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silverwhittlingknife · 1 year

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Has Tim ever put Dick on a pedestal?

100% yes! This is basically Tim's backstory IMO. Prior to meeting Dick in Lonely Place of Dying, Tim's a kid who's got a distant, idealized, made-for-TV vision of Dick and Bruce - mostly Dick - and he sets out on a quest based entirely around that misperception.

Aaaand then he immediately crashes headfirst into reality, because the Dick Grayson and Bruce Wayne he remembers from his childhood memories and daydreams are like this:

But it turns out that the actual real-life human people are a bit more, uh, cranky than Tim's glossy vision - things are tense and neither of them are super-happy to meet Tim:

And Tim has to rethink a bunch of his mistaken deductions as it slowly dawns on him that - far from being a plucky team - Dick and Bruce are actually not getting along at all:

And so Tim has to realize his whole plan of "Dick has to be Robin again!!! That will fix everything!!! :)))))" was actually wrong, and based on a misunderstanding of Bruce and Dick's relationship. And having realized he was wrong, he immediately sets about trying to figure out what he’s failed to understand in the most intrusive way possible—by asking lots of nosy questions!

Actually-meeting-Dick is basically the end of Tim’s super-idealized vision of Dick. It's not a vision that can survive contact with an actual human being who's snapping at you. And kid!Tim is (I love him but) extremely pushy and annoying, and Dick's a prickly young adult who is not above getting annoyed, which means Dick snaps at him pretty regularly.

But Tim does continue to admire him.

So for their various interactions after Lonely Place of Dying, IMO "does Tim have Dick on a pedestal" is kind of a judgment call based on your assessment of Dick's relative strengths/virtues. What's unambiguous: Tim has a consistently higher opinion of Dick than Dick does of Dick, and they argue about it a lot.

I had way too many thoughts about this, so below the cut:

Comics where Dick and Tim have conversations along the lines of Dick: "I suck and I'm failing at everything." Tim: "That's not true!! Actually you're great and you're succeeding at the thing you think you're failing at!!"

So who's right - Dick or Tim?

Dick and Tim's high opinions/expectations of each other: the plusses and minuses

Comic examples

Here are a couple different variations on Tim thinking that Dick is great (often when Dick's less sure):

in Showcase, Tim thinks that Dick’s a way better teammate than Azrael, even as Dick’s thinking himself as a failure who let the Titans down;

in Prodigal, Dick tells Tim a story about confronting Two-Face which to Dick symbolizes a moment of great failure and which Tim insists was a no-win situation where Dick did the best he could;

also in Prodigal, Dick’s despairing over how badly he thinks their encounter with Killer Croc went and meanwhile Tim thinks it went fine (after all, Dick listened to him and called an ambulance instead of beating up Croc!), and Tim tells Dick to lighten up and Dick talks about how he’s a failure;

in Nightwing 6, Dick thinks he’s doing badly in Blüdhaven and he’s self-conscious about it and paranoid about what Tim might tell Bruce, and Tim insists that the fact that Dick’s being targeted means he’s succeeding and getting close instead of failing, and Dick retorts that this won’t be comforting if he winds up dead because getting close just isn’t good enough;

also in Nightwing 6, Tim thinks Dick was a better Robin than Tim is, and Dick thinks he wasn’t that great and that Tim’s better;

post-Last Laugh, Tim’s insistent that Dick's being too hard on himself about attacking the Joker whereas Dick's really haunted by the experience and confides that it feels like he's discovered a terrible dark side of himself;

way later in Nightwing 110, Tim’s seeking Dick out and Dick’s trying to avoid him because he thinks he’s a bad person who’d be bad for Tim;

in BW: Murderer, Tim doesn’t trust Bruce absolutely, but in Red Robin, he does trust Dick absolutely (or at least, more than Tim trusts himself);

etc. etc. etc.

Who's right: Dick or Tim?

So, is Tim being too easy on Dick and looking at him with rose-colored glasses, and Dick’s harsher view of himself is the correct one; or is Dick a perfectionist who’s being too hard on himself, and Tim’s the one who’s actually seeing Dick’s strengths more clearly?

I don’t think the comics really commit one way or another! These are moments of multiple-perspectives, where we notice that Tim has one attitude and Dick has another attitude and that tells us things about the characters, not moments that are meant to resolve to a simplistic “one person is Right and one person is Wrong.” I think often you could argue that they're both right? So, like, if you wanted to take the approach of, "Tim's idolizing him but he's not actually as great as Tim thinks," I don't think the comics precisely contradict that interpretation.

... THAT SAID, look, I am a Dick Grayson fan at heart, and I tend to lean toward “Dick’s being too hard on himself.”

Tim’s not oblivious to Dick’s flaws—he immediately figures out, for example, that Dick’s gonna attack the Joker, and rushes off to stop him; he just isn’t as judgmental about this moment as Dick is, and he doesn’t think it makes Dick an awful person forever. The point is (Tim says later, practical-minded) that it was made right, and Dick shouldn’t beat himself up about it. In Prodigal, Tim’s not unaware that their fight with Croc went badly; he’s just focused on how Dick’s morals and teamwork-centric attitude feel right to him in a way that Azrael’s didn’t, and look, Tim didn’t get shot even though he got shot at, and isn’t that the important thing? Tim gets caught in the same ambush that Dick does in Nightwing 6; he just takes the glass-half-full attitude toward it while Dick takes the glass-half-empty attitude. And so on.

Tim admires Dick, looks up to him, trusts him, interprets his flaws generously, and doesn’t think he’s a failure. And... this isn't quite in the comics, but it doesn't contradict them: I like to imagine Dick feeling like he's on a pedestal, and feeling kinda uncomfortable with Tim's admiration when he's forced to realize it exists, and feeling like he doesn't deserve it, and sometimes subconsciously braced for the other shoe to drop, convinced that Tim can't possibly really think this forever, that he's deluded somehow, and that eventually Tim will realize who Dick really is and get disillusioned and leave.

And I tend to think of Dick having this problem a bit with everyone in his life who thinks highly of him, but especially with Tim, because he doesn't feel like Tim's ever needed him or that he's done anything worth Tim's admiration. I feel like Dick - despite some insecurities - does know his own worth as a team leader, and he knows he was a good partner to Bruce, and he understands when he's helping people who are clearly floundering, like Damian and Rose. But all he's ever done for Tim is...hang out, and be nice. And he doesn't think Tim ever needed fixing or saving, and he vastly underestimates both the value of his own friendship in general and how much it's meant to Tim in particular. Not all the time, because later in their relationship when they've known each other for years I do think Dick does feel a bit more secure in that friendship and entitled to make demands based on it (and vice versa, for Tim). But I do imagine Dick periodically feeling like Tim lets him off the hook too easily, and thinks more highly of him than he should, and alternating between being grateful for it and uncomfortable with it.

But I would argue that Dick does deserve Tim’s admiration!

Look, Dick's not a perfect person - no one is. He does screw up sometimes, and sometimes he's petty or jealous, and sometimes his temper gets the better of him. But he is pretty great! He's brave and thoughtful and kind and generous and caring. He takes his own grief and his own suffering and devotes himself to helping other people. And Tim sees that. Tim watches an orphaned kid crying on stage, and has nightmares about it - and later recognizes the hero in him. Tim stops Dick from beating the Joker to death, and he holds Dick back from strangling Hugo Strange, and he talks Dick down from two separate panic attacks, and he listens to Dick monologue about his various perceived failures, and he gets yelled at a lot when Dick's annoyed with him, and his takeaway from all of that is that he believes in Dick, and trusts Dick, and thinks he's a hero.

You could see that as Tim having him on a pedestal and refusing to acknowledge the ugly reality. But I tend to see it as Tim understanding that Dick's flaws and occasional missteps don't define who he is - the fact that Dick's human doesn't make him any less of a hero. Tim can see the hero that Dick can't always see in himself.

Dick and Tim have really high opinions of each other... for better or worse

Tim's not alone in having a high opinion of Dick - Dick thinks Tim's pretty great, too! Dick repeatedly compares himself to Tim and finds himself wanting, whether he's thinking that Tim's a better partner for Bruce, or having a fear toxin nightmare where Tim's a rival who's beating him out of a job, or deciding that Tim would never have let Blockbuster die (and that he'll be better off if Dick avoids him), or musing that Tim would be a better Batman. Dick calls Tim his equal and closest ally in Red Robin; Tim thinks Dick is "the best" in his origin story and basically never changes his mind.

I think nowadays we're sometimes pretty highly-attuned to the way that high expectations can be bad or oppressive, and... I have mixed feelings about this? On the one hand, it isn't untrue! Dick and Tim's mutual high opinions of each other, and correspondingly high expectations, are not an unmixed blessing! They 100% cause problems! Dick and Tim think highly of each other, and expect a lot from each other, and sometimes they're pushy or abrupt or demanding when they could stand to be more sensitive. And the iffy side of high expectations is something I find interesting, and I do think it's solidly canon-based - you see aspects of this in several of their comic conflicts - LPoD, Graduation Day, BftC, RR, etc.

But at the same time, it's complicated! I don't think you can fully untangle the higher expectations from "they rely on each other and have a lot of faith in each other." Love and trust are different things, and Dick and Tim care a whole lot about being trusted, not just about being loved.

I also think it's important that their belief in each other is often a gift rather than an inevitability: Dick and Tim choose to see each other in positive ways. Something they both do is after they have a conflict, they'll apply on a retrospective very positive gloss to whatever just happened. So e.g. Dick starts Resurrection mad at Tim, and ends it by declaring, "I let you make the choice... because I knew you'd make the right one." Tim spends most of Red Robin 1-12 mad at Dick, and ends it by declaring that he knew Dick would catch him because Dick's always there for him. And in both cases, we-the-readers are aware that they knew no such thing! But to me, that doesn't make these declarations meaningless - it makes them more meaningful. Their faith in each other is sometimes genuinely felt, and sometimes it's something they stubbornly brute-force into existence because they want to give that gift to each other.

And I mean... Tim did make the right choice. Dick was there when it really counted. Just because it isn't the whole truth doesn't mean it's not a truth.

Now, does this positivity also put some pressure on them? Absolutely! They're both people who are very upset by failure, so they tend to reassure each other by insisting that there was no failure, could never be failure, failure is impossible, even when they know perfectly well that's not true. They praise each other's skills as a love language, when what they mean is I love you no matter what. They talk about other people's needs but don't always acknowledge each other's. And it'd probably be healthier if they said instead, "Even if you'd made the wrong choice, it'd be okay, because it's okay to make the wrong choice sometimes," or "Even if you're not always there for me, that's okay, because no one can be there for someone else all the time."

And they do not say that, because Dick and Tim are relatively well-adjusted by Batfamily standards but that is a very low bar, and at the end of the day they're still deeply messed-up perfectionists who deal with their emotional problems by punching crime in the face.

But look, they're trying. And isn't that the important thing? <3

#dick 'imposter syndrome' grayson and tim 'dick grayson stan' drake #dick grayson #tim drake #dick & tim #ask tag #i rambled for a really long time anon <3 #it's complicated because i feel like mmmm the ''pedestal'' thing is obv true in some ways #but i think it also sometimes gets used in this kinda flanderized way #where it gets extrapolated into claims like ''older!tim is shocked to learn dick experiences normal human emotions' or w/e #and obv fandom is transformative and a rich tapestry etc but for me personally #part of what i LOVE about tim's introduction is that dick is in the middle of one of his very angsty eras #so tim's burst into his life being all ''hiiiiii!!! you're the best :)))))'' when dick is at peak ''i am gloomy and depressed''#that said tim's high opinion of dick is very canon and very compelling to me <3 #tim does think dick is the greatest thing ever!#but it's more like being a stan of his rather than being a distant stranger who doesn't know him at all #it's not that tim's unaware that dick gets angry/sad/etc or that dick and tim never have fights (they do!)#it's more that unless they're actively in the middle of a fight tim admires/loves dick a lot and is determined to think well of him #so he considers all of dick's strengths What's Important About Him and all of his flaws Basically A Rounding Error If You Think About It #and he doubles-down on this when someone's questioning it (including Dick)#there is definite motivated reasoning at play in Tim's view of Dick but imo it's not quite the same as a pedestal sdfdsfds #i'm not sure there's anything that Dick could do that Tim couldn't find a way to justify in his head how it was okay /#not really Dick / not really his fault / etc. - like if Dick went on a murder spree #Tim would be there making the big This Isn't You! I Know You Won't Kill Me Because I Believe In You! speech #and like. if he was wrong then he'd be dead sdfdsf but the thing is he'd have secret doubts and be wary AND STILL #find himself ultimately making that speech / taking the risk - and ditto for Dick toward Tim #it's not that they never get mad / distrust each other and it's not impossible they'd stay bitter and suspicious for a while #but in the END they both really really WANT to trust each other

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utencils · 3 months

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double posting fr her

#art #my art #fanart #disco elysium #harry du bois #soot shaw #oc #her introduction is basically just #being found in that first garbage can #and forcing harry to bargain for his own ledger #because she doesnt gaf if hes the law #she just wants money or sustenance or both #my ocs

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littlegalerion · 5 months

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I see all these "barbie doll" and "boy band" Dark Urge characters, and all I can do is laugh at the fact so many people want to ignore the canon Dark Urge is a reasonably older dragonborn sorcerer with the voice of a tired librarian that just mentally snapped after seeing someone litter in the non-fiction section.

#honestly adds a lot for me #because without context the basic look and sound of the Dark Urge is soothing #he just sounds and looks like an innocent older dragonborn who knows some sick magic skills #but of course we know the truth #which makes it so sad because canonly (based on his origin introduction) he wishes to fight against the urge #so it really is this sweet older dragonborn gentleman fighting against sadistic trauma (gift from dear old dad)-#-to protect his newfound loved ones #I WANT HIM AS A COMPANION IN DEFINITIVE EDITION #PLEASE I WILL PAY WHATEVER $$$ YOU ASK #bg3 #baldurs gate 3 #bg3 dark urge #the dark urge #18+ only

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the-whispers-of-death · 3 months

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Kali's Introduction to the Shadow Company

Asks are open, feel free to pop in and talk or request something!

When Commander Phillip Graves recruited the Marine captain "Kali", he had heard all about how over the fifteen years in the Marines that Kali served, Kali had been approached by several private contractor companies because of his sniping skills and they had been turned away with a sneer from the man each time. But when Graves came knocking, well, Kali hadn't turned him away.

Graves said it was his charm that drew Kali in, made Kali retire from the Marines and make the switch to the Shadow Company. But in reality, Kali had lost his entire squad of five a year ago with him being the lone survivor. He had spent the entire year, bitter and cold at the Marine Corps because they had been the ones who sent him and his squad out on what they knew was a suicide mission with bad intel. Though he loved serving his country, Kali could no longer fathom being a Marine. So he made the switch.

And now here he was, outside a Shadow Company base.

Everyone passing him by, whether exiting or entering, was giving him looks, something he was used to. Kali was extremely tall and burly, but not taller than his old friend Stone, and not only that, but he wore a black neck gaiter that covered his lower half of his face which was then also covered by a full hard-plated mask that was half blue and half black. The colors were a respectful nod to the Hindu goddess of time, death, and rebirth, Kali, whom his callsign was named after.

It wasn't a callsign he was particularly happy with, as he didn't dare compare himself to the goddess, but it was one that stuck to him no matter how he protested it. The least he could do was honor her as best as he could.

Nevertheless, he made for a rather terrifying sight and he was someone new on base. He understood why several Shadows were just blatantly staring at him as they passed.

After staring at the base for way too long, Graves popped his head out of the building to usher Kali in, eager to introduce the tall man to his new family. Kali walked forward with feet that felt like lead, heading to the door and heading inside.

He had expected the Shadows to be more ordered than they were, his brown eyes widening underneath his mask as he watched several Shadows roughhousing right then and there in the hallway. Those who weren't roughhousing, were taking pictures and videos of it all.

"Shadows!" Graves said, his voice booming through the base. The effect was immediate, every Shadow in the vicinity moving to stand at attention. Graves grabbed Kali's arm when he noticed Kali was standing a bit behind him and pulled him forward to stand beside him. "I'm proud to introduce our new Shadow, Kali! He's a sniper, former U.S. Marine captain. Now, I know he doesn't look friendly, but that's because he has been through some shit this past year. I know you'll make him warm up to you all though!"

With those words, Kali was pushed deeper into hallway, now surrounded by Shadows. They all greeted him, making his head spin with all these names that he was suddenly being introduced to. He spent the entire day being shadowed (heh, get the pun?) by several extroverted Shadows, who didn't even flinch at seeing his tall, masked form.

Well, at least now he knew how Stone feels when being placed with a new squad. It was disorienting to be around people, especially since he was still a little raw from the loss of his men, men he had served with for years. And these new people were...characters for sure, people he'd get along with when he opened up again.

His first few weeks at Shadow Company was a whirlwind, just getting settled in. He was still standoffish by the end of it all, but he understood now that the Shadows were family and despite his guilt at being a lone survivor, he craved a family again.

And maybe this was his chance to have a family again. Though, he was definitely writing a letter to Stone.

Reblogs are welcomed & appreciated!

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rainymoodlet · 1 year

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Kiss Me in Komorebi+ 🌸

[Episode One] First Impressions.

introducing Nolan Langford by @wastelandwhisperer!

we have a hugger, folks! (it's why nolan's impression makes no sense because before i could do a DAMN THING nolan!! hugged!! dan!!) dan is by no means a physical guy, he would never initiate a hug and unfortunately the sims doesn't have a handshake greeting (he'd have shaken everyone's hand lbr) but nolan surprised me by hugging him not 30 in-game minutes?? into their conversation? and dan accepted it, which surprised me more than anything. nolan did the "celebrity fanboying" animation between every other interaction, it was so charming and he definitely surprised dan with his excitement!

Part 18/21 | part 4/7 of House Three’s introductions!

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rayhantochtli · 10 months

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Don't really like seeing everyone say "grown up seng!" Like.. that's not seng!!!!!! That's Alfie!!!!

#unicorn warriors eternal #squeaks #would be great if the show also acknowledged that #i dont think s.eng was present after his introduction to a.lfie #it's basically been just a.lfie since the start

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cowboyhorsegirl · 6 months

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Steve is most likely to end up in a lavender marriage and Tony's most likely to end up in a “married for tax/immigration/inheritance fraud” reasons.

They meet as married men and pine for each other hardcore and are also trying not to read too much into how their interest seems reciprocated and oh nooooo both Immigration/the IRS and the the Church/in-laws/DADT era army dudes or whatever are snooping around at the same time at each of their marriages and they have to be so good at being married at the people they are married to oh noooooo and they other guy doesn’t know why they are suddenly being iced out and maybe they were just imagining things? maybe it’s for the best with all these eyes around on them…

#not to get too real but i love queer people. we see each other and we save each other #i wish i could talk in depth about this lgbtq history panel i went to tonight without doxxing myself #but basically all of these panelists were older gay ppl & one of them won a very monumental court case in the state #and right after introductions one of the other panelists turned to her and thanked her so profusely for the sacrifices she had made #and the work she did to win that case #and that by achieving that win for herself she paved the way for this other panelist to have her own family recognized legally by the state #i don't know i'm not explaining it well but something about knowing and seeing that gratitude in real time. understanding so viscerally tha #so much of our history has happened within one or two lifetimes. to the point that many of the champions of our current rights are alive #today for us to learn from and listen to and THANK #i met two nb ppl through school last year and have since become very close to them #they are the only two ppl on this planet who use my pronouns the way i want them to be used. they switch it up every time and i love them #a little bit more each time i hear them talk about me. it's magical #my childhood best friend told me he liked boys and girls like a month after we first met each other in the fourth grade #he told me there's a word for that; he's bisexual #i think abt how incredible that was a lot. how brave he was to say that and to own that and how long it might have taken me to figure #out that i was the same had he not said it.#anyway all this to say that yes absolutely i love this #steve and tony meet at a military gala. steve's being recognized for his service and tony and his wife were invited by some higher-up who #imagined he could use the event as a way to cozy up to him and earn some good favor before negotiations start on SI's contract renewal #their eyes meet while steve's up on stage. he hates these things. hates being dragged into the spotlight. he feels naked and bare and #vulnerable every time. trapped in enemy territory with no cover. but he sucks it up he kisses his wife on the cheek and she smiles #big and beautiful; perfect like they've run their lines 1000 times over. like they could recite each other's parts by heart #he makes his way to the podium. breathes deep to center himself before he launches into his thankless thank-yous. steve's a terrible liar #but somehow he's made it this far in his career. he can manage for one more night. except #right as he lifts his eyes to speak he sees him. bright eyes burning into his from a shadowed table in the corner. the brass speaking at hi #on his left and a lovely woman who's bored and unimpressed on his right. and him looking directly back at steve #steve's breath catches and he chokes on air. trips on his lines. forgets himself and loses the beat of the scene #he looks down at his notes and ignores them. raises his face to the light and plays himself to be seen by an audience of one.#anon #signed sealed delivered

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its-captain-sir · 2 years

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something something a lot of the lore being used in current star wars projects owes itself to rebels and yet the show and its storylines are constantly ignored or brushed aside........

#like just say you don't care about rebels lol #kenobi literally owes it's entire plot to the introduction of the inquisitors in rebels #and yet they still kill off the grand inquisitor. completely ignoring everything about his story and literal debut in rebels #rebels also established a bunch of stuff with mandalore that's affected the plot of the mandalorian #(and seems to be continuing to affect it)#and they'll just take allllllll that stuff while basically ignoring the fact that rebels existed #they won't even give it a proper sequel and are instead giving the conclusion to its plotlines to a show about a character–#–that only had a stake in the story for one season #and tbh by making it about ahsoka like that they probably still could ignore most things about rebels #cause it's not Technically the rebels sequel #idk man this trend just annoys me #you are building so much of your franchise off of rebels stop pretending it doesn't exist #sorry getting off my soapbox now hakdhskdj #star wars rebels

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currentlyonstandbi · 1 year

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#OKAY there were 2 versions of this post and i spent so long trying to decide which one to go with #and im STILL undecided on it but i went with this one primarily because of the comparison in the train scenes my beloved <3 #i'm not great at cinematic or literary analysis but i am great at going completely off the shits about things so hold on to your hats #because the train scenes in this movie drive me insane okay the way that everytime we're shown them on screen #they're accompanied by some important shifts in character dynamic or crucial introductory set ups #it's the fact that we have that first scene with alex (and josh) and nigel #and the way that both alex and the audience are being introduced to who nigel really is as a person for the first time #before then it was surface level understanding . glimpses into the character as maybe a little strange and off-putting but nothing drastic #but that scene where nigel chooses to let josh fall??? that's the first genuine insight both audience and alex get into his character #and how it will go on to shape the story #and then we have the 2nd train ride with them! and the way it's almost like the dynamic flipped from the first time #now alex is subdued and disengaged while nigel has become animated #and i know there's completely rational explanations as to why ofc alex doesn't want anything to do with nigel after josh #whereas nigel is excited to introduce alex to his 'world' and their shared history #but the little overly-obsessive voice in my head likes to think it's an allusion to the fact that these two have begun to blur #and the delineation between their personalities becomes harder and harder to define when so often they're capable of mirroring the other #and then we have the final train scene!!! which has me chewing on the walls! my gohd the reveal of it all #the realisation that alex isn't as much of an innocent victim to it all as he'd painted himself to be in his retelling #the fact that his introduction to us was on that train and so to is the conclusion to his story #that first scene of him on the train lays out the basics of his character - the rule breaker and thrill seeker #and then the end of the movie with that final scene? when you compare it to the alex we started with? that's nigel #that is nigel's ghost wearing the face of alex and you cannot change my mind #maybe i'm just thinking into it too much like am i really gonna give greg read all this credit by saying he deliberately intended #to have the train be such an important point in the film. to serve as an environmental symbol of their character progression????? for real??#he was probably like haha trains go brrrrrh #anyway .#song rec? uhuhhhhh 'tear you apart' by she wants revenge ?#like minds #murderous intent #like minds (2006)

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inaris-mage-of-storms · 1 year

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" - And he wasn't happy about finding someone else in the temple, but he was so certain that his little map meant he would be able to find the artifact before I could," said Scott to his audience. The regular meeting between rulers had concluded, and while some had already left for their respective empires, a few stayed to socialize. At some point the conversation turned to how some of them had coincidentally first met years before they held any power.

"He didn't know I could see it glowing through the walls," Scott continued. "Gave him quite the surprise when I walked out of the room with the statue in hand just as he got there."

"Gave me quite the surprise when you decked me, too," said Pix. "You laid me out and took off with it."

"Well, I wasn't about to risk you getting hold of it when I'd done all the work," said Scott smugly.

"Most embarrassing excavation of my career," sighed Pix. "Outwitted by a common thief."

"Excuse you," said Scott indignantly. "I'm not common. And what's an archaeologist anyway but a thief who writes things down."

Pix laughed. "I'm not a thief at all," he said. "I'm a collector, as you're so fond of calling it yourself."

"Yes, and 'collecting' is how you learned to pick locks," smirked Scott. "A skill you picked up for only the most noble of endeavors, I'm sure."

"You punched me in the face the first time we met too!" interjected Fwhip. "Am I detecting a pattern?"

"That was your own fault," Scott reminded him. "I so graciously let you stay at my camp and you tried to steal the ores I had on me."

"Such violence hidden behind such a pretty face!" said Sausage, and winked at Scott. "Now I kind of feel left out. I think we just kissed in a pond the first time we met."

"That was definitely not what happened," said Scott.

"Okay maybe not, but we did kiss on day one." Scott rolled his eyes, and Sausage grinned.

"Wait wait wait, I think I know how Scott picks his friends!" laughed Fwhip. "He just plays Kiss or Kill with everyone he meets, and if the answer is 'yes' to at least one of them then he keeps them!"

Scott let out a heavy sigh. "I really want to argue that point, but I think you might be right," he said. "Maybe not from the first meeting, but I've definitely either kissed or punched every single one of my allies at some point."

Oli let out a dramatic gasp. "I've never been struck by your fair hand nor kissed by your sweet lips!" he cried out, clutching his chest with one hand and sweeping the other out to the side. "Are we not friends, Scott? Have my affections for you been one-sided all this time?!"

Scott regarded the bard with a bemused expression. "Oli, what affections? We don't have an official alliance," he said. "And we've barely interacted outside of these meetings."

"Oh yeah, that's true," said Oli sheepishly. "Had a bit of 'fomo' for a second, don't mind me."

"It sounds silly, but Fwhip might actually be on to something," mused Joel. "With the fellas, anyway."

"The girls get a free pass," agreed Scott. "We're automatically friends unless they try to steal my man."

"But you don't have a man to steal," said Lizzie.

"That's twice you've pointed out I'm single. Friendship revoked," said Scott, and Lizzie cackled.

"There's only one ally that doesn't fit," said Sausage. "Unless you've already dumped Jimmy and I just didn't know it."

"No, we still have an alliance," said Scott.

"My theory still works with them anyway," said Fwhip to Sausage. "Scott and Jimmy have definitely - ow."

Scott sipped his drink and acted like he hadn't just kicked Fwhip under the table, but to his displeasure everyone's eyes were already on him. He'd never been more glad for Jimmy's habit of leaving almost as soon as meetings ended instead of sticking around to chat.

"The sheriff is an exception," he said, fixing Fwhip with a stare that he hoped conveyed his silent demand for the goblin's discretion. "Gunpowder and terracotta are valuable resources to have access to. And I feel sorry for him. He's trying his best, but you lot do nothing but give him a hard time despite claiming to be his friends."

"He fired me," said Fwhip. "I'm allowed a bit of a grudge before I forgive him."

"And he's so easy to tease," said Joel. "He's always getting in someone's face at the slightest provocation. He practically begs to be given a hard time!"

"That may be so," said Scott, "but you don't have to take it as far as you do sometimes. Give the poor man a break."

He reached for the last slice of cake, but Fwhip beat him to it and clambered up into the rafters. "Too slow!" he crowed. "Mine now."

"It's cute how you think I can't reach you up there," said Scott. "You have five seconds to give it back before I come after you."

Fwhip smirked, shoved the cake in his mouth, and made a rude gesture. "Come an' get me, circus boy," he said around his mouthful of dessert, and scrambled to the next beam as Scott jumped to his feet amid cheers of fight, fight, fight! from the others.

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#file: storm writes things #farmboy au #empiresshipping #esmp fanfic #this turned out to be that oops! all berries meme except it's oops! all dialogue #inspired by that time on stream when scott basically said it's practically canon that e!scott chooses his allies by playing kiss or kill #also by the fact his first on-camera interactions with fwhip and pix this season didn't include any introductions like with the others #in this au they're his two oldest friends (aside from jimmy) and fwhip knows scott is head over heels for the sheriff

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