of a second. Did the kiss meant you liked him? But if you liked him what were you apologizing for? Or did you like him but not enough? Were you aware of all the feelings you stirred in him? Was this a cruel joke?
Before he realized what his body was doing, he had already smashed his mouth onto yours once more.
He wasn’t sure why he did that. Maybe desire. Perhaps just the panic of thinking that could’ve been the last time he tasted something quite as ineffable as you ever again and he refused to give it up so soon. Or he could simply have gone mad. Whatever the reason, he just prayed you didn’t hate him after this.
But to his surprise, you kissed him back, and he felt once again that peculiar wave of peace and simultaneous thrill running through his veins. Now pleasantly complemented by your fingers running through his hair, making him turn into putty in your hands. This time the kiss lasted much longer than the first.
Not that it left Loki quite satisfied… yet.
“S-So… Do I take this as a good sign that you maybe, sort of, kinda like me too?” you asked timidly.
Loki could help but laugh at that.
“I will dare to say so” he rolled his eyes, unable to hide the smile on his face.
“And that we could do that thing again… t-the kissing?”
Norns, his heart was gonna beat out of his chest.
“I would like that” he smiled.
You pressed your lips against his and that rush of excitement ran through him once again. Loki felt your lips buzzing as he heard the muffled laughs through the kiss, it made him laugh as well.
“What’s so funny?” he chuckled.
“Nothing” you giggled, “I just feel your smile.”
“What?”
“Yeah, I feel your smile curled up in a smile.” You explained. “It feels… nice.”
His cheeks lit up and he just shook his head with a smile before diving in for another kiss.
You were right, you could feel the other’s smile when you kissed. How did Loki never notice a detail as simple as that? It felt so lovely. Even more with the little hum-like muffled laughs bubbling from your throat as you kissed. Hearing your happy nervous laughs through the kiss was the loveliest sound he had ever heard.
| Masterpost |
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Younger Siblings Tournament Bracket Reveal
A few things I want to mention before I reveal the bracket (and make the post really long because all the matchups will be listed in text):
Seeding of fictional characters in tumblr polls is inherently subjective. I did try to make it so that more popular characters/media would (most likely) face off against each other in later rounds, but I may be overestimating or underestimating the popularity of some characters/media, especially ones I'm not familiar with. There are some round 1 matchups that are probably a closer match but none of them are between the strongest candidates... I think.
The more niche characters will probably get obliterated in the first round as per Squimbus' Law. This is a tumblr poll and I do fully expect more popular characters to sweep, but that doesn't mean you can't encourage your friends to give your niche faves a fighting chance.
Also there are some matchups I literally just thought would be funny. Please don't take this too seriously.
I'm sorry BNHA fans.
(Preliminary Patch Notes 3/14: Swapped brackets 2 and 3, and brackets 19 and 21.)
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[Image description: A 64-person tournament bracket labeled "younger siblings tournament" with a smiley face. The top-left quarter is labeled "quarter A" and color-coded red, the bottom-left quarter is labeled "quarter B" and color-coded green, the top-right quarter is labeled "quarter C" and color-coded purple, and the bottom-right quarter is labeled "quarter D" and color-coded gold. The starting brackets are labeled 1-32 and are as listed below. End ID]
Quarter A:
Ritsu Kageyama (Mob Psycho 100) vs. Ame (Wolf Children)
Malo (The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess) vs. Cat Valentine (Victorious)
Danny Fenton (Danny Phantom) vs. Fern (Adventure Time)
Skeletor (Masters of the Universe) vs. Shuri (Marvel)
Ryotaro Nogami (Kamen Rider Den-O) vs. Princess Luna (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic)
Lilo Pelekai (Lilo & Stitch) vs. Sir Agravain (Arthurian Legend)
Dewey Wilkerson (Malcolm in the Middle) vs. Siobhan "Shiv" Roy (Succession)
Sasuke Uchiha (Naruto) vs. Razputin Aquato (Psychonauts)
Quarter B:
(9) Maya Fey (Ace Attorney) vs. Louie Duck (DuckTales)
(10) Falin Touden (Dungeon Meshi) vs. Saburo Yamada (Hypnosis Mic)
(11) Noelle Holiday (Deltarune) vs. Krel Tarron (Tales of Arcadia)
(12) Melinoë (Hades) vs. Han Yoohyun (The S-Classes That I Raised)
(13) Abel (The Bible) vs. Hiro Hamada (Big Hero 6)
(14) Lisa Simpson (The Simpsons) vs. Greg (Over the Garden Wall)
(15) Dante (Devil May Cry) vs. Alisaie Leveilleur (Final Fantasy XIV)
(16) Shoto Todoroki (My Hero Academia) vs. Kofuku (Real Life)
Quarter C:
(17) Luigi (Super Mario) vs. Genji Shimada (Overwatch)
(18) Yukio Okumura (Blue Exorcist) vs. Saki Tenma (Project Sekai)
(19) Fleabag (Fleabag) vs. Emerald Haywood (Nope)
(20) Sam Winchester (Supernatural) vs. Jiang Cheng (The Untamed)
(21) Nico Di Angelo (Percy Jackson) vs. Gaz Membrane (Invader Zim)
(22) Manny Heffley (Diary of a Wimpy Kid) vs. Jimmy "Saul Goodman" McGill (Better Call Saul)
(23) Sunny Baudelaire (A Series of Unfortunate Events) vs. Sunny (Omori)
(24) Miles "Tails" Prower (Sonic the Hedgehog) vs. Mugman (Cuphead)
Quarter D:
(25) Michelangelo Hamato (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) vs. The Knight (Hollow Knight)
(26) Vash the Stampede (Trigun) vs. Ruby Rose (RWBY)
(27) Sensei Wu (Lego Ninjago) vs. King Clawthorne (The Owl House)
(28) Dawn Summers (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) vs. Katara (Avatar: The Last Airbender)
(29) Jinx (Arcane) vs. Caduceus Clay (Critical Role)
(30) Damian Wayne (DC) vs. Alluka Zoldyck (Hunter x Hunter)
(31) Hop (Pokémon Sword and Shield) vs. Mirabel Madrigal (Encanto)
(32) Rhyme Bito (The World Ends With You) vs. Alphonse Elric (Fullmetal Alchemist)
Round 1 is ongoing! Matchups are linked (or if you prefer to scroll through the matchup posts, go to the "younger siblings tournament" tag on my blog)
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skippyangel16 · 4 months
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The Couple Next Door my thoughts…
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Link here for a ‘real’ review from that neck of woods👇
👏👏👏
👆This just about sums it up for me, a real review from a real paper not a paid promo success piece from Hello or channel 4 blowing its own trumpet. If you google the series IBMd has it rated 5.2/10 at the moment of writing. (Saying something is brilliant does not make it so, unless you want to brainwash. Kenneth springs to mind taking a whole year+ to talk up Belfast so he would finally get that Oscar for the not so outstanding Belfast 🙄)
The Guardian Nov 2023 promo it as The couple next door a sexy fantastic time …4 stars but then by the 3rd Dec it’s no longer raving about it with an honest review.👇
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2023/dec/03/the-couple-next-door-channel-4-swingers-thriller-review-slow-horses-3-arena-being-kae-tempest-the-doll-fctory?CMP=share_btn_link Barbara Ellen exert from review 3 Dec 2023 still the guardian…
Exert from link above by Barbara Ellen..
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Well for me TCND started off with a ‘OMG not again!’ for the opening shot. I said to hubby ‘I hate it when they do that!’. The second scene supposedly set in Leeds wtf? Why didn’t they find a more convincing housing estate…then (Sam) Danny picking up the washing machine…dear god it made me cringe and that’s just for starters!
Sam…I could not get past his ‘Yorkshire’ accent?… well he did his best, it came through well some of the time. It’s sad but production were aware they were not going to predominantly film in Yorkshire or substitute location with a suitable comparison so why the need for him to do a Yorkshire accent? They could have set this story anywhere. Why not let Sam do his normal Scottish accent ? Far more sexy! Bad decision imo.
I could go on…especially the ladies dress code for a casual UK BBQ, LMAO. For sure my neighbour and I need to up our game at our next one! Seductive dresses, tits out and heels on! Husbands can’t wait…🤣
Does it appear Sam was hired for his body?…absolutely! Is he typecast as the guy who does sex?…looks like it. If he wanted to up his stakes as a good actor imo this was not the project. Can he do chemistry with anyone but Caitriona?… barely, but this was his best effort so far. Sex scenes and build up no 🔥 for me. I found it more cringe so fast forward came into play. Seems Sam is okay with full nudity and grinding again so can’t wait for OL S8! No need for J&C sex scenes to be PG…
Continuity, script, direction, production…dear god did outlander do it?
Out of all the actors Jessica De Gouw (Becka) stood out with a consistent performance.
Gripping? Nah, wanted to give up many times but finally got past ep 3 and pace seemed to increase so eventually got to the end which was then suddenly abrupt.
I wanted to like it, but for me it was blah…should have been amazing! Fail is more down to script, direction and production, had a giggle most of the way through at the script and said wtf and why a lot? ….🤷‍♀️still they all had fun making it and got paid!
For those who thought it enjoyable and hot I am really pleased for you! Sex for sex sake came to my mind, script all over the place one minute quite good another that’s shit.
For me in the words of a true Yorkshire man…
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Maybe if I had a couple of wines with the cheese and knew it was not going to be a quality drama but a cheesy soap it would have gone down better.
Strikes me his fate in life is to be an alcohol god, that’s his true path…acting gave him his wife and family and that’s all he needs from it. It appears it’s not in his destiny for it to do anything more than that…🤷‍♀️JMHO
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So if you haven’t seen it and want to then I suggest lots of wine and lower your expectations to a tv movie or soap and you will probably enjoy it and think it’s better than it was…🤪
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teh-kittykat · 2 months
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Tron: The Animated Series (1986-1989)
What do you mean you haven't seen Tron: The Animated Series? It was my favorite cartoon when I was a kid!
So this all started as an exercise in how to explain why Sam inexplicably had merch for a 2010 movie in his 1989 house. In-universe there would have probably been toys using the 1982 aesthetic since that was what the video game used (and Sam DOES have an 82 Tron figure in his house!) but why the Grid stuff?
Enter THE CARTOON.
It was the 1980s everybody who was everybody made cartoons to sell toys. Encom made home gaming consoles by this point, and they would have had peripherals like Nintendo did. They had licensed characters like Nintendo did. You see where I am going.
Encom wants to sell Encom Gaming Power Gauntlets. Kevin wants to introduce kids to the ideas about the Digital Frontier since he's a futurist and knows kids will be mentally flexible enough to digest the new zeitgeist if it's fun and animated!
Production of the cartoon ran from Kevin's official retirement as CEO until his disappearance. Three official seasons with a fourth in production. Season three's airing was cut short due to the furor surrounding Kevin's going missing, but the "lost" final episodes of S3 were restored when the DVDs were eventually released for an anniversary collection.
The cartoon was also successful in syndication through the 1990s and early 2000s since it successfully anticipated the Educational/Informative movement-- Tron: The Animated Series actually does teach kids some of the basics of computer science around the silly adventure stuff. Think Captain Planet meets Captain N the Game Master for the overall tone of the series. It's not realistic, but you get the general concepts and issues.
The cartoon's popularity among millennials keeps Tron alive in pop culture to the present day. The IP remains a perennial revenue stream for Encom, and every so often they'll throw the fanbase something to keep the money going. (This is an ordeal to the program himself, since he has to deal with hackers sent by groups named after him on the reg.)
What's it about?
Young video game enthusiast Jethro "Jet" Keene lands himself the after school internship of a lifetime getting to work at Encom in a special new program for teenagers with attitude run by Kevin Flynn (voiced by himself).
However, it's not all fun and video game testing with the sweet new Encom Power Gauntlet. Thanks to some cartoon physics hijinks, Jet finds himself transported into the Grid, the Boss's new experimental computer system!
Jet gets to work with Clu (they hired a voice-alike for him) and Tron (ditto) to find a way back home to the real world, solving problems and learning how to code along the way... and that was the pilot episode.
Because this is a cartoon for children, Jet is naturally the regular User of the Grid instead of Flynn, though Flynn makes occasional appearances to dispense Yoda-like wisdom and is revered by all the programs inside the system as the Creator.
There are also no lasers or anything like that-- Jet does a silly toku-like thing with the power gauntlet to commute into the system.
Clu is more likable than in real life. He's mostly benevolent, trying to make a more perfect system but the show's writers actually picked up on the idea that making a perfect system is kind of an impossible lift and made it central to his character development. He's a little obsessed with copying the User world, and there's an arc in S3 where a lot of the conflict revolves around why can't programs be programs about it.
Tron's not a mayhem goblin, which is a crime. He's portrayed as a little bit Optimus Prime, since Jet's the primary mayhem source, and Fighting for the Users is otherwise his defining personality trait. He gets a surprisingly deep fate/free will arc in S2, since naturally several episodes revolve around attempts to reprogram him since he's the Champion and all. Afterward, he's a bit more chill.
Jet's storyline parallel's Kevin's real-life one a little bit-- a lot of the episodes focused on him as a character revolve around him trying to balance his double life.The cartoon also does not mention the time dilation jetlag. Jet, unlike Kevin, does learn how to ask for help, especially as S3 decides to diversify a little more and adds a girl intern, Paige.
S3 in general has a lot of emphasis on diversity and tolerance of others and their differences. The ISO-Basic tensions were running high in the real Grid. It was on Kevin's mind a lot. He was also starting to make thinks on introducing the ISOs to the rest of the world at the time.
Like Reboot in the 1990s, Tron has a lot of episodes devoted to video games and playing games on the Game Grid is a frequent trope. (Hardcore Tron partisans accuse Reboot of stealing this.) Unlike in Reboot, there's no derezzing the losers if the User wins. Games are sometimes the entire plot and sometimes an obstacle or diversion from solving an episode's actual problem.
Since the Grid is open in Tron, there is a recurring cast of villains in the form of viruses and hackers from other systems in addition to technical problems that have to be solved through coding and computer science know-how.
The fourth season didn't get much past a few animatics for the S4 pilot, but what was there got a release for the fancy anniversary collections as special features. Design docs indicate that some new characters were about to be introduced-- Jalen and Radia. Kevin Flynn disappeared while voice actors were being cast for these roles.
NGL I am extremely mad this wasn't a real cartoon.
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babiebom · 8 months
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Would I give them head?
A/N: I am so sorry for this I'm writing it at 3 am and I couldn't get it out of my head. I've been giggling for the past 10 minutes like a 7th grader. Also if you are reading this let me know if I should do something special for 50 followers. I know it's not a lot but I am so grateful! If yes let me know what I should do!
Tw: sexual content. Not explicit but it like look at the title. Cursing.
Genre: headcanons nsfw
Wc: idk it depends on which person. Probably 2+ for each.
This is including almost every male stardew character(obviously no kids) plus ridgeside plus expanded but not all because I cannot remember every single character and I don't wanna research rn.
Masterlist
Sebastian
Duh no doubt about it
He is the love of my life (well one of them)
I would give him the best head wymmmmm
Sam
Yes boy deserves it
Golden retriever coded guys deserve good head idc
Shane
Love sad men it's a yes
Kinda wanna make him cry because it's so good.
Maybe I can cure him
Elliott
No
Sorry it's not that I dislike him he's just not my favorite?
Maybe once as a treat but no other time than that
Harvey
Yeah he's the doctor for a small town
I gotta
Maybe he will stop billing me everytime I die
Alex
No
I am not attracted to this man he is more bestie coded to me
If he asked i would allow him a handjob I guess
Gus
Nope
Maybe he gets a Lil handjob as a treat because his food is good
Gunther
Maybe?
He kinda-
But not enough idk....
George
The reason I am writing this r n
The answer is no but the thought of doing it made me cackle
Lewis
Absolutely not
Fuck you old man
Pierre
NO
I hate this lying ass bitch I give you a kick
Willy
No sorry
He prolly smells like fish and salt and I am not fond
Love him tho stinky man
Kent
YES
would give him the sloppiest toppy known to man
He deserves it he needs it i want it pls bless me
I could beat Jodi's ass if it comes to it idc
Victor
Yes
I find him quite cute overlooking his slight classism.
Also for standing up to his mom for himself love that him
Demetrius
No
I'd rather give Robin head
He deserves no head for being crappy stepdad
Marlon
No
As much as I like him he probably does not shower
Also he is for the marnie's only
Clint
No
I wanna punch him so bad
Mr Qi
Maybe?
I don't find him attractive
But at the same time I find him mysterious and the might just be enough to convince me
Grandpa
HA
HAAAAAAA
no what is wrong with you
Andy
No
Prolly tastes like battery acid
He also gives off racist vibes
Wizard
Yeah
He's chill he can get some head
Morris
Maybe for a discount
Im equating Joja to Coke and I like coke
So only if he promises to give me a discount on stuff I want
Phillip
YES
Another love of my life
It was unexpected for me to love him but he is so cute to me
June
Yuperoni pepperoni
We love a man who is talented
Could easily convince me to give him head if he plays the piano for me ngl
Jeric
Maybe
I love but also hate him
He also gives off bestie vibes
Shiro
Yeah
I feel like he needs it:(
Ezekiel
No
I do however wanna smack his bald head
Not in a mean hateful kid of way I just wanna smack it
Lorenzo
Dilf Ngl
Maybe its because of his name idk
Answer is yes
Kimpoi
It was here where I started looking up characters bc i felt bad for leaving them out
No thank you I will not
Lance
Don't know much about him but I think hes cute so yes
His hair is cool
Isaac
Again don't know much about him hopefully he is not a child
But yeah he's cute so he gets a Lil head from me
Ian
If he takes a shower yes
Otherwise no
Kenneth
Yeah
I like his hair and I think he's cool for being an electrician
I know nothing else about him
Sean
Yeah he's cute so he can have some head
Im so sorry for not knowing im too busy simping over Seb and Phillip ngl
Anton
Uhhhhhh
Uhhhhhhhhhmaybe?
Im not attracted but unattracted to him so sure
Bryle
No
He reminds me of family
Like his face
Jio
Yea
As I have said before I love a mysterious man
Love a man with a sword
Zayne
I have no idea what this is
But I guess??
Have no reason to hate him so sure
Bert
No
He looks stinky :((
I also feel like his wife would beat my ass
Freddie
No
He is for the Lola's only
I also feel like he wouldn't be able to feel it
Mr Aguar
No
I do not enjoy his face
Pika
Simply because im assuming his food is good
I'll say sure simply for free food
Richard
No
So sorry
But no
Sonny
I will give him a platonic handjob
He deserves it bc he's a butler and probably does not get a day off with this family
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