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#we get cas' first literal i love you
tricoufamily · 5 months
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tried to make my middle school ocs as sims to heal my inner child and completely overhauled them. so here they are, before and after The Events
lore time! trigger warning for like. everything like just go ahead and block their name tags if you have basically any triggers at all sorry
facts about hinnry (right)!
born into an incredibly isolated cult that's existed on a commune completely detached from the world since the 1890s. no one knows they exist, and it would be incredibly difficult to even find the commune.
that's why his name is spelled that way. they've been isolated for so long that their spelling and dialect have almost developed into their own language. like hinnry morphed from henry, jime morphed from james, merthy morphed from martha, etc.
everyone on the commune has the last name skrinniwk. none of the historians who studied the remains of the commune could determine what this used to mean.
you can spell it henry or hinnry. ilya (left) spells it henry. whatever
he has like 17 siblings (his father has multiple wives)
his father is the leader of the cult. they believe that their leader has been the same person since the 1890s, and he transfers his soul to one of his children when his physical body dies
on the commune there are bunkhouses for sleeping, a chapel for worship and school ('school') for the kids, a mess hall/kitchen kinda thing where they all eat, and then all their farming and livestock stuff
hinnry's job is slaughtering the animals
he's 18, almost 19, and has no wives or children yet. the men basically conceive children until they can't anymore (his father is an old man), but it's still strange that he hasn't done it yet at his age.
none of them besides his father and his father's brother have ever left the commune (he has a secret car. the rest of them don't even know what a car is, they think he has divine abilities and that's where they get things from)
a plague has been killing them like crazy. they've been locking bodies in the barn and burning them at night. this is not a good sign for their religion.
they believe all the death means it's time to leave their physical bodies. a mass suicide is coming. this isn't why hinnry runs away though. he would have had no hesitations about it.
facts about ilya (left)!
r̵e̷d̵a̷c̴t̴e̴d̶
r̵̅͜é̶͉ḍ̷̉a̵̲͝c̴͎͊t̵͓́e̵̤͆d̸̰̚
r̶̛̟̞͉̝̪͇͇̳͇̫̖͓̥͍̼̬̪̠̻̝̜͎̙̙̫͉̩͕͇̦͑͑̊̇̓̆̅̽̀̌̈̑͋̊̈́̌̈́͗̆͛̐̀̄̏̂̌̇̊̕͜ë̶͚̲͈͚͉̘̞̉̀̈́́̓́͗͐͌̃̌̌̂̈̄ḑ̵̨̟͓̣̲͎̤͔̑̑́̊̎́̉̉͌̋̓͒̅̀͂́̐̃͛̉̂̊̉̃̈́̋̑̀̈̕͝͝ã̸̧̛̪̼̩̦̜̙̳̦͊͛̄̓̔̈́̃̏̅̊̅́̾̔̆͗̈́̇̾̆͊̎͆̍̓͂̕̕̕͝͝ͅc̵̛̛̰͈̩̥̩̭̹̤̙̟͔̬͖͔̗̰̙̹̎̿̑̀̏͋͆̒̔̎̄̐͛͘̕͜t̸̡̰̖̥̱͈͎͍̙͙̤͍̟͈̦͈̻̺̮̳̗̱̫͋̑̏ė̴̢̡̛̥̱͔͉̩̱̬͇͇̪̖̰̻͉̞͈̩̭̪͚̮̞̠̰̩̦̝̽͆̆̔̄̊̑̑͆̎͌̍̀̈́̔̈́̌͘̚͠ḑ̴̨̪̖̞̙̭̖͔̠̯͙̭̺͔͖̖͙̪̐͛̄̉͛͜͝͝
ṛ̸̑̚͝e̸͉͒d̴̮͚̗͑́a̴͖͎̥̾ć̶̦͈t̶̰͇͚̾̉̕e̷͈̰̾͗̎d̵̾͜
r̷̡̛̻̹͙͈̖̺͛̾̇̋͂̊̑͂̈́̓̎̄̍̆͐̕e̴̡̨̝̜̻̞͍͔͍̲̯͕̹̭̱̩̘̝̳̅̉̈́̇̉͋̑̅͂̋̅̆̿̀̄̉̌̂͑̕͜͝͝ͅͅd̴̥̖̖̗̮̯̦̖͖̄͆̍̊̂̔͆͌̒͘á̸̡̨̠̺͓̠̯̼͚̬̘̪̻̜̠͍̱̿͒̃̌̆̅͊̃̈́͑͑͑̽̈͒̂̓̍͌̿̀͊̃͘͠č̴̺͇̒͑̑̈́̉t̴̨̧̨̡̖̩͕̙̪̰̠̳̬͔͈̬̞̝͈̠̮̭̍̏͛͋͊̊̑è̸̡̧̡̨̛̫̪͔̘̞̜͙̥̝̙͎͙̺͉̭̭̱͍̺̓ͅd̶͖̄̂̈
ṟ̴̟̫͊ë̴̠͇̟́̅͠d̸̼̬̘̕͘ą̴̱̜̈́͒͝c̸̺̫̑̓̕ţ̶̣̅̋̈́é̵̛͍͍͝d̸͖̥̬͗̓
oh yeah he'll have all the hair colors in the poll at some point he dyes it a lot
r̸̢̨̢̛̤̘̪͉̘̥̦͍̙̫̖̣̼̟͖̦̪̯̼͓̙̮̬̞̳̞̺̭͈̥̮̪̝͎̻̩̩̣̬̿̍͐̐̓̔̊̂͂̐́̎̊̍́͑̾̓́̊̒͋̇̐͑̈́͒͐̕͝͝ͅͅe̶̡̧̢̡̥͍̭̪͖̟̘̮̬̤͚͚̤̗̯͚̱̻̜͔͈̞̻̫̙̪̜̬̘̼̦̣͖͔̪̝̣͖͕͚͐̽̍͜͜ͅͅd̵̢̧̨̟̝̦̜̹͎̜̻̬̤̝̣̣̭̤̣̪͙̖͉̼̼̜̻̮̬͕͕̤͓̭͍̹̥͉͚̥͆͋̆͗̆̂̑̍̑̒͗̾͂͗̆͗̒̐̈̈̃́̔͊́́̿́̎̿̕͘̚͘͠͝͝ͅͅa̸̢̨̛͔̰̺̙̖̪̟͎͎̬̹̪̭͙̗͕̬̞͍͍̠͚̩̺͓͍͙̋̍̒̑̊͐̍̈̆̊͊̂̂̋̎̈́͗͆͋́͌̏ͅc̵̖̟̦̺̼͈̀̐̓̒̃͆̌̑̽̈́̃̓̎͛̎̅̏̈́̿̃̔͋̓͝͠͝͝͝͝͝t̵̨̢̼̹̜̹͚͖̫̤̫̺̳̞̣̗͚̫̬͉̤̠̫̫̘͔̫͓̠̙͉̲̠͙͈̭̗̻̎͛̑̊͊͒̎͋͗͜ͅę̴͈̟̖̜̄̇̃͌̉̈̆̍͗͒̿̆̀́͑́͋͌̃̈́́d̵̡̧̢̛͙̝̲̗̼͕̟̱̼͍̦̤̙̹̼̯̹͍̭̟̖̠̣̝̝̳̣̣̥̫̰̖̎̓͛̂́̓͋͗͋̾̎́̎̓̿̿̌̓͛́̓̈́̓̚̕̚͘͜͜͠
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all-that-jazz-93 · 11 months
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Holy shit dude, Peggy haters on this webbed site have the weirdest fucking takes
I mean honestly, talk about willfully ignoring canon to form your own (wrong) opinions about a character...
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Parallels in Unknown Episode 9
God I love the physicality in this show.
I will preface by saying once more that Kurt is doing a great job in his role as Yuan, especially lately with all the pushing and prodding Yuan has been doing to Qian, but I once again find myself having to highlight the masterful performance of Chris Chiu.
Wei Qian is a very tense and quiet character in a show that uses voice overs sparingly. This means that Chris has a very difficult job in conveying Qian’s inner monologue through body language alone. Without uttering a word we know what Qian is thinking; what he’s feeling; we understand the depth, the weight of his care for the people he loves.
For Episode 9, I want to talk about parallels. Parallels and how effectively Unknown is able to use them to bring maximum emotional devastation:
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gif by @ueasking
We open with a flashback to Lili and Yuan as kids, to Lili trying to get out of going to school because she is worried the world is going to end. We open with a line from Qian:
“Even if the world comes down, I’ll hold it up.” 
Y’all. That line hit me like a 16 wheeler, holy fuck. This is the summary of Qian’s life, of his goals, of his struggle. Qian’s never had the luxury to live in a world that wasn’t falling apart. But he’s spared Yuan and Lili (especially Lili) from the trauma and the abuse and the pain he has suffered. He is already holding everyone’s worlds together, and that line struck me as the deepest and most beautiful profession of love. And of course, because he is acting as a parent to these kids he has to follow it with an empty threat.
The kids head off to school, but before the door closes behind Yuan he turns around, he looks Qian right in the eye and he says
“Ge, if the world comes down, we’ll hold it up together.”
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gif by @ueasking
Double homicide. A perfect expression of Yuan’s devotion to Qian, Qian who very rarely experiences reciprocity. Qian spent a large portion of his life being uplifted and supported by the people around him: Le-ge, San Pang and his family, Xiong this is true, but for Qian most of those feel like or literally are debts to be repaid. He said it to Le-ge in this episode “I will pay you back everything I owe”, in Episode 1, Qian tells San Pang he’ll pay him back when San Pang covers his bills, Xiong helped kick start Qian’s career, but he’s in business with Xiong now so Qian’s success is Xiong’s success. Yuan is the only person to whom Qian owes nothing, and Yuan is the only person who is trying to care for him back without being owed.
Because this show has been looping in my head, I’ve been thinking a lot about trauma. The first scene we see of Qian and Yuan together, Yuan holds out a metal pipe in defense and Qian has an immediate flashback to his own childhood and the abuse he had suffered. Qian immediately establishes a connection to Yuan that he never will with Lili because Qian was incredibly successful in shielding Lili from the harshness of the world. We don’t see the trauma Yuan must have experienced as a kid, but we get the snippets, the ties in to Qian’s experiences, the illness, the hunger. Yuan has suffered, and Qian has saved him, and Yuan understands the burden that comes with care. Yuan is devoted to Qian, Yuan does not want Qian to hold everything he’s carrying all by himself.
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Yuan has always been like this, and will always be like this for Qian.
Despite the overarching structural problems I had with this episode, I do think there was a strong thematic thread in paralleling space and physical touch all the way through.
The Letter
Qian discovers this letter in a box under Yuan’s bed. 
“In my life, I’ve been driven by a deviant and sharp obsession” 
Qian tenses up, taking in a deep breath, his eyes wandering away from the page. He literally has to mentally prepare himself to continue reading Yuan’s words 
“Looking back, there’s nothing else. But if my life were to cease all of a sudden-” Qian barely moves his head to finish reading, instead just casts his eyes downward.
“-not seeing you one last time would be my greatest regret” 
Qian moves the paper downward, and he looks away. Legitimately, Qian looks at that letter for as short a time as he physically possibly can. 
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I’m mentioning the letter because the face that Qian makes when he is reading it is a recurring character throughout this entire episode. Because we see that face again almost immediately when Qian is at H.O.T.. That man is fully dissociating in his meeting, his mind is not at work at all. He is a statue sitting there with exactly the same face he was making when he read the first few words of Yuan’s letter. And it is not until everyone else but San Pang has walked away that he breaks from that thought paralysis and turns to get San Pang’s opinion. Dissatisfied with San Pang’s response and knowing that Yuan was hiding something from him and has not responded to his phone calls, Qian seeks additional answers. 
Rescuing Yuan
In Episode 1, Qian figures out Yuan is in trouble because he gets a phone call from Yuan’s teacher saying that Yuan applied for a leave of absence, he freaks out and goes straight to the pool hall where he barges in yelling and fighting his way to Le’s door. The second he gets in the room, he barrels straight towards Hu and grabs him by the collar. Qian has to be held back by multiple people in order to stop him from laying waste to everyone there, and the second Le-ge tells his people to let Qian go, Qian starts running straight to Le to fight him and has to be held back once more. 
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While Qian is being detained, he is looking around wildly, face a perfect picture of rage and desperation. When Yuan is brought out and Qian is released, he runs straight to Yuan and pulls him in to a hug and they start to walk away, arms linked to each other’s backs in support and connection. 
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And it sticks as such a vivid memory in my head that I had a visceral reaction to seeing how Qian has changed over time. Because in Episode 9 he knows something is wrong, you can see the worry behind his eyes when he tells San Pang that Yuan hasn’t answered his phone. And San Pang leaves him sitting there, still mulling over everything. When Qian enters the restaurant to talk to Le he appears calm (though there is very clearly a storm brewing inside him), he enters slowly. He is tense, and frustrated, and trying to contain it all. He is trying to keep himself calm. This is a very political conversation. He pours beer for Le-ge, he drinks with him, but you can feel it in the way that Qian sits that his every thought is like a clock just ticking away until something bad happens to Yuan. 
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“Le-ge can I ask a favor of you?” 
“What favor?”
“Help me find Yuan,”
“Are you asking me to help you find him or hand him back?” Le asks bemused and we get a jaw twitch from Wei Qian. Qian is seething, but he knows how Le operates and he’s older and wiser now so he can’t just enter the scene beelining towards Le with his fist ready for a face. As a child he was willing to fight Le, as an adult he has recognized Le more as an unfortunate ally who has all the power. Le and Qian roll up to the scene and we get a far more familiar Qian the second he exits the car and starts sprinting towards Yuan and immediately decks Hu right in the face to get him away from Yuan.
Again he tries to fight everyone that comes between them, again he is detained, being held back by multiple people, again Le and Hu fight while Qian is waiting to be released so he can run to Yuan. Again Le puts an ultimatum on their freedom, before it was a boxing match, now it is Russian Roulette.
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When they are set free, Qian immediately runs to Yuan and grabs him like he did when they were running away. The way he looks at everyone when he has Yuan in his arms is exactly the same way he looked at everyone when he was reunited with Yuan the first time Yuan was taken from him by the gang. 
It’s all the same, the way they walk out together, the way they are made to pause, the way Qian’s face is snarling when he’s trapped. It’s all there.   
Russian Roulette
Now, we are all about reciprocity here so we get another really tragic parallel between the boxing scene in Episode 1 and the Russian Roulette scene in Episode 9. 
In Episode 1, it is Qian that is made to play Le’s game alone: win three boxing matches, he and Yuan get to leave the gang. But Le doesn’t let Yuan off scot-free here either, forcing him to stand there and watch Qian get beat to shit over and over and over again for Yuan’s sake. And we get Yuan being the one to call out to Qian. 
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“Ge, stop fighting, let’s go home!” Yuan yells, and when Qian wins we see Yuan wiping tears away, and then screaming after Qian when his opponent sneaks up behind him. When Qian and Yuan are alone together after the fight, Yuan is crying and when Qian tells him not to cry he says: 
“Sorry. You wouldn’t have been in this fight if it hadn’t been for me,” which in this case is true for reasons outside of Yuan’s control. The things Qian has done for Le are informed by the care he has for Lili and Yuan, but Yuan is not himself the cause of the problem. 
In Episode 9 however….he walks right into the gang as if that is going to do anything, and has to be rescued by Qian. This time, though Yuan does not (or at least has yet to) say it, Qian would not have been in this fight with Hu and the rest of the gangsters if it wasn’t for Yuan. 
Similarly to Episode 1, Le-ge gives an ultimatum to their release, Russian Roulette. Where before we had three boxing matches, now we have three bullet chambers. And Yuan is old enough to protect Qian now, so Yuan volunteers to go first, and we get a role reversal. Before, Yuan had to watch, crying, as Qian fought and bled. Now, Qian is the one sobbing, having to watch Yuan get a gun to the head. Yuan looks at him and mouths “wo ai ni” and Qian immediately closes his eyes because cannot look at Yuan when the trigger is pulled, just as Yuan tried to look away when Qian was getting his skull bashed in in the boxing ring. 
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Yuan gets tortured right back though when it is Qian’s turn to have the trigger pulled, all we hear over the background music is this desperate and broken pleading scream from Yuan to let Qian go. When the game is over and Qian is released he runs straight to Yuan and pulls him up stating “Let’s go home, we’re going home,” another direct parallel to Episode 1. 
THE HUG
Alright, my favorite devastating blow of the evening, the hug in Episode 9 and how it parallels the hug in Episode 1. Because there are two levels to this: 
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photo of the photobook that @thisonelikesaliens was kind enough to send me. gif by @wanderlust-in-my-soul
The hug that Episode 9 more explicitly parallels, in my mind, is the hug that Qian gives Yuan right when they are reunited. He has that boy tucked in his arms, and is holding the back of Yuan’s head with his hand. It’s a very quick moment, but the intensity of Qian’s motion, the strength of his hug, the emotional core of that hug is evident in just the briefest of seconds and matches the intensity, the strength, and the emotional core of the hug in Episode 9. 
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gif by @ueasking
Then you get a secondary parallel with the hug between Qian and Yuan after the boxing match, though it’s not as much of a 1:1 visual as the brief hug above. This is mostly in the changing heights, Yuan and Qian are on relatively the same level here. And you get the hand to the back of the head as a comforting thing which Qian is also doing to Yuan in today’s hug. 
In Episode 9, they are walking back home, it is dark, it is quiet. Qian stops dead in his tracks, the same look on his face as when he read the letter. He turns to face Yuan and clenches his fist because he needs that extra strength, it is taking everything in him to follow through on what comes next and then he just grabs Yuan and pulls him into a hug that parallels the hug they shared when Yuan was younger. Qian hugs Yuan like he is that small, scared boy even though Qian is now so much shorter than Yuan and Yuan is so much braver than he used to be.
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gif by @wanderlust-in-my-soul
But unlike the hugs in Episode 1, I don’t think this one is intended to comfort Yuan. I think this time, it is Qian reaching out to Yuan for his own comfort. Because in Episode 1 it is Yuan who cries in to the forehead touch, in Episode 9 it is Qian who burrows his face into Yuan’s neck as hard as he can while his face contorts in sobs. This is not necessarily a parallel, but it is the moment of the episode that ruined my life so I needed to make sure that I took you all down with me with a reminder of this scene and a gif. Oh also, they hug in front of a giant pile of wood like they do with the forehead touch in Episode 1 because they HATE US. 
Fishing Conversation v. Letter Conversation
The two big conversations that Qian and Yuan have this episode are really interesting to me because of how they play with space. When Yuan and Qian are out fishing together, Yuan places himself directly in front of, directly next to Qian for the whole length of the conversation where he asks Qian his feelings. Here they are with allllll this space around them, the water, the earth, the air they can sit wherever, they can stand wherever, they can exist wherever they want and they sit half a breadth apart. 
“Four years ago you turned and left, four years later we’re back here. This is enough.” Yuan states
“Can you stop staring at me then?” Qian asks.
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gifs by @ueasking
And that in itself is a parallel to Episode 6 and Yuan begging, pleading, clutching at Qian’s knee for him to look at him. Qian could not look Yuan in the eye from the second Yuan told him he was suffering until the moment he returned home, and now Yuan refuses to break eye contact. (And as an aside, it is a very good indication that Qian is warming up to Yuan’s feelings because he says this in a very light, almost joking way. And he follows it with an empty threat, like the empty threat he gave to Lili when she said she didn’t want to go to school, one that Yuan calls him on immediately.) Yuan moves back to his seat, but even then he does not keep any physical distance from Qian, immediately reaching over to grab Qian’s rod ;-)
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At the end of the episode, we get a very differently blocked conversation. It starts with the camera focused on Qian as he ices the back of his head, a place we know has caused him continual problems since the boxing match. Yuan knocks before he enters (which he did for the first time last episode), gives Qian a glass of milk (which they’ve definitely done in this show before), and in response Qian (rightfully imo) yells at Wei Zhiyuan for being dumb, then confronts him with the letter. 
“What is the meaning of this?” Qian asks, and it’s the first time he looks at Yuan in the exchange and Yuan takes it, turns around, and walks away without a word. Yuan puts the letter away and goes to sit on a chair in his room, looking across the hallway at Qian. And this is one of my favorite parallels in the episode, because of what it is doing with distance. 
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gif by @ueasking
Earlier in the episode Yuan and Qian were fishing together and engaging in very intense conversation about their feelings and their relationship to one another (or rather, Qian was undergoing an interrogation about his feelings and hearing once more Yuan’s feelings for him). With all that wide open space at the river they were essentially joined at the hip the entire time. But here, when there is another very intense conversation about to happen- one where Yuan is breaking some news to Qian that is almost guaranteed to make him feel all the more guilty for sending Yuan away and going no-contact -there is as much space between them as possible.
So despite the fact that they are in their house, in a much smaller space than the river, despite the fact that they started the conversation in Wei Qian’s room, one of the few places Qian has been vulnerable in front of his family (especially when intoxicated, triggered, or experiencing symptoms of his chronic health condition), one of the few places that Qian has allowed Yuan to be completely carefree, cuddly, and affectionate with him (even sharing a bed), this space Qian has fought tooth and nail to make safe for his family, Yuan does not tarnish it by being in the room with him for the conversation. 
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gif by @wanderlust-in-my-soul
No, instead Qian will get this information with as much physical and emotional distance between them as Yuan can muster. 
“...some people started writing their last words” causes Qian to break eye contact with Yuan, but his posture, his breathing, all the rest of his physicality remains the same. Until…
“Everything I own is yours, whether you want it or not,”
That is what breaks Qian. Throughout the conversation as he is hearing about Yuan getting trapped, as he is hearing about Yuan thinking he was going to die, he is stoic, he is stone faced, the most movement you see from him is his eyes looking Yuan up and down in concern and his breath getting slightly quicker with each word, the turn of his head. But here he closes his eyes, he looks down at the ground, he releases his breath. It hits him so hard, the knowledge that he could have sent Yuan away and never seen him again, he sent Yuan away and Yuan could have died, where Qian was not around to protect him. 
It is just such a good mirror to the fishing scene, I love it so much. 
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perseruna · 5 days
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heyyyy do you have any details/sources for the ca*ill being a jackass thing? ngl i watch twn for yen and jaskier so i was already planning on continuing to season 4 but i'd love some reasons to be actively excited for the actor switch. but i haven't kept up on the behind-the-scenes stuff so i'm kinda lost on that front if you're up for sharing any of what you know!
okay guys buckle up this is THE anti henry cavill megathread xoxo
First of all him dating a teenager as a 33 year old fully grown man literally gross and disgusting.
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Also as this quote implies they started dating a year prior and only went public when she was 19 so they supposedly started dating when she was 18.
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His entire dating history is a MESS. Sure the women he dated are not him, but he chose to date them, I wouldn't even associate myself with people like these let alone be in a relationship with them. He dated the infamous transphobic TERF Gina Carano, albeit before her loud controversy, but I doubt her harmful views were any different back then. His current gf has a history of doing black face.
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His "Me Too" comments.
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His comments on the Me Too movement are literally so vile. If you don’t want to be called a rapist, just don’t rape women, it’s literally as simple as that. They’re even more foul because they’re promoting the idea that women lie about their abusive for fame, promoting that harmful rhetoric especially in our times is incredibly dangerous.
Now onto his on set behavior.
We can't talk about his set behavior without mentioning the deuxmoi set leak. Here's the transcript of it:
[Transcript:
There’s something I really really wanted to read to you guys--it has to do with why Henry Cavill left The Witcher. I know that was something that you guys were super interested in when it happened, and I just recently got this message. Somebody was like “Hey, do you want to know what really went down?” And I was like “Sure!” So let me just read it. It says:
“At the beginning of the show, Henry was good to work with. A lot of difficult demands that made people feel like he wasn’t a team player, but that’s not unusual for a really big star. Though in TV it truly usually doesn’t happen until the second season. But in season two and three something shifted and he became really impossible for women to work with, which is always a big problem, but even worse here because the showrunner is a woman. He would try to overrule her and try to get changes made last minute across the board without her knowledge, which, if you know anything about showrunning, is completely fucked. The showrunner has to sign off on every miniscule detail down to the buttons on a costume. Female writers and directors were suddenly being completely ignored on set, unable to do their jobs. Every department head was complaining. He started making comments—it wasn’t a sexual thing, he wasn’t grabbing anyone or being lewd, but it was disrespectful and toxic all the same.
“He is deeply addicted to video games, to the point where it was like working with any other addict. He was distracted, he was late, he was obsessive, and a lot of people think the misogyny came from gamer world. Video game bro language is not how you talk to coworkers, and he wouldn’t stop. Someone on the show compared it to watching someone get brainwashed by QAnon, like his whole personality shifted. Eventually his disrespect escalated. He would rewrite scenes without even alerting the other actors in the scenes until it was time to shoot. He decided that he didn’t want any romantic scenes at all—no kissing scenes, no shirtless scenes, et cetera. He wanted complete control of storylines but really had no idea of the limitations of TV, structure, budget, et cetera. He formed a weird alliance with one writer who was also a gamer, who eventually got fired after multiple HR complaints were made and after that writer left, Henry did anything he could to hold up production and cause problems.
“Eventually top brass at Netflix was tired of him costing them money with delays and HR investigations and the showrunner was asked to construct a potential exit for him. Netflix reached out to him personally and he was given one final warning, and violated that warning with an email he sent to the entire writing staff right after that meeting. That was it. It’s very disappointing.”
End transcript.]
Now believe me or not, but I know from a really good source that the leak was indeed real.
There's a lot of patterned behavior that tracks with what we know of him and his past controversies.
After that leak came out, there was a lot of people from different places coming to comment that ‘yes’ they’ve heard a very similar story adding a little bit more details of their own.
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this quickly deleted tweet from one of the writers/producers:
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there were rumors about him being an asshole to Anya specifically.
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He went on record that he doesn't "understand" sex scenes. Which I know the sex discourse is rampant nowadays and each to their own, but he specifically signed up for a role that requires those scenes and then refused to do them and was allegedly nasty to Anya about it and with the way he talks about women...
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Also it’s important to touch upon the “writer he had a weird alliance with” that man in question is Beau DeMayo of the recent fame of getting fired by Marvel from X-Men ‘97. He was previously allegedly fired from The Witcher for being emotionally and physically abusive. And he allegedly got fired from X-Men for being abusive as well. One of The Witcher writers tweeted this after Beau smeared them for “disliking the books” Beau was literally the first person to start that narrative.
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The fact that it was HIS idea not to say lines of his dialogue in S1 and instead grunt. To the point that Joey had to take Henry’s lines and make it his own, so the plot would make sense, he talks about it in this interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=Oyh0t117t0U&, and then once S2 press arrived Henry was talking about how he was trying to fight the big bad writers to give him more lines. Ridiculous.
Everyone is already pointing out that the cast looks so much happier without him, and it’s very true. Henry was never present on close to any BTS pics from filming the previous seasons, or on any cast dinners or birthdays. He wouldn't even do any shared interviews with the other three mains but only had solo interviews which to me was giving disrespectful like you're an ensemble you’re not the only lead here. It felt like he was above them to sit down and answer questions with them. When they were doing press junkets in Brazil and Poland Anya, Joey and Freya would always arrive together and leave together with that man leaving all the events early and by himself. And like people who post quotes from the cast about him being perfect from press junkets as “proof” are insane to me like Obviously they’re going to say nice things about him, not only they're newcomers, and he's an established industry name, but they’re doing PRESS for a show that he’s a STAR of (well, was lmao)
The fact that he never defended Anya from the racist trolls, even though most of them were HIS fans. Like she had to go through so much and that man couldn’t make a single comment about it as a leading man BUT he could make a whole IG post because people were being mean to his gf and calling her out for doing blackface.
And sure people might say that a lot of these are unverified sources, and I’d get it if it was a singular case, but there are a ton of these accounts that all match each other. Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.
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thelordfool · 2 months
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HELP ME PLEASE!!!!!
Long story short: I'm unemployed and will not, unlike what I originally thought, qualify for unemployment benefits.
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Please read the readmore for additional context on why I'm unemployed. This post is basically a continuation/update/redo of this post. I'm suffering a sickness with no medicine the past week, applied for almost 100 jobs the last two weeks, am disabled/queer/nonbinary/tired of ebegging. I'm also in the negatives in my bank account because my car payment came out, so I need to get that covered.
pp/vm/ca
$250/$1151.51
i need at least $511.51 of this by the first. please spread if you're financially unable to help, every person this reaches helps! here's the breakdown of the costs: $640 - car payment + late fees $380 - rent $131.51 - negative amount in bank currently
Oh hey thanks for stopping by to read this annoying tale of woe and being angry at capitalism. Prepare for wall of text.
I once had two jobs. The first job, at a chain restaurant, was a bit of a clique-y experience where I was working my damndest to be the best bartender they ever had. I still have all the cocktails memorized. However, I continually faced discrimination in the form of severe misgendering, no matter how often I corrected them. I was also set up for failure. Usually, when someone gets hired for a position, there's some amount of training to be done, no matter how experienced they are, right? I was going in nearly entirely inexperienced into the role. I knew how to make cocktails, sure, and was and still am very good with people and selling. But I was trained for two days. Two. Then, on my first night alone (a Friday), I was watched by one of the bigwigs at corporate who saw every little flub and failure. This caused a demotion-ish. I was demoted to barback but was allowed the same privileges. Until their next visit. That upset the hell out of me - I was well trained by that point and could do it all, with one hand tied behind my back. I digress. It was about 2 months following my demotion when i finally walked out. A new bartender had been hired and she thought I was being a total creep by looking at a ticket that had just come in. She stormed off to report me to the manager who, even after hearing my side where I had asked her if there was anything on the ticket that I could grab, said that I "needed to communicate better," and "you should be learning from her," and "you're a grown man, you should know better." I don't think I need to explain why that was so upsetting.
But I didn't report them, because I just wanted to be done with it. I was also working another bartending job, and everythign was literally perfect other than the hours, honestly. I loved the product the distillery made, I loved the people I worked with, and most of all: I had my own regulars. Last month, they hired a new hospitality director, who announced there would be some restructuring, including getting rid of servers while also making a full dinner menu to serve alongside drinks. I said nothing of it, despite my disagreements, and she assured us all that no one would lose their jobs, but just moved into different roles. We all kinda grumbled about it, and I told her that under no circumstances would I work back of house. Easy peasy. Till it wasn't, and I came home to a voicemail while on break with my partner that I'd been let go due to the restructuring. So much for no one losing their jobs, right? I hadn't been the only victim of this. I have my suspicions as to why the new hospitality director did these things, but I've no energy to throw around conspiracies. All I know is that I was shafted by both of these places and I'm tired of being broke. I'm applying, still going to fight, and... sigh.
tl;dr (why did you click the readmore?): i left a job due to discrimination and lost another due to company restructuring and i'm tired and sad and aaaaa.
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fogwitchoftheevermore · 6 months
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ok so. forgive me for a second but i've been abnormal about skizz and ren since the hiatus between third life and last life and holy shit this season is already not helping.
let's talk about skizz, ren, undying loyalty, and golden apples, shall we?
so the thing that you need to understand about skizz is that he is loyal to a fault. impulse literally says this exact thing about him in limited life, and skizz himself says himself: "you know me and my factions, i never turn." the second thing is that the first person their loyalty manifests for in third life is ren. he and ren run into each other on the second night when ren is getting accosted by mobs outside skizz's door and skizz gives him a place to stay the night. ren decides to trade skizz for his leather, for the upcoming enchanting buisness, and gives skizz a golden apple in exchange. skizz thinks this is wildly more than he deserves but is very thankful. skizz doesn't say it here, but this is the moment he swears his loyalty to ren.
throughout third life, he is willing to do or get basically anything for ren. the two of them literally die together to the tnt trap. when ren dies on the alter and everyone thinks martyn betrayed him, skizz is the first person to get there in the morning. he's in half broken gold armor and borrowed tools from bigb and he still tells ren "get behind me", still tries to protect him from martyn. when skizz is on red, he goes a bit crazy, but he channels that bloodlust into protecting ren. he kills jimmy in the red desert, he kills cleo when she tries to attack ren, he chases down impulse when he betrays dogwarts and dies trying to kill him.
when skizz dies in third life, he's got an unused golden apple in his hotbar. after he dies, he remembers the first time he met ren, etho, and martyn, and he spends quite a bit of time on his memory of ren and ren appears in his first memory of etho. after he dies, ren wields a blade named in his honor.
skizz spends third life loyal to ren- he dies for him and he dies with him.
in last life, ren and skizz end up on completely different sides, and it very quickly gets bad because when ren becomes boogey, he kills skizz. he lures him into a trap. he tells skizz he loves him. skizz literally says "i am broken hearted" when ren kills him. ren holds no regard for the relationship they used to have and yet skizz cannot help but compliment ren's skill with the trap, outright says he can't be mad at ren.
and then it only gets worse because skizz tries to storm ren's tower with impulse after they've gone red. and that! doesn't go well! and while skizz is retreating, while he is eating the golden apple in his hot bar, ren shoots him dead.
and that is the last time they've spoken. two years ago.
because skizz isn't in doublt life. and ren isn't in limited life.
and when skizz's time comes in limited life, he ensures he doesn't have a golden apple in his inventory this time. this time, he hands the apples off to his teammates, where he knows they will go to good use. and then he hands etho a diamond fucking axe (red winter is coming) and asks him to execute him for the sake of their alliance. ok! sure! fill ren's role more explicitly, why don't you!
and that first session of secret life genuinely only made it worse. when skizz is talking to tango and cleo about their alliance, skizz says he wants to give leadership over to someone else: "i want to be more of a soldier than a leader this time." cleo says she'll fill the roll of leader- she doesn't take orders well - and then seals their alliance by giving tango and skizz a golden apple each. because of course she does.
and well, we all know that didn't really work out, so that's one person off the list that skizz can fill the dogwarts shaped hole in him with, so then he goes to bdubs. he says he'll lay his sword at bdubs' feet. he says he'll win bdubs with his loyalty. he calls bdubs "my leige", jesus christ dude, you couldn't be less subtle unless you straight up called him ren's name.
skizz has been (whether accidentally or on purpose is up to you) trying to recreate the experience he had with dogwarts, and particularly what he had with ren, since the moment dogwarts fell. he can't have it with ren because he missed his only chance in last life, so he'll fill the void with whoever he can. his fellow soldier. ren's successor. ren's new kingmaker. anyone. and it's never gonna work. i need ren to come back for like, 900 reasons, but i especially need him to come back so skizz can have a shot at making it to spring.
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I love jack so so much he's perfect but tbh I do think it would've worked much more with the show if he was a destiel baby instead of lucifer's. and I'm not just saying that as a shipper or whatever I mean narratively it would've been a lot cleaner- and actually, I think it would've been super funny to no-homo them creating a baby together, like, literally all they would have to do is say "oh, when cas rebuilt dean after hell he accidentally left some grace tangled in his soul, and every time he's healed him since then it's been growing stronger until a nephilim was born". like yes the studio is homophibic etc etc but all the jokes they'd make about dean being spiritually pregnant would be very funny for me personally.
but ANYWAY, jack's story gets messy and convoluted and I think this would've been like...a simple fix. them worrying about him going dark side could be because they're worried how demon!dean and lucifer!cas affected him in development, the show LOVES bloodline drama, chuck's wanting abraham and issac 2.0 would've worked better this way, dean's storyline with him would be improved, bc rather than 'oh no I slowly but surely emotionally adopted the antichrist' like I think he would've had an easier time clocking his john-behavoir if it wasn't a question whether he was jack's dad or not. plus last time dean actively raised a kid he went to great lengths to keep the supernatural away from him, so it'd be interesting to see how he handles a kid he CANT possibly hide from this part of his life. it would make more sense why michael wanted jack as a vessel- yes obviously he wanted the nephilim power boost but also having him as part of the winchester bloodline, making him a PERFECT vessel he doesn't have to worry about burning up would add a lot. we could also use this argument for why lucifer is so interested in him if anyone actually liked that plotline in season 14 lmao. we know chuck hated cas and dean's relationship, could you imagine if he checked in and found out they made an unauthorized baby together💀 like that really would've given better context for why he hates jack so much. cas wouldn't need that whole weird brainwashing arc to wanna protect unborn jack, PLUS it could've been an interesting source of angst for him- he feels like he's failed once again, creating an abomination and putting dean in danger, but also still loves jack immensely. it'd be so good! also imagine how fucking stressed out heaven would be to find out a mini castiel is on the way. they wouldn't even wanna exploit that kid for power they'd be preemptively treating the headaches they know they're gonna get lmfao.
also. the casting directors literally put jensen and misha into a face morph app and cast the first actor they could find that matched the results. which would've made more sense if,,,,he was just Theirs. the comedy of dean and cas making a baby before either of them managed to admit their feelings to each other would be more fun then the "dude adopted a kid and pawns him off on his unwilling roommate's all the time and they eventually warm up to the kid" storyline we actually got. we also could've replaced some of the jack-dean angst from the show with "dean wants to connect more with jack but he feels shut out whenever cas is around bc he can't relate to any angel stuff so obviously jack's going to cas for help more!", which I think would be interesting!! how AWFUL dean and cas would feel that jack didn't feel safe enough to be a baby. dad!sam is still in full swing but he cares for jack right off the bat instead of trying to use him for his powers at first. lily sunder talking about how cas killed her kid bc he thought it was a nephilim and dean, who's already fully aware he's (spiritually) knocked up by cas is like 👹 inch resting cas-tee-elle tell me more. mary having a 'my baby has a baby' crisis. cas insisting jack looks nothing like him is a running joke but then at some point he explains its bc jack's 'true form' looks just like dean's soul....
ALSO- in a show where, canonically, the very first act of free will was cas falling in love with dean...the physical manifestation of that defeating chuck and taking his place as god? come ON.
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kniveschaudefender · 5 months
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hi !! can you do a gideon graves x male!reader who owns a flowershop? (if you dont do male readers thats ok lol, gn!reader is good too)
Better than Any Boquet
(a Gideon Graves x male flowershop owner! reader)
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EEE MY FIRST REQUEST !! (TYSM ANON IM LITERALLY SO HAPPY ABOUT THIS) ALSO I DO ALL GENDER READERS !! SO MALE READER ISNT A PROBLEM AT ALL !!! ^_^ (ALSO I WILL SAY THAT THIS SUUUUUPER LONG. I DIDNT KNOW HOW TO MAKE IT ANY SHORTER BUT PLS DONT BLAME ME IM BARELY STARTING 🙁 ) BUT I RLLY DO HOPE U ENJOY BC THIS HONESTLY TOOK ME SO LONG TO PUT TOTHER. BUT THANK U AGAIN !!! <3333 (also this isnt proofread so)
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Gideon had been acting..strange lately. The league noticed, his employees noticed, even he noticed ! But, nobody could seem to pinpoint what exactly it was.
He had been going out more, being a little bit less harsh on certain people, and the biggest thing people noticed was the amount of flowers around now. Of course nobody dared to ask, heavens no ! But still, it was strange. It’s not like he was a big fan of the flowers himself, but for some reason he had so many around.
Eventually, it had started as a routine. Day after day he would do the exact same thing ! Saying he needs to go do something ‘important’ out, taking his leave, and ending up in the local flowershop. But why ? Its not like he was there for the flowers, no. He had a better reasons.
He walks in, his mind somewhere else before hearing something that completely snapped him out of it. A simple, “Good morning, Mr, Graves!”
< Thats > what he was here for.
The nice owner, thats what he was here for! How could we forget? How could he forget such a nice boy, the same boy who helps him every day no matter how many questions he asks or how many times he ends up repeating them. He even remembered his name! Not by the fact that he’s THE Gideon Graves, but by the fact that he comes in every day to his shop !
Will he ever admit its for him? Maybe later. But right now? Certainly not ! He can’t lose such a ‘friendship’ with this lovely boy he’s met ! For now, he simply comes in, looking for him at the desk in the front. Asking things such as “How do I take care of these?” or “What type of flowers would go best with this event ?” . Simple things to hide the fact that he’s only there to see him and to hear him talk.
After about an hour of mindless questions and small talk, he comes home, once again with a boquet of flowers in hand. He couldn’t help it ! He HAD to buy flowers every time he’d go in there, or he’d leave feeling a bit bad. So, there he goes, grabbing another empty vase and putting some water in it, then placing the flowers inside.
He sighed, looking around at all the flowers he now had. How long could he keep this up ? How long could he push his feelings for this boy away and just keep going and buying flowers, never making a move?
It honestly didn’t take long, he was running out of room for flowers and was so head over heels he couldn’t help himself anymore.
Though, for the first time he couldn’t help but feel a bit afraid. Would you like him? I mean yeah, he does have quite the name and ego, not to mention the billions he has in cash, but would you really find him attractive? He guessed he’d just have to find out.”
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He spent about a week thinking about this.
Infact, he spent the whole time trying to distract himself, he had forgotten to go to the flowershop. After the week, he had finally decided to go say something. Thats when he remembered. He spent the whole week away from YOUR presence after being there non-stop for a few months!
Now he was really worried. He probably made you sick thinking something must have happened since he stopped coming for a whole week!
So, off he went! Sprinting down the street to the flowershop, holding on to his glasses for life. His plan? Say everything through a letter. He couldnt get himself to say it to your face, no matter how big of an ego he had.
He comes in, pushing the door open, almost falling over as he catches his breath before looking up. And there you were, making direct eye contact with him as you out new fresh flowers in a certain section.
“Mr. Graves! There you are! I was wondering where you’d been.” You say, giving him that same, sweet smile.
“Please..call me Gideon.” He says, closing the door behind him as he comes in entirely. “I have something..a bit more important for you this time.” “Anything! What do you need, Gideon?” He liked how you had listened without a question.
“I need a boquet of roses, the best ones you’ve got, and I need you to put this letter in there. But, I’d like you to read it first.” He says, handing the note to him. “I need these by 5 p.m today, and I’d like for you to write me a reply on the letter of what you think.”
With that he mutters a “Thank you” and runs out quickly, not even giving you a chance to respond.
You stand there, a bit dumbfounded. But, there was no need to go chase him down and question him. It seemed simple enough. So, you grab the roses, picking the best ones as he’d asked. Then, the letter.
You grab the letter, opening it slowly, then is when you get met with something..suprising.
“Sorry about the leave, I couldn’t be here for this. All these visits were never about the flowers, it was about you. I wanted to get closer, but never knew how. I’ve liked you for all these months, and never knew how to truely say it. You were always too kind, and quite the handsome man too, giving me that smile every day I walked in, no matter how clueless I was about anything. Especially the flowers. But you always listened to me. But, I do love you and everything you do a lot. And I would love to have you by my side. Because to me, you’re better than any boquet.”
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jazeswhbhaven · 14 days
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Maybe I want Him to Bite...(Lucifer Selfie Card Prologue React III) *Spoilers*
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You know the drill lovelies...back it up to part 2 if this is the first part you're seeing!! ->
From there you can be linked back to Part 1 if you haven't read that first either. If you've read both, yay you made it to the final part! Let's goooo (༎ຶꈊ༎ຶ╬)
Alright so let's see what' this goofy ahh bitch did...
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We done broke all the rules up in here and I'm-
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Good LORD he looks like that????
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I was startled because I'm like oh no boo you gonna have to warn me before you pull a "jeff the killer, creepypasta, the rake, smile dog" on me. /j
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LMAO I can hear this even though MC doesn't have a set voice.
And everyone else was silent asf like not saying a goddamn thing. Even Gamigin who's usually loud as fuck was saying nothing. LMAO
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Yes MC, you did. All in order too like? XD Even though this is some shit I'd do personally, I would also be like "Oh damn I didn't die??"
And Lucifer was like "What are you talking about?" and MC was panicking trying to get an answer from the nobles being like hello????? but silently and Marbas and Morax hit em' with the-
"Ah so staring at him and touch his snake doesn't do anything. Got it."
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This would have been me.
Because what do you mean?????? YOU HAD RULES AND WAS JUST THROWING MC OUT THERE WITHOUT CONFIRMATION????
This is why I have trust issues. Lol
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So it turns out Lucifer was reacting the way he was out of being startled, not because he was going to end someone's life. But I think we all know what he looks like when he actually is out here in murder mode. The event was clear in that regard.
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So Lucifer calms down the snake on his clothing, and MC comes up to also touch it out of curiosity. So this tells us, the snake doesn't really cause any harm per say...but I'm sure it does something more so give Lucifer the power to do something.
Snake boi
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MC apologizes and well Lucifer doesn't really understand why for a moment (he does laugh at the action though mostly from amusement). But MC lets it be known that they are apologizing to the snake and him.
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WAIT WAIT WAIT "Child of Adam?????" AYO? I need more lore about why he said that, which I can only guess why he said that. (and honestly, now I'm thinking of Adam from Hazbin Hotel lmao)
But I mean, this statement just shows he's a least learning to observe MC for their own personality. Not Solomon's.
MC is confused tho, but Lucifer is like "You're amusing"
ANd then????
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HE BITE?????
HE BITEEE
h e
b i t e
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Stop. Why is this so hot?
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HES SO GODDAMN HOT????? BITE ME SOME MORE????!?!?!?!
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SO AFTER HE BITES MC HE ORDERS THEM TO TOUCH HIM?
And this is where I was freaking out on that post. Because I had a headcanon I didn't share here, that because of Lucifer's power he could basically order you to do whatever and you'd have to carry that out.
i.e. If he said you aren't allowed to touch yourself ever unless I give you permission, that means no matter how horny you are you can't get off or do anything until he says so and that brings in a whole new kind of foreplay/dominance type thing where literally his word is to be followed. But at the same time....there could be loopholes if you're smart enough to figure them out and want to be a brat.
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Whoever gets his card and unlocks the rest of the story?? I'll be waiting patiently.
Okay, so I'm gonna say that from this prologue alone, his selfie card is possibly the best selfie story out of the 5 kings. I was vibin' with Mammon's but this one rightchea? Phew. Mostly because I wanna see how Luci gets down and it already seems like his venom is some kind of aphrodisiac. Because sheesh MC was getting worked up and horny quite immediately from being bitten and you know what?
I wonder if you can extract the venom and have it applied to foods for the same effect...(Don't tell Bimet he'd capitalize on that shit)
But man. I told you all that once his card released I'd probably stop caring about Juno and transition over and well that happened. (still gonna do the reader fic though)
It's funny also that I did this prologue faster than I did his event which I STILL have yet to post about. lol
But as always lovelies, I thank you for sticking through my crazy reacts
-your lovely admin ♥( ˆ⌣ ˆԅ)
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lainiespicewrites · 3 months
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Electric Summer
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I decided to start something new! I know I said I was going to try to finish Coach Sy first but I just don't have ideas for it. And this would not leave me alone.
Summary: OFC is a camp counselor. She and Sy used to be childhood besties and used to have a summer fling. But when they get older and school ends. She thinks she'll never see him again.
Warnings: none
Let me know what you think. Comments and Reblogs are always welcome
This work is totally my own and I own all my mistakes. Obviously, I don't own Sy.. man I wish
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This was easily my favorite time of the year. I love the fall and the smell of the leaves and cozy blankets and warm drinks. It was a beautiful time of year. Fall was my favorite season. But this was not that. This was magic. Summer’s always were. Even when the sun went down at 9pm and the sky faded to black there was still an electric energy that burned in the air. The nights weren’t over just because the sun had fallen. In fact that was the time when the best memories were made. Especially here. It’s so cliche, but to me this is the happiest place on earth. Forget Disney world. No, the best times were had slipping away from mom and dad and spending the summer with friends you hadn’t seen all year, jumping in the lake, tipping a canoe, hiking through the woods at night, sneaking off to steal a kiss with your crush behind the cabin, and warming up around the campfire at night. 
This camp built me. It holds my dearest memories from my childhood and adolescents. When they messaged me and asked about coming back as a counselor it was an easy answer. 
I looked over at my best friend pouting on my bed while I packed my suitcase. 
“I can’t believe you’re gonna be gone all summer!” she grumbled. I laughed, shaking my head at her. 
“I told you, you could come too! They need more counselors.” I stated, matter of fact. She scrunched up her nose  and raised an eyebrow. 
“I love kids but I’m not very outdoorsy, no way I’d last all summer! I’m too pale to be in the sun that long.” she retorted
“Fair, we’ve been swimming once this year and you’re already burnt.” I chuckled. I put another towel in my bag and she took it out and threw it on the bed. I sighed.
“It’s not forever V, you can literally come visit me.” I said “I won’t be on my  phone much at all  but I can give you nightly updates before lights out!” I promised.
“Fine,” she conceded, repacking the towel for me. “But if you meet somebody and start some whirlwind summer love you better tell me immediately! I want all the details! We haven't spent this long apart literally since we became friends!” I laughed 
“I doubt it, but if the perfect man somehow manages to show up to sweep me off my feet at summer camp I’ll let you know!” I told her. 
“It could happen! Didn’t you have a lil summer boyfriend when you were younger?” She asked. I thought back to my days as a camper. All the friends I’d made, the silly little camp crushes. Then there was him. For 3 straight summers there was him. I tried to resist it at first. He was incredibly charming. A lot of the girls had a crush on him. He was energetic and funny and he had this big smile. That first summer we became fast friends. I tried to ignore him but he wouldn’t leave me alone. If I got up to leave the group he’d get up and ask where I was going. When we had to use the buddy system for a game or a hike. He would claim me before one of my girls could. His friends would get mad at him for it. I never understood it. But camp was only 2 weeks long. I didn’t have enough time to dwell on it. 
The next summer. He grew. He had to be at least a foot taller. His hair had grown out into these beautiful wild curls. I think maybe he’d started working out. He mentioned he was playing football in school. So maybe that was why he seemed more toned. He still had that big sweet smile. He’d grown into a gentle giant. It must’ve been fate that once again our cabins were paired together as a group. And because we’d become such good friends he sought me out immediately. Pulling me into a big hug. 
“Hey girl!” He beamed, squeezing me tight. “Glad we’re here together again, how have you been?” He asked enthusiastically. I chuckled, my arms still wrapped around his middle as I found my footing again. He’d practically lifted me off the ground. 
“It’s good to see you too, Logan.” I smiled. Despite how hard I tried, That summer, I could not deny that I had developed feelings for him. I was too shy to tell him. And I loved being friends with him. I didn’t want to lose that. However even though Logan didn’t seem to notice it was painfully obvious to one of my bunkmates. 
“You should tell him you like him!” Tasha said, sneaking up behind me. This particular day the girls in our cabin decided to ditch the boys, who were off  playing ultimate frisbee or something, and go on a hike. 
“What?” I said quickly. She shook her head. 
“Girl, you obviously have the biggest crush on Sy, you should tell him.” she repeated herself. I started to chew on my lip nervously. 
“Logan? I… tosh… he’s my best friend. Aside from you of course,” I assured her, “I can’t tell him.” I said. She sighed dramatically. 
“Why not? He’s literally so nice, the worst that would happen is he’d say he wants to stay friends.Plus I really think he likes you too!” she said hopefully. 
“You can’t know that.” I retorted. She shook her head at me again. 
“I’ve heard people talk about it. I was in the bathroom last night and I overheard these girls from cabin F talking, one of the girls said she’s really jealous of you because of the way Logan clings to you,” she argued. 
“He does not cling to me,” I said. 
“We had to tell him our hike was no boys allowed because he was gonna ditch the boys to come with us!” she cried. 
“Maybe he wanted to hike?” I argued. Tasha gave up and just laughed. 
“Girl you’re hopeless.” she said, as we continued to walk. 
A few days later the boys and girls cabin went on a night hike together. It was a tradition. Something we did every year. We walked through the woods when it got dark and played games as a group. I hated it. It freaked me out. I was not a horror movie fan and this was like an invitation for a demon to jump out and attack you. Needless to say I was scared the whole time. Sy picked up on it immediately. Sticking with me the whole time. Distracting me and making me laugh. And when I got really tense on the walk back he grabbed my hand. When we were back in the clearing by the cabins Tasha looked back at us and noticed our hands smiling to herself. She stopped walking until she was next to me on the other side and whispered in my ear. 
“Girl if you don’t tell him I will.” I pouted and gave her a look and she just laughed skipping ahead again to hold the hand of this year's camp boyfriend. Needless to say I still didn’t tell him. I spent the next week and a half doing everything I could to avoid it. 
On the last day of camp a few of us were sitting in the grass in the sun soaking up the last few hours together before our parents arrived and we had to say goodbye. We were talking about our favorite things we’d done this summer. What we were gonna miss. Promising to keep in touch. 
“Hey Logan, you know you only live like an hour from Lainie?” Tasha said all of a sudden. 
“Oh yeah?” He asked, looking over at me with a big smile on his face. 
“Mhmm.” she continued, "You guys could totally hang out sometime!” she exclaimed. 
“How did you know that?” I asked her suddenly.
“I looked it up,” she shrugged. I rolled my eyes but then looked over at Sy, his long legs stretched out in front of him on the grass, leaning back on his elbows, the sun shining down perfectly warming his face. He looked beautiful. He had a sparkle in his eye when I met his gaze. 
“What, you don’t wanna see me?” He pouted. “I think it’d be fun! You get your license in a couple weeks right?” He raised his brows eyes hopeful. I was surprised he remembered. We talked about it at campfire a couple nights ago. He told me he was saving up for his own car so he didn’t have to drive his brothers hand me down anymore. And I said I just couldn’t wait to be able to drive without my mom in the car. 
“Yeah,” I said, “I do, and of course I wanna see you Logan,” I blushed. 
“That’s perfect,” Tasha spoke again. “You guys could go on a date or something!” she winked. 
“Huh?” I choked. Glaring at her. Logan didn’t say anything. Or if he did I was too shocked to hear what he said. 
“Girl, don't act like you don’t have the biggest crush on him. We all know it.” I could feel everyone's eyes on me now and my cheeks were burning. 
“Is that true?” Logan asked softly. I couldn’t look at him. I chewed at my lip trying to come up with anything to make this go away but I couldn’t . 
“I-I …my parents are gonna be here soon! I need to finish packing!” I said and stood up quickly running toward the cabin. That wasn’t true. I packed everything this morning. I was bragging about it to him saying I had the whole rest of the day to enjoy what we had left of camp. He knew I was lying. I heard him call after me but I didn’t stop. Not until I got back to our cabin. The boys weren’t allowed there. I could stay there and hide until It was time to go. And that’s what I did. An hour later our counselor came to find me telling me my parents had arrived to take me home. I didn’t see Logan when I was leaving. I didn’t look for him. I was too embarrassed to find him to say goodbye. So I didn’t. I left without a word. And I felt horrible about it. 
Another year came and went. Logan and I never met up after summer. I didn’t text him. I was too afraid. And I’d never given him my number.  I was beside myself with nerves about returning to camp that next summer. It was my favorite place on earth. And my worst nightmare all wrapped into one. After the way I’d left things with him last year I was afraid to see him. I thought that maybe I’d get lucky and he wouldn’t be there the same week I was. Or we wouldn’t be in the same group. So at least I could avoid him. Even if it was gonna hurt. 
Of course that’s not what happened. Again our cabins were in a group. The first day I avoided making eye contact with him. And I always stuck with the girls. I didn’t want a chance for us to be alone together. Conveniently Tasha couldn’t make it to camp this year. So I was stuck in the mess she’d made without her help.  He and I were together for group activities but I didn’t talk much. I kept to myself. That worked for the first day. But it didn’t last long. During the afternoon at camp we didn’t have a lot of scheduled activities. So we could pretty much run around and do whatever we wanted. And since we were the late highschool aged group. We didn’t have to follow the “buddy system,”  They encouraged it but I guess if we went missing that was on us. It was just after lunch. Maybe 2pm. There was this little circle of bench swings in the park. It was a great place to gather as a group. A lot of times we would sit and reflect on the day there before the campfire at night. But right now no one was there. I liked to keep a journal while I was at camp. To keep all of the memories. So I sat on one of the swings with one leg folded under me and the other dangling off to push myself on the swing. I didn’t see him coming. I was too busy scribbling down all of  my thoughts. I didn’t notice anyone was there until I heard the creak of the chains from the swing directly across from mine. I looked up. Logan was sitting on the swing, his arms stretched over the back of it and rocking back and forth on his heel pushing the swing. I set my pen in my journal, closing it slowly, before I could speak, he said. 
“Please don’t run,” His voice sounded deeper somehow even though he spoke softly. I knew he was from the south. He always had a bit of a twang but I’d never noticed that drawl like I did now. When he was pleading with me. I swallowed hard and nodded. “I don’t like this,” He spoke again when I remained silent. “I hate that you’re ignoring me.” 
“I’m not…” I started
“You are,” He interrupted, letting out a deep sigh. “Lainie,” he said, my childhood nickname. The one he’d started to call me after we all shared fun facts about ourselves. It was the name all of my mothers family had called me since I was a baby. He’d never actually addressed me by my name from that point on. It was always a joke between us. A little sentiment that he claimed as his. It sounded sad now. As he pulled his eyes from the mulch on the ground to meet my gaze. “You are my best friend. You can talk to me. About anything. Hell, I’m closer with you than I am with any of my friends back home.” He said. “I know that things were kinda awkward when we left last summer but you didn’t even say goodbye.” He paused. I bit my lip, starting to feel emotional.
“I’m sorry,” I said softly. “I was so embarrassed.” I finally admitted to him. “I didn’t mean to leave like that. But everyone was looking at me. And I was scared and I was afraid I was gonna lose you as a friend. But I guess I did that all on my own.” I sighed. 
Sy stood up and crossed the space from his swing to mine. He paused waiting to see if I’d make room for him. Naturally I did. He sat next to me. Stretching his arm out behind me on the back of the swing. 
“You couldn’t lose me if you tried darlin,”  A soft smile formed on his lips.  If I didn’t know any better, it almost looked sad.  I could tell that he was having an inner battle in himself.  “Why were you scared?”  He finally asked.  I swallowed a lump that was forming in my throat.  There was no point in avoiding it now.  He had to know that I’ve had a crush on him.  Even I know that he isn’t too oblivious to realize that much.  I felt my breath hitch when I felt his hand cover my shoulder.  A gentle squeeze and a soft storking of his thumb brought my eyes to his.
“Because I didn’t want anything to change, what we’ve got going is good,” I spoke barely above a whisper. 
“Why would…” He started. But I cut him off before I lost my nerve. 
“Because Tasha was right. I did..do have a big crush on you. But it’s silly, and you’re such a great friend to me Logan, I didn’t want to lose that because of how I was feeling.” I rambled. 
“Huh,” He breathed. “You have a crush on me? I never would of guessed.” He smirked. I pouted and smacked his shoulder. 
“Sy, I’m serious!” I ran my hand through my hair and turned away from him to nervous to hold eye contact. I heard him chuckle softly before I felt his fingertips gently brush across my jaw turning me back to face him. 
“I know, I’m sorry,” he paused regaining his composure. “You really think I didn’t notice?” He raised both brows and had a gentle smile on his lips. 
“You knew?” I muttered softly still so embarrassed about the whole situation. 
“It’s kinda what I what I was hoping for, I’ve only been flirtin’ with ya for two summers now,” He laughed. It was my turn to be confused. I raised an eyebrow. This only caused him to laugh more. 
“You?” I paused trying to wrap my head around what I was trying to say. “Wait so?” 
“I’d have loved to have taken you out, If you’d have given me the chance.” He explained. I hung my head resting it my hands and groaned. 
“I’m an idiot.” I sighed. 
“No,” Sy said, “I should have said something sooner, and Tosh shouldn’t have called you out like that. I’d known for a while but, I really liked the way things were between us. I didn’t see a reason for us to push anything.” He said slowly pulling my hand away from my face and lacing his fingers with mine. 
“You really liked me this whole time.” I said finally looking up at him, relaxing a bit when he smiled. 
“Since the day I met you.” He admitted. I smiled. And squeezed his hand I sat up moving to sit closer to him. I opened my mouth to speak but before I could one of the counselors was interrupting us.
“Hey guys you know the rules. No purpling, No PDA,” They warned us and stood there until Sy let go of my hand.  They nodded at us before walking off to montier the rest of the play ground. Some of the younger age groups were playing in the park. ‘No purpling’ such a stupid metaphor. Girls are red boys are blue if red and blue touch it makes purple. It was so annoying. 
“I hate that damn rule.” He grumbled. I giggled softly. 
“Yeah, me too.” we both just looked at each other and smiled. 
After that moment we spent the rest of that summer by each others side. Camp always seemed like such a short time and this time it seemed like it was slipping away even faster. We never made anything official but we did hold hands when no one was looking and occasionally we would sneak off from the group to have time alone. 
One evening after dinner a few of us decided we wanted to take out some canoes on the lake. Of course the two of us took one out on our own. For some reason that night Sy  was quiet. He had been a lot of the day. I finally decided to ask him about it. “Are you okay?” I asked after a few minutes of silence had passed while we floated in the middle of the lake. 
“Yeah,” He answered quickly “Why?” He wouldn’t meet my eye. 
“You’ve just been quiet, is something bothering you? You can talk to me.” I assured him. He sat there for a few seconds without saying anything before letting out a deep breath. 
“This is gonna be my last summer at camp.” He said softly. My heart sank. I knew he was about a year older than me. And we could only come back as campers through the year after we graduated high school. But he was about to start his Senior year. He still had one more summer. 
“But you haven’t graduated yet. You can still come back next year!” I said hopefully. 
“It’s not that,” He bit his lip looking out at the water still refusing to look at me. “I signed up for the military. I’m gonna be in the army. I start basic right after I graduate. And then they’ll send me wherever they need me.” He said finally meeting my eyes. 
“Oh,” I nodded. “So, after this summer, we won’t ever see each other again.” I said sadly. 
“Hey, no,” he said, grabbing my hand, “We still got a whole year. I could come see you or you could drive to me and we… we could make this…” He trailed off. 
“Logan,” my voice cracked as I started to speak. “You and I both know it’s not going to work. You’re going to be so busy with football and your friends and your family. And I will be too.” I felt him squeeze my hand and he nodded, a sad look in his eyes. 
“I know, but I just got you, I don’t wanna let go yet.” He said. I felt a tear fall and I wiped it away quickly, not wanting to make him feel any worse. 
“Maybe, we were only ever meant to have summer.” I said. 
“Yeah,” He whispered. “Guess we better make the most of it.” 
We spent every second we could together the rest of camp. Hell he even walked me to the bathroom. It killed me to know this was all we were ever going to be. I’d never met anyone like Logan before. I hated to say that I was in love with him. I mean I was only 16 but. It sure felt like it. We did every activity together, sat together at dinner. And he’d put his arm around me at campfire when the adults weren’t looking. The night before camp was over was the annual night hike. He knew how much I hated it. So while the rest of the group headed off into the woods he grabbed my hand and led us to another trail that led to an open grassy field. The boys usually played frisbee or softball out here. 
“Logan,” I whispered. “We’re gonna get in trouble.” I said. 
“They’ll never notice we’re gone.” He said. Pulling me into his chest and hugging me tight holding me for a moment. “I just wanna be alone with you.” he mumbled into my hair. He walked us out to the middle of the field and sat down pulling me down with him. “Come here.” He said laying back on the grass and pulling me into his side. I snuggled up to him laying my head on his chest. We laid like that for a while just silent. Looking at the stars above us. 
“I don’t wanna leave tomorrow. I don’t want to have to say goodbye.” He said. I felt myself start to tear up but I forced them down. 
“Are you scared?” I asked. 
“No,” He admitted shaking his head. “My dad was in the service and my grandpa, my older brother. It’s just what we do.” He said. 
“I hate this.” I sighed. I couldn’t lie to myself anymore or him. 
“Me too darlin.” he said. We laid there in silence again. Until he spoke. “Would it… would it be too selfish to ask you to wait for me?” He asked. I felt tense. I sat up laying my hand on his chest and turned to look at him. 
“Logan, you don’t need me to wait for you, you’ll meet some pretty girl in your home town. Some girl you can come back home too when it’s all over. You’ll have long forgotten about me when you come home.”
“I could never forget you Lainie,” He said softly. My breath hitched. His eyes bore deeply into mine. Even with nothing but the moon light and the stars lighting his face I could see he meant it. 
“Sy,” I whispered. He caressed my cheek sitting up to close the distance between us. This would be the first time we’d ever kissed. Maybe the last. I could feel his breath against my lips as my eyes fluttered shut. 
“There you two are!” The boys councelor called from across the clearing. “What were you thinking you had us all worried!” We’d been caught. 
We didn’t kiss that night. We never did. The next day when my parents came to get me. He stood there outside of our cabin holding me tight. Neither of us wanted to let go. But he didn’t kiss me goodbye. We couldn’t do it. I guess it was better not to know what we were missing. 
“I’m never gonna stop thinking about ya,” He said. As we finally pulled away. 
“Neither will I.” I said 
That was 7 years ago. We didn’t see each other after that. I cried and sulked the rest of that summer. 
I shook my head bringing me back to the present. My best friend still sitting on my bed looking at me expectantly. 
“Hello, Lainie,” she snapped her fingers. 
“What? Uh yeah, I guess I did have a summer fling. I mean, we were never official, never kissed or anything. But that was years ago. Who know’s where he is now.” I said. 
“Who knows. Fate has this way of bringing people together.” She said. I shook my head. 
“You’re such a hopeless romantic.” I laughed.
“And you’re hopeless, would it kill you to belive in fairtales. Or romance.”  she argued. I just laughed. 
“You know what you’re right. You never know what will happen this summer, camp always has been a magical place.” I said. 
A few hours later I was finally on the road. I felt the excitement rise up inside me as I passed the familiar rode signs. I was almost there. I thought my heart was gonna burst when I pulled into the long drive under the main archway. After parking my car I walked up to the main building to meet with the camp director. 
“Lainie!” She smiled greeting me with a hug. “I’m so happy you were able to join the team this year!” She beamed. 
“I jumped at the opportunity Becca, I wouldn’t miss it!” I said. 
“We’re glad to have you, I’ll get you checked in so you can get settled and get your cabin set up and meet your co-coucelor. You’re with one of the boys cabins. You’ll be in cabin E and He and his boys are in A.” She smiled. 
“Okay sounds great!” I was buzzing with excitement. 
“I’ll let you get to it,” she said “I’m sure you remember where everything is!” 
I unpacked my car and carried my bag and suitcase to my cabin. It felt so good to be back. I started to unpack and make up my bunk when I heard a knock on the screen door. I figued it must’ve been my co-concelor coming to meet me. I walked to the door stepping out on to the porch of the Cabin, seeing a man standing there. He was maybe 6,1 his hair was buzzed short. And he had a full beard. He had broad shoulders and a warm smile. His eyes went wide when they landed on me. And the moment I met the I knew why. “Lainie?” He asked. Still with that deep southern drawl. 
“Logan?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tagging my usual suspects, but let me know if you'd like to be added!
This is not the end of this story at all! There is much more to come here I can't wait to get started!!
Link for pt 2
@enchantedbytomandhenry @summersong69 @carrie80reads @identity2212 @caramariehurst @redheadrouge @warriormirkwood @gummydummy19 @deandoesthingstome @shellyshellshell @mary-ann84 @starfirewildheart @foxyjwls007
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illululusion · 6 months
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I have not been normal about nerdy prudes must die since it came out so it seems its time for me to write my analysis of 'the summoning'.
I will put a cut down here because holy shit i did not think i was this normal about them this is long. also spoilers for nerdy prudes must die!
Now the summoning is what I would consider the climax of the show.* The scene answers the big questions of the show. Not by just stating the answer like the mayor does, it shows us. it also shows us the oh so beloved oh moment of Steph knowing she loves Peter.
The scene also uses some form of chekov's gun multiple times.
We've been told that the school was built at what used to be a black altar. this scene shows what such a black altar allows someone to do. especially in combination with the book.
A literal chekov's gun, the gun Grace stole and then Steph got is heavily implied to be used. (finally)
As i've stated before the love situation. We knew Steph and Peter had something going for them but this only confirms it.
THE PHONE! Steph thinks her phone is the thing she cherishes most, which is not a big stretch, we've seen her be willing to suffer injury to protect her phone. (a lovely little detail)
they setup Grace using the book against dirty dudes.
I may be missing something whoops but yeah,
now the scène itself has a lovely buildup. First the three are in very low energy summoning the lords in black. The frightened energy is just seeping out of them, you know this is their last resort. Then the lords in black appear, from a pure darkness, with a high energy slightly discordant song (the piano and the guitar clash a slight bit). This stands in contrast with the slow piano music under the teens throughout the scene. Within this song the lords in black seem unsurprised by the situation, they seem elated even. They also clearly state they are not forces of good at most they can be considered gray ("us spawn of the Black and White") however the other pieces of lyrics are very much against that assumption.
Let's look at some of the dialogue a bit more closely why not? I wont be looking at all of the dialogue because thats a bit too insane even for me.
"Out of the depths of Hell and back" Us spawn of the Black and White" "Cover our souls with robes of black" "And take up the arms of night"
This seems to me even like they chose to be in the black, they are from hell they're from the night.
"Nibbleline wants his sacrifice And Wiggly wants his wrath We dance around the pentagram And take all our kingdoms back"
The previous shows intent: sacrifice, wrath, getting what they deserve.
"You summon us once you summon us twice, You gamble it on a roll of the dice"
Now this is what predicts Grace's dirty dudes must die. it also seems to imply that Steph's father among others used the book foolishly, the chance of victory seemed to outweigh the risks.
"The devil has won it can't be undone The book has all but closed on your life"
Shows that the lords know the teens are in no position to bargain. They know theyre above them.
Wiggly: Don't be so formal, Stephie. We're all paly-wals here. I mean, look at us. We even hold court in your own tongue and form. Go Nighthawks! (Lords in Black laughing) Pokey: Our true forms would melt your minds. WIggly: Don't frighten them, Pokey, you nasty boy.
This is what we'll see more in this scene wiggly is the medium between the will of the lords in black and the teens. An interesting detail. This also seems to be Wiggly trying to make the teens be less guarded. THeyre showing some sort of "goodwill", like "hey we could easily kill you but we're throwing you a rock let's see what can happen.". Additionally, this also shows them being more powerful than the teens again.
"The Lords in Black will help you yes You stupid silly girl Why help you with the Jagerman When we can help the world!"
Once again a show of power, why even ask for help they're already there just show them what you can give them. They have got all the time for anything, theyre more powerfull than just stopping that jagerman.
"Steph: What about a bargain? We'll give you whatever you want. Just get rid of Jagerman!"
A show that the teens have no other choice. THe fact they have heard the lords in black say theyre from hell doesn't matter anymore. They're at a low point.
"Whatever we want we want we want Whatever we want we get Whatever you want you want you want Forever in our debt"
no other way to say this other than: "you fucked up kids"
Wiggly: "Oh, you'll hardly miss it. We just want what you cherish most."
hmmm understatements are fun. I love these paradoxical statements.
Wiggly: One of you must give up the thing you treasure above all else. Pokey: Do it, or die!
Once again a lovely power statement, though that's not what I found interesting. The interesting part about this is that they only ask for ONE of them fo give up what they cherish most. They could ask for way more, they've made that clear. So why ask for only one thing?
"We don't give a shit about your phone"
This is the one moment I feel like the lords in black loose their composure. My hypothesis? they don't like people lying to themselves when something is very clear.
"The Lords in Black the Lords in Black call us"
The chorus sing the lords in black call us, WHO ARE THE CHORUS I NEED TO KNOW.
"Out of the depths of hell and back Us spawn of the black and white Cover our souls with robes of black And take up the arms of night You summon us once you summon us twice You gamble it on a roll of the dice La la la la la la la la la la The devil has won it can't be undone The book has all but closed on your life"
JUSt one thing: A lovely circular closure to the scene.
OKAY thats the dialogue wooooo (theres more to be said about it probably but also I just My brain want to get to the next part.)
Okay Okay okay okay now for the fun part!
The lovely staging and costume and its so wonderfull.
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So in the above image we can see the lords in black as well as the teens. As i've stated before the lords in black like to make a show in power and the dynamics are very much powerless vs. allpowerfull.
Now what the positioning on the stage does is show this contrast as well. The lords in black are all over the stage standing, moving, dancing. High energy high standing. This while the teens are sitting on the floor, all together, they're as small as they can be in this setting. This shows how little power they have at this point.
The lighting as well as the costumes adds a lot as well:
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See the teens here? no special lighting aside from the effects of the lords. This is in incredible contrast with the lords. colourful and bright. This is similarly the case with their costumes, the teens all have quite plain clothes, nothing special for a costume definitely, we do have the more unique clothing to define each character** but that falls away once you look at the lords:
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Wiggly: bright green light (so much fun green isnt used in stage lighting often i am in love), Green clothing, a suit with glossy pants a crown and of course the wiggly doll in the back.
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Nibbly: SO PINk, but also fleshy pink somehow. the lighting isnt as obvious but it is still pink. here the sparkes return. The giant lolly. just the giant lolly.
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Blinky: Interesting choice to have the face as obscured as it is. once again i cant say the lighting is very obvious but it is there. The purple orange colour contrast makes them stand out. when in comparison to the others his costume isnt as showy.
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Tinky: HOLY SHIT THE EYESHADOW. which isnt visible because.... yes the lighting! yellow lighting! the outfit isn't as sparkly but because it is the brightest outfit of them all I doubt that would have been neccesary. It keeps the balance. I am also Biassed I love this getup.
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Pokey: once again: LIGHTING! blue! but also, Pokey I feel is the least obvious lord in black in the scene, the positioning on the side of the stage across from Tinky the yellow and blue contrast how fun. especially as Wiggly (green) is in the middle. just so good.
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I just wanted to add some more because look at how wiggly is so much higher in this scene, he needs to look down on the teens, but doesn't do that often, not even bothered to look at them wow. Also quick note wiggly seems the most bothered by the summoning, wonder why.
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And whenever all of the lords are singing with their discordant choreography, the lighting goes all disco and far brighter. A great detail to show they're individuals but are similar. see how the light is not green here? yeah that happens whenever all of the lords are speaking.
All in all I think Nerdy prudes must die is now in my top three favourite starkid shows. and I will be using the lords in black as inspiration in the play I'm in currently as well because this is exactly the type of thing we were looking for. and also I am not going to be able to think about anything but this show for ages.
I highly encourage anyone to give their opinions or whatever they noticed because I need it I would love to hear them. GO NIGHTHAWKS!
1* Now this comes at a relatively late time in the (already very long) show. At the 2 hour point we've been following our dear cast for around 4/5ths of the show. Now keep in mind this is doesn't matter much, but I think it's interesting that they chose to have the climax at this point. The play being as long as it is means they had to have been very confident in their ability to keep the viewers attention and especially with the slow buildup.
2** OH MY GOODNESS I JUST REALISED HOW WELL STEPH AND PETER's PALLETTES WORK TOGETHER. like theyre both earth tones. the green and brown fit together so well, and then you also have the patterns, different but still similar enough to not clash.
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isagrimorie · 1 month
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People give Janeway guff about not giving Kazon replicators and transporters. Still, it's proven repeatedly that giving one Kazon faction an advantage over the other would be mixing it up in an internal war that would LITERALLY shift the balance of power.
Klingons at least know the technology they have engineers, even as it's becoming a dying breed over Warriors.
TLDR in Alliance Chakotay and Tuvok convinces Janeway that making an alliance with a Kazon faction is the way to go.
And so she does finally concede on this little experiment but with a lot of reservations going in: That once they leave the infighting will go on, and might actually have been worse.
Tuvok naively thinks it might help and bring about a Federation.
B'Elanna then pushes forward Harry's sarcastic comment about forming an alliance with Seska and then at the first sign of this, Chakotay balks.
And then Janeway says something that I feel is her guiding principle in dealing with hard decisions:
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Janeway: "You can't have it both ways Commander. If you want to get in the mud with the Kazon you can't start complaining that you might get dirty."
Again, this is what I love about Janeway -- she gets flack for it but when Janeway makes a decision no one else wants to make it.
As I've mentioned in another post in tags: #right or wrong#i admire how janeway is always the one#who goes#the buck stops with me#she makes the hard choices on voyager#especially during debates#when the staff just goes around and around in circles#like in memorial where she starts just in the background#listening to the senior staff debate#from how janeway started in episode 2 of season 1#where she's presented with the horrific#sophie's choice of neelix dying because he has no lungs#and then subjecting another person to the same fate#to the (now boring debate about tuvix)#to this moment#to the moment on the memorial episode#she will take on that burden#and she will always stare at the hardest choice unflinchingly#because someone has to#as the 12th doctor once said#sometimes all your choices are bad ones#but you still have to choose#
In this episode, she allowed herself to be persuaded but she's not sold on it. But she's letting her crew run with it -- okay so we do this, but if we do this, we commit to it. And yet, at the first uncomfortable decisions... there's already balking. This was Janeway testing the waters if any other person on her senior staff could carry water about making the hard choices.
So far the ones who have stepped up were B'Elanna, Tom, and Neelix.
Anyway, I wish there was more fallout on the whole Kazon vs Trabe conflict because that was actually interesting.
But also Voyager had a Doctor Who problem -- if they meddle in the affairs of a spatial politik, they don't know the repercussions of their actions and just look at Living Witness and the reputation Voyager gained simply by doing a bit of a trade deal.
Voyager can help when they can, see: helping Brenari refugees escape the Devore. (Counterpoint).
But they can't and shouldn't really interfere with internal politics. They're not like DS9 where they can stay in one place and fix things permanently. They're just passing through.
This is also why I think she wasn't really considering Tuvok and Chakotay's thing during the Void episode where they raid another ship's resources. (Also, because after Ransom and Equinox, she knows what faltering in the Federation principles can do).
Crucially, she's also known both Chakotay and Tuvok enough that while she loves them -- Janeway knows neither men have the stomach for their proposals.
The Alliance episode was one example of that already.
Janeway, though, if she is pushed to make that commitment and there was absolutely NO way they can prevent raiding others-- Janeway would have committed to that action 110%. This is why I feel Janeway would actually come to a similar conclusion as Sisko in In the Pale Moonlight.
Especially, if she gets daily reports of Starfleet casualties. I have a feeling, there would be less kicking and screaming when Garak finally does his reveal.
Janeway has rules for a reason. She is fastidious about it. For a reason. Because once she commits to an action, it will take both hell and high water to take her off that course.
/edited
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heaven4lostgirls · 10 months
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Hi, hello, hope you're doing great :)
I just wanted to ask if its okay to request a fluffy Barty Crouch Jr x reader? Something in their hogwarts years, maybe something with the two practising for quidditch together even though they're in different houses (or something of the sort)
If you don't end up doing this that's completely fine, he just needs more fics if u ask me
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nobody knows me like you
barty crouch jr x hufflepuff!reader
warnings: fluff!! fluff!!! so much fluff, barty is so soft
a/n: i loved this ask!! sorry it took so long to get out x
The wind was loud and harsh the higher that you flew, your quidditch robes did little to nothing for warmth however it seemed that it didn’t even seem to faze Barty as he laughed manically at your shivering almost pale form. It’s not that you didn’t enjoy quidditch it was more the harsh winter conditions that didn’t agree with your body however your boyfriend seemed to have no problem with it.
“I told you we should have just snuck into the kitchens, its literally right next to Hufflepuff’s common room” you complained through chattering teeth however all Barty did was grin at you slyly. “Then how would I beat your ass at quidditch?” he winked, and you had the urge to push him off of his broom, but you knew that idiot would probably find it funny. He truly was your greatest annoyance however for some reason you two worked together, how that happened you and everyone in Hogwarts were left confused.
It truly started after a potions class were you two were paired up, Barty and his usual dumbass ideas lead to something going wrong and both of you in the hospital wing for the next week. At first you were rightly annoyed at him for messing up your mark however after a heartfelt apology and midnight whispered chats in each other’s beds you soon found out that Barty was actually an alright person, he was funny, a little psychotic but very sweet when he wanted to be. Honestly the both of you just clicked the moment you both started getting to know one another.
“C’mon we only have a couple of minutes before we have to get ready for dinner” he whined as you slowly flew around the pitch, you rolled your eyes but conceded. You played for Hufflepuff as one of the best seekers Hogwarts had seen while Barty was truly a ruthless beater, he had only gotten into quidditch because of Regulus who was Slytherin’s seeker. You both flew around and spent some time throwing some bludgers to Barty to help him practice his swing. He looked really good sweaty and panting but you knew bringing that up would only inflate his ego, which truly was already big enough as is.
“Let’s head back, my arm is starting to hurt from catching your bloody wild bludgers Crouch” you say while rotating your arm. “Those wild bloody bludgers are going to take your teammates out next match love” he smirks as he flies closer to you before snatching your am closer to take a look if you’ve been bruised or hurt in any way. “Not with your shit aim” his smile drops before he yanks you onto his broom. You squeal before you meet his pout with a cold glare. “Bastard, I could’ve fallen” you grumble, and you see his lips twitch before his pout becomes bigger.
“Tell me I have good aim or I’m not letting you shower before dinner” his puppy dog eyes have come into play at this point. You smirk amused “if you do that you realise neither of us are going to shower right?”. He nods seriously and you have to hold yourself back from letting out a sign. You are an idiot is practically what your smile says. I know his grin answers back. “Your aim is not that shit” you say begrudgingly. His smile is almost blinding, not many people see this side to your boyfriend, the most they get really is a few laughs and smiles around Cas, Ev, Reg and Pan but otherwise he’s mostly known as a stone cold Slytherin whose father is the Minister of Magic.
“I’m going to ignore that you didn’t say what I asked you to say in favour of kissing you” he declares before pressing his lips against yours. You’re not shocked because this is generally typically how most of your physical affection happens, it used to bother you before when he didn’t ask but after a quick talk with him you often found yourself finding it surprisingly sweet. You smile into the kiss and wrap your arms around his neck before you remember you’re literally a couple hundred feet above ground and you pull away.
“Get me down right now before I hex you” he smirks “...Bartemius” it drops. You cackle playfully as he carries you both to the pitch with an annoyed huff. Once you reach the ground you try to run off to the Hufflepuff common room in order to hopefully shower before heading to the great hall, but Barty has other plans as he wraps his arms around your waist. “Shower together?” he muses as if he’s in thought. You’re about to tell him no because you both know you won’t get anything done and before you can he nods and picks you up. “I think so”.
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eisforeidolon · 5 months
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Forgive me for restating the obvious, but I was reading through an old post and it just kind of hit me in a way it hadn't before: One of hellers' most fundamental disconnects with the show (and media literacy in general) is how they try to insist parallels establish romance.
SPN used parallels to couples and romantic tropes a lot in regards to the brothers. But it was never meant as a signal that they were romantically in love or to tell you something you otherwise couldn't figure out. It was to underline what we already knew from the entire rest of the story about how they were the most important people in each other's lives. It used romantic relationships because that's a central status typically reserved only for romantic relationships - that was part of the point.
Let's take an example or two. Dean compares himself and Sam to Jesse and Cesar from The Chitters. After interacting with them for a while, Dean is like, 'Haha, you fight just like brothers, almost as bad as Sam and me' and they say that it's more like an old married couple. This is Dean comparing an exact thing that actually happens between him and Sam, silly petty bickering, to something that exactly happens between a married couple. Likewise, let's take Dean's expression and the script note he's thinking about Sam's close call in Red Meat. Michelle is talking about watching the man she loves die and how nothing can be the same, and Dean is thinking about how he believed he lost Sam earlier that same episode and reacting to what she's saying. No one is under the impression that these are signposts telling you for the very first time that Sam and Dean are weirdly, claustrophobically close in a way that compares to romantic couples. They're quick moments which draw an underline on what you already know from the way they've acted towards each other for the entire preceding (and following) length of the show. If you cut either of those moments? It would change nothing about what we understand of Sam and Dean's relationship, because that's how using parallels in storytelling actually works.
Hellers want to insist that romantic couples and tropes being parallels to D/C in and of itself proves that D/C is romantic. Why else would SPN use couples and romantic tropes?!? Well, because SPN does that all the fucking time, maybe? Which is even before you get into how superficial the basis for their supposed parallels typically are.
Let's take an example or two. Hellers want to insist that Dean and Castiel were paralleled to David and Violet from Bloodlines because and I shit you not, one of them wore a tan coat. As well as the absurdly generic dialogue line, "I was there, where were you?" being used both in the backdoor pilot and in 6x20 by Dean. Aha! David and Violet are clearly stand-ins for Dean and Cas, and they were planning to run away together, so D/C is clearly romantic, BOOM! Except literally nothing about Dean and Castiel's actual relationship lines up with that. In no sense were Dean and Castiel ever planning to run away from their families together - not at the point where Dean was calling Castiel out for pretending he didn't know where Dean was if he really wanted advice or otherwise. Unlike the actual parallels with Sam and Dean, there is no underlying narrative base. Likewise, hellers want to insist that Castiel is Dean's Colette. Aha! Cain said Dean is living his life in reverse, and he killed Collette last and his brother first, so since he said Dean would kill Castiel before Sam, Castiel=Colette, and Colette was a romantic partner, so Dean lurves the angel! BOOM! Just for the sake of being pedantic, let's break this nonsense down one more time. Cain lists Crowley as well as Castiel as people Dean will kill before Sam. Collette was special to Cain because she saw everything he was, never gave up on him, and was able to get him to drop the blade. Which is literally what Sam does during the time Dean has the Mark - meanwhile Castiel tries to get Dean to not go and slaughter the Stynes and fails and is ready to give up and kill Dean after he goes demonic. Which doesn't even get into the part where ... Cain is literally just wrong in telling his little fairy tale. Dean is not him. When given the choice of killing his brother, Cain does it. When given the choice of losing control, Cain does it. Dean tries to get Death to shoot him into outer space and then kills Death rather than actually kill Sam. Dean and Dean's love for his brother are both far stronger than Cain is capable of understanding. So the parallel life thing? Is fundamentally hooey anyway. Again, there's no narrative there for a parallel to be drawing an underline on because none of their cobbled together meta resembles anything going on in the actual text. That's not how storytelling uses parallels or any other kind of subtext, by creating something entirely separate and expecting the general audience to decipher it. Though it's no surprise they try to insist that a show would do that, because they have nothing else.
TLDR; Their entire argument is that a comparison to a romantic couple makes two other characters' relationship automagically romantic because reasons. Which even putting aside the lack of validity in their parallels ... continues to be a boldly idiotic statement given the number of actually textual comparisons the show makes between Sam & Dean and romantic couples. Again, it's no wonder they freaked the fuck out over that forehead touch, because they very fundamentally refused to understand what SPN was actually doing on literally any level.
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autisticandroids · 3 months
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broad strokes of my interpretation of 5x04 the end/the overall guidelines i pay attention to when writing endverse fic
it's about sam. in both a positive and a negative sense, all of endverse is built on sam's absence. on the one hand, there is a freedom and joy for dean that comes from being rid of sam. sam and dean don't really... like each other anymore from s4 onwards, and their unbreakable bond becomes more like a curse to both of them. in a way breaking it is a mercy, see: free to be you and me dean sections. sam's absence allows dean to form meaningful relationships in a way he's basically incapable of with sam around. and to dean sam is a ball and chain, he is first and foremost a duty, not a brother or friend. watch out for sammy. without that millstone around his neck dean is free to be his own person in a way he has literally never been in his whole life. on the other hand, there's the horror of it. sam says yes, and that breaks dean. while dean was running around having a grand old time exercising newfound freedom, he was shirking his duty. his personal world was ending, and he didn't even know it. in the end, dean will never escape sam or have an identity outside of him, and with sam gone - not just separate but gone - he is fully and irrevocably broken.
endverse dean and endverse cas are so divorced, but in order to be that divorced you have to have been married first. to circle back to free to be you and me, do you see how happy dean is in that episode? do you see how sweet dean and cas are on each other? that's the starting point for endverse. that's the point of timeline divergence. whether their relationship experienced a gradual souring or a sharp decline when sam dies is unclear, but we know that it wasn't always this way. this is something that changed.
endverse cas probably isn't as pathetic as you think he is. this is a three-pronged point. 3a. when i say pathetic i don't mean miserable i mean pathetic. endverse cas is extremely miserable every day all the time bc of having to live through an apocalypse and being cutoff from heaven. however. compared to canon cas at the same time he is way less pathetic. he's a lot more self-possessed, and feels entitled enough to a good life that the fact that he's miserable makes him bitter. he may be unhappy but he does not have the kind of self-hatred/low self-esteem that canon cas has because that stuff develops later for particular reasons. 3b. dean is not like. the only thing in his life/the only reason he's miserable and he's probably not even the most important. he's literally living through the apocalypse for chrissakes. and also he's cut off from heaven, which he in the text cites as a major source of his misery. i tend to choose to interpret that as like. missing the hivemind of heaven (or even missing his angelic siblings who he cares deeply about) in order to get it to gel more with my interpretations of canon cas. but even just taking at face value that cas feels powerless and debased because of his fall that's still crunchy and like. not about dean really. like yeah the guy he fell for is no longer capable of loving him but also there's bigger problems here. 3c. drug use. obviously endverse cas uses various substances but if we look at the actual text there are three references to drug use across two exchanges. number one is "are you stoned?" "generally, yeah" ok like we are all grownups here and can admit smoking weed is fine right? right? obviously being stoned all the time is a sign that things aren't going super great in your life but that's generally a symptom of something worse. and then "[takes pill bottle] amphetamines?" "it's the perfect antidote to that absinthe" there are two references to drug use here. one is the fact that cas is taking adhd medication. that's addictive and he could be addicted to it, but also it's not exactly unusual for soldiers to take amphetamines before a battle, nor is it unusual for people who have to drive all night to take them to help them stay awake. also, the way cas talks about it, the vibe seems to be that this is one of many substances that cas occasionally partakes in. the other reference here is to the absinthe and that actually is a cut and dried reference to drug abuse. drinking heavily before driving all night and then going into battle is super irresponsible and likely indicative of a problem. and then the other body of evidence we have is that dean seems to consider cas to be absolutely competent and reliable, so if cas is addicted to something, it's definitely what you'd call a functional addiction, something that doesn't interfere with his life too much. so, broad strokes: if endverse cas is gonna be an addict he is actually probably most likely a functional alcoholic. which is also pretty fun because then you can really play in the space of He Learned It From Dean. 3d. endverse cas is textually kind of a sleazebag.
endverse dean is a shithead but not the way most people think. the notable thing about endverse dean is that he doesn't care enough about other people - endverse cas included but not unique. he's a bastard but his bastardry is lack of care, not intentional cruelty. this is, imo, if i may circle back to the first point, a result of sam's death - after that, dean became singleminded, only really interested in killing lucifer. willing to send cas and others he cares about into a meat grinder to chase his white-suited whale. but he's not mean. just cold. there is the festering corpse of a love relation between dean and cas, but it's not a situation where dean is mean to cas in the way like, season fifteen dean is mean to cas. he's not controlling, not using cas as a punching bag or chewtoy. maybe there's some mutual sniping but mostly dean just doesn't care. as a point of interest, one way in which endverse dean is cruel is he appears to be a habitual cheater. just watch cas' reaction when risa accuses dean of cheating on her. that's the face of a man who has been in her position and knows she is a fool to expect better. but again that's kind of more about not caring about the impact of his actions.
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boldlyvoid · 4 months
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Home Alone...
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Aaron Hotchner x Male Reader (he/him pronouns) | CM/911 crossover
Summary: it's Aaron's first Christmas with Jack away at college.
Warnings: May Grant/Jack Hotchner, Aaron misses his son, first angst with a happy ending, reader loves him so much he'll do anything for Aaron, food mentions
Word Count: 2.9k
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Jack called him on the 18th, his plans for Christmas had changed. 
Originally, he was going to get on a plane on the 22nd and make his way from LA to DC where his dad would pick him up. They’d spend his break together and he’d head back to school on January 2nd. He was worried about his final projects, being away from his new girlfriend for so long (under 2 weeks) and he was worried that it would snow and he wouldn’t get back in time for class on the 5th. 
All this anxiety caught up to him and ultimately, he cancelled his flight. 
“Bobby and Athena said you can come to California and have Christmas here? They have lots of food, they feed a literal army every year,” Jack explained, trying to make him feel better. 
“That’s okay,” Aaron assures, smiling at him through the FaceTime camera. “All that matters is you feel okay, I’m sorry you felt so stressed out.” 
“I just hate leaving you alone this year,” Jack worries.
“Hey, I’m not really alone, Y/N will be here,” he reminds him. “We’ll be fine… but tomorrow I’ll send your gifts out, I’ll expedite them so you get them in time.” 
“Even if I don’t, I’m still thankful,” Jack smiles right back. “Thank you for understanding.” 
“Your first Christmas with your first real girlfriend is a big deal… I remember how pissed my mom was when I was with your mom for the first year and we just lived down the road. I’d never want you to think I’m mad at you for doing what you want to do.” 
Jack smiles, “thank you for being so cool.” 
“thank you for being even cooler,” Aaron teases him. “What did you get May for Christmas?” 
“A new laptop bag and some perfume,” he shares. “I think she’ll like it, she’s been obsessed with that blueberry milk trend, it’s like a muted baby blue colour and her current cover is clear with stickers on it… and then I got her that daisy perfume just cause it’s a cute bottle and it does smell like something she’d wear already.” 
“That sounds really thoughtful,” Aaron swoons. His little boy was growing up way too fast, but at least he was a gentleman. 
“And I got her mom a necklace, I’ve noticed she wears a lot of jewelry when she’s not on the job so I thought it would be nice,” he explains with a little proud smile. 
“That’s so sweet of you,” Aaron cheers him on. “And for Bobby?” 
“That’s harder to do… he’s a chef but he has everything he’d ever need and he doesn’t drink so a lot of dad gifts aren’t up his alley so I’m still trying to figure it out,” Jack slumps in his seat. Defeated a bit. “And when you google gifts for firefighters everything is alcohol-related too, or like an engraved axe that he doesn’t need.” 
“He seems very practical from the way you’ve explained him to me… maybe get him something for the house like a good flashlight for the earthquake kit or a new first aid kit for his car?” Aaron suggests. 
He nods, “Yeah… he was saying it’s almost time to renew the earthquake kit and make sure it’s all stocked up.” 
“You can go to any store that sells camping goods and get dehydrated meals which last a while and batteries are always a good thing to have lots of,” Aaron explains. “He’ll love it. He’ll know you care about his family as much as he does and it could bond you two a bit better.” 
He nods along, “Thanks, dad. May can’t wait to meet you too, you know?” 
“Yeah?” He smiles. 
“Her moms heard of you, you’ve helped her detective friends with cases but she’s a sergeant so she hasn’t had the chance to meet you either, but they think you’re cool.” 
“I’ll try and get out there soon,” he assures. “I miss you a lot, buddy.” 
“I miss you too, Dad,” Jack solemnly smiles. “Seriously though, you could come out here… We can get you somewhere to stay, you can come to Christmas at Mays and I can show you some of my favourite places?” 
“I’ll talk to Y/N and see what we can do,” Aaron smiles, knowing it probably won’t happen. 
When Y/N gets home from work, he comes right over to Aaron's house instead of going to his own apartment. They’ve been doing this for a while now, he honestly might as well move in at this point. So much of his stuff is at Aaron’s, they’re happy this way, and this is their 3rd Christmas together so it’s really about time they make the jump to something more. 
He puts his things down, kicks off his shoes and makes his way to Aaron on the couch. “Hello, handsome,” he leans in for a kiss. “How was your day?” 
He shrugs, “Not that bad… but Jack isn’t coming home for Christmas anymore.” 
“Oh no,” his heart breaks for him. “Baby, I’m sorry, what happened?” 
“He’s just so anxious about the snow we're expected to get when he has to go back and if his flight gets delayed then he won’t make his class in time and you know him,” he explains. Jack is just as time-sensitive as his dad. 
He pulls Aaron in for a hug, holding him close, “It’ll be okay, we’ll get to see him soon. We’ll find a way to make it good here with just us.” 
He nods, “I know… it’s just weird.”
“He’s your baby,” Y/N sympathizes. “I’m so sorry… did you want to go out there this year?” 
He shakes his head, “I don’t want to intrude.” 
“Did they invite you?” 
He nods, “Yes, but—
“Come on, we can go?” He encourages. “It’ll be fun. We can get a nice hotel or an Airbnb and after Christmas, we could go to the beach and have like a real vacation for once.” 
Aaron sits back and sighs, “Maybe.” 
“What is it?” He pries. 
He shrugs, “I don’t think I want to meet her family yet. I’m not sure I’m ready for all that. I liked it more when he wasn’t dating and I didn’t have to think about him getting married one day and moving away and being in California all the time.” 
“You don’t have to stay here,” Y/N reminds him. “You can leave whenever you want, you’re retired and you have the money to relocate, you can go wherever he goes.” 
“But I want you with me,” he whispers, pulling him in closer. 
Y/N straddles his hips and cups his cheeks, “yeah?” 
He nods, “I don’t want to go anywhere without you, my love.” 
He swoons, “I can come. I can put in for a transfer and we can go to LA or Orange County or something-- hell, we could go to San Fransisco and it would still be so close to him.”
“I love you,” Aaron smiles. “I love you so much.” 
“I love you too… and I was thinking, since we’re on this topic—
“You can move in,” Aaron knows what’s coming. “I never want you to leave. We can put all your things up here, you can make this place yours and you can put your work stuff in my office since I don’t even use it anymore.” 
He smiles. “I’m going to start packing soon… but right now I have some cheering up to give you.” 
The tree lights are on, and they have matching drinks of half coffee half hot chocolate and store-bought cookies… his lover is cuddled into his side while they watch a random Christmas show on Netflix. He’s happy, but he’s sad at the same time. 
“you okay?” Y/N asks. 
He nods, leaning in to share a quick kiss. He smiles against his lips, “Thank you.” 
“You miss him?” 
Aaron nods, “I do… it’s been 3 months. I haven’t been away from him this long since he was in WITSEC.” 
“I know baby,” he rubs Aaron’s arm with a slight pout, feeding off his unhappiness. “We’ll see him soon. We can go out there and visit at any time.” 
“I know…” he leans back against the couch and sighs. “I’m sorry, I’m ruining Christmas.” 
“No, you’re not,” he assures Aaron. “Here,” he reaches out for his phone and googles something. He spends a couple minutes tapping around and then shows Aaron his phone. “We leave at 2am, we can sleep on the plane. Come on, let’s go pack.” 
“What?” Aaron can’t believe it. 
“I’ll explain in the bedroom,” he instructs, hauling him off the couch. “We have bags to pack and then we need to head to the airport. I should have an Uber come here…” 
“How did you—
“You’re not the only one with connections, hot stuff,” he teases.
Aaron pulls him in for a kiss, holding him close to his chest, he breathes him in deeply. When they pull back there’s an audible smooch sound and they break into matching smiles. “I love you.” 
“I love you,” he reminds Aaron. “Now come on, let’s get you to your boy.” 
The flight isn’t too long, it’s pretty packed but they had decent seats. There weren’t any crying babies or complaining older women, so they managed to sleep pretty easily. The landing was… not as smooth as Aaron was used to when he was at work but, they got there in one piece. 
He has Athena's phone number in case of emergencies, like if another earthquake hit LA and he couldn’t get ahold of Jack… He’s not sure if she wants casual calls, but he takes the risk while waiting for their rental car to be brought around to the front, he dials her number and he waits. 
“Hello?” 
“Hi, this is Aaron Hotchner, Jacks dad…” 
“Oh, hello, what a pleasure to finally talk to you, how are you?” She asks, kind as ever with the sweetest slightly southern accent. 
“I’m good, uh, me and my partner are here in LA we—
“You decided to come!” She cheers. “Do you have a place to stay?” 
“We do, we got a hotel last minute,” he can’t help but smile. “I just wanted to make sure we were still invited to Christmas?” 
“Absolutely! I can text you the address and you can come over as soon as you’d like. We’re having a little bit of everything for lunch soon and then dinner is at 6,” she explains. “Does he know you’re here?” 
“No, we’re going to surprise him.” 
“He’s still in bed— he’s in my son's old room, don’t worry. But I’ll keep this a secret for you,” she assures. “This is going to be such a wonderful surprise.” 
“And you’re sure it's—
“No intrusion at all, agent,” she teases him. “It’ll be lovely to have you.”
He manages to laugh, “I can’t wait to meet you, thank you again for the invite.” 
“You’re welcome here anytime,” Athena assures him. “See you soon.” 
“Bye,” he smiles as he hangs up and waits for a text with the address. “Thank you,” he looks to his boyfriend. 
He smiles and wraps his arm around Aaron, “Anytime my love.” 
It doesn’t take them long to get their things set up at the hotel and then head over to the Grant-Nash household— but not before getting something to bring to the party. 
Aaron knows from Jack that Bobby, May’s step-dad, is a recovering alcoholic and that while he’s not tempted to drink when his wife has wine… Aaron just rather not bring that into the house. So, they opt for a dish. They stroll around a Whole Foods for a while, thinking of what could be the perfect thing when they stumble across cheese and tomatoes in the shape of a candy cane with balsamic glaze on top and a loaf of fresh bread. It’s perfect. 
They grab some sparkling cider and a bouquet of flowers for Athena and then they’re on their way officially. He’s a little nervous, his leg bounces while Y/N drives and he reaches over to place one hand on said bouncing leg. He rubs him with his thumb and gives him a quick smile before returning his attention to the road. It’ll be okay, Aaron knows that. 
This is just such a big step in a person's life. Not only is Jack's girlfriend meeting his family, but both families are going to be in one room at the same time. They’re all meeting. This can make or break a couple… and he hopes to every force or earth that it just makes them stronger because Jack is so, so happy.  
When they arrive, they have to park on the road as there are so many cars already in their driveway, they really weren’t kidding about it being a big party. 
He holds the flowers and drink, Y/N has the dish they bought and they walk up the long driveway to the most beautiful little bungalow in all of California. He knocks 3 times with a bit of hesitation and it takes all of 20 seconds for someone to answer. 
And to their surprise, that person who opens the door is May. 
“Oh my god?” She bounces with excitement. “You made it?!”
“Hi,” Aaron smiles, instantly all the anxiety leaves his body with how happy she is to see him and his partner. “It’s lovely to finally meet you, May.” 
“come in,” she steps out of the way and lets them walk right in. “Let me take that, you can take your shoes off if you want but we don’t really care. The party is just down the stairs here.” 
“Who was it?” Another woman asks while walking around the corner. “Oh, Aaron, hi,” she lights right up as she climbs the stairs to meet them. 
“Athena?” He confirms before going in for a hug and she smiles. 
“The one and only,” she teases as she wraps him up. “It’s so good to see you, Jack was worried about you having a Christmas alone.” 
“It was his idea,” he says as they part, pointing to his partner, “this is my partner, Y/N.” 
“Jack has told us all about you,” Athena assures as she goes to give him a half hug and then she takes the dish he was carrying. “Come on down and meet everyone, Jack's out in the garden with Bobby making the turkey.”
“He said he’s never seen someone deep fry one before and he’s intrigued,” May teases. “Actually, hold on, stay here,” she insists. 
She heads over to the back door and leans against the post, “Hey Jack? Can you come here for a second?” 
Athena puts the dish down on the table and rushes to the door, “Bobby, you too. Leave the turkey with Hen, she can handle it for a moment.” 
They come into the room with the same expression, confused as to why they’ve been called in and then Jack sees him. 
“Dad?!” His jaw drops and his eyes grow 10 times the size they were before and within seconds he’s rushing to his dad and wrapping him up in the biggest hug. 
Aaron holds him so close, he hasn’t seen him since August and that felt like 6 years ago. This one hug makes up for all the time passed, he kisses him on the temple, unable to believe how much taller he’s gotten. Before, this same kiss would’ve been to the top of his head… he pulls back and cups his face in his hands, “When the heck did you grow up on me?” 
“I ask myself the same thing every day,” Bobby teases, stepping forward to shake his hand next. 
Jack gives Y/N the same big hug as he gave his dad, it’s cute how much they love each other too. Aaron shakes Bobby's hand, it’s big and rough and he can sure tell he’s been a firefighter for years… and he’s handsome. Really handsome. 
“It’s so nice to finally meet you,” Aaron manages to say. “Jack talks about you and Athena all the time, I’m so grateful for you taking him in while he’s been out here.” 
“He’s been a joy to have around,” Athena assures. “With my son in Florida with his dad, it’s so nice to have another boy in the house.” 
“I was making too much food for just the 3 of us, I wasn’t used to it,” Bobby teases. “He’s helped a lot.” 
“And I love taking home leftovers,” Jack teases, still holding onto Y/N around his middle. “This is such an amazing surprise dad, when did you decide to come?” 
“Last night,” he admits. 
“He was so sad,” Y/N shares. “I hated knowing how much he missed you so I impulse bought two red-eye tickets.” 
“Well, we’re glad you could come,” Athena assures. “I’m sure you’re hungry, come eat, we’ve got enough for everyone.” 
“Come on Dad, you’ve gotta try Bobby’s Caesar salad dressing,” Jack all but drags him to the table with the biggest smile he’s ever seen on this kid. 
Seeing him this happy is all he wanted for Christmas, and boy, does he hope that this happiness— this new family he’s found, lasts forever. He deserves nothing but the best, and this group he’s been brought into, they’re just that. 
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