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laughingpinecone · 1 year

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Candyheartsex letter

AO3: laughingpineapple (double-checked a-ok for treats as per the recent AO3 update blah blah)

Hello and thank you for writing for me! I hope you’ll have a great time playing with one of these wonderful canons!

I love a wide variety of fics - from the most delicate gen to explicit, any tense, any format, big yes to all kinds of weird experiments up to and including interactive fiction. In general, I love canon expansion (showing new places in the setting or exploring those that are barely mentioned, just outside the borders, and ditto with events), character work of all stripes (expanding on little quirks, putting characters in situations that complement/challenge certain personality traits of theirs, just... observing these weirdos as they live their lives, for better and for worse), magical realism and adjacent approaches. I eat up emotional moments with a spoon when a fic is character-centric (danger! catharsis! hurt/comfort! the nitty-gritty of attraction!) and also love abstract stuff that is not character-centric at all: fake academia, a wider focus, inhuman povs, anything goes.

For both romance and friendships, I love it when it’s clear (not necessarily to the characters themselves, but to the narrative) what they like about each other, how they get along, if and how they trust each other, what’s annoying but worth it, what flaws of the other are they or are they not well equipped to handle... The specificity of each dynamic! I also love it when the characters are very into something that makes sense for them, be it a hobby or a kink or whatever, even if it’s something I may not personally care for.

For art, I love when characters are doing something. I much prefer a simple illustration of a moment in their lives (basic examples: sharing coffee, walking together) to a more ornate symbolic illustration like eg a tarot reimagining.

DNW: non-canonical rape, non-canonical children, focus on children, pregnancies, unrequested ships (background established canon couples are okay, mentions of parents and paired-up OC randos are okay!), canon retellings

In the rigorous order in which I came across ‘em in the tagset:

Discworld (fic)

(I haven’t read all the books, please no overt spoilers for witches, Tiffany n Moist!) I’m not sure how I landed on “I just think he’s neat” about Ridcully of all people but here I am. I like unflappable characters, for better and for worse, characters who roll with whatever hand they’re dealt, and fishes out of water who somehow make it work - seeing this ridiculous jock lead UU has been a constant highlight of the novels for me. Any fun little situation in or around the university would be amazing!

Death of Rats & Mustrum Ridcully (Discworld): I don’t know what this is about but it compels me. What’s the little guy doing here

Mustrum Ridcully & Ponder Stibbons (Discworld): best beleaguered comedy duo. I love Ponder with all my heart. It could be fun to see a scenario where they’re both right a/o wrong in their own way?

Püha ja õudne lõhn | Sacred and Terrible Air - Robert Kurvitz (art, fic)

BIG HONKING SPOILERS. I can’t stop thinking about all this worldbuilding and cool details all over the place, so if you have something in mind that includes stuff like the Harnankur, the bells, the ZA/UM, zones of entroponetic catastrophe and so on, I’m listening!

Fandom-specific DNWs: overall positive depictions of the Innocentic system, as it were.

Ambrosius Saint-Miro & Ion Rodionov (PJÕL): w-what was it like for them. Did Rodionov know whom he was teaching math to. One would presume yes, given his whole apocalypse math teacher schtick. What’s it like for your math teacher to know the future. Do weird things happen around a future Innocence. why is this guy so cheerful

Ambrosius Saint-Miro & Revachol (PJÕL): you know, it has occurred to me that mr manifestation of the world spirit here probably shares a Twitch chat with the fragments of said world spirit and can hear her. I’m game for anything from mournful nuanced explorations to a take on the “wait unblock me I need to tell you something” meme

Charlotte Lund & Målin Lund & Anni-Elin Lund & Maj Lund: what do you make of the girls’... whole... deal? Something informed by their last scene in ch19 maybe?

Inayat Khan & Tereesz Machejek (PJÕL): I really enjoy their mutual respect, it’d be fun to see them team up or discuss Khan’s collection or something

Julia Dobreva/Jean Abadanaiz (PJÕL): ch6 devastated me. What was their role like in Revachol while it lasted, or maybe some pale shenanigans?

Kraz Mazov & Ignus Nilsen & Ion Rodionov (PJÕL): I need more content about every aspect of these 2 + thirdwheeling soothsayer, from political and philosophical aspirations (that final conversation, according to legend...) to granular leftist infighting (literally 3 top cats, 3 major currents) to Ignus being cringe on main (what about that most important question about communism...) to Ion knowing the inevitability of their demise and still sticking by them. btw if you wanna go Mazov/Nilsen&Rodionov about it, sure, someone’s gotta write them mazovian yaois at some point, ironically or otherwise.

Zygismunt Berg & Inayat Khan (PJÕL): what if they met at the end of the world. Or something. The intersection of their quests.

Twin Peaks (art, fic)

I love to see everyone’s takes on the show’s surrealism! New metaphysical places, weird corners of the red room, a far shore beyond the Fireman’s. I also love the human warmth that connects the characters - a sense that it’s what keeps us here together, while strange things lurk outside, in the dark, alluring woods.

Good with background Albert/Coop/Harry and sides thereof, Laura/Donna, Tammy/Cynthia, Andy/Lucy, Margaret/Sam, Phil/Gordon. I enjoy both book and show Tammy and I even think that they can add up to the same Tammy.

Canon-specific DNWs: any singular Dreamer being the ‘source’ of canon, BOB (let alone Judy) being forever defeated in the finale, Judy being an active malevolent presence in the characters’ lives, clear explanations for canonical ambiguities, ‘Odessaverse’ being the reality layer, the Fireman’s house by the sea being the White Lodge, anything that 4 hours Twin Perfect video says is the explanation of Twin Peaks

Harry Truman & Frank Truman (Twin Peaks): where’d that Arthurian legend nod in Frank’s pre-intro even go? How do these two mirror each other? What kind of Laura and Maddy situation...

Colonel Davis & Cynthia Knox (Twin Peaks): the Air Force counterpart to Blue Rose fascinates me. What kind of boss is Gordon’s foil here? What spooky things did they see?

Albert Rosenfield & Tammy Preston (Twin Peaks): nerd skeptics team-up. I think it’s neat that she ends up doing all the researches he used to do 25 years earlier, and she can be pedantic in a way that complements his own fastidiousness nicely...

Albert Rosenfield & Diane Evans (Twin Peaks): ow their friendship with a Coop-shaped hole in the middle. Also with a bullet hole in the middle! Funny how that goes, for a pacifist. I never get tired of reunions for them, or pre-canon shenanigans

Cynthia Knox/Tamara "Tammy" Preston (Twin Peaks): two federal agencies, both alike in dignity (ie, not a whole lot of it)... could they please team up again in the future?

Baba Is You (art, fic)

How would Baba is You translate to a non-interactive format? I’m down with anything that has some fun with ever-shifting rules. Anything playful in any way!

Baba & Keke: idk I just think they’re little creatures having fun, meeting up, smelling the flowers, rearranging the rules of the universe, as one does.

Baba & Keke & Me: ditto but it’s three little creatures (it felt rude to leave out Me)

Disco Elysium (art, fic)

Helen Hindpere once described the key feeling of the setting as “the shadow of annihilation waiting in the wings next to the unshakeable belief in the greatness of humankind” and I daresay that when she’s right she’s right. I love works that lean on both the upcoming apocalypse, the poetics of failure, and the little things that matter. I’m all for weird little extraphysics! Don’t be afraid to go weird.

Fandom-specific DNWs: overall positive depictions of the RCM, overall positive depictions of the Innocentic system and Dolores Dei in particular, “$character is the next Innocence” what-ifs, postponing Le Retour (handwaving Le Retour is cool), averting the nuke, averting the end of the world, Jean Judit a/o Trant appearing or being mentioned in the fic.

DJ Flacio & DJ Mesh & Kim Kitsuragi (Disco Elysium): Kim meeting his heroes......

Edgar Claire & Evrart Claire (Disco Elysium): okay so there are two of them and I need to know how they function with each other. Is everything in their life a cooperative 7d chess match or. fwiw I think they are sincere in their goal and struggles but also they are in too deep playing the capitalist game. Would it even be possible to achieve their goal without getting in too deep? Probably not, but. Some wrong things were made.

Elizabeth Beaufort/Cindy the SKULL (Disco Elysium): I wholeheartedly stand by this ship manifesto and would love to see anything about them!

Soona Luukanen-Kilde/Lilienne Carter (Disco Elysium): no ship manifestos here afaik but I’m compelled. Do they bond over Interfacing, or is Soona’s skillset more INT-based? I also just think that women who face life with a generous heaping of hermitry should hang out in silence together and maybe kiss. I’m listening to any take on this ship, sell me on these two please!

Neha & Soona Luukanen-Kilde (Disco Elysium): last-minute twist that they were friends, at least enough for Soona to want to go say hi to Neha? Please show me how they get along, I need this.

Ulixes | Echo Maker/Steban the Student Communist (Disco Elysium): oh the intricate rituals to discourse with other men and get someone else to hit them because that’s hot I guess. More prompts here...

Steban/Ulixes & Harry Du Bois/Kim Kitsuragi (Disco Elysium): since Harry is canonically invited to their next Wirrâl campaign and Kim canonically plays (faeries, at that)... UST at the game table? The two couples are such fun mirrors, it’d be fun if something made it click for both pairs.

Steban & Ulixes & Cindy the SKULL (Disco Elysium): (or Steban/Uli & Cindy) so you got this stray cat with an attitude who’s installed her art supplies in your super sekkrit hideout and you feel that she has adopted you. wyd. Seriously I love that they are friends, that Steban doesn’t get her art but valiantly tries to be diplomatic about it, that she’s the first person Uli comes gossiping to, and I love how she seems to collect losers.

Steban & Ulixes & Gaston & René (Disco Elysium): fun pair of “too accommodating for his own good & repressed grump” combos. There’s also the fact that Gaston, who has never picked a side, ever, in his life, still writes to La Fumée to stand up for Steban (and other communist...s...? who are they?) who’s risking eviction. I think that’s sweet of him and would love to see them all hang out.

Final Fantasy VI (fic)

What I love in this fandom is intra-party interaction. They’re all wonderful and don’t get to speak to each other that much, if at all. I’d love to see scenes and/or little adventures during or after the game! I don’t really have ships here so any unrequested character is welcome to feature too but I would prefer gen.

Cayenne Garamonde | Cyan Garamonde & Stragus Magus | Strago Magus (FFVI): I don’t know what this might be about but I’m intrigued! I love them both singularly, anything goes!

Celes Chere & Macías "Mash" Rene Figaro | Sabin Rene Figaro (FFVI): these two did get to speak to each other a bit and I found their odd friendship at the end of the world extremely endearing, and the emotional anchor of one of the most impactful stretches of the game, from the island to getting airborne again. Do they perchance keep speaking to each other as the party grows again?

Ghost Trick (art, fic)

My forever request. I just love this cast and love to see what their lives might look like in the new timeline, with only Sissel, Jowd and Yomiel remembering the tragedy they unmade. How this decade of memories impacts Jowd’s pre-existing relationships, and his trajectory with a best friend who may or may not be pining like a spotless white conifer. And everyone else as well! Weird AUs (fantasy, sci-fi, western, odd jobs..) and what-ifs (friend mentioned the other day what if it’s Cabanela who gets to keep his memories instead of Jowd) all welcome!

Alma/Cabanela/Jowd (Ghost Trick): any slice of life moment! Given this exchange’s reveals date: Jowd might just be the country’s least romantic individual. What does he do for a

Alma/Jowd (Ghost Trick): what changes between them in the new timeline?

Cabanela/Jowd (Ghost Trick): please let them be intensely ridiculous about their attraction

Cabanela & Pigeon Man (Ghost Trick): unexpected intergenerational friendship of my heart, Cabs is A Lot and Pigeon Man expertly wrangles him. Guess he’s good with birds

Cabanela & Missile (Ghost Trick): so. much. enthusiasm. I think if any silly plan went badly for these two they wouldn’t know what to do with themselves. wym sparkly determination doesn’t always work?

Emma & Jowd (Ghost Trick): please let Emma have her fun and Jowd “yes, and” her to infinity

Emma & Cabanela (Ghost Trick): I think they’re both extra, theatrical and stubborn in a way that could be really compatible! A role swap could also be fun - Inspector Emma, novelist Cabanela

Emma & Alma (Ghost Trick): pls friends? Their daughters are friends. Cats don’t bark and ruin a writer’s concentration.

Cabanela & Jowd & Sissel (Ghost Trick): any combo of Sissel using his powers to help a/o prank either of them, Cabanela knowing or not, being ridiculously competent...

Jowd & Yomiel & Sissel (Ghost Trick): cat dads!!! Jowd’s potential bond with Yomiel is so fascinating to me, through the guilt and trauma of it all I think they could reach a certain understanding that no-one else can give them. And Sissel keeps them grounded...

Kentucky Route Zero (art, fic)

Perhaps not relevant to these character combos (or is it?) but I love Act V so much, and everything it says about all the themes up to that point. Maybe that home can be there for these strays too, for a time.

James B. Carrington & Lula Chamberlain (Kentucky Route Zero): please go artsy at will! I’d listen to Carrington ramble on for hours. Lula wouldn’t, but them’s the breaks.

Lula Chamberlain/Donald/Joseph Wheattree (Kentucky Route Zero): the doomed shape of it all... can they ever meet after the end? How were their lives shaped by rushing back to the surface, stagnating deep down, and making a living on the Zero? Symbolically, what do you make of it?

Pyre (art, fic)

I’m really into the whole end-of-cycle, crumbling society, need for new models and ideals thing. We can have little a idealistic canon with a successful pacifist revolution, as a treat. But I also love these striking characters by themselves and I’m interested in seeing them in what-ifs and weird AUs (fantasy, sci-fi, western, odd jobs..) too.

Fandom-specific DNWs: Oralech dead, Volfred and Oralech split end (I’m good with either topside or downside ending), Ignarius/Jodariel, Tariq/Celeste. The Reader being a central character in the fic.

Volfred Sandalwood & Pamitha Theyn (Pyre): does he have a shady job for her, or are they just sharing a drink and a smoke?

Soliam Murr & Oralech (Pyre): if you can find any way to make them meet, I think Oralech wants to speak to the manager

Barker Ashpaws & Brighton (Pyre): so downside Barker invents basketball. Brighton iirc ends up downside anyway, and for all his many flaws he did so love fantasy basketball. Can this be the birth of an odd friendship? (I am not interested in woobie Brighton, I like how hilariously obnoxious he is in canon and Barker would probably not have any of it but otoh they are Bonded By The Sportsball...)

Ignarius & Oralech (Pyre): I’d just like to weaponize Iggy’s fascination for big survivor demons and point it at an unsuspecting Oralech, for fun

Dalbert Oldheart & Tariq | The Lone Minstrel (Pyre): Tariq ditching the Nightwings for an afternoon (especially the previous Nightwings who knew how to be irritating) and spending some time with Dalbert... talking about the Scribes...

Oralech/Volfred Sandalwood/Tariq | The Lone Minstrel (Pyre): catch-all request because I ran out of slots but if you wanna do any sub-section of the triad I love all combinations. For the three of them together I would like to see them, for example, a few years into the future, either topside or downside...

Big Bertrude & Sir Gilman (Pyre): kin is kin whether Bertrude regrets it or not. Underwater adventures?

Big Bertrude/Pamitha Theyn (Pyre): I love how they quietly get each other. Downside postcanon maybe?

Big Bertrude & Volfred Sandalwood (Pyre): can Volfred do something nice for her? Or would that help if he’s the reason the old girl’s got a broken heart to begin with?

Vagabond Girl & Volfred Sandalwood (Pyre): Scribes talk Scribes talk Scribes talk!

#letter

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snowdeong · 1 year

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another day, another reminder that kpopies don't give a flying fuck about anything, not even their precious idols. Because genuinely, if you actually love someone, you will care if they do something wrong. Not because you don't want them to get in trouble but because love also means caring enough about someone to hold them accountable.

It's so fucking dehumanising to not only try and absolve a whole fucking adult woman of her wrong doing but to then see her acknowledge and apologise for that wrong doing and STILL try and make her out to be the good guy in the situation. What???? Chaeyoung is a human being that did something wrong, not our precious uwu "wuv of ouw life" angel or whatever tf these people seem to think. You can stan someone and criticise them. In fact if you stan someone you have more reason to hold them accountable

I get saying that she genuinely might not have known. Gonna use my life experience as an example cause while SK is def more "developed" than Uganda but I think in terms of how our cultures have been influenced by the west we have some similarities in this aspect. The only reason I know what a Swatsika even means really is because being a queer nerd I kind of grew up on the internet and exposed myself to a lot of stuff. Most people my age have an idea of what it is in relation to nazism yes but they either don't care enough to know why it's a hate symbol or they just hand wave it cause the little we do learn about nazism in international schools at least is very detached for lack of a better word. The holocaust in our history class was treated more like "One of the bad things Hitler did" than an actual serious fucking genocide that has serious ramifications even today. Even the way Hitler was discussed was more like "Wow what a bad dude lmao" instead of actually highlighting all the vile shit he did to so many groups of people. And this is just international schools, I guarantee that our local curriculum gives even less of a fuck. If people downplay the meaning of that symbol in places where Jews and other affected people literally live and constantly raise awareness imagine places like Africa and Asia where a lot of our "good education" is either recycled bullshit from the west or so steeped in nationalist propaganda that it doesn't consider the fact that other people and cultures exist in this world.

I'm genuinely not surprised that a lot of Korean and other Asian peeps are like "No but it means something in our religion" and yes that's true and not a lot of people know that despite there being reclamation efforts. But if that means something for you that doesn't mean that it's still not HEAVILY associated with hate

I say all this to say that there's a difference between saying "Chae might not have known what that symbol means" and "it's perfectly okay that she posted that stop attacking her". By the time some rando nobody like me could take the time to learn (and keep learning cause ofc I don't know everything) this stuff despite living in a place where no one gives af it is very possible to learn lmao and Chae should fucking learn. If she didn't know then okay, let her know now that this has happened. Don't pretend it didn't happen. Don't erase the harm that this has caused. If you don't give af then good for you stfu and let the people who do speak, you can leave in your weirdo bubble or whatever but just stfu

#I think I need to get off twitter now #i was trying to stay up to date on the situation but it's really devolved into some assholes saying shit like:#'but she apologised we should stop talking about this'#or complaining that talking about it will hurt twice's image #I hate kpopies sigh #gonna go cook now lmao it's coming to 9 pm

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thecarrieonokay · 3 years

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Macgyver 5x10 Rewatch: My musings...

Hey guys. I was so completely distracted by Mac’s golden retriever puppy face at the end of the episode that I’ve basically forgotten everything else that happened. Any excuse for a re-watch, am I right?

So. Here are all the things I missed the first time round, in case anyone is interested. And no. I’m not done talking about how awesome Bozer is.

-First off. The opening Macsplain has LAYERS. “Pressure”? “... Something beautiful and strong that I really hope I can replicate...” Dude. Some things are better when they form NATURALLY. *cough* Riley *cough* [FYI. This is not a dis at lab diamonds. No blood diamonds for me, ta very much.]

-On that note. Are we all just going to collectively ignore the fact that Mac pulled a FULLY CUT diamond out of that chamber?! Yeah. That’s not how that works but... cool. cool.

- Also, Boze. My one disagreement with you this ep. If my dude told me he MADE me a diamond I would combust on the spot. OF COURSE HE SHOULD TELL HER HE MADE IT HIMSELF!! THAT’S MAC’S BRAND, DUDE!!

-The war room is like the inside of Russ’ head. I would hate to live there. “Darling” to one of the rando Phoenix guys. Love it. But “donkeys”? Not a thing. Even in England.

-The first time we’ve ever actually SEEN their comms and how they work. Guys... I think these are going to be relevant...

-Yellow filter... we must be in Mexico! (oi. WHY?!) And my film brain can’t ignore the space between all the extras. Covid y’all...

- Only a psycho would wear trousers that short. Must be... yep. It’s him!

- I REALLY wish I hadn’t know that Andrews was going to be in this ep. I feel like his appearance would have had slightly more impact.

-”So you wanna play.” Dastmalchian playing with his favourite toy. And he JUMPED A MILE when Mac got hit by that car... dude was genuinely concerned.

-”Yes that’s definitely it isn’t it.” Salty Russ is a mood. I love it.

- Mac on a bike. More of this please Macgyver gods.

- Guys. It makes total sense that the FBI didn’t loop Phoenix in on Murdoc’s break-out because the last time they tangled with the FBI Phoenix illegally broke Andrews out of prison and then LOST HIM.

- Andrews makes a painting reference. Nice touch.

-”Magnitude Murdoc” HOW DID I MISS THIS THE FIRST TIME?! IT’S HILARIOUS.

-”Aw shucks. I really thought we had it there boy scout.” I want this on a t-shirt.

- “The only thing I have up here are cigarette butts and chewing gum (beat) and ROCKS.” How did I miss THAT the first time too. Dude uses the rock in his pocket. Excellent script.

- Oh Riley. V. deliberate & CONSTANT use of past tense for her to hide behind.

- Desi’s face here was important. She’s not in any way angry... which is her default defense mechanism. She just feels for Riley.

- I know we all really want to know this but WHAT ELSE DID RILEY SAY ON THAT RECORDING?! Must’ve been bad because she wanted to preempt their reactions.

- Ring emerges from pocket and THIS IS THE MOST UNCOMFORTABLE THEY’VE LOOKED ALL EPISODE. And that’s saying something.

- I love that it’s Bozer and not Russ that spots they connection with the symbols.

- Desi is a fucking badass. AND Desi & Riley get to work together against Andrews & Murdoc. Plus Riley gets to throw tools at Murdoc. Yaaaas get him gurl!

- Did Andrews kill Leland? Is that implied??

- Phoenix support team all filing into the war room to watch the showdown.

- “...Truly only worthy companion.” I still maintain that Murdoc would not have gone through with killing Mac. He loves playing with him too much.

- I think the Phoenix staff were in the room solely so that BOZER COULD GET A LITERAL ROUND OF APPLAUSE for saving the day. He deserves it. BOZER IS MVP.

- Subtle change in expression when Riley says “I decided to bury it until the feelings went away.” Mac’s thinking wheels are in motion.

- Riley exhales like it’s a huge weight off her shoulders to talk to him.

- Desi. “Do what you feel is right”. She’s scared. She’s trying to bury it. But a ‘clean slate’ is easier said than done. I GET IT. And for the first time in a while I really empathize with her character.

- HIC brings huge gravitas to Russ. In less competent hands his apology could have felt hammy. It wasn’t. It was poignant and moving.

- This ending. The moment Mac realizes he can’t pretend nothing’s changed he doesn’t even hesitate. He needs to talk to Riley so he just DOES.

-CAN WE TALK ABOUT THE FACT THAT HE WALKED TO HER PLACE! How close does she live?!

-“I gotta ask”- No eye contact. But he doesn’t stumble over the words either.

- “Did they go away.” - SUCH eye contact and a zoom shot no less... and THAT’S the GOLDEN RETRIEVER MOMENT RIGHT THERE. Gurl He’s asking if you still love him! WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?! (obviously I know it’s not that simple but surely she can’t lie to that face for long...)

Okay. I feel better having gotten all of that off my chest. Now back to my WIP. If you made it this far... THANK YOU FOR LISTENING TO MY RANT!! <3

#macgyver #macgyver 5x10 #episode reaction #rewatch #macriley

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oreoambitions · 4 years

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In Which Boobs Get Kara Into Trouble

There will come a time later, when Kara is standing on the roof of Spherical Industries with a gun to her head, when she will wonder how she ever got herself into such a mess. The rain will pour and the city will roar, oblivious, far below while Kara tries to piece it all together. And it will end as it began: with a pair of brilliant green eyes and a sad smile.

Kara spies her at the hotel bar and, if she's being honest, the first thing she notices are the boobs. I mean, can you blame her? The cut of that dress is scandalous at best and the woman wearing it is a vision, truly. Kara, lingering in the doorway in her slacks and buttondown, tired and a little unkempt from a long day on her first field assignment as a junior reporter, almost forgets for a moment that she's shy and awkward and Definitely Straight Thank You Very Much. She flashes her brightest smile almost before she realizes it and, to her surprise, the woman with the boobs looks up and smiles back.

The second thing Kara notices is the older gentleman leaning in across the bar, his hand lingering on that dress somewhere just north of inappropriate as he reasserts his position at the center of the boob woman's attention. The journalist in Kara says: I wonder what their relationship to one another is. The Definitely Straight Thank You Very Much side of Kara says: I should go rescue her.

There will come a time when Kara curses the fact that she's somehow inherited that trademark Danvers penchant for heroism and trouble, but this is not that time. This is the time when Kara strolls up, one hand in her pocket, heart pounding in her ears, to flash that million dollar smile one more time and adjust her glasses. She glances dismissively at Just North of Inappropriate as she inserts herself into the situation with all the grace of a bull in a china shop.

"Sorry I'm late," she says brightly. "Just a little bit of traffic on the bridge. Shall we get a table?"

The plan, if you can really call it that, has just about formed in Kara's mind by the time she finishes speaking. There are, she assumes, roughly two possible outcomes. Either the boob woman doesn't need rescuing after all and Kara is about to suffer an incredibly humiliating encounter, or she does need rescuing and they can head to the hotel restaurant together where Kara can see her delivered safely to wherever it is she'd like to be. What actually happens is neither of those things.

"Darling," the boob woman says, a sad smile on her lips. "I was just about to call. This is Jack, the gentleman I was telling you about. Jack, this is my wife..."

It is to Kara's credit that she only hesitates for a moment. She did take an improv class for half a semester in undergrad; she's about as well prepared for a curveball like this as anyone could reasonably expect. She extends her hand and says, "Kara. It's a pleasure to finally meet you."

"Likewise," Jack replies, his eyebrows high. "Forgive me; Lena didn't mention you were coming."

Lena slides an arm around Kara's waist so casually that for one insane instant Kara wonders whether this woman has confused her for someone else. "You know how it is," Lena is saying. "Work doesn't always allow for travel; I didn't want to get anyone's hopes up."

Travel. So Kara, Wife of the Woman with the Boobs, is not supposed to be from here.

Jack fixes Kara with a smile that never quite reaches his eyes. "I hope the flight wasn't too difficult."

"Somehow it always feels shorter than I expect," Kara says, mind scrambling. Where is she supposed to have flown in from? Is this a test? Is there something she should know to say?

Jack chuckes. "Well, Metropolis to National City is a short trip compared to what you're used to, I'm sure. If you'll excuse me, I'll just let them know we'll be needing an extra place at the table."

Lena is hissing as soon as he's out of earshot. "It took you long enough, goddamnit. I called for backup an hour ago! I think he has the asset here, at the hotel. If we're lucky we can- shit. Hope!"

And just like that Lena is all smiles and warmth but for her white knuckled grip on Kara's hip. She waves to a woman lingering in the doorway and Kara finds herself tangled in pleasantries and small talk, playing the part as best she can.

Now the plan is: get out of this as soon as possible.

It becomes clear that 'as soon as possible' might be a while coming when Jack returns and the four of them are escorted not, as Kara had assumed, to the hotel restaurant, but into the elevator. Oh. They are dining at the private club on the top floor, and all at once Kara is conscious of the fact that her entire outfit is likely worth less than the average glass of wine here, that her hair is coming a little undone in the back, that she didn't put makeup on this morning because she was hoping that seeming a little more like 'one of the guys' might earn her a more favorable quote at the conference she was working this afternoon. This is trouble, and if Kara's gut is right, it's dangerous trouble at that.

The menu doesn't list prices but Kara navigates the social waters by ordering just about whatever Lena does - although she kips the salad appetizer in favor of egg rolls - and fumbles through conversation by saying as little as possible until the conversation drifts to the Kaznian refugee crisis and Kara begins to shift uncomfortably in her seat.

"Well, you know as they say in Kaznia," Jack is saying, "Without work, there is no desert."

He says the phrase in Kaznian so smoothly that it would have passed by perhaps anyone but an actual Kaznian refugee without comment. But Kara has never been the best when it comes to holding her tongue and so she corrects him almost without thinking about it. "Bez prace nejsou kolace. Without work there is no cake."

Jack raises his eyebrows, but it's Hope who comments, "Are you from Kaznia too? Is that how you two met?"

Kara is frozen, processing the implication that Lena may also be a Kaznian refugee, but Lena is already answering. "Our fathers knew one another, yes, but we actually met at a bar. It's a terribly mundane story. There I was, enduring the cumbersome attentions of some ape, and she simply swooped in for the rescue. The rest is history."

Kara almost laughs. "Really, it was love at first sight," she says. "Coming to the rescue was the least I could do. Even if I did turn out to get rather more than I'd bargained for."

Lena's smile is sugar sweet as she leans over to press a warm kiss to Kara's cheek. "I'm worth it," she promises and, mercifully, she changes the subject.

They make it most of the way through dessert before the conversation finally turns to business.

"How long are you in town?" Jack asks. "Not just for the conference, I hope."

Lena hums, noncommittal. "Maybe a few days longer. There are a few business meetings I'd like to take care of while we're here."

"Well I hope you'll save one of those meetings for me. Spherical Industries has made a breakthrough, I'm sure you've heard, and while I've obligations to the board to hear a few proposals the real prize would be a partnership with L-Corp. We could do great things together, you and I."

A number of thoughts cross Kara's mind in quick succession.

The first: Jack's tone is so overtly predatory, so intensely suggestive, that Kara is absolutely shocked that he would speak to Lena in such a way in front of her (supposed) wife or in front of his own spouse.

The second: If Lena works for L-Corp, Kara has gotten herself into the middle of something very complicated indeed.

The third: Jack is, as Kara has suspected for the better part of an hour now, not just some rando putting his hands on a woman in a bar. He is, in fact, none other than Jack Speer, as in Spherical Industries, as in the man responsible for the conference where Kara has been working. The conference where she was hoping to hear something that might confirm a rumored breakthrough to which Jack just openly admitted. And, if Kara's sources are to be believed, Spherical Industries has gone to great length to keep the details of that breakthrough out of the hands of the authorities. Kara would give just about anything to find out why.

"You know I always have time for a few drinks with an old friend; I'm sure something can be arranged," Lena says. "It really is lovely to catch up with you both. And isn't your anniversary coming up soon?"

"One year on Sunday," Hope replies.

“Well then an early congratulations to you both.”

When dessert has been consumed, coffee sipped, and the check paid (by Spherical Industries, at Jack's insistence), it's time for the long walk to the elevator and down the hall to what is presumably Lena's room. Jack and Hope walk them all the way, and the small talk lasts another excruciating handful of minutes while Lena fiddles with her key until, at last, Hope suggests that everyone must be tired.

Kara's mind is reeling. Jack and Hope aren't walking away and so, in order to keep up appearances, she follows Lena into the hotel room.

It's almost - almost - not a surprise when, as soon as the door shuts, Lena pulls a gun on Kara. There is still something a little inherently startling about finding herself on the wrong end of a firearm but, well, that's been looking like the almost inevitable end result of this evening for a little while here and Kara figures the best thing she can do is handle it as calmly as possible.

"Who the fuck are you," Lena demands, "and who the fuck do you work for?"

"I can ex-"

"You are definitely not the backup I called for. Are you with Edge? How did you find me?"

Kara raises her hands in the universal symbol for surrender. "I don't work for anyone," she explains. "Well, I work for CatCo, actually, but the point is, I think we might be on the same side."

Slowly, her eyes never leaving Kara's face, Lena lowers the gun and engages the safety. Kara's gaze drops to the boobs. If there has ever been a time not to be distracted by boobs it’s this moment but, well. Kara may be Definitely Straight Thank You Very Much but even she can appreciate the absolute goddess standing in front of her in a sinful dress with a loaded weapon in hand. She swallows and forces her attention back to Lena's face and to the knowing smirk that says her distraction has not gone unnoticed.

"I'm listening," Lena says.

#1 of 3 #ficlet #supercorp #kara danvers #lena luthor #supergirl #supergirl fic #supercorp fic #idk #fake marriage

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mamawolfblood · 4 years

Text

Though he didn't know it yet Chris Mclean was in for a shocking revelation. One of the campers is not exactly just some rando kid. This camper is his kid and she is out to expose it.

Name : Iris Escalona

Age 16

Eye color green

Caramel skin

Black hair that she keeps in a high ponytail. A Cherokee rose on the left side of the hair tie.

Iris is 5ft 8",135lb

Out fit-White tanktop with the alchemists symbol blue acid washed jean shorts black converses

Iris has a dark sense of humor. She loves horror,pranks,is resourceful. Iris is not above smashing some skulls together. She is not quick to anger but Heather pushes a lot of her buttons.

All her life she just wanted Chris to know she was alive. Her mother never gave the reason why she left. She is the oldest of seven children.

________chapter 3_________

• Chris: Last time on Total Drama Island, twenty-three campers arrived and learned that they'll be spending the next eight weeks at the crusty old summer camp. The campers we're faced with their first challenge, jumping off a cliff into the shark-infested waters. While most campers took the plunge, a few were forced to wear the dreaded chicken hat. At the campfire ceremony, it all came down to two campers, Courtney has experience as a CIT in summer camp, but refused to jump, and Ezekiel managed to tick off every female at the camp with his sexist comments about women, in the end, the first camper voted off Total Drama Island was Ezekiel, proving that homeschooling and reality TV don't mix, who will be voted off this week in this dramatic campfire ceremony yet? Find out tonight on Total... Drama...Island.

Iris woke up early and snuck into the kitchen.

It looked a mess it was four in the morning so she needed something to do.

(Confessionals)

Iris looked into the camra

"Ok so ever since I was ten I wake up at four in the morning. Some nights I don't even sleep. Doctors can't figure out why but hey at least I can do something before the challenge starts."

*Static*

(End of Confessionals)

Iris was almost done cleaning when Chef walked in. "And what are you doing up?" Chef said crossing his arms. "Sorry Chef woke up at four and couldn't go back to sleep. I decided to clean the kitchen to help you out. If you need help cooking I can do that too." She said still scrubbing. "Awe thats real nice of you sweetpea. But I can take it from here go get washed up. The mess hall looks great. " Iris stood up saluting him. He did the same to her and she went to the showers.

(Confessionals)

Chef

That girl is a sweetheart. I haven't met a kid who would just clean without being asked. Her parents raised her right she will make a man happy one day.

*static *

(End of Confessionals)

Iris walked into the mess hall. Chef had a cup of coffe ready for her. "Here you go sweetie thanks again for cleaning the place up." He said making her bluch. "No problem if you need any help you can always ask." She said sitting down. "Why did you clean this dump?! You never do anything nice." Courtney came over before Iris could take on sip of her ainti murder juice. Holding up one finger Iris took a drink. "Ok child now that I had a caffeine shot I can speak. I wake up a four am every day. Why I do not know I just do. Some nights I don't even sleep. As for doing something nice goes. Unlike you I was raised to help someone when I physically can. You were shelter from the world thats why your a spoild brat. Do you want me to spill what it was you did to my brother, or are you going to sit back down like a good girl?" Iris was now glaring at the pampered princess. Courtney like any other teenage girl that doesn't get her way, stomped away with a "Ahh!" I waved her finger at the child.

Chris walked in "alright campers time for your challenge. Both teams will complete one lap around the Island. The team that completes the race first wins. " Trent asked about breakfast. "Oh you will eat after the race. Ready set go!" He laughed as everyone ran.

Iris pov

It was a nice warm up but ,I doubt that this is the actual challenge. When we made it back to the mess hall a buffet was waiting for us. It was so beautiful I wanted to cry. Though something sinister is happening here. This is a set up so I'm not going to eat to much. I saw cranberries the kind you get on Thanksgiving and chowd down. It was refreshing everyone else asked why I wasn't eating anything but Cranberries. "Think about it why would they give us this food. It's a plot for the challenge. Trust me I want to chow down with all of you." I said making them shrug and go back to eating. Courtney was glaring at me. I think about it the guy that asked me the question was Duncan.

(Confessionals)

Iris started laughing.

"Oh she is a treat I will thoroughly enjoy this."

*Static*

(End of Confessionals)

"Hey Duncan can you step outside with me? This won't take long." I said standing up. He shrugged and followed me outside. Once we were out of ear shot I turned to him.

Meanwhile in the mess hall.

Courtney pov

"They have been gone for awhile. I'll go check on them." I said having campers telimg me to leave them be. Iris is a conveying snake you can't ever trust her.

"Hey guys what are yo-Ah!" I walked out to find them making out. I march up to them and pull him away getting in her face. She smirks at me. "Hello Courtney how can I help you?" She chuckles "You can help me by not macking on my teammate you snake." I growled

(Confessionals Duncan, Iris)

Duncan

"If she is a snake and thats her bite. Please bite me some more."

*static*

Iris

"*laughs* oh wow I was right she likes him. This is going to be a fun day for Duncan and me. He is on board with the plan. Obviously he is enjoying this too. *smirks* bey bey second place Courtney"

*Static*

Iris pov

Duncan stood between myself and Courtney crossing his arms. "I think you should run inside. You don't own me there four have no say in my actions." He said wrapping one arm around me. I place my hand on his chest the top of my head under his chin. I was side glancing at her. She growled stomping away. Once she was gone we bust out laughing. He picked me up bridal style carrying me inside. "This is mine no one else can have her." He said sitting me down at my seat we started to feed each other. "Can you two get a room?" Heather complained. "Can you get a new attitude." I said making her gasp.

Once the buffet was cleared Chris came back in. "Everyone ready for the awake athon!" I knew it and they say I'm a snake. "Wait so you had us eat all this food so you can see who will fall asleep first?" Gwen asked "Yes Gwen Yes I did" I laughed "oh that so evil its good." I said "Glad your finding this amusing lose lips" Courtney said "Hey they are open for you too." I wink at her. "Your disgusting " she said following Chris to the pit fire. I sat in Duncan's lap during the challenge to get on princess sunshine's nerves. Its almost night fall I'm about to fall asleep. Duncan puts his hand on my cheek "got to stay awake gorgeous. How can I look into those beautiful eyes if they are closed?" I giggle at the sickeningly sweetness. "Let her fall asleep at least I won't be second place. " Courtney said laughing "oh your second place in everything so shut up. " I said before glares at her.

Its now been twent-four hour mark. Come on stupid bass fall asleep. I thought to myself. It was now Myself, Trent,and Gwen for the Gophers and the Bass only had Courtney and Duncan. Once Chris started to read the history of Canada Courtney, and Trent fell asleep. Leaving Gwen, Duncan and me. "I have to hit the can" Duncan said as the camra crew followed him. Gwen fell asleep I was about to when Chris announced that the Gophers won. I smile before falling flat on my face.

• [The Killer Bass are standing outside of the cabins, stuff are outside due to Eva throwing them because she can't find her MP3 because Heather stole it.]

•

• Eva: [screaming angrily] Where is my MP3 player?! One of you must stolen it, I need my music! No one is going anywhere until I get my MP3 player back! [She angrily throws a book, which almost hits Harold]

•

• Courtney: Okay, whoever took it better give it up now before she destroys the whole camp.

•

• Heather: Hey, guys, wow, this place is a real mess.

•

• Courtney: Someone stole Eva's MP3 player.

•

• Heather: [holds Eva's MP3 player] Who don't mean this to you? [Eva is surprised that Heather found her MP3 player, which Heather actually stole it] I was wondering who it belonged to, I found it by the campfire pit. You must have dropped it.

•

• Eva: Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!

• Heather: Sure thing. [Leaves. Static buzzing, in the confessional] Turn a team against their own members, easiest trick in the book. (Static buzzing)

• Eva: [smiles sheepishly] So, sorry about the that little misunderstanding. [The Killer Bass glare at Eva] Guess no one stole it after all. Okay, maybe I overreacted a little. [Laughs sheepishly]

Iris and the Gophers watch the marshmallow ceremony of the Killer Bass. It was down to Alpha geek Harold and wack Job Eva. Both looked nervous until Chris gave it to Harold. Wow did not see that one coming. They threw away their strongest team mate. Welp looks like the Gophers have it even easier now.

Chris "you All can get some sleep tonight you all are safe for now. Find out what happens next time on Total Drama Island."

(Have I mention how much I don't like Courtney yet. Well I don't have a great day/evening)

#total drama leshawna #total drama island #romance #duncan #td courtney #oc #chris mclean #total drama #pain

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divineluce · 4 years

Text

Tickled Ink || Darwin & Luce

Timing: May 6th, 2020

Location: Ink, Inc.

Tagging: @wardinasrani

Notes: Darwin comes in to get an old tattoo touched up and Luce is happy to provide. Not a single heterosexual character was involved in the making of this chatzy.

Tapping her stylus against the edge of the desk, Luce stared at the design on her computer for a long time. It was as good as it was going to get, honestly. The design wasn’t one of her favorites, but the girl who had requested it was very insistent on it. She wanted a half realistic, half geometric butterfly with geometric pieces kinda flying off the geometric side. Had Luce argued with her that it would make an awful piece? No, of course not. She liked getting paid. But, it was going to be a fucking awful time. Booting up her printer, she set the stencil to start printing and wandered out of her room to the lobby. Rory was walking a client through paperwork, but she waved at him all the same. “Your 3 o clock, the butterfly girl? Yeah, she had to reschedule.” The receptionist said. Rolling her eyes, Luce sighed. “Figures. I’ve still got that booking at 6 though, right?” She said before confirming that her evening was booked up. Ugh. She’d put all that fucking work in just to have the girl flake on her. Better for her to get cold feet about it now than when she was getting it zapped away with a laser, though. As Luce scrutinized the schedule, the bell to the shop jangled loudly and she waved offhandedly.

Getting lost had become part of Darwin's daily routine by now. Inevitable when he was still so new to the town, but a hassle nonetheless. On the bright side, it often lead him to discover small little gems, and this time his wandering had led him to stand in front of a small tattoo parlor. “Ink Inc., mh? Catchy, if a bit uninspired.” Yet the place looked clean enough. Darwin lifted his shirt, just enough to glimpse at the faded tattoo on his hip. How long had it been since he'd gotten that protective symbol? Ten years? Twelve? Time, and one too many scuffles with stubborn demons who just wouldn't go back to their own dimension had taken their toll on the ward, to the point where now it had probably lost all its protective properties. Darwin looked at the parlor. “Guess it's time for a little update,” he mumbled to himself before opening the door and just strolling into the parlor as if he owned the place. Without sparing a glance to the woman in the lobby, his eyes drifted immediately to the drawings hanging on the wall. A good protective tattoo needed to be perfect to be effective, so Darwin took his sweet time studying the sketches and pictures. Good lines, a firm hand. Definitely professionals. Nodding to himself with satisfaction he finally turned to the woman, studying her with the same attention he'd given to the works on the wall. Lots of ink on her skin, too, which meant she knew her way around tattoos. His mind made up, Darwin waved at her with a dramatic flourish. “Greetings! I'm here for my appointment.” He had no appointment, of course, but someone probably did, and Darwin was willing to bet their design wasn't nearly as essential as updating his own protective ward.

Luce was no stranger to people coming in and straight up ignoring her-- usually it was because they were too nervous, sometimes it was because they were on their phone, which was hilarious and stupid. But this dude waltzed in like he owned the place, staring at the different art displays around the main lobby. Leaning against the reception desk, she watched as his eyes focused on a couple of her own designs. And when his gaze turned to her, Luce folded her arms across her chest, her sleeve tattoos on prominent display. She met his eyes with an unyielding, unimpressed stare of her own. If this was meant to be some kind of sizing her up thing, she’d been through this before. So many shitty big ass biker dudes had thought that she was some kind of hack, that she couldn’t handle being a tattoo artist. But, they changed their mind real quick once they were in the chair. At his words, Luce lifted an eyebrow. “Mhm, three o clock right? I’ve got your design all drawn up. You wanted the butterfly on the lower back, right, Julia?” She said, her lips curling into a grin.

“Yes, three o'clock, quite right, sorry I'm a little late. Glad you can accommodate my-” Luckily for once in his life Darwin actually managed to listen to what someone else said and he stopped himself in time. He couldn't help but frown a little. He could understand the Julia, many people had described him as flamboyant and Darwin himself had used worse fake names than that, but... “I like to think that if I ever were to get a tramp stamp I'd be able to come up with something more original than a butterfly. Maybe a Barghe-- A wolf skull, with flames coming from its eye sockets and an elaborate rose growing from its mouth.” Sarcasm and indignation wrestled on his face for a second, and then he settled for a short sigh as he took out his phone and glanced at it. “Well, it's already 3.15... I'm guessing Julia stood you up. Care for a replacement?”

“Oh, but it’s a very pretty butterfly. With shards of glass everywhere. Very cute. Sure to bring all the boys to the yard.” Luce said, her grin growing at the man balking at the idea. “Oh, yeah, something as original as a flaming wolf skull and a rose?” She said and tilted her head to one of the art pieces on the wall behind her-- the rose wasn’t growing from the wolf’s mouth, but the wolf skull had fiery eye sockets and was surrounded by roses. She’d done it for Ulf shortly after he’d told her about his wolfy heritage, just to keep it around. “Mhm, fair point. You got a name, not Julia? I’m Luce.” She said, holding out a hand for him. She liked the opportunity to work with someone who could be taken down a peg. Or, at the very least, someone who she could have an amusing back and forth with. Having a chatty client made it more fun when she stabbed them full of needles and ink.

Darwin glanced at the piece and let out a long sigh, burying his face in his hand. “Alas, there goes my new tattoo. Can't have something so similar to another one, imagine the embarrassment if we ever attended the same cocktail party.” After what he deemed an adequate dramatic pause he grabbed Luce's hand and bent down in what looked like a kiss to the hand. His lips never touched the woman's skin, but the smile he flashed up at her oozed charm. Or at least, that's what he liked to think. “Darwin Asrani, it's a pleasure.” He gently let go of Luce, but his eyes lingered once more on her art. “I like your style, and I'd hate to walk out without taking a little bit of your talent with me. Since my first idea was already taken could I bother you for some touch-ups instead? And perhaps we could schedule something new and original for my next visit. I'm thinking a well-dressed dinosaur drinking the blood of his enemies from a fancy teacup. That way people will know that I'm majestic, refined and dangerous.”

“Oh, no. I’m sure it’d send everyone into a panic to be seen with the same tramp stamp. Whatever will people at the country club think?” Luce said with an exaggerated fanning motion, as though she was some kind of fainting Southern belle. When he reached out to grab her hand, she stared at him, both amused and very much ready to knee this man in the face. But, he never kissed her hand-- which, good fucking thing. Anita, kissing her hand? Totally fun and gay and great. This rando? Sexual harassment. As he looked up at her, Luce pulled her hand away and shook her head. “Luce, can’t say the same.” She said, but her tone was joking. This guy was batshit, but in the fun kind of way. She could fuck with that, no hetero. As he continued to spout out bullshit, Luce couldn’t help but laugh. “Sounds like you’ve got a real winner of an idea there. But why not up the ante and make him drinking straight up poison out of the cup? You know, to show that you can’t be fucked with. Go big or go home, you know?”

“Can't say the same yet,” Darwin corrected her with a confident smirk. “I'm sure you'll find plenty of pleasure in stinging me over and over while I'm on that torture chair of yours.” Truth be told, he appreciated the woman's quick wit: it would be a great distraction. Darwin was no stranger to pain, but he wasn't too keen on it either, and he wouldn't be able to face himself if he started to whimper like a whiny puppy once she had her tools out. Good conversation would help with that, maybe he'd be able to leave the parlor with his dignity, as well as with a retouched tattoo. Darwin stroked his chin, pretending to be deep in thought. “Poison it is, but it'll have to drink it from a bendy straw. Otherwise all the boys will be too intimidated to really come to my yard, and that would be a tragedy.” He nodded solemnly, and quickly added “But that seems like the sort of design that would require a couple of drafts at least, we can't rush art. So for today I think I'll just have you work on what I already have, if that's alright?”

“Someone thinks highly of himself. But, you’ve got a point there. Not as sharp as mine, but a point all the same.” Luce said, matching his smile with one of her own, with a wink thrown in for good measure. “Oh, in that case, we should change it to a milkshake glass. Just to really make sure the boys aren’t confused.” When the conversation turned to the real reason he walked into the shop, she leaned against the wood of the desk and scrutinized him, trying to see if the art in question was anywhere visible. But, it didn’t seem like it was the case. With a nod, she drummed her hands on the counter top. “What sorta shit are you looking to get done? Cover up, touch up, extension of your piece? I can roll with anything, just know my next appointment is in a couple of hours. So if it goes long, we’ll have to schedule a second session.” She warned, knowing that some people didn’t like the idea of having to come in twice to get work done. But, that was the price of a walk-in.

“Cherry milkshake, then. It'll look like blood. Plus, it's my favorite.” Darwin said that last part as if he was sharing some deep personal secret. Which wasn't that far off from the truth, only Bertrand and a couple more were aware of his sweet tooth. Then his whole posture changed, and the hint of a playful grin on his face made way to a serious expression. “I need it to be perfect. Two, three, take seven whole weeks if you need to, but it has to be flawless. Matter of life or death.” Namely, his own life or death: relying on a defective protective tattoo had cost more than a couple hours of time to members of his family that were too careless to care. Quickly he lifted his shirt up, letting Luce look at the tattoo on his hip. The size of a closed fist, it was a protection symbol that'd been passed down his family for generation, each Asrani adding his own personal touch. Sanskrit symbols formed a small circle surrounding some other runes intertwined together. The Sanskrit prayer protected his mind from demonic invasions, the runes made it harder for them to interfere with his own magic during the summoning. It wasn't pretty, but it was effective, and any magic user worth their salt would recognize it was more than just some ice-breaker to use in a bar to pick up guys: while the full scope of the tattoo might be a mystery, it was obvious it had power. Or used to have: the black ink was faded with time, and a small scar that suspiciously looked like a claw mark had touched, albeit barely, the edge of the tattoo, interrupting some of the lines. “Do it well, and you’ll have my official permission to call me Julia till the end of time.”

Normally, if a dude decided to flash her in the shop, Luce would have wasted no time in kicking his ass out the door. And Ulfric had even let her get those brand new swords, just for that purpose. But, when her eyes fell on the intricate design, the symbols written in either Arabic or Sanskrit-- the two were difficult to distinguish between with her untrained eyes-- and the very distinct rune that the letters formed… Luce knew exactly what this was, even if she didn’t know the specifics regarding it. This was a rune of protection and a very well done one at that. Her eyes widened as she took in how intricately and cleanly the line work was executed. The attention to detail was exquisite. “Done. Come on in to my room, we’ll get started right away.” She said, leading the way back to her private room of the shop. Her room looked just the same as ever, neat and organized, the large rolling toolbox that she used to hold her equipment tucked in the corner. The walls were decorated with a few shelves that had a couple candles, a polished citrine crystal, and some of her artwork. A pinboard, refreshed with new stencils filled one wall, the prices written on the edges of each paper. Shutting the door behind her, Luce pushed up the sleeve of her t-shirt, showing him the intricate geometric pattern she had tattooed on her skin, the center of which featured a very specific rune, one of fire and power. “You showed me yours, I’ll show you mine. The line work is incredible-- where’d you get it done?”

Darwin was usually good at keeping his reactions under control. Or rather, he often overreacted, but that was a choice, not a mistake. This time though the flash of surprise hadn't been planned, nor was the deep interest as he studied Luce's tattoo. He even raised his hand, one finger extended to trace the symbol on her arm. Luckily, he managed to stop himself in time. “That is remarkable.” While he wasn't an expert on elemental magic, fire was often a component in his rituals, and as such he knew enough to recognize the rune for what it was: authentic. Darwin wasn't sure of the specific purpose of it, but he knew it was... Some sort of catalyst, perhaps? Either way, that rune meant Luce either was a magic user, or knew someone. “What does it represent, exactly?” After a beat, he realized that answering her question with one of his own would not satisfy her, so Darwin quickly added. “Mine is... You could say it's something of a family tradition, really. The design has been passed down for generations. I added my own personal touch to it, because I firmly believe that, ah... Tattoos should be tailored to oneself. Otherwise they're just scribbling on skin, absolutely useless.” Again, a brief pause, where he cleared his throat. “As an ice-breaker, I mean. Obviously.”

When Darwin moved to trace the image etched into her skin, Luce’s eyes narrowed. Apparently this dude was a big tactile kinda guy. Whatever. She could let it slide, just because he seemed to think it was impressive. But, he stopped himself. Good for him. “Thanks. Drew it myself, and had one of the boys do the work. It’s impossible to tattoo yourself from that angle. It’s one of my foci, I use it to give myself a little extra oomph.” She said, rolling her sleeve back down to cover that specific area of her tattoo. Even to those who knew about magic, she had designed her rune in a way that made it nearly indistinguishable from the geometric pattern that surrounded it. A person would have to be familiar with magic and the symbols concerning fire to understand. And, even then, there were more than a few normal humans who walked around with runes they didn’t understand tattooed on her skin. “Hm.” A traditional rune of protection? She could understand why some people would want such a thing. It didn’t tell her anything about what kind of magic he did, only that he was in the business of keeping himself safe rather than channelling additional power. Interesting. “Very nice. And you know I can understand that. Tattoos are an extension of yourself. Family tradition or not, you should express your own personality within it.” She said with a nod before returning to her more businesslike demeanor. “A touch up for that bad boy of yours won’t be easy, but I do good work. I can guarantee nice, clean lines.”

Someone who knew what a focus was and used the right plural for it. If Darwin hadn't been so gay he would have fawned himself like an excited school-girl. Instead he settled for an impressed nod and another smile. He was dying to know more about her, to learn how much she actually knew, what she did... But it was dangerous: for all Darwin knew his family would eventually look for him, and he couldn't just trust the first magic-inclined person he met. Well, second one, but Winston spoke like a newbie, Darwin doubted they had any ties to the Asrani. So, in order to protect himself, Darwin decided for it'd be best to bring the focus back on the reason he was here, and luckily Luce seemed to share that idea. “Oh, I don't doubt your ability. What's more, you seem to know how crucial precision is with this kind of design, so... Just tell me where you want me and please, be careful. I'm ticklish.” Not one to usually follow orders, this time Darwin got himself into the mind frame of listening to each and every instruction she'd give. Then again looking at the various tools in the studio reminded him of exactly why he'd put it off for so long. Stupid needles. A sharp ceremonial knife across his arm never scared him, the pain only lasted a second and then he had rituals to focus on and distract him from it, but the chair of a tattoo-artist meant he'd have to feel each and every single sting. Safety be damned, he needed the distraction. “So, an extra oomph. Amber stones just weren't doing it for you? Most practitioners I've met tended to favor something less...” Traceable? Recognizable? “Permanent to channel their magic.”

“Sounds like a plan to me. Lie on back and I’ll get everything started.” Luce said, gesturing to the chair between them. “Take your shirt off too, can’t have it getting in the way.” She said as she got the needles, ink, and a fresh pair of gloves on. The business of touch ups wasn’t too difficult, not usually. But on something that was this precise, this delicate, she needed to make sure that she had everything just right. “Trust me, I know. It took a while before I found the right artist to do my sleeve and I made sure the guy’s hands were just as steady as mine. Precision matters for work like this.” She said as she pulled her long hair back in a ponytail. Snapping on some fresh gloves, she noted the apprehension on his face as she pulled out the tools of the trade, the individually packaged needles that sat on a sterile tray, her machine poised at the ready. Setting up her machine, she took out a spray bottle of sterile solution and wiped down the patch of skin that was to be her workspace. “Let’s get started, hm?” She nodded, switching on her machine. The familiar humming vibration filled the room and she set to work, tackling the biggest area of faded skin and ink first. “I’m not like most practitioners. Besides. My symbols blend in with my designs. I hide them in plain sight. Distract with the main design to keep the attention away from the purpose.”

Darwin did as he was told, taking off his shirt and carefully folding it before taking his place on the chair. He wasn't too concerned with the shirt itself, it was more an excuse to buy some time: just like the last time the sight of the needles made his knees a little weak and his face just a tad paler; he hoped she wouldn't notice. When she started the pain wasn't that bad. At first. But Darwin knew how these things went, it would only become worse, so he decided to just focus on Luce's words instead, drinking them in. “Smart. Misdirection is often a magician's best friend.” He tensed his stomach in discomfort, and he noticed that she seemed to anticipate that and stop her work, which put his mind at ease: she really was a professional. “Besides, in my experience the times you need... Ah, an extra oomph, as you put it, are often the times when you can't afford your focus to be swatted away. A crystal can be dropped, a tattoo... Not so much.” Again, he flinched, doing his best to hide the grimace behind another smile. “I could think of at least a dozen times that tattoo has saved my life, it's nice to know the bad things'll have a harder time getting into my head.” He bit his lip, suddenly deep in thought. Then he looked at Luce. “So, let's say I designed another one, maybe something to help with channeling... How much would you ask to make it all discreet and pretty-like? I got a feeling I'll need some extra power in this town, but I can’t give up on style.”

While she was focused on her work, Luce considered being able to read her client’s body language a part of that. She’d tattooed her own sisters, after all, and the two of them hated needles more than anyone she knew. Which is why she paused every so often, checking the man’s expression, making sure that he never went pale and that he remained alert. She nodded at his comment as she wiped away some of the ink from the skin with a paper towel, clearing the area so she could continue over the delicate, intricate letters and symbols. But, internally she frowned at the idea of being called a magician. That was Bea’s thing. Not hers. “Exactly. It’s always nice to have it on hand. Or rather, on shoulder.” She joked. She watched him flinch and paused, lifted needle away from his skin. She didn’t want to ruin his… rune. As she continued her work, his words played around in her mind. Dozens of times, hm? That explained the wear and tear on it. But, getting into his head-- what did that mean? Someone try to take his memory, like her sister did to August? Or did he mean something else. Hm. “Channeling? Depends on what kind of thing you’re channeling.” She said, pulling away to look at her handiwork from afar. Nice. “For the elements, I use the old alchemical symbols. They blend in nicely with my style. Sacred geometry.” She said, tilting her head to the pinboard with some of her designs were displayed. “For other things… I could hide it in a landscape, imbued with power. Or in the gilded edges of a neo-traditional mirror. It all depends on what you’re looking to channel.”

“Elements, huh? So I was right, you really are a Firecracker.” Darwin said with a small shrug, one that he immediately regretted. “For me it's usually safer to stay away from flames, but most rituals draw power from the elements, I thought I recognized something.” He grew silent, his brows furrowing. What was he looking to channel? Truth be told, the potential of a new tattoo hadn't really crossed his mind before now, but he had to admit, it was a brilliant idea: before running away he'd always had another ritualist to help out, but ever since he'd escaped he'd been on his own, and tangoing with demons was a dangerous hobby, one that took a lot out of him. If he could pick one thing to improve in his spell casting, what would it be? Finally, after a long pause, he murmured, more to himself than Luce. “Stability. That's what I need. An actual anchor for my power. Ever felt like you're a breath away from casting the perfect spell and then something goes wrong and all that energy you collected just slips away? I can't afford tha- Ouch! Careful, there!” Oh yeah, now he remembered: the part over the bone had been the worse, even when he first got the tattoo. He steadied himself and focused on the conversation again, humor the only coping mechanism he had left while at Luce’s mercy. “Whatever design I come up with, I'm sure you'll be able to fit it into our fabulous dinosaur. No one would look for a power rune there.”

“You know it.” Luce said, flipping him off, the alchemical symbol for fire on full display on her finger. For all he knew, she did other magic, focused in other spells. But, that had never been something she’d wanted. Fire was in her blood and it was all she wanted to study. All energy, all life on Earth depended on fire just as surely as it depended on the other elements. His mention of rituals, they didn’t give much away in the nature of what he did. Everyone did rituals-- the coven did circles and rituals all the time, to strengthen their ties to the earth and to the magic within themselves. But, stability. That was an interesting one. “Hm.” She said with a nod. She’d felt that sensation once before, only once. Messing with creating a fire so hot, so blinding, that it barely felt like the flames that she was so used to controlling. In that moment, power beyond her imagination was within her grasp. Only for it to slid away. At his protests, Luce laughed, “Don’t be a child.” She said, but used a gentler hand as she tattooed over his hip. Steady hand, steady pokes.“Mm, of course. I could work it into the scales of the dinosaur, or maybe even into the monocle on his eye. He’s got to have a monocle.”

“Easy to say when you're not the one being poked to death,” Darwin mumbled, slowly raising the hand on the opposite side of his tattoo to flip her off. Normally he'd never resort to such crude gestures, but he'd learned to adapt to the person -or creature- in front of him, mimicking their habits in order to better anticipate their movements, their attacks, their plans. Also, he was in pain, he was allowed a slip in style. Despite his protests, he stilled himself, doing his best to suppress every small shiver and tremor and, more importantly, every chuckle: flipping someone off was one thing, but going into a giggling fit would wreck his reputation as well as his tattoo, and he definitely hoped to stay in contact with Luce. “Of course he has a monocle, what kind of uncultured swine do you take him for? And I'll name him Bertrand II, after my...” Demonic pet? Too personal, too soon, who knew how she'd take it. “...Familiar.” Hopefully she'd mistake that hesitation for another reaction to the tattooing process, but even then, Darwin realized he wouldn't be able to keep twisting the truth without focusing 100% on the conversation, and her needle was distracting at best. “I refuse to burst into tears on your chair, so... How about some music? To take my mind off the damned buzzing? I'll take anything, as long as it's loud and I can sing along. Yes, I sing, feel free to swoon.”

“You say that like I haven’t sat in that chair for hours myself.” Luce snorted, gesturing to her elaborate sleeve tattoos. He didn’t need to know about all her other tattoos-- those were reserved for the lovely ladies she took to bed. “You can talk to me about being poked to death when you get a rib tattoo or three.” She said. A hawk and a peacock, for Nell and Bea. Though they wouldn’t know that. No, they just thought the matching tattoos across the sternum was all she had for them. The pause in his voice didn’t go unnoticed and Luce arched her eyebrow as she continued to trace the linework. “Your familiar, huh? I’m sure he’ll be touched by it.” Iggy new that she wouldn’t ever be getting a tattoo of him, that was for damn certain. “Gonna cry? This is so sad, Alexa, play Despacito.” She said, leaning back in her chair as the little gadget lit up and the musical stylings of not the Justin Beiber version filled the air. With a grin, she set back to work, humming quietly to herself as she drew. Darwin, huh? Just what kind of spellcaster was he? She supposed she’d just have to find out another time.

#p: ti #p: darwin asrani #//this was so much fun to write #wickedswriting

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evergreen-dryad · 4 years

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thoughts about spook 65

...Although, it’s more like a stream of consciousness commentary. I try and fail not to make this too long as usual, so warning long post ahead.

Summary: Aidairo leaves us on that cliffhanger by giving us a break with tension-breaker Kou with his caring friends, more Mitsukou, and then dun dun dun they encounter a Wild Comic Relief of Universal Proportions Natsuhiko (poor fish and tarantula I hope they got back safe) and apparently Natsuhiko wants to capture No.6 like he’s the rarest pokemon of all and might have the secret key to the immortality fountain?? Will we ever know more about these mysterious man stay tuned next month. And oh yeah also No.6 always wanted to throw Aoi into the hole to rot away because he’s also a necromancer. Just great and swell here folks, don’t know how Nene and Akane are faring ~

whaaww Kou’s feeling really overwhelmed I mean this is a lot for like what a 13 year old boy

LMAO IS HE WIPING THE MOKKE OR DID HE READY A KERCHIEF FOR NENE

‘Teru-nii hasn’t been home recently’ -- hmmmmm? What’s he up to? Is he out on a journey to exorcise bigger fish out there?

...Or it could be just a field trip lmao

lol. out of context -- 👀

(I love that white-black juxtaposition between the two of them)

AWW WHAT GOOD BOIS

KOU HAS SUCH GOOD FRIENDS I’M MELTING HEREEEEE

ahahahahaha ofc Satou sugarboy here has his priorities right. ‘Get sweet drinks and sweets for us you simp’

awwww

I love it, we’re getting outside perspective from the supportive side characters. It’s the Arc for no1 Supportive Side Character Ao-chan after all!

ooooooohhhhh Satou’s the observant one here. Starting to love him now~

what a cheerful sandboy Yokoo is holding that carrot

oyo it’s Mitsuba but I’m just distracted wondering if those plants on the left side are mimosa plants, le touch-me-not

LMAO

MITSUBA YOU NEVER HOLD BACK

omg you just popped right outta the mirror like that. I would have screamed and flung my hands everywhere. Kou you have nerves of steel or in this case your brain is a steelwool scrubber right now

Yeah man that’s his job your man’s a ghost in case you forgot

AWW HE’S ALSO CONCERNED

MITSUBA DOING THE BLESSED WORK AROUND HERE HE JUST OUTRIGHT ASKED KOU WHAT’S UP

LMAO KOU

It is unbelievable to him since Mitsuba has always been such a prickly tsun before he’s probably never shown much common decency let alone common friend interaction like showing concern esp since Kou to him is a blokehead

Awww, Kou

(oh? oh? what was his wish again exactly, to be friends or for him to be human somehow?

and lmao Kou is going doki-doki when Mitsuba for the first time ever asks if he’s okay)

Aww, Mitsuba misses his Daikon-senpai, this is too cute guys I--

Nene your fantasy came true Mitsuba’s looking for you like a lost puppy

LMAO HANAKO IS THE BAD FRIEND IM SCREMINH BUT KOU HONEY YOU’RE RIGHT HE FIGHTS BEATS STABS PEOPLE UP AND INTRODUCES YOU TO PORN AND EVEN GOES YANDERE FOR AN ARC

really. why am I so intrigued Teru is gone. Where did he go. There must be a story somewhere.

oh whoa there goes Kou acting all otome ML again (callback to Hanako wanting Nene’s wish to come true too with the shoulder-clutching?)

HAHAHAHA YEAH HE DIDN’T LISTEN AT ALL. THIS SIMP. YOUR BI HIMBO. YOUR MORON.

Mitsuba’s face is sending me I swear

Yes Mitsuba he deserves that kick to the arse. Teach him to listen to you

There we go again~~ *Kou otome ML move count: 2*

A scream??? COULD IT BE---

BUGS AND TRASH PLS PLS BE OKAY

wow Mitsuba just suited up. our two superheroes on the move

AAAAAAAAAA

IT’S A FISH???? WHOSE LEGS ARE THOU TOO LONG?? DON’T TELL ME IT’S NATSUHIKO

also lmao these phat daikon arms. And these rando fish are all so cute. Look at this guy on the right. So smooth and chill like a seal

Ya jeez more and more apparitions are showing up y’all it’s becoming a yokai manga (I’m not complaining I love them all.)

Oh that dramatic foot in a spotlight, Natsuhiko you dramatic hoe, it’s you I’d know you anywhere (jokes aside I saw that Sailor Moon edit of him so)

HAHAH THE FISH LOOKS SO HAPPY. PEAK COMEDY THAT FOOT SILENTLY SLIPPING OUT OF SIGHT I--

HONESTLY HOW DOES NATSUHIKO KEEP GETTING INTO THESE SITUATIONS

Good shonen boy Kou finally jumping into action to the rescue, because god knows without Hanako around there’s no one to do the saving of damsels in distress around here

‘I want to join too’ -- AWWW LOL THIS IS SO CUTE

and off they go bullying a fish like it’s a game, so sad I liked that whalefrogfish

is it ded. rip.

oh wow Natsu you kissed fish gullet, look how red your face is wow. Also you really shouldn’t think that you’re too funny to let die. You survived being thrown into Nowhere, you’ll survive fish llke Jonah did. But fr did Sakura throw you into a fish trash pit or smth

LOL OH YEAH KOU DOESN’T KNOW AND YEAH HE IS THE NO1 AIRHEAD FOR MITSUBA NOT KOU LOL

OHMYGOD HE DID A DRAMATIC SELF-INTRODUCTION WITH THE FLASH STEP AND ALL I LOVE U YOU DORK. YOU HUGE SHONEN DORK OF INDESTRUSCTIBLE COMIC RELIEF PROPORTIONS

ohmygod he called himself an Onii-san. He wants Kou to call him Onii-san. I am crying. Teru come back your lil bro’s being propositioned (w hA T a tiME for YoU TO Be GonE eH)

HAHAH THAT IDOL POSE. NO WONDER SAILOR MOON I AM DECEASED

KOU BABY IS SUSPICIOUS IM CRYING YES AS YOU SHOULD BE HUN (that font is just perfect *chef’s kiss*)

Natsuhiko just awkwardly perched there in the background

Touchy touchy LOL MITSUBA YOU SAID WHAT I THOUGHT

and yikes Natsuhiko’s pulling the same moves as Nene to gain kouhais lolol, aaah I’m starting to see similarities between them

HAHAH OMG *Kou otome ML move count: 3*

ooh what a shady guy. Natsu what do u know tell us tell us tell us

omg y u like this. whY do you sound so threatening now. I take it back you’re not harmless

W H A T

Natsuhiko do you mean to tell me you’re immortal????? Is that why you survive all these ridiculous levels of eldritch horror????

Fml he really looks like a vampire in that lighting. Esp since I can like see all his individual teeth what on earth is this level of detail Aidairo for once Natsuhiko looks like the cool mysterious guy he was meant to be

Just realised he has like a dyed hair thing going on kinda like Tsuchigomori. Don’t tell me. Natsuhiko are you Tsuchigomori’s secret love child.

‘There’s a bad energy coming from here’ --- pFFFT. He sounds like he’s trying to be a fengshui expert now. A conman

hmmmm??? Oh that wasn’t a phone?? what is that it’s an onsen...?

wait that is probably a phone nvm. I’m just jumping at every little detail like 👀

so huh I’m assuming Tsukasa can’t handle no6 on his own either, so....or possibly Natsuhiko is acting on his own??

Ooh cool blankets, everyone has different flowers!! (*squints* no stop you can’t go looking for flower meanings everywhere)

And yes that’s a phone. Naatsuhiko just canonically has an onsen symbol phonecase just to show he’s a Chill Bro

lol Mitsuba i don’t think you need to worry you’re not a whole soul anymore

D’AWWWW LOOK AT ALL THOSE LITTLE CUTIES (sheep, elephant, bunnies (multiple), rubber duckling)

You. Natsuhiko. You’re the one most like a cat.

omg what a braggart. what a chest-thumping man u are Natsu-senpai

OMG KOU NOOO WE WERE MAKING PROGRESS HE TAMED YOU ANYWAY

hahahahha I’m crying. Even Natsuhiko’s conscience is touched by Kou’s trusting naivete I can’t

oh my god. but thank god Teru-nii still comes first he still hasn’t completely seduced you over to the dark side just yet

awwww, Kou. Awww. He really, really wants to do his best to save them all. I--

Aw yay Natsu is touched to the point he’ll help!! Hopefully he wasn’t lying!! I hope there isn’t a sacrifice involved-

oh???

Onix (srsly I really love all the lotuses everywhere. really going Buddhist symbology there)

look at dat foot. it go.

oh!! we’re fresh at the battlescene!!

!!!!!!

IT’S ALIVEEEE

I guess these guys are too useful to let rot in the trashpit eh

?? For one moment I thought we were looking down into the trashpit at our missing 4 lmao. But why. No 6 you’re coming off as ...naturally innocent??? Dang. Let this cutie rest

I’m genuinely curious how on earth this no 6 is not a god on his own. (It’s funny to me that I’m coincidentally writing about a god like this as well at the same time.) How does he rank equal to the others. How is Hanako even his boss have they ever met before I demand a full show of Hanako’s powers one day. We’re not even sure what his boundary is. Or is it that he only has the power of life and death on those in his boundary?

(edit: just realised that if Tsukasa is behind Natsuhiko then no6 is basically Tsukasa’s dream power - necromancy. He could build all the Frankensteins his little heart ever wanted)

oof there go the minions. I love how they have little buds on their heads. Every minion of his is ‘living’! And they’re like the first with individuality I’ve seen...?

oh he thinks Aoi did this purposely? Pfft she got dragged in there

juijuirjfuerjcjkekerjckdediejdiedmwec. I am so worried. But fr this one panel of Aoi is so beautiful.

Huh the hole is a starburst shape? 6 points hmm --oh wait im dumb it’s closing up oh no

LOL KEIKAKU DOORI

But shiet really how did he see to that. By giving her power over those specific bugs?? Planting info of that hole in her?

IM SCREAMING THAT’S THE END OF IT THAT’S IT TILL NEXT MONTH

#jibaku shounen hanako kun #jshk #jshk manga #jshk spoilers #jshk 65 #tbhk #mostly #hyuuga natsuhiko #minamoto kou #mitsuba sousuke #shinigami jshk

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autumn-foxfire · 3 years

Note

So like i think its important to acknowledge the context here for some of this. The context being that between chuuya being introduced and us getting chuuyas backstory its been A WHILE. Like for a good while i used to joke that they were really wasting chuuya cuz they had a fan favorite character who we had like no information and backstory on. Like i wanna say its been at least two years between chuuya introduction n backstory but honestly im terible with memory n even worse with time progression so all im gonna say for a very very long time the fandom didnt know shit about chuuyas backstory. The most we got in guild arc was the hint that kouyou was his mentor n of course that he n dazai formed the ace in mafias sleeve n for a long while that was pretty much it. Fans ran wild with that n everybody had their own headcanon n there were a lot of fics exploring his possible backstory. From him being a french (flashbacks to french chuuya era) immigrant/ child trafficked for his ability to him training to work in kouyous borthel (that was a popular headcanon for kouyou but i dont think it has any base in canon) until they discovered his ability and were like oooo this baby dangerous. My favorite was anything that included kouyou just picking up a half feral kid chuuya n being like ahhh im keeping this, mine now. Feral Chuuya gives me life n i still like to read about it. The point being when chuuyas backstory came out it was going to have to contend with A Lot of fan content some of which was really really good.

Anyway i dislike the whole oh there was a god shoved in him when he was a kid bit. I wont stick to this a lot cuz im honestly past the point 'ugh this is So stupid' n to the point 'i dislike it but i also dont really care' but ye, im not super big fan of throwing gods around so randomly cuz i feel bsd isnt really built with that in mind, n i considered that whole part a really boring explenation to corruption and eh, im not gonna pretend that the fanwork didnt influence me n that i might have liked it better if i didnt read so much speculative fanfiction cuz it really comes down to 'its not like in my headcanons so i hate it :/'n thats p much all there is to it n thats no fun to talk about.

I did like sheep parts tho loved dat.

No what im here to talk about is how KOUYOU GOT FUCKIN ROBBED. Like we barely get any chuuya kouyou interactions anyway despite her being shown as his mentor like how mori was to dazai n kouyou herself really only had time to shine with kyouka n like this was the perfect oportunity to explore her more. She was shown as chuuyas mentor from the start, she was included in every fanwork that included chuuyas backstory, if ur gonna do chuuyas backstory you need to have kouyou there she is his mentor after all

Nope nope what do we get instead

FUCKING RANDO SAN

LITERAL GUY NAMED RANDO

Like ok fine u needed a villain for the novel thats fine, make it the person who tried to grab chuuya out good good great BUT WHAT WAS ALL THAT SHIT ABOUT FUCKING RANDO SAN BEING THE ONE TO RECRUIT CHUUYA INTO MAFIA. WHAT WAS THAT ABOUT CHUUYAS FUCKING HAT BEING RANDOS, WHAT THE ABSOLUTE FUCK WAS THAT SCENE OF CHUUYA SITTING ON HIS GRAVE LIKE FUCKIN DAZAI WITH ODA

WHAT THE FUCK

I will not stop yelling

Like honestly it made me so upset. I dont mind fucking rando san as a villain or whatever but i do mind him kinda being pushed into the spot of chuuyas mentor (whos kouyou) or recuiter (whos dazai) n him being tied into his character so significantly like the tradition of a mentor giving their student something is obvs a big thing in mafia what with dazais coat n all n it just made me so upset that chuuyas hat was given to him by some fuckass named rando n not kouyou. Or that rando seemed to impact him so much to be considered some sort of great influence when he p much just busted him out n then dazai did all the work. Like it just made me so upset that this random one but villain named literally rando was shoved as an important figure in a story of a character whos backstory we've been clamoring for so long when kouyou was literally right there like 'hi im here ready to be relevant forever.'

Like we already got a nice view of her with kyouka what with her wanting to protect kyouka but being willing to let her go wgen she sees thats the best for kyouka n that she will be happy n protected with the agency. Like i doubt she would be as protective with chuuya since their age difference is a lot smaller (4-5 years i think) so shed probs view him more as a friend or a younger brother than a literal child she has to protect but like i wanna see that i want them to have a bond, why hint at her being his mentor n then do nothing with it when mori is of such significance for dazai.

Like i think all this comes down to is obe of primary problems i had with bsd n one of the reasons i ended up growing tired with it: bsd really likes introducing new characters n new groups while at the same time doing very little with ones it already introduced if they arent like atsushi akutagawa dazai n sometimes kunikida n chuuya. N like that just gets boring after a bit i dont care about new evil group no 65 i care about the characters i already know so BLS DO THINGS WITH THEM BLS

...I’ll be honest, I didn’t notice that Kouyou was supposed to be Chuuya’s mentor. Did I just miss that in the anime or something? I didn’t know they had a bond at all.

As for Chuuya’s backstory, I also... didn’t really mind it either. I know the god part was a bit random but I also thought it was kind of fitting that Chuuya’s ability, or a part of it?, was born from something out of this world. It really does fit the “corruption” theme too, in my opinion, in the sense that his body has been corrupted by a god and it would also explain why his body isn’t able to handle the body too.

I also thought that the point of Rando being the one who “gave” Chuuya his hat was symbolism of Chuuya finding a piece of his past because of him and that’s why he visited his grave (almost as a silent thanks in a way). Plus I think it was another one of Dazai’s manipulation to get Chuuya into the Port Mafia, he knew he would never accept a belonging given to him by Dazai (he even pulled a face when he heard that Dazai, as his recruiter should be the one to give it) but when he learned it was Rando, a person who while had attacked him but had also helped him learn a tiny bit more about the god inside him, made accepting the hat more easier for him.

At least, that was my take on it.

I am a little disappointed myself about the lack of attention some characters have recieved compared to others (cough Kenji cough) and I wished they were given a little more, but I also understand why new criminal groups are introduced as bsd wants to draw a stalemate between the Agency and the Port Mafia.

I guess this a matter of different opinions XD

#bsd #thanks for the ask!!#thegaygyrus

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agl03 · 5 years

Text

Season 6 Promo Breakdown

I’m back baby!

Here is my early take on the Promo...WE HAVE A PROMO! Love that a few theories look to be confirmed right out of the gate. As always these could change as more spoilers come out. Also bear in mind this could have scenes from multiple episodes. And yes...they hid FItz.

Do I get a cookie for Holo Coulson? So we have our first way that Coulson is back. A Holo version of himself to help advise Mack when he needs it.

Hammer home that whole Coulson is dead so they can nail us with major plot twist...check.

May was indeed with him to the end....pause to cry. Things of note. May has a boo boo and we know from BTS pics that she was in a fight at the museum. So its possible this is after that. But I also get the feel that May hasn’t been back long if they are discussing the time she had with Coulson. She could also be there to ask Mack about the mission Ming spoke of at SDCC.

Heavy is the Head. This comes as no surprise as well as Henry discussed Mack going through the challenges of being Director. A large part of that will be keeping everyone safe. So we’ll see him butt heads with Elena about her staying safe while we could continue to see some guilt about losing Fitz. I also suspect that he will loose and Agent (redshirt we get attacked too in .05 seconds) in the Premiere and it will hit him hard.

FEELS! I HAVE FEELS! Looks like that whole Fitz get Fitznapped before the team can find them happened. At least we are getting our annual Fitznapping out of the way early this season. They brought the pod aboard for some reason, likely to look for clues or Jemma wanted something to help her feel closer. Interestingly I don’t see the bloody handprint we see later.

Space goons about to get beat up by a super confident and stronger Daisy in what could be a Space Bar since Daisy says its “Ladies Night”.

Cue butt kicking big actiony fight scene to showcase Daisy’s awesome...possibly supped up...fighting skills. My dude trying to slink out the back there either is just getting out of the way or Daisy was trying to get information from him/her. Can’t tell.

Jemma! There are really a lot of options as to what is going on here. My big one is Jemma has done something big in a desperate attempt to get Fitz. Has been captured herself/separated from the others. Or this is some sort of dream. Things of note her shirt is different than in other parts of the promo, her jacket is missing, and her hair is down.

Well this is something right out of Star Trek. Portal, Wormhole, door to the multiverse kind of thing with a big ship/space station...guessing that is who had/has Fitz and belongs to the baddies. I do believe the little ship there is the Zephyr. Other option is something not so good comes out of that hole. Not going to lie...that also REALLY looks like the fear dimension to me as well. Them going into the fear dimension explaims a few things we see later.

Big white hole = not good. Yay, the found Enoch (no killing him again) but unless Fitz is injured and still in medbay the baddie still has him. Also worth noting that Enoch seems to have some blood there on his stomach.

Action Deke! The Ship looks similar to Quova’s last season. And I honest to goodness have no idea what Deke is up too here. Because I was pretty sure he was on earth and no with team Space Fiz Rescue. This might not be a ship, rather a lab, or part of his business and he’s under attack. Or its part of some sort of dream sequence. Him rebuilding the Framework has to be back in play as well.

Elena taking on some dude on the Zephyr. She still has her robotic arms and looks to be on the Zephyr. So this is either from later in the season when they come back with it, or Mack has a new plane. This guy is dressed a bit like Darth Coulson is at the end so could be with him.

Not good! Those kind of look like the Terrigen crystals but aren’t blue enough to me and turn black as the grow. He’s either been hit with a weapon, 084, or powers. It seems to start as some kind of sand like substance that causes the crystals to take over. NOT GOOD whatever this is.

May stabbing the now black crystal monster thing with the special blue crystal thing...now that looks like Terrigen Crystals to me. This looks like it could be a storeroom at the Lighthouse or a lab they are investigating.

Daisy took out his friends so head goon here gloats and transports/teleports away.

I went through this sequence a few times and could never 100% make out who it is. I think it’s Deke and he’s definitely showing his Fitzsimmons here and working on tech either creating his own or working with some Fitzsimmons had done already. Davis. Or a Rando. The glasses seem to do something interesting.

Now we are going into the train has left the station point of the promo and every screen grab has an OMG WTH is going on thing to it.

Daisy is back in the Lighthouse and the guy in the suit just might be The Doctor. I zoomed in best my computer could and came up with a solid “looks like him but can’t be 100% sure”. If the white hole of doom from above is indeed the Fear Dimension this could easily be the Doctor showing up again.

FEELS AGAIN! I don’t think Jemma is freezing herself. I think she is just trying to comfort herself by placing herself where Fitz was at some point. There is blood on the window so at some point there was a struggle around the pod. Perhaps from when Fitz was taken.

My guess is this is at the Museum before it all goes to pot. Redshirt there is sooo dead.

We have here what I have dubbed “All the bad things Jemma”. She has a mix of her Maveth and Slave costumes on here. A common denominator for me were times she was separated from and thought she’d never see Fitz again. Other HUGE notes. You can see the reflection of a Shield symbol in the glass but not the one Mack is using. And the dude she’s about to shove through the glass is dressed like something Season 1 Fitz would have worn....so I think we got a grab of the doubles.

She shoves him through the glass and h’es now on the Zephyr in a new costume.

Yay, another double. Either way I believe its meant to be ‘a’ version of Fitz. Be it thanks to the fear dimension or we’ve gone multiverse.

I do think its a better chance this is Fitz and just got grabs of the doubles.

The baddies have a big truck and are making quite the get away. I also believe this is from the museum and Shield will fail to stop them from getting what they went after.

If the casting call from the beggining of the Season was accurate I do believe this will be butterfly. Weapon of choice is knives but won’t be shocked if she doesn’t have powers as well and she’s facing down with May here. Possibly at the Museum or womehwere else. If the actress looks familiar its Brook Williams from 12 Monkies.

Giant dude with smoke coming out his nose....yeah not good either. Guessing he’s with Butterfly (Jaco). Possibly Darth Coulson.

This dude has a phaser laser gun so yeah not good either. Think this guy is with Butterfly and Mr. Giant (Jaco and Pax). The building reminds me of “deke’s Place that we saw in some BTS pics. So these guys are either after Deke or something he has be it tech of his star chart.

Mack getting Deke out. There is blood on his side so Deke has been injured or was trying to help someone else who was. You can also see some sort of ID Badge on Deke earlier in this sequence so looks like he’s working at some sort of lab.

So there was indeed something crazy powerful in there and the big old truck comes out of this. Anyone else have Independance Day Vibes?

“You’re from Shield”

“Never heard of it.”

HELLO DARTH COULSON! Gotta love a theory hit.

So still no idea HOW Darth Coulson is in the mix here, if we have some sort of clone, reserrection, or dark universe where Shield doesn’t exist. Whoever is speaking to him knew Coulson to be Shield so is possibly someone we’ve seen before. His outfit looks a lot like what the terrible trio have on too so my guess is we will see him working with them.

Well that was long, my computer is lagging trying to write this now its so big. More in depth analysis, theories and metas to come. Still have a question, send an ask.

#aos spoilers #aos speculation #season 6 promo break down

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elizabethrobertajones · 5 years

Text

14x04 watching notes

Happy Birthday, Davy!

Mittens just ominously warned me to warm up this notepad while I waited for the episode to finish downloading.

The nice guy from the phone provider has recently restored our internet after 4 days of radio silence from me, but it's only about 4'o clock on friday, so really some good timing!

Expectations: pre-mittens warning, Davy back on his nonsense with the scary episodes and expected nonsense of sinking back into MotW after mytharc but in capable hands because, you know, new writing team is aces and all.

post-mittens warning: idk but I should get a stuffed toy?

That's a suspicious amount of ghost lore.

Has Heaven started dumping the spirits out now and if it really IS a ghost it's not going to behave properly?

Oh my god it's a Hell Hazers poster.

There was something I would have talked about pre-episode but had no internet so didn't, but the focus on Dean and nerds and the expectation that this episode would be about a comic book store, did remind me of 9x07 and the action figure which was all "i clobber evil!" and was a strong Dean mirror, including that he needlessly burned it on the stove to try and get rid of the ghost of the mom but it turned out she needed to be talked into letting her son let her go in a scene which has all sorts of shades of Dean vs Mary in 12x22 now and also Dean's entire mark of cain arc was in the self-destruction of his self as an action figure that clobbered evil. A reminder that Dean is this figure seems fairly timely with him coming down from being possessed, as of course he has been used as an action figure. And his willingness to turn himself into one in 13x23 was very much turning himself into the Michael Sword, which in this cosmos is practically like the rarest collectible action figure of the universe. This harks back all the way to the first season and Dean's issues with John's control and the whole blunt little instrument arc, also something that fed directly into demon!Dean, and is being reflected this season in Nick, who murdered a guy with a hammer, after his family was murdered by a hammer, and said yes to Lucifer because of all that angst about hammer murder. Subtle.

Anyway, this is sort of the emotional background to me for action figures in the show.

A Hell Hazers poster also reminds us that Dean is a horror fan, his own connections to the genre, a CLASSIC episode, and a time when he was living his best life briefly.

You know, before he sold his soul for *waves at previous big paragraph* reasons

Fitting for how season 13 ended with Dean this close to happy world peace retirement living his best life :P

Awww the fake movie the MotW comes from is called All Saints Day. Davyyy :')

People I know who are born on like October SECOND consider themselves extra spooky halloween people. I can only imagine what it does, as a 23rd Oct. birthday person, to the psyche to actually be born ON it.

This episode's subtitle is just "Lol I have the best birthday, fuckers"

ACTUAL CLIP FROM 2x18!

And the fucking racist truck >.> Which in-universe was teased as another different movie using the footage in the trailer for Hell Hazers II.

My mum has that exact Wonder Woman figure

This guy is wearing a trenchcoat-featured jacket with a maroon t-shirt under it. I could not tell you what he represents but the trenchcoat part is amusing.

I can't *actually* start saying everything is party!Cas symbolism though so I'll just shush

Er this rando that people were saying was dressed like Sam from the promo images literally is called Sam, and she's wearing a very very loud checkered shirt, of course featuring a lot of orange. I'm guessing with that info it's next to impossible to say she ISN'T in some way a Sam parallel :P

Comic Book Guy is possibly caught in the middle of stealing an action figure, and I can't work out if he is just nervous about that or has a crush on Sam because his behaviour was so suspect, but from the promo scene where he looks a lil worse for the wear he talks about breaking up with his goth gf, and Sam is very clearly a nerd, not a goth.

(Goth nerds are things. The media will get there one day :P)

Oh okay after a few lines of the exchange, yeah this guy is a dick, I have NO clue why he's wearing that coat symbolism wise, and Sam really ought to fire him because wow, uncool and also he seems to be a stereotypical nerdbro gatekeeper who would literally rather scare off customers but be right than just enjoy what they all enjoy together.

Then he apologises for getting angry for saying he just gets spun out sometimes. Honestly, this seems to be crossing over into Dean territory considering the last thing from the recap was Dean being told he was like Michael by Bad Kaia and being really angry when he said he was nothing like him... He also used "spun out" about himself in 12x20 but in rather more tragic lost-Cas circumstances but obviously this parallel has a different lesson to tell than just making them equivalent. This guy is so awful and is using his anger in a petty way over things that don't really matter. He's getting spun out over made up battles rather than real angst, and whether he has his own underlying trauma that makes him behave that way or not, the straight white nerd is one of the secondary main villains of the century so far after the literal alt right, with some overlap of course. Think Kylo Ren as one of the dominant critiques of this behaviour :P Compared to the open of 8x11 for example, where the nerds were harmless weirdoes despite also being straight white and obsessive, the aggression and obsession are played not just as a harmless trait of people who like LARPing and collecting toys, but gatekeep, yell at kids over superman facts, and refuse to have their own dominance challenged.

Thinking he could fight superman might actually explain the Cas like jacket - it's too short to be a coat - that he idealises these heroes, is wearing Batman (who in pop culture most recently was around "v superman") and Cas of course has all his superman comparisons from both 6x20, and his rebirth in 12x01 where he came back to earth as a fiery comet and was immediately mistaken for a spaceman. There's some dark idolisation/mirroring here, that he's debating how to fight the guy (krytonite gloves = the BMoL knuckledusters) and at the same time mirroring the show's Superman in his dress. Only much, much lesser. More subtextual mockery about his weakness and how he doesn't really measure up.

I think in a lot of ways the discourse about nerds in pop culture is moving on now to make this difference clear, that the ones who will be mocked are the ones who deserve it for being too cruel to respect, while in many other ways the mainstreaming of nerd culture into pop culture, meaning a large amount of it is no longer mockable, that everyone had at least SOME nerdy indulgences, means that in general nerdom is more accepted and exalted than ever. SPN obviously having its own deep roots into nerd culture has some direct room for commentary here, and this is also a way of reminding its own fans to be cool and not to be this guy.

Oh, huh, he safely exited the shop. I did not see that coming.

LOL he has batman bedding on a fold out bed in either a shed, garage or basement where he lives.

(This detail was tragic in Attack the Block but it's quite clear in this case the guy is fully grown and is being used as a detail to show his forward progression in life)

Wow, you really have some rage issues here. Especially trying to wrangle free pizza i mean dude. Talk about a line that personifies him 100 different ways in one go :P Who shouts at their pizza delivery place?? They remember your number! This is how to get extra toppings.

Oh my god please get beaten to death by this lil guy

(I know I know he survives he's in the promo)

Is this like... haunted kidney episode... but better?

Actually, Fallen Idols plus Mannequin episode but better.

You know how we saw in the last new year? Watching Small Soldiers for the first time since like the 90s or whenever it came out

The show's animation is so much better

Than Small Soldiers and itself from past years

Oh DEAN

I mean he totally deserves a day off.

I can't believe he owns these socks. Who got them for him for Christmas?

Okay, well first we have to work out which was the last Christmas they had where they were not in prison or in an alternate dimension or dead or -

Cas. It was Cas.

He literally had no idea this wasn't just a cute commentary on how much Chinese take out Dean eats

Anyway as far as I can tell Dean is living out the bisexualdemondean header just to spite Michael for defiling his temple. He's filling it with noods and pizza (and I am sure he didn't yell at the delivery guy, but tipped him well instead for making drop offs at a shady street corner miles from where anyone lives)

Honestly it's been 12 years since Hell Hazers II... What took them so long

Dean's drunk a full thing of Margiekugle mom beer, which is a lil worrying just in terms of him using it instead of comfort from her like in 12x02, now that she's back.

God I want Dean to meet the asshole from the comic shop and for him to get into a dick measuring contest about Hell Hazers II and Dean to be like uh I WORKED on it you ass

Er, does that vending machine contain the nougat of choice of your consumptive son on the other side of the wall?

(who may be out with Cas concealing his consumption on a case so not bothered by all this TV noise)

God I love and have missed Dean, my trashy guy who is sitting hugging a pillow like a teen girl at a sleepover to watch his hatchetman slasher to celebrate being back to himself and get the much-needed R&R, since, you know, last time we saw him he threatened to "break" Kaia and was in a very very bad place (lol)

This guy about to get murdered for trying to snatch a nougat bar is dressed like the unfortunate bandmate (Tommy?) to Vincifer. Is this an oblique Ladyheart reference to set up a weird scenario where Hatchetman is punishing a Lucifer-adjacent asshole for trying to steal Nougat?

I can't believe there's a red exit sign behind him which means Wanek is Waneking in multiple dimensions at once

"Mint Condition" flashes up over Dean indulging in his pizza, saying, hey look it's our guy back in shape. Or, you know, ironically so. Either because Dean being Dean means eating junk food and wallowing because his husband has wandered off with the kid and isn't home to snuggle him while he does this mandatory bedrest, or because, of course, Dean is not Mint Condition at all. He's literally and emotionally scarred.

I am pretty sure this shirt that Sam has on is 12 years old.

Statistically, they're gonna get murdered in each and every one of their original Kripke era shirts until none of them are available to be murdered in later.

I say for no particular reason.

Leave Sam alone. He doesn't shave you mock him, he does shave, you... also mock him. He was doing really well while you were gone! No one got even slightly stabbed who didn't deserve it! This is an all-time record. A beard is a price to pay for that.

Honestly I think Dean is stoned but they're not going to say so but I am treating this scene like it is.

"I wanted to check up on you," Sam says, pulling over a chair. This is so like how he was in 14x01 when he was powering around the Bunker being the boss, and given Dean's been on bedrest, again, much-needed, Sam is treating him like another one of his charges, and once more is in a position of authority... But now, despite shaving to act like nothing has changed a bit more, he is the one in charge of Dean as one of his wards. Everything has changed. Your dynamic is actually wobbling in a weird way.

In season 10 when Dean was laid up with the Mark blues especially around 10x12, which this intro also reminds me of, re: Dean spending a week in his room and Sam popping in to check on him, Sam was still keeping a very wary eye on Dean more that he was a bomb that may explode, and that while he needed to be managed, the power dynamic was extremely, extremely horrifying in that if Sam messed up Dean would murder him. Not an ongoing implicit threat between them, but the knowledge that Dean could become a demon again and demon!Dean would attempt to kill Sam, and so Sam had better do his utmost to keep Dean in a good place. Even if it eventually meant a series of convoluted secrets to try and fix him against his wishes.

Obviously, things are different here. Sam has developed a LOT since then, with season 11 beginning a recovery of his character in tentative little steps which actually kicked off in season 12, and, specifically, in 12x04 under Davy Perez in American Nightmare heralding the new era of Sam focus and lovingly stroking his hair and lavishing him with Sam-sculpted episodes the like of which we hadn't seen all through Carver era.

Now when Sam comes into Dean's room and pulls up a chair and sits down to check up on him, he actually radiates a comfortable, competent authority to do so.

... however he is doing it in that pink shirt which I honestly love the concept of but just wish that I couldn't see Sam in 2x06 showing up in it for the first time, like, my brain is just screaming at him to go get a bunch more pink shirts and refresh his wardrobe

I'm so certain of it but now I have to check because 12 years is such a long time but

http://www.homeofthenutty.com/supernatural/screencaps/albums/SPN2x06/SPN_0060.jpg

Mittens yelled "OH MY GOD" when I sent her the link so I think I'm right

Like, conceptually in every way it's great because it's this long pink shirt that fits him well, fuck toxic masculinity, blah blah action heroes in pink shirts, love it love it love it, but also: it's another fucking plaid shirt Sam has owned since he was a gap-toothed child six years younger than Jack presents as

Dean is lacking his second bedside table, as he has been for seasons, but I'm just staring at him lying sideways on his bed, wondering about his set up, and if this is in any way similar to how he watched all those cowboy movies with Cas, since Davy, of course, was the one to suggest that they had been watching movies together.

"And... not that I'm complaining... House is full of strangers"

Yeah, we know you hate it, Dean. God, it's tragic. In a wonderful way. Sam's built this little empire for himself and it's on top of Dean's old nesting spot. Dean's been forced into his room not just to hide away because he's ashamed but because he doesn't want to be seen and there's too many strange eyes out there. However this resolves, it's going to force some growth. Honestly, as much as Dean loves this room and it means to us, it's also a bleak lonely spot and in the like 7 years they've had the Bunker, Dean's never hooked up in that bed, while it has come to be very much like, well... The bed of an angry nerd living in a basement still using Batman sheets. Again, dark parallels, but of Dean in a dark place.

I'd love if he moved out and got a house in the suburbs.

I mean.

Cas has a house in the suburbs.

(Re: long-running Lizzy watching notes in-jokes about where he stashes a bunch of stuff like demon tablets, first blades, metatron's grace, etc etc)

But yeah, no. I like the idea of Dean nesting, of course. But aside from the obvious conveniences, the Dean Cave, etc, there's no reason it HAS to be here except that this is their inheritance and it's safe. But as I constantly talk about with the library abutting the war room, the work/life balance is always in question and filling the Bunker with strangers is a great way to shove all the life balance out, and leave the only spot left of that to Dean in this room.

If the AU peeps don't all get sent home but remain at least in part a hunter community and maybe even network and grow as the Winchesters finally open up the Bunker's resources and share them and stop being all isolated like Carver era fiercely protected... Dean might have no choice but to move his nesting down the road to somewhere with a sofa where he can park his car out front, and choose to commute in to work.

Awww they have the "our lives are a scary movie" argument again, in a well-worn way. So well-worn this is repeating dialogue from somewhere or other... 2x18? 4x07? God I don't know, implicit in Sam's eyerolling at Halloween in 1x01? All of the above? I am not looking that up. But anyway their stances haven't moved, possibly because this is something that has never really been challenged before. If Sam didn't hate scary movies already, watching 18 hours of Hell Hazers II dailies probably did in any remaining sympathy he would have had towards them, while Dean thrived there.

I guess he may finally have had time to watch it?

And of course stay for the credits to see his name.

Anyway Dean has historically cited movies as research or job adjacent, or vicariously enjoyed watching monsters at work from the safe remove of a screen, while Sam throws it all in to that box where of course it goes to 1x01 where he's running away from ALL of it and has his oddly specific choices to avoid halloween in his day to day as Lawboy. He's struggled to indulge in the weird as a hobby, likes serial killers as, as far as we can diagnose, an outlet of darkness but purely human, and keeps the work/life balance in a rather unhealthy way of denial and boxing things away, because so much of his early seasons arcs were about resisting the life and refusing the call. This harks back to their literal first episode characterisations of Dean being all in and Sam being all out and it's interesting to have us back here in season 14, in a period of such deep reflection, when Sam has finally sort of accepted the life, found a niche in the work that suits him as the boss, and Dean is struggling now with retirement questions, and taking a week off, not liking his home full of strangers, etc etc.

"More Michael Monsters?" Dean asks immediately quick fire when Sam says he has a case.

He may have taken a week off to indulge in pizza but that obsession lurks under his skin. He's in no way done, though I think perhaps better prepared to enter this case than he had been, though of course he's billed as still struggling.

Dean also instantly recognises the Thundercats name, and I'm afraid it's something I'm just not familiar with, that I clearly missed some wave of it when I was younger and it hasn't come back around as an adult... I can't wait to read stuff by people who know more about it and say tragic things about Dean's connection to it. But the important thing here is the dark mirror to the guy who got beat up by the toy, because Dean is being shown as also an enthusiastic nerd who knows the franchise and is excited by this concept and is leaping into a case about it with a "strippers, Sammy. Finally!" level of enthusiasm.

Healthy nerds and unhealthy nerds. But at the same time, Dean might be a better nerd, but his anger last episode is still being examined through this guy.

I love that for Sam and Dean, dressing up for Halloween is dressing up like total nerds in a totally different pop culture way - the old appearance of geeks which is wildly outdated but damned if they aren't putting on pocket protectors anyway. It's a caricature but it's one that is at total odds with who they are as people... More of a traditional halloween thing where normally Sam and Dean are really scary people with weapons, so when you make them dress all topsy turvy, they dress like this instead. They ARE halloween costumes, in their day to day.

Dean continues watching in the shop, Sam eyes up the Red Hood.

I watched that a million years ago with no idea that Jensen was in it, though I had watched the first couple of seasons at that point. I think it was during my "aww the show was cancelled" phase where it was completely off my radar. It's hilarious to me now, because I don't think I COULD watch it, now I know Jensen's voice so disproportionately well. It would be so off-putting.

"She's like your twin."

Sam and Sam both tuck their hair behind their ears at the same moment.

"What are you talking about?"

So. This is going to be extremely subtle.

I hope New Sam survives the episode D:

Sam points out the other guy who people were saying based off the promo pics would be the Dean to this girl's Sam with no idea what was to come. He and Dean in this case are both eating lollipops purloined from the halloween candy.

I guess this guy in the All Saints Day t-shirt shares Dean's love of the same franchise, and seems to represent the bizarre venn diagram with Dean on one side and Andrew Dabb on the other. Their nerdy overlap.

I feel like Sam is just pointing out this character mirror to be an annoying sibling and wow do I love seeing them like this.

I also feel like there is no way Davy would do this if he wasn't about to troll the fuck out of us with these parallels in some terrifying meta way and pointing out that character parallels are a thing this blatantly is about to be Awful somehow.

The Red Hood is staring disapprovingly at them through all of this

Anyway of course Dean Parallel immediately recognises Dean's enthusiasm for Hatchetman and encourages him to press the button, which Dean does with glee. I CLOBBER EVIL. Wait no.

Sometimes we do bad things.

Oh dear.

Oh deeeeeeeeeeear.

Yeah, Hatchetman is like... idk, michael!Dean or something. Or some dark part of Dean where all his violence is and this twisted version is almost like the burned result of the I Clobber Evil hero being melted by Dean and - too meta, I am in pain.

"Vintage hot wheels!"

I know what you want because I have a smol 67 impala on my shelf. Nyoom.

He has an eeny weenie mystery machiney so he can make them race.

Okay guy who got beat up by a toy is called Stuart (I am so bad at names, honestly.)

Of course he got kicked out by his roomie for being insufferable about something as pointless as subs vs dubs, and Sam is already apologising for him before they even go meet him.

Considering there's 3 people working at the shop and Stuart had a trenchcoat, but is also being mirrored to Dean, darkly, I feel like there might be some serious shuffling going on here that surface level, Stuart had that Cas marker, but... yeah

Heeee Dean stealing the Flash mug and making Sam have the one with the cats all over it. One mug representing Stuart, one representing his mum.

I mean it is Sam's turn to have a relationship with THEIR mom this season. Idk if the mugs are actually symbolic over anything other than Dean living his best geek life right now.

I mean he's added the glasses to his ensemble, he's really living it up.

I hope he's still wearing Send Noods under this

Awww it's hot apple cider. What a good mom. This is a perfect halloween drink.

*Stuart Rage Sounds from below*

Wow this is subtle that he has some rage issues.

"Campbell and sons insurance" Hey remember when I said that this whole season's emotional set up with Sam's ownership of the AU peeps reminded me of season 6 and the Campbells? They also literally are the sons of Mary Campbell, so.

No lies, at least, with some serious stretching of the truth.

God, the detail that Dean has played Zelda.

He's being nerdy out loud constantly, and without much fear of judgement. It's wonderful. I guess he's been jostled up enough by Michael that he doesn't really care to hide this random pointless thing that in the grand scheme why should he be ashamed, and also he feels so much worse about other things that this is just an escape to have fun. It also reminds me of last season when he was mourning Cas except that this indulgence Sam is allowing him is co-sponsored by Dean and he's throwing himself into enjoying the smaller things and being more openly Dean-ish than he has in a while. Like, I don't think character comparisons to 8x11 for the nerds is the only way the episodes link :P

In 8x11 Dean's initial reaction to LARPing is that it looks awesome, then he corrects at a look from Sam to being more judgy. In 9x04 as scripted, Sam is surprised that Dean want to read Game of Thrones. So idk if that's just Robbie character interpretations since my 2 surface level examples are from his episodes or if that's just been where open nerdery has lived in past years, but anyway. Sam isn't stopping Dean from indulging in the same way - it seems he also recognises Dean's nerdiness and is less threatened by it than before, in the sense that he doesn't feel like Dean isn't acting himself, but now accepts the nerdiness is a part of Dean.

"Who needs goth girl drama" dude you are the most awful over-dramatic asshole on the show now Lucifer is dead

LOL he's trying to lie about being attacked by a toy now, and Dean points out that he got whooped so thoroughly he was beaten on the back and genitals - so yeah we look at his face and wiiiiince

"Lady you wasn't kidding."

"Big Bang in there..."

Goodness are we calling out the Big Bang theory for its toxic nerdery? Love it.

Sam and Dean halloween costumed as total nerds, still driving around in the Impala. The reverse of someone rolling up in a boring old modern car and, like, a bunch of Draculas get out.

Sam can shave off the beard but it can't stop him Bobby-ing

Dean side-eyes this

"Yeah, it was Riley, he'll be fine."

"I don't know who Riley is, but cool."

God, I am so into this whole dynamic.

Tell me more, Davy.

"So seriously, what is your deal with halloween?"

"I don't like it"

Dean, I am watching this episode on November 2nd, just so you know.

Anyway. This is literally. 1x01's opening adult Sam moment. But Dean's going back to poke Sam about it since he's someone Sam won't lie to in the same way that Sam was concealing his entire being from Jess. I mean this isn't subtle - in 1x01 Dean calls Sam out for doing this. But then, Sam doesn't exactly develop beyond it - in season 8 he does this with Amelia.

Because obviously if Sam is going to move forward and develop there's still things which are not addressed. And if Dean is having his idea of home and work challenged, and his nest disrupted until perhaps he will fly it... Sam has never ever actually addressed his work/life balance in the meaningful way where... like... this was how his difference was introduced when we first ever meet lil babby Sam smiling innocently at us on screen as a kid who has the whole future ahead of him and no idea what torment he's gonna go through. 14 years later, if he's ever going to be a grown up who can handle himself in a relationship and know what is work and what is life and how he can watch halloween movies and not feel personally offended by them but enjoy them as a fantasy and a way of boxing off their world into a safe place they don't have personal responsibility for...

Maybe he might just get a girlfriend who he can tell he is a hunter. Like. Dude. Dean was past that step before the show ever STARTED thanks to his time with Cassie.

Sam, also, metaphorically is an angry guy living in his mom's basement, but perhaps in a more metaphorical way where it's to do with living his whole life under the shadow of his mom horrifically dying as a result of the supernatural and being brought up feeling like a freak and just wanting to be normal and all

wheeee

Anyway Dean is probing for actual answers so I assume Davy will give us a solution to this this episode, but this is my take on it before we get into it properly.

Alternative hypothesis: Davy is personally offended that Sam doesn't like halloween despite it being the best holiday, is determined to fix that and fuck canon, characters can change even 14 years later.

"Don't give me this 'every day is halloween' crap because one it aint, we don't eat that much candy"

I have missed Dean and I love him with every fibre of my being, brb I need to vibrate out of existence at the sheer joy of knowing him

That was the worst "we aren't here staking out your house" move I have ever seen.

You are professionals who have been doing this together for 14 years

why was that so laughably bad?

The youtube comments are so cutting and a bunch of them are unfortunately true. It's self-awareness of using the loser nerd trope but also, cutting in a way because of course Stuart is coming across so much as someone who deserves it - and we're starting to see his mom is sweet and doesn't seem to have caused any trauma in a surface read, and that he was the one who dumped his online gf, and he starts other fights at work or with roomies, so this is getting more and more into territory where he seems fully to blame for his own situation, and therefore you CAN mock him for living in mom's basement, because he PUT himself there, and is single because he chose to be, and so on. The pervading sense that if he was a nicer person, none of this would be happening to him, right down to him stealing the toy in the first place.

Oh boy, the bloody handprint on the wall... We are back in handprint territory, and, you know, maybe because SOMEONE walking past it has been scarred on the wrong shoulder by the actions of an angel or something

There's a chinese take out carton on the shelf in this basement. I doubt it's a collectible.

Send noods.

Okay, that's sort of weird.

If the mom is in costume I don't get the reference. I hope someone else has handled that.

We're going to get her POV on her loser son now, I guess.

"Everything's fine :)" *leaves the room* "everything is not fine!"

Are we calling them out for using "fine" so loosely again too huh?

(Side note: Jack saying he's fine while consumptive, and yeah I am still upset about that. What are you doing to the boy????)

Dean and Sam split up and as Sam walks off a nurse eyes him up and smiles. No idea how intentional that was but I mean, can you blame her? :P

You know, I don't know anything about this franchise, but Sam just jumped to see a toy of a guy who looks weirdly similar to the vampires that ATE HIM a few weeks ago.

He checks over his shoulder in case Dean manifested at his side just in time to see that

Awww Dean and New Dean meet. "he must have awesome insurance"

He calls Stuart's mom "Babs" which is hilarious. They seem close.

New Dean has issues with his dad and Stuart lets him crash with him no questions asked. I suppose Dean isn't going to think too hard about how Sam's choice for his parallel has issues with his dad.

This forgiveness for Stuart's behaviour because he's kind to his own people is a very TFW trait, which makes New Dean more like Sam or Cas forgiving Dean his outbursts, as he's by far the ragiest of them, with Cas trailing in second and Sam the zen fucking master.

Lol Dean and New Dean are both dragged into the room to watch All Saints Day 3 like they're being pulled in on a line

Oh dear, they're bonding.

Davy isn't usually on top of these things but he's channeling a lot of Edlund today and Edlund always had these sort of guys like Andy or Aaron who are so Dean's type in a harmless shared interests and getting stoned together way. This is a bit extreme with the guy's tininess and scruffiness but you know, we'll see how this develops, if it's an accidental twins or a missed connections soulmate dealio.

... You're taking to someone who's still bitter that Andy and Dean would have been perfect together, so.

Also this New Dean guy is demonstrating how to be a Good Fan - he may be as intensely nerdy as Stuart, but he and Dean can compare movies and even though they don't share a favourite, agree that the whole series is great and can see the merits both in each other's favourites, and in another movie that isn't either of their favourites but could be if they happened to be inclined that way.

So healthy :')

"It was always nice to check out. I like watching movies where I KNOW the bad guy's going to lose"

Ow ow ow. But yeah, there's Dean's pro-Halloween rationale, that the tropeyness of the genre has its comforts that every ridiculous horror thing is entirely safe and no one is ACTUALLY going to get eaten by any of these things. Which is also how normal people enjoy horror but at the metaphorical remove of being scared by things we may not literally meet but still represent anxieties we might have in our real lives.

Catharsis, yo

Sam barges in on New Sam to ask her the usual series of increasingly weird questions which get the "are you really insurance?" eyebrows.

"Downtown Salem" - are they in Salem as in the witch hunt one?

I kinda love how New Sam is talking with a speech bubble beside her. So meta.

I think New Dean is called Dirk.

Oops Stuart wasn't one of the co-owners because he kept getting fired for stealing D: Stuart, dude.

"And you hired Stuart back?" "he's my friend"

I think there is commentary appearing here about not just Stuart's unhealthy explosive rage, but that the people around him enable it - even Jordan fired him TWICE rather than banish him forever. The cycle of coddling him without encouraging him to change... Again, this speaks rather more of season 10 and a critique of Sam n Cas from there rather than much currently ongoing with Dean. Sam was complicit in originally abducting Kaia and he and Jody didn't move to stop Dean with Bad Kaia, so though it's in the focus as a critique on Dean's reactions, I feel like the real bad cycles were in Carver era. Though the behaviour still somewhat exists in Dabb era, the overall unhealthiness has declined so much, there isn't a constant oppresive blanket of it as there is here in this shop with Stuart being so awful to everyone and self-destructive.

(It's probably also not a coincidence that this thing has latched onto Dean as well, a la 4x06 I'd guess... Sam got no ghost vibes in the basement, Dean did, and was attacked... To me this is seeming to suggest that his current state has picked up the ghost's ire in the same way in 4x06 he was vulnerable. Loops and loops of things going on so I'll unpick that later if it does turn out to be the case clearly.)

Anyway. This seems to be more about destructive cycles and abusive dynamics, and I would hope a nudge for Dean, though his exile at the start of this episode also suggests to me he knew full well after threatening Kaia that he'd overreacted and needed to take 5, even if there was also a layer of sulking until news of Michael. Her call out was clear enough to make him self-reflect. So I would hope that this episode is here to try and steer Dean's reaction through various pathways, ideally to keep him from falling into anything too awful, as a reminder of where this may lead?

Sam sees the glass case freeze over, and pulls out the EMF, playing it off and being like "nothing... carbon monoxide detector" even as New Sam is understandably a little freaked.

Is this messing with Sam's refusal to tell Jess about monsters by having him keep the truth from New Sam until she's physically endangered?

I mean, carbon monoxide in enough quantities to make the blatantly homemade gadget go "WHEEE" and light up every single LED is a good enough reason to flee the room

"I think you're in danger -" Sam is smacked around the head by Hatchetman because he delayed too long and now he has been knocked out

"Samantha?" Sam determined not to let New Sam out-Sam him

I mean if she is you then she has been knocked out

How does this keep happening to you

how much head trauma has Cas healed over the years?

This is why they have to keep him an angel...

"Is this expensive?" "Wha - no don't!" *BOING* *silence* "yeeeah it's shatterproof glass"

If Jordan really just wants to kill Stuart for getting them a 1 star Yelp review then this also has a weird shade of 11x07 where the ghost was getting revenge and took a few attempts to kill that one guy, eventually succeeding as the clown.

Except the clown was tuned to freak Sam out

and Dean's probably gonna be thrilled to fight Hatchetman

Dean having movie night with new Dean (probably stoned but we can't see it) with comatose Stuart in the middle

incredible

2 dudes watching horror movies 5 feet apart with a comatose guy in the middle because they aren't gay

Dean is thrilled to fight Hatchetman

I feel like this can't last

Davy throws in a gratuitous Halloween moment of Hatchetman walking through the park which is just bedecked in Halloween nonsense

no one cares about him wandering around because it's Halloween

It does make you wonder just HOW much nonsense happening on Halloween really is monsters and stuff out there enjoying themselves because it's expected, which, again, like Sam n Dean dressing up as nerds for this whole episode, having monsters mixing with regular folk and being treated as equals is literally the whole Halloween thing. There's less threat than in 4x07 because we're assuming at this point in the episode that the ghost does have a pretty one-track mind about killing Stuart because with all the characterising nonsense filling the episode the actual plot has been pretty sparse considering we're getting to the final 10 minute run now. So, yeah. This Hatchetman ghost is just out there being a part of the festivities, because that's what happens on Halloween, man

LOL And like Sam not telling his double until it was too late, Dean gets this call and is really open in answering in front of new Dean, and now he's filling in New Dean on everything instead of trying to get him to leave or protect him not just from the monster but from knowing about it at all.

Davy like, hey, remember when ghosts used to do loads of freaky stuff on this show just to be scary? And maybe it seemed like you all were getting bored of it or something, but hey this guy has no idea after 14 years that he shouldn't leave the salt line when everything starts thumping in the room despite having been warned the ghost is coming...

Hehehe Dean gets an axe... The moment of him going to smash it then not and checking if it's open... Whether that was improv or not, it's a good character thing in the sense that Dean is being encouraged not to smash first and ask questions later by the meta plot of the episode

Omg New Dean is as brave as our Dean in some ways... He sees Babs in trouble, and immediately is like "HEY" and starts confronting Jordon in Hatchetman

"He's MY friend. He's OUR friend." That's an interesting take on my/our, because that statement works on both levels - both that Dirk is protective of Stuart because he cares about him, but also that Jordan has his own investment in not killing Stuart that he should remember. In terms of emotional appeal, the first is confrontational while the second is the deep appeal to the ghost.

Filed in the deep deep deep deep deep flips of the crypt scenes, this moment demonstrates about 3 different kinds of flips, while still holding true to possessing thing out of its right mind confronting loved one

Omg the hospital security guards watching the Hatchetman chase a damsel through the hospital while New Dean is chased through THEIR hospital. Talk about dramatic irony and a whole commentary on the metaness of Dabb era in the story reversals and extractions to new levels and repurposing of scenes and narratives...

And despite it playing out scene by scene, the guards are laughing at the bad dialogue and pointing out how Hatchetman is so slow, so how can he even catch them, while the damsel slows herself down and badly fakes a trip so that he can catch up to her...

"We killed you! You're dead!" "We all do bad things sometimes"

And there we get the context for the cool quote the Hatchetman model can recite - just as how in fandom often things are quoted out of context as lines which seem emotional or special but are actually awful. Just for starters, all the Sam n Dean fans using "there aint no me if there aint no you" when Dean didn't even SAY that. Now we see the context of this line, we see that while Hatchetman really isn't deep, he's at least not just saying it to sound cool and talk about himself, he's judging the protagonist for her behaviour, as well as invoking relative morality. Which brings up some interesting ideas about what Hatchetman considers good and evil, in regards to seeming to have a concept of it but not including kill himself as a good thing to do. Obviously completely wild in context but in the philosophical language of the show, the nature of monsters and all is one huge question, along with if Sam and Dean are murderers themselves, and of course how they have done bad things for good reasons and vice versa.

Also I think Sam is about to blow up the door?

"I had a messed up childhood" he says, about to blow up a vintage SCOOBY DOO lunchbox to freedom.

SAMMY. Stop destroying symbols of childhood.

At least he's talking freely to New Sam about himself, which is probably already more than he ever let on to Jess. He really wanted to pretend to be well-adjusted to her, that he probably, like, would have rather waited for a locksmith with her than just pick the door to their apartment if they were locked out, you know?

RIP Scooby Doo.

"Cool" they both say, and share a smile.

It's probably weird to ship Sam and Sam just because the shipname is Sam

Dirk went to hide in the fucking Morgue

well done

Okay I need the security guards back to comment on how the fuck Hatchetman knew New Dean would come to the morgue with enough time to beat him there AND cover himself in a sheet and play dead.

Also before that happened Dean grabbed New Dean by the correct shoulder, and made him jump but aw don't worry it's just your new best friend.

Ghost Jordan is still a fucking nerd even in death because rather than talk to them, he presses the button to summon a catchphrase

It's good to know some things never change even when you are a murderous shell of your former self.

UGH SIGH DAVY ARE YOU REALLY GOING TO DO THIS TO ME?

(The director might also be to blame)

So now they are cobbling together a fake trailer for Hatchetman, using footage from the show

That is to say, Hatchetman is set on Oct. 31st, 1983, or, of course, 2 days before Azazel ruined everything.

I'm not sure if this shot is from the show because we have so few Halloween episodes that an exterior shot with Halloween elements would have to be faked up, but the house looks very much like the old Winchester house, but with a bigger porch and more dramatic features. It does, however, strongly feature the tree branch shadows over the appropriate wall to make it look exactly like the opening shot of their story, while this is the opening shot of the Hatchetman story.

"David Jaeger was an honest man making an honest living" *generic shot of something being worked on*

*shot of the back of John Winchester's head walking into his garage in 5x13 to discover his boss out cold because Anna is about to attempt to murder him, said boss hilariously visible in the shot if you know he's there*

So. That happened :P Hatchetman is John. That ain't subtle if you recognise the back of his head in a split second. Even if you don't they're casting him as a car mechanic which is of course directly connected to Dean and John.

"Until one night when a practical joke turned deadly"

*footage of the wife spectre-rage killing her husband in the cold open of 8x06 because she was still pissed he slept with someone else on prom night*

I think the burning vehicle was the car from 10x13 that Sam and Dean burned early in the episode, where it was violently reminiscent of them burning the memory of John for some meta reason I can't remember at the time, but definitely inspired a lot of frantic fandom typing.

Of course the ghost in that episode was the classic ragey vengeance ghost which was blatantly paralleled to the path Dean was on with the Mark of Cain, complete with being crypt scened out of it by a trenchcoat-wearing widow.

They're implying he was then burned alive and left for dead and I don't recognise the footage of the burned feet but I assume they're from some episode or another.

Anyway then they go to more new footage from the "actual" hatchetman movies. This one is set on Nov. 1st so it's not even a "Halloween" movie but ACTUALLY All Saint's Day (All Hallow's Eve being what Hallowe'en is a corruption of), Nov. 1 being of course a meta nod to the fact the episode is not even airing on Halloween but Davy just really really really really wanted his halloween episode so shut up and enjoy it :P

Oh, it's All Saints Day III The Reckoning. Because of course it's a reckoning. That's all that happens in Dabb era, reckonings.

I am so upset.... I made a joke about 5x05 waaay back, and now it's true because of the whole random thing about Dean's random Axe that was John's that Paris Hilton was going to use to Reckoning him but then Sam murderered her before she could. Now Dean's being reckoned.

Okay Dean is a lil dark right now but his come at me bro of "I was hoping you'd say that" and the preceding speech is incredible. I can't believe this show has Jensen except that I CAN believe that with Jensen we go 14 seasons because FUCK he's scary and intense when he wants to be.

But he delivered that chilling speech and then had the ghost use a red button to talk to him and then was badass at it

I mean

he can put the terror into ANY situation

I am a hysterical laugher, I could not have stood where Dean stood in that moment and taken Hatchetman seriously, even under threat of mortal peril. I once nearly got expelled for hysterical laughing over an untied shoelace that started a rapidly spiralling incident.

I love the new fight guy

I love how Dean is spoiling for a fight, and really enjoying how he can push back against this ghost, in a really, really scary way. But in a cold way, not the red hot Mark of Cain way he was dark last time. He's grinning and enjoying this nerdy ass fight, but it's got a vicious streak.

I especially love the choreography of Dean smashing Hatchetman around the head with clashes in time to the music followed by an elevator ding as Sam and New Sam emerge in the next scene.

Poetic cinema

New Sam guesses the key thing for ghost attachment and Old Sam is impressed.

Careful buddy, they're lining you up for replacement.

Dean seems not to have won this fight with the Hatchetman. I bet if Stuart was awake he'd have some useful advice for how anyone could beat him in a fight but especially Stuart, if they knew the correct thing to do.

New Dean saved Old Dean! Maybe we can teamwork distract the Hatchetman and win together. Possibly this is a metaphor for... working with yourself...

Is it foreshadowing for a fight later in the season of plot significance, just like in 11x07 Sam got beat up by a clown in a cage, as a not too subtle metaphor for Lucifer? I'd love an in Dean's head kinda nonsense with Mikey.

"Dean, key chain!"

TEAMWORK BROS ARE THE BEST BROS

New Sam chips in for her part with fuel for the fire.

Everyone high five the Sam or Dean/Dirk to your left

Oh, COOL effect of a ghostly spirit burning out of a model Hatchetman, who is unscatched by the ordeal

I mean, good, he's probably a really expensive collectible

He falls over with a thud, and goes out on a warbling "time to slice and diiiiiiiii" much like "I clobber evil" died on the fire with a last gutteral noise.

Hopefully bookending each other in terms of models with representations in their voices that haunt Dean and all.

Dean, unprompted, thanks Sam for getting him out of his funk and giving him an easy ghost hunt to win. I guess what 13x05 was supposed to be is what this actually turned out to be.

(Honestly, giving Davy episodes post-drama to let us all unwind is turning out to be an extremely good idea with 13x06 as well)

I am MAJORLY concerned about the time stamp on this episode. It better end in a few seconds and go to a full 3 minute trailer for Hell Hazers III or else.

"It was awesome!" "it wasn't really," says Sam, who burst into the room in time to see his brother pinned and choking

Sam moves on to confronting Dean with the concept of not just hiding in his room when they get back.

He gives Dean the "OI, CHEER UP" talk we've all been yelling at the screen. Good. Good Sammy.

Dean turns to the camera. "I'm never going to get over it. I'm just not."

Look, Sam, just because Dean stabbed Lucifer for you, and now you are sleeping without fear, doesn't mean everyone has that luxury :P

elizabethrobertajones Oh dear, there's still 4 minutes left er I guess I keep watching .... *grimaces nervously*

mittensmorgul :D just watch it in context with the rest of the episode

elizabethrobertajones um what I didn't get far enough into what happens next to know what you mean so that's super ominous Sam is still psychoanalysing Dean in car NOW yo uhave me REALLY worried.

Hey, remember how I started this episode with a vague warning from Mittens? Why am I now getting the feeling that I still haven't watched whatever that was about?

"I'm not doing any good cooped up in my room. So whatever you need, I'm there." ("Chief"?)

"Alright, Chief?"

Oh, man. I'm turning into Dean.

Also Dean appears to have, finally, ceded power over to Sam. Again, the reversals of season 10 - Sam was put in this position of power he just was not ready to cope with and not with the stakes that were laid against him. But here, Dean might be driving the car but he's putting all the real power into Sam's hands.

elizabethrobertajones Is it why Sam hates Halloween because Dean turns out to have set an alarm on his watch to remind him to bug Sam about it again the intrigue you have spun is starting to get to me more than actually watching the episode :P

mittensmorgul oh gosh, I should've just kept my mouth shut. It was seriously just an innocent comment for a nice BM scene :P

I am more horrified about the concept of Sam telling an embarrassing story than I am about any amount of slasher and gore. Look, I can Not handle social squickiness and I love Sam and that is going to make this extremely hard to hear.

Dean's gonna love it though, I can tell.

Please. Protect. Sammy.

"It was soooo bad" he says with a haunted look of a man who has been tortured by the devil

Andrea's party got there first

"Next year, we're doing halloween right"

Oh no, don't you dare start talking like you're going to be alive and ready for a party next year, Dean Winchester. I will perish in your place to make it happen.

BAHAHA Dean coming up with matching outfits and suggests Bert and Ernie, before rejecting that one as too weird.

Yeah, you might not remember but we do

We are never going to let you live it down, in fact.

Also, listen, his mouth runs miles ahead of his brain, that was not suggestive until he realised it was and backtracked

You also can't go as Shaggy and Scooby unless you go to a party WITH them and they go as you and Sam

Thelma and Louise... Dean, stop.

Okay it's hilarious that Davy managed to get both Bert and Ernie and Thelma and Louise into this like... somewhere riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight deep down Dean's consciousness is putting things together. It doesn't remember half the shit he says, but like. Hey. Why ARE those two sets of on screen pairs connected, huh, Dean?

Oh, whatever, he's just trying to annoy Sam now

Nyoooom

IT'S THE SECURITY GUARD

RUN, MAN, RUN

Ew, I left it playing to type that and it told me to watch Legacies

Well that was the one wrong note in this whole episode so I suppose something had to happen like that :P

#Davy fanclub #14x04 #season 14 spoilers #oh my god it's good to have the internet back #my stuff

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drunklander · 5 years

Text

Drunj!Der Yells About Outlander

Thoughts on Ep. 401

Oh hey, y’all. We’re back for another season of that show we keep watching in hopes it’ll get back to its season one glory Outlander! Since I’m incapable of keeping my Opinions to myself and have no filter after a few drinks, I’m gonna do drunk recaps that no one asked for or wants again this year. Because why not. So buckle up, randos, because under the cut you will find nothing of substance, zero insights and absolutely no analysis!

Before I dive into the stream of consciousness, quasi-incoherent beat-by-beat nonsense, I just want to say that I overall liked this episode. I definitely enjoyed it more from the comfort of my own couch than in the theater with thousands of screaming sycophants at NYCC. It definitely had me singing along to the Federalist Papers part of Non Stop all day though. A series of scenes, tangentially related, introducing the Colonies to the public. Some are obviously just there to just set up the plot of the season or like check a residual box from last season. But some are solid world-building and character moments. And, because it’s Outlander, some are like *side eye*.

But I’m for real excited for the first half of this season! The second half of Drums is a dumpster fire (fucking Rogergate...) and it seems like the show is going to stick pretty close to the book, so I’m going to try my hardest to not let preemptive feelings about that nonsense cloud potential enjoyment of the first bit. Because dammit, I love me some domestic!Frasers. So yeah, happy end of hiatus, y’all!

Ok I don’t want to start off on a downer note, but jfc. I get what they were going for with the 2000 B.C. stone circle stuff, but omg no. I don’t care if certain indigenous peoples really did make stone circles and dance around them as the sun rose. I know they’re trying to show the universality of circles and these time portal thingies or whatever, but by making the parallel with the druids at Craigh na Dun, it’s basically being like “Oh hey! These Native American folks from *checks notes* North America are just like the white folks we’ve been hanging with for the last three seasons!” It came off to me like erasing the unique cultures of the diverse peoples of North America in favor of framing them as a generic group of “natives” who do the white people stone dance. And in a season that’s going to deal heavily with multiple tribes, this really isn’t giving me much confidence in how they’re going to handle the rest of the Native American characters.

I’m really hoping someone else will articulate that better than I did. Because I feel like I’m not communicating well what my actual issue with the sequence was.

Petition to make Jamie wear a hat at all times to hide his horrible bangs.

Gavin Hayes has to be being hanged for literally the dumbest crime ever. But he seems pretty chill about it so...

Ok I never liked book!Bonnet as a character (like obvi he’s a terrible person so I was never going to like him as a person, but I was always annoyed that he was still around rather than appreciating him as a villain), but even from that presumptuous “yeah can I snag some rum too, bruh” in the jail, I’m like solidly on board with show!Bonnet.

Jamie tried to save Hayes, but you see Hayes straight up killed a guy. Sure it was in self-defense, but, y’know, ye olde times and he did kill the dude. Sooo...

I want to feel for Lesley, I really do, but I’ve never actually given a shit or been given a good reason to give a shit about Rupert and Angus 3.0 so, sorry for your loss?

Unpopular opinion alert (should be the standard disclaimer on all of my #hottakes) but I really don’t care for the new theme music. Every time they change it, I find myself wanting the OG season one music back with just the images updated.

The bald eagle for the title card just gives me such mixed feelings that have nothing to do with the show. Like here’s a symbol of my country and it *should* invoke good feelings, but *gestures at the current political climate* every national symbol at the moment feels tainted by the growing white nationalist movement that’s being spurred on by the current administration.

Time for some post hanging brewskis. We are here to mourn Gavin Hayes. Who died only so the new villain could be introduced. Let us bow our heads.

Marsali and Fergus win the prize for least subtle “can we be excused to go bang” ever. Rock on, Fersali.

I fucking LOVE that they changed the tavern scene so everyone sings with them like they know what’s going on rather than how in the book it was like them making fun of the red coats as part of Gavin’s song and then Fergus passed around a hat for coins. But by having everyone in the tavern in on what’s going down and earnestly participating, it establishes that 20+ years after the failed Rising, after the Clearances, after everything the Scots went through at the hands of the English, they were not truly defeated. They may have moved across an ocean, but they are still Scottish and they still practice their traditions and dammit I’m having feelings about those resilient motherfuckers.

The scene with Jamie and Ian is very well done and I’m SO glad they included it because they did in fact include his rape last year, but fuck the show for including that rape in the first place. A very similar version of this scene could have been done without the rape, there’s enough trauma involved in being kidnapped, taken across the ocean, held hostage by a batshit lady and knowing that everyone else she kidnapped ended up dead for one 16 year old kid. With Jamie’s rape we got two episodes of trauma and four of recovery. With Mary, Fergus and Ian, we get three child rapes that could have all been avoided (especially Ian’s, but the plot points that come from Mary’s and Fergus’ could have definitely come about without them actually being raped), and they all just got one brief scene to express their trauma and then everything’s hunky dory again. (We know they’re going to include Bree’s rape, also fuck them very much for that, it’s completely unnecessary, and I’m guessing we’ll spend some time with her on her recovery. But that’s a rant for when we get there...)

For real though, Jamie parroting Claire as he comforts Ian is super sweet, but it makes me skeptically nervous for how he’ll react to Bree’s. Since in the book, it’s...not great.

Stephen Bonnet is so delightfully smarmy. Also, how fucking naive is our main squad now all of a sudden that they don’t realize from the jump what a sociopath he is? C’mon, y’all. Like I know Jamie came close to being hanged or whatever, but literally everything about this dude screams that he’s bad news. He is not subtle in his I’m a straight up unapologetic and charismatic good guy criminal. And like, he’s a friend of Gavin? Come the fuck on, squad. HOW DO YOU NOT SEE THAT HE IS FULL OF SHIT. *gets Det. JJ Bittenbinder on the horn*

For real though, dodgy accent aside, I fucking love Ed Speleers in this role. Why the fuck do they have to include the rape. Can’t he just be a bastard without being a rapist? Why must you make me rage, show. I just want to enjoy a decent villain.

Jamie and Claire are doing their best Jean Ralphio and Mona Lisa Saperstein trying to talk their way through this checkpoint.

“You’ve never parted with the ring from the first?” Yeah, I don’t get it either, Bonnet my dude. I don’t get it either. #FuckFrank

Bonnet talking about circles fascinating him makes me think he’d do well in a group of stoners having what they think are philosophical conversations at 3:00 a.m. “But like guys, have you ever like thought about...the rhombus?”

For real though, him being real with Claire about this drowning stuff makes him an infinitely more interesting villain than Black Jack ever was. Black Jack was kind of a crap villain tbh. He was horrible and did horrible things, yes, but like that was it. He was just horrible. Bonnet’s like oh I’ll charm you, be real with you and then fuck you up in the course of one episode and not give any of it a second thought because I have not a single fuck to give about anyone but me. I’m just out here living my best life, sorry not sorry. *puts on shades, drops mic, walks away*

For real though, his “be wary of thieves and outlaws” line might as well have been “it’s me, I’m talking about me.” And these dorks don’t even pick up on it. GUYS YOU ARE KILLING ME, YOU DIDN’T USED TO BE THIS SHITTY AT JUDGING SOMEONE’S CHARACTER.

I’m guessing this is the official christening-their-new-continent-bang because it’s too cold to do River Sex™ in Scotland. But I’m looking forward to getting the rest of Ch. 16 once they get to the Ridge. (We all saw those strawberries in the promo...)

The book lines still feel shoehorned in rather than organic to the show, but not as much as 95% of A. Malcolm felt. So I guess I need to just accept that the writers are going to keep doing this and I just need to stop expecting them to actually do their jobs and adapt for the adaptation...

For real though, I know Spotify doesn’t exist yet but jfc Jamie and Claire’s secksi time playlist literally just has this one song and guys, there’s a whole world of songs for smushing out there. My man Doug Judy would be glad to broaden your horizons.

Claire’s I just had sex smile as she looks out over the valley made me literalol.

Cool that we get woke!Jamie saying that the American Dream is a nightmare for the Native Americans after Claire’s Americana 101 speech, but this is a woman who lived in wicked racist 1960s Boston. She knows that things aren’t nice and rosy in America in the 18th *or* 20th centuries. Her speech makes me hate S3 a little more for focusing on Frank’s manpain instead of Claire and her and Joe’s time in the hospital, where the show could have explored gender and race in the 20th century to set up a contrast for how things will be this season in the 18th. Claire went through enough shit last time she was in the past, and so far this time, to know that the past isn’t idyllic. She knows enough about US history and 20th century America to know this mythical origin story she’s spouting is nothing but a fairy tale. I get why she might cling to that ideal, this is the first time in her life she might get to settle down and build a home with the person she actually wants to build a home with, but her whitewashing history like this strikes me as a way too naive for her.

The green screen as they stare out at that very much not actually there valley is killinggg me.

Ok for real though, this cut from them in the Uncanny Valley to the room getting ready for dinner is the most jarring of the episode. Like, I’ve come to terms with the fact that this is just a series of independent scenes rather than an actual, cohesive whole, but jfc. Who actually is Lillington, how do you know him? Nope? No info? Not important? Just need to get it out there that you have jewels so the last scene in the episode can happen so the ring can be taken so the rape can occur? Cool. Cool cool cool.

Ok so show!Claire makes me sad with being insecure/self-depreciating about her appearance. Like with saying brown is a dull color when Jamie calls her mo nighean donn the first time and when she asks Joe if she’s sexually attractive and when she dyes her hair before going back through the stones and now with the mutton dressed as lamb thing. (Claire, girl, how are you that up on Colonial fashion that you know what’s “age appropriate” already? Wouldn’t think there was much fashion gossip along the road from Georgia to North Carolina, but whatevs.) I know three of these four things are straight from the book, but in the show it hits me differently. Book!Claire is kind of a bitch when it comes to looks. Her parting words in her letter to Bree were “try not to get fat.” She like judged the crap out of that rando lady in Edinburgh before she went to the print shop just to make sure she didn’t look too old. So when she has these aforementioned moments, they land differently. Now I’m not saying I want show!Claire to be like book!Claire, quite the opposite. I’m glad they cut that other stuff. But now whenever show!Claire has a moment of self-consciousness, all I want to do is be like woman, you are a fucking smokeshow. Fuck the patriarchy for making you feel like you aren’t stunning exactly as you are. #LadyBonerForBeauchamp

Oh Governor Exposition. How nice of you to join our merry band of randos for dinner!

Man, I’d love to be so rich that I can pull a Baron and casually just happen to have 100 pounds on hand to buy a giant ruby at a random dinner party.

John Grey, who was shunted from shit post to shit post, totes is special enough to get Scotland’s Valjean to England’s Javert cleared. I mean, obvi.

Oh hey, Jamie remembers he has a daughter! Showed more emotion in that scene about how America would become her country than in the scene with the photos. Fuck Sam et al. for the disaster of a performance choice in ep. 306, don’t @ me.

OH HAI ROLLO I LOVE YOU YOU ARE SUCH A GOOD DOGGO I WANT TO SNUGGLE YOU WHO’S A GOOD BOY YOU ARE

“I dinna ken. But she’ll be saying it in Scotland, won’t she?” I do love Young Ian a lot. I know that’s in the book. But dammit I love John Bell in this part a crapton.

Casually lol’ing that they crossed the ocean because Ian was taken and now that they have him, they’re just going to send him alone off to sea again.

The first time I saw the episode, when Lesley gave his “my place is at your side” speech I was like crap, we’re going to be stuck with this guy aren’t we. BUT WE’RE NOT! (I am a terrible person.)

Fergus and Marsali are totes going to be the new Jenny and Ian, aren’t they? The characters who just show up once or twice a season when the core squad needs something and that’s it? Because they get tossed aside in the books like that. That makes me super sad (and I hope I’m wrong) because of how they changed show!Fergus and show!Claire’s relationship from the book that we won’t get to see more of them together. Le sigh. I hope they at least let Bree have a scene where she meets Fergus and learns she has a brother. Especially if she’s not going to go to Lallybroch to meet the Murray squad because Jenny isn’t in this season. Part of what I loved about the Lallybroch part in the book was Bree realizing that she wasn’t just gaining a father but a whole extended family. I hope they kind of transfer that over to her meeting Fergus and Young Ian in the place of [insert Murray kids who let’s be honest we really don’t care about here].

Hey remember that time Jamie was wicked opposed to Fergus and Marsali getting married for literally no reason? That was fun. But yay for Germain!

Holy motherfucking green screen, Batman. Please can we get to the woods soon? Or some other location where it’s not this fucking jarring?

Claire America-is-the-land-of-milk-and-honey Fraser suddenly is overly-on-the-nose indignant about slavery. Cool. Cool cool cool. Again, you know what would have been cool? Seeing her with her best and only friend in the 1960s more last season because he was a Black man. If they had let Joe be a fully formed character, navigating racist af Boston as a doctor, rather than just being Claire’s sounding board and martini maker, we could have seen how Claire being exposed to his reality shaped her views on race in America. But nope, that would have taken air time away from Frank’s manpain. (Seriously, my recent re-watch only highlighted just how much they screwed over Claire’s character last season.)

I’ve always loved that Jamie gives Claire the medical box. It’s just such a simple way to demonstrate that he *gets* Claire. (*side-eyes a certain other husband who patently did not*)

Jamie’s bangs are an affront to anyone with hair. Someone please give that man his hat back!

“This ring is all I need.” Aaand that’s when we all knew that Jamie’s ring would be the one stolen.

“Not for a single day.” Uh, *casually points at the episode in season three when she retcons her entire life in Boston to be not as bad as it was because Jamie’s been such an asshat to her*.

Ok. Holy shit this final scene. I love everything about this final scene. Except the song. This show is not subtle. It’s never been subtle. But holy shit, playing the iconic Ray Charles version of America the Beautiful at the end of an episode called America the Beautiful to be like welcome to ‘Murrica, fuckos, is like even less subtle than they usually go. I 1000% LOVE the choice to cut the audio from the end of the fight scene and just have the visuals, it just would have worked much better if they’d scored with with a regular instrumental piece.

Gah, Bonnet is such a smarmy motherfucker! The nose wipe before he coldcocks Jamie is just perf.

Claire’s face in this entire scene, holy fucking shit. *throws all the awards at Balfe*

And then Lesley dies and I’m a terrible person because I’m happy we don’t need to be stuck with him all season. But holy shit Bonnet when he pauses right before he cuts his throat and then kills him, I love show!Bonnet so much more than I ever gave a shit about book!Bonnet.

And honestly, Claire’s face when he’s killed right in front of her. *throws more awards at Balfe*

GUYS I FEEL MORE EMOTION ABOUT CLAIRE TAKING OFF JAMIE’S RING THAN I DID ABOUT CLAIRE LEAVING BREE BEHIND TO GO BACK THROUGH THE STONES HOW IS BALFE SO GOOD AT MAKING ME FEEL FEELINGS

I’m so fucking glad they changed which ring gets taken. There was an interview where they were like “oh we did it because it has to be visually distinct so Bree can get raped!” and I’m like a) fuck you for including that and b) right decision, wrong reason. This is the right reason for the change.

But even as I say that they made the right call in which ring to have stolen, it’s still a fact that they fucking chose to have one stolen at all. The writers and production team decided that Brianna needed to be raped so a ring must be stolen. Because Diana never wrote a character she didn’t want raped and the Outlander producers never read a rape scene they didn’t want to include. Fuck them all very much for that.

Fuck Them Very Much for That, the title of my memoir.

Oh god her face right at the end when she sees that it’s fucking Fred’s ring she’s left with and not Jamie’s fucking murders me.

*THROWS AN ENTIRE TROPHY STORE AT BALFE*

#*#drunj!der yells about outlander #outlander starz #outlander 4x01

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laughingpinecone · 4 months

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Candy hearts exchange 2024 letter

AO3: laughingpineapple (double-checked a-ok for treats as per the recent AO3 update blah blah)

Hello and thank you for writing for me! I hope you’ll have a great time playing with one of these wonderful canons!

GHOST TRICK

Alma/Cabanela/Jowd: Jowd navigating the "whoops turns out I'm bi" part of the whole thing is always fun Alma/Jowd: what's their dynamic, exactly? I'm open to many possibilities, for example an Alma who's just as much of a cosmic pessimist as her esteemed husband! Cabanela & Pigeon Man: unexpected intergenerational friendship of my heart, Cabs is A Lot and Pigeon Man expertly wrangles him. Guess he’s good with birds Cabanela/Jowd: please let them be intensely ridiculous about their attraction Emma & Jowd: double menace pls Jowd & Pigeon Man: what sparked PM's unshakeable devotion toward Jowd? Alma/Cabanela: fashion! and legs! Clothes swap? Some time on their own?

PYRE

Bertrude/Pam: they get each other quietly… anything based on their paired ending, especially Downside? Ignarius & Oralech: I’d just like to weaponize Iggy’s fascination for big survivor demons and point it at an unsuspecting Oralech, for fun Oralech/Tariq: beyond the Scribes' vision… Oralech/Volfred: Downside reunion! How do you let go of all that mis-aimed anger AND mourning? Volfred & Pam: here's a guy who's very pragmatic about reaching his idealistic goals, and a gal who's a trained agent. Or maybe just two teammates after a rite. Volfred/Tariq: Tariq's small attempts at defiance?

DISCO ELYSIUM

Call Me Mañana & Steban: that time when Steban tried to talk Mañana into joining the group and it sounded like he was hitting on him (at least according to Harry, who is, on occasion, an uncannily accurate judge for this sort of thing) was fun! What about a second meeting between them, or would Steban be willing to just sit next to him and talk? DJ Flacio & DJ Mesh & Kim: I just want Kim to meet his loud, vulgar, communist-leaning (according to one line in reply to Harry, at least) heroes. Maybe after he got his shout-out? (Harry and Kim/Harry welcome if you want) Liz/Cindy: Things got very real very fast for Liz at the tribunal, can actual gang member Cindy help her through it or make things worse? Dros & Nilsen: bitter, cancelled old codgers, how unpleasant could they get? I like to picture Nilsen's ghost bothering assorted leftists in the game and Dros could do with the company… Uli/Steban: a Wirrâl session turning intensely homoerotically charged? Anything else turning intensely homoerotically charged (looking at the canon slap, it's kind of what they do)? What Mazov/Nilsen parallel do they see in themselves?

SACRED AND TERRIBLE AIR

Khan & Nilsen: as one of Elysium's famous disappearances (as per a stray line by Lilienne in the game), Nilsen should by all means be part of Khan's special interest. Khan who, for his part, dresses as a dialectical materialist, so did he like what he was reading about Elysium's Most Cancelled? Khan & Tereesz & Jesper: any exploration of their strange, frayed friendship, the ways in which they care for each other, their breaking points, how they're all called to the void… Khan & Zigi: does Khan find him, at the end of the world? Or is Zigi forever out of reach, beyond even the totality of the pale? Or does Khan manage to reach Rodionov's Trench at last, in dreams or otherwise? Mazov/Nilsen: they held hands… any exploration of any part of their lives (first meeting? Nilsen's return from his feral hut era? Reunion in the pale?) and their beliefs and their opposite responses to defeat? Lund sisters & Rodionov: party at the heart of the pale! Tereesz & Frantiček the Brave: echoes, archetypes, feeling the weight of dead revolutionaries and joining the ICP, the same story happening again, once as tragedy twice as farce… Zigi & Nilsen: ngl I need seven seasons and a movie of these two. The dialectical angle is great, the embodiment of the core dialogue between communism and nihilism, the imaginary frenemy angle is great, the ghost story is great, the concerning amount of applicable Breaking Bad memes is also great, and so on…

FULL CORE STATE NIHILIST

Esteban/Hulio: political posturing and transgressiveness bleeding in and out of actual queerness. Any exploration of nihilist, petrofascist Innocentic seat and global superpower Mesque is welcome, as well as the characters' approach to nihilism vis-à-vis Ambrosius'!

PENTIMENT

Gnaziu/Baltas: I love Baltas' whole thing and seriously what is UP with Gnaziu. I thought I'd missed some plot but he's just… hanging out there? How does he spent his days over at Baltas', in this little village so far away from home… Magdalene & Andreas: post-canon letters, maybe even a collaboration on some book to print? Otto & Ulrich: they were my act 2 faves and I just think they're neat? ;^; to Tassing's martyrs, to their kindness…

#WIP #letter

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thetradeway · 3 years

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Session 32: 13 Feb 2021 A thumbs-in-eyes sort of sitch

We start at 6; no, we start at 6.30!

Right - this bunch of randos. Ria has approached Gunna, and the halfling Jirr greets Tarragon. She offers to take Popcorn to the cellar for some meat scraps; she accepts.

Tarragon asks Jirr about the randos. She’s not familiar, they’re new. One came in looking scared, has been drinking for about an hour. Kessler goes on up and gives it the full Riker with a tiny stool.

Ria and Gunna have left, in a hurry. We decide to pursue, and Kessler will remain to interview the two at our table. Gideon decides to stay and drink. He goes to Jirr to ask for a jug and a tankard. 5 cp, thanks.

Or we don’t pursue Gunna? Ahleqs wants to order something dangerously strong. Gideon asks after Bromrich, the dwarf friend he made. Apparently he’s been in, asking after Gideon. Seemed to be on a bender, said it wasn’t especially important.

It’ll be 9gp for a tankard of the strongest stuff - firewine. The second strongest is only a silver piece, but that’s because it’s gross. He ponys up for the firewine, but offers 6gp. 21 persuasion, yes okay. He sits close to us in case something goes wrong. Fiery and hot but pleasant. (Cinnamon whiskey!) He is still immune to getting drunk, however. Jirr watches with concern.

Gideon takes a sip - makes a CON check. 22! He enjoys it. It goes down a treat! He is reluctant to hand it back.

(Duncan voice: “very smooth”)

Kessler is asking the two at the table what’s the what. They just stare into middle distance, not seeming to hear her. She pokes the cleric (?). (Matthew seems to be asking questions in the cleric’s voice - I am briefly confused.) The hooded figure does not respond either. She tells them that this is our table and they have to move.

Wait - hold on, the priest is talking, voiced by Matthew? I am very confused now.

Ahleqs apologises for Kessler, and asks if they would like a sip of his firewine, holding it out to the hooded figure. Brother Carl apparently doesn’t imbibe alcohol, the priest tells us. Ahleqs tries to push the hood off the head of the figure - he is batted away.

Brother Carl’s companion is being voiced by Matthew, still. What’s going on?

This cleric/paladin/priest says he’s been gone a while and is having trouble adjusting. His family have passed on, apparently. His name is Brother Charity.

(Gunna is no longer in the Player Characters list on roll20…)

He holds up a holy symbol and asks if we recognise it. Kessler makes an Insight check; Brother Charity seems to be on the level. Kessler recognises the symbol Brother Charity holds up - it is the symbol of Helm.

Ahleqs reaches out to have a look at it, but it’s on a necklace.

The door opens and more drunken patrons arrive.

The Church of Helm looks after those who can’t look after themselves; defenders of the weak and vulnerable. Charity represents a new form of thought within his church. He engages with no immoral activity whatsoever.

While we were all talking, Cass gets up on the tables and starts to dance. Ahleqs, not-drunk on firewine, decides to join in, but fails his Performance check.

Brother Charity seems to be getting drunk.

Melaina has gone after Gunna but can’t find him so she comes back and orders some wine. Tarragon notices that the new patrons are getting a bit handsy with Cass.

Tarragon tries to make eye contact with Cass but can’t make herself seen so she elbows her way to the front. Does Cass want her to beat some asses? They exchange a smile, and Cass cracks her flagon over the head of the nearest pest. Roll initiative!

(Ed asks for clarification re. Matthew’s new character; is told ‘you don’t know’. What the shit? Has Gunna left us?)

Barroom brawl rules: no weapons, no magic.

Roll a d20 and add STR or DEX mod and proficiency bonus. Damage = 1d4+4.

Melaina throws a punch and hits. Ahleqs gets a bottle smashed over his head; he uses Bend Luck to expend two sorcery points to roll a d4 and subtract that from the thug’s result. It still hits him, though. Damn!

Brother Carl rises up from his seat - looks at Brother Charity and holds an action.

Jirr ducks down behind the bar; a heavily tattooed dwarf sitting by the stairway is surprised by a punch from her to the back of his head. He staggers forward as if hit with a brick.

The bowler-hatted woman hits Jirr right in the jaw.

Ahleqs, as the weakest person in the entire pub, uses DEX rather than STR and goes for a trip attack on the guy who hit him. The guy chins himself on the corner of a table. Tarragon approves!

Gideon is just trying to enjoy his drink, man! Has anyone actively hit him yet? No, don’t think so. He’s still sitting at the table. He sits out his turn and continues his drink.

Brother Charity excuses himself past Tarragon and goes to the burly dwarf with the beard. He asks if the dwarf is aware of the implications of hitting a man of the cloth; the dwarf spits. “Well that’s very rude.” Charity tells the dwarf to consider his choices in life, and perhaps walk away; this forces a WIS save. Huh.

(Ahleqs, turning to Gideon, impressed: “He negotiates!”)

Melaina feels a crack across her back and turns - she’s been smacked by a dwarf. She would have halved the damage with her Evasion, but she was facing away and didn’t see him.

A bottle flies over Kessler’s shoulder from behind and smashes on the table; she hears a “shit!” from behind her. There is a wildly drunk elf behind her. She stands, punches her gloves together and says “my turn.” She specifies non-lethal damage before punching with her gauntlets.

She tries to verbally subdue the entire pub but fails, so pulls out her horn to summon the Watch. We are all briefly horrified by this before turning back to the fight.

Tarragon Rages and goes for the knees of the woman next to her with a 20; Ahleqs uses a new ability to give her another 3 for a total of 23. She bites her knees.

The dwarf throws a punch at Brother Charity; the woman grappled by Tarragon tries to break free and fails; Cass continues her scrap with the bowler-hatted woman.

Melaina gives the ginger hairy guy an elbow for 8 damage. Another rancid joker (DM’s words) punches Melaina and hits - she saw it coming so she can Uncanny Dodge to halve the damage.

Someone punches Ahleqs; he whimpers as a free action.

Brother Carl looks at the table, shakes his head, a tiny sigh, “whyioughtta”. He was trying to get away from this kind of life. The guy attacking Ahleqs is big and burly and mad as hell. Brother Carl socks him in the face, and just stands there “like Jason Voorhies”.

Jirr darts around the corner, punches the tattooed dwarf, who goes down. Bowler hat throws a punch at Cass. Ahleqs is in his first ever bar fight. Instinct tells him that under the table is the safest place. The guy he tripped looks pretty bloodied by this point. He decides to throw a punch! No - he pushes him as hard as he can, hoping he will fall into the table. He rolls a 5 total for his attack, with his little noodle arms, and pushes himself into the wall. He drops to his knees and gets under a table. He can now add 4 to his AC.

This isn’t going to stop, is it? Gideon asks himself. To get involved, or remain seated? He didn’t come here to brawl! Who’s on whose side? It seems a bit of a free for all, but mostly it’s us and the Dagger staff versus the rabble. He gets up and wallops Bowler Hat in the stomach. (Brother Charity tells him it’s bad form to hit a woman, but it seems Gideon has stopped caring.) He gets a nat 20!

He rolls on the new crit table: Something slipped. Max damage and the targets AC is reduced by 2d4 until the end of its next turn. Woo! It’s enough to put the bitch down.

(Tarragon is very proud.)

Gideon looks around, glowers at everyone, marches back to his table and sits back down to continue his drink.

Brother Charity decides to try diplomacy again. “You, sir!” another WIS save; 17 which is a success. “Fine. If we can’t do this reasonably. Carl - strike them all!”

The doors to the inn open, and two well dressed nobles - the woman says “quickly dear, in here!”

We all freeze mid-punch. They are very well dressed and look out of place. That’s not the city watch!

The drunken elf swings at Kessler and misses. It’s her turn. She attacks with her thunder gauntlets again. She calls for backup again. We all hear in the distance a return call.

(Gideon trips and falls IRL.)

The noble steps over Bowler Hat and tries to slot Cass across the face, telling her to put some clothes on.

Tarragon throws a punch above her head and hits the woman she’s grappling right in the fork, doing a d6 damage plus her rage, grinning the whole time. She’s having an absolute whale.

The noble slaps Kessler; Gideon is greatly amused. The slap fails to connect, sadly.

The half orc throws a punch at Kessler’s face; she takes 3 damage.

The pinned woman wriggles but still can’t break free. Tarragon demands to know why she isn’t hitting her!

Cass punches the nobleman square in the face and he goes down.

Melaina goes for a punch and does 8 damage; she hears a pop and his nose starts to bleed. He doesn’t seem to mind.

His charmless friend tries to headbutt her, and misses.

Some guy reaches under the table to try and fish Ahleqs out; Gideon aims a kick at him - and he goes down!

Brother Carl walks over an unconscious body and stands on it. He looks awkwardly CGI’d like Han Solo walking behind Jabba the Hut. He whacks a half elf and hits for 6 damage - and grapples him. Not in a nice action movie way, in an extremely unpleasant way. This is very much an 18 cert situation. Not in a sexy way, in a violent way. Thumbs in eye sockets sort of sitch.

Melaina and Tarragon spot Jirr darting under the bar stools - she pops up next to the dwarf and punches him in the head. 8 damage and the dwarf goes down!

Ahleqs, from his vantage under the table, tries to tangle a bar stool in the legs of the woman that Tarragon is grappling. He rolls a 5, but the woman rolls a 3 so she and Tarragon are now rolling around on the floor - Ahleqs and Tarragon share a grin.

Brother Carl has hold of a half elf, within kicking range of Gideon, so he goes for it, between definitely not drinking everyone else’s drinks, and connects. 5 damage!

The doors open again and Ria appears in the doorway. She looks around, takes a deep breath, and wades into the fight.

Brother Charity looks around; is anyone looking at him? Yes, one guy is, but he’s absolutely shitfaced. He takes his club out of his pocket (NO WEAPONS!) and takes a swing, but rolls a 3. Now people do look at him. He drops the club. “Where did that come from?”

We make perception checks; we all hear the Watch’s horn, but it’s closer now.

17 to hit Kessler misses. She turns to the noblewoman and rushes forward, leaping to latch on to her and knock her out of the door. Fails with a nat 1.

Tarragon screams at the woman to hit her, punches her - and she falls unconscious. Tarragon is very disappointed. “This one’s broken, I need a new one!”

Ria takes hold of the noblewoman and nuts her, and drops her unconscious body on the floor. Tarragon cheers.

The guy wriggles free of Brother Carl’s grip, and grins at him.

Kessler makes a contested STR check against the nobleman. He punches her with a crit.

Brother Charity and Melaina both see Cass pick up a drunken schmuck and catch him right in the chin.

(Matthew: “Honey, do you want to punch the horrible dwarf in front of you?” Sophie, from the kitchen: “Do I!”) She misses; he throws a punch back and also misses.

Brother Carl does some more Jason Voorhies staring. He looks at his gauntlet and back up (it’s metal, like the Nazgul). He makes a punch and Natty 20s it. He’s hammering his victim like a tent peg.

We are near some windows, so for flavour, Brother Carl would like to have punched him through a window. DM says it would be through, but the bars between the panes are metal.

Jirr disappears, reappears, and punches some joker in the shin. He goes down.

Ahleqs moves, stands up, uncorks his bottle, and takes a little swig. He takes the dodge action, just in case.

Gideon can’t reach either remaining chump; we see the cogs turning in his head as he looks at a bottle on the table and then back up at an elf. He grasps it like a club and hucks it at him, yelling “Goblin! Duck!” He misses, and goes back to his drink.

Brother Charity decides that’s the end of that dreadful business. Is anyone around him looking bloodied? He tries to cast Cure Wounds on Melaina; she says she’s ok. He does it anyway; she says she doesn’t trust him. He walks away and she takes an attack of opportunity on him. “Ow, what the hell?”

18 to hit Kessler? That’s a hit. She doesn’t reaction-shield. She punches him back with her thunder gauntlets.

Tarragon picks up the stool that Ahleqs tangled in the legs of the woman she was grappling, and flings it clear across the room at the half orc - it hits, doing 8 damage including her rage. Thus ends the best fight Tarragon has ever had.

the bar staff ask us to help move the unconscious ones into the cellar before the fuzz arrive; Gideon wants to know if there is anything of value on the nobles; he plucks a ruby from her necklace. He goes to the bar and helps himself to an ale, leaving a few coppers on the bar.

There is some squabbling over the noblewoman; Kessler wants to throw her to the cops and say the fight was her fault. Brother Charity walks over to Kessler, puts a hand on her shoulder and says “I forgive you.” He walks away.

This must be a regular event because there is straw on the ground ready for the unconscious brawlers.

The watch arrive and ask Kessler what happened. She says the nobles were attacked by ruffians and mugged. The attackers ran away, and she was unable to give chase. She makes a deception check with Melaina’s help. 18; they seem to buy it. They take the nobles away. Brother Charity looks at Kessler and shakes his head.

“And what happens when the nobles wake up?”

There’s no evidence to prove there was a fight, apparently. The bar staff buy us a round of drinks.

Tarragon buys the woman she was grappling a drink; says any time she wants a rumble, Tarragon is ready.

Ria approaches us with a letter from Gunna. (will add later)

Also, the watch have been after Kessler about the article in the paper. The watch lady who arrives in answer to Kessler’s horn call still has a copy, which she retrieves for Kessler to read. There is also a letter with a summons for her. Uh oh, someone’s in trouble…

Ahleqs asks the bar staff about the nobles; they didn’t look local, by the look of their clothes. Ahleqs thinks perhaps they heard the Watch’s horns and ducked into the nearest pub to take cover.

Jirr tells Kessler she will come and put in a good word, since she covered for them after the brawl. I think we’re all going. Brothers Charity and Carl agree to accompany us.

What is Brother Carl, we ask Brother Chastity - Charity? A man, apparently. Charity gave him his habit.

Kessler: “was it a bad habit?”

Tarragon: “You should go to jail just for that.”

Chastity asks her why she’s in the Watch if she has artificing skills; family ties, apparently.

We go to Castle Waterdeep in the Castle Ward, to the 4th floor.

Xorone of the Libram is overseeing Kessler’s hearing personally. A gloriously corpulent fellow, a dragonborn in very fancy robes.

Ahleqs: “Is Mr. Pickles in Waterdeep?” He comes from the Temple of Mystra in Waterdeep, and he may be hearing from him soon. We explain about Mr. Pickles to the Brothers.

We are shown into Xorone’s office; Gideon admires his obsidian-like desk. A snotty halfling appears - we recognise Blossom Snobeedle. Xorone appears shortly after.

Formalities; Kessler accuses Blossom of murder; Gideon muses that he won’t need to say anything, she’ll take herself down.

She says we were deputised; Brother Charity and Tarragon both immediately point out that they weren’t deputised. Kessler explains about the scarecrow and says she left Blossom under house arrest and says that someone was supposed to come and collect her.

Blossom says she was sold the scarecrow under false pretences, and she never intended for anyone to get hurt.

Xorone scans the room. He points to Melaina; we will start with her. Was Kessler’s behaviour justified? She thinks it was; she makes a persuasion check. a ten. Xorone turns to Gideon. What’s his take on this?

He scans the room for somewhere to perch; there is a stool. Gideon rests his ageing bones on it, laces his fingers together. There is a looooooooooot of old-man waffling. He says that before he travelled with Kessler he thought there was no such thing as a good goblin. Now that he’s travelled with her, he’s *certain* that there’s no such thing as a good goblin. That said, the areas where we’ve travelled are safer now, in part thanks to her. He doesn’t really believe in what he’s saying so he makes a deception check - a nat 1.

Ahleqs starts visibly sweating when called upon. He says she’s very brave and has a sense of right and wrong, but she frightens him a bit. He didn’t believe she was a police officer until - well, just now, actually. He touches where he believes his forelock to be; he is wrong. He rolls a nat 20 on persuasion.

Tarragon thinks she’s heavy handed; there was no reason to arrest Blossom. Also she didn’t want to be deputised. Rolls a 16 persuasion.

Xorone looks to Brother Charity. Has he travelled with Kessler long? No! Just met her today!

He has learnt about her over the course of our encounter in the Dripping Dagger. As a man of a god, he feels that he can see the character of a person. Perhaps Xorone has wandered into a neighbour’s garden or hovel and stolen something. This does not define him though. He saw her defuse a situation that could have gone horribly awry, but this goblin (not a construct, as he first believed) is inherently a good person. He makes his check at disadvantage as he’s only met her today; rolls a nat 1.

Jirr steps up to say that she works at the Dagger where we have all been staying, and they have had no trouble with Kessler. In fact today she helped some nobles who were attacked outside the Dagger. She rolls a 14 for her persuasion-slash-deception.

Kessler rolls persuasion in her own defence - rolls a ten.

Blossom snobeedle makes her case. This nasty goblin gives all the officers a bad name, and she’s a beast of a person. She rolls a 16.

We have all made our case; Xorone leaves the room to deliberate. Kessler makes a veiled threat toward Blossom in spite of advice from her ad hoc lawyer Charity.

Xorone reappears and sits behind his desk. Some people clearly think she’s a good officer and he is disinclined to fire her outright.

Kessler quits the force.

Xorone gives her a half smile. “If that’s what you wish.” No mark on her record, and he will see her at the tower of the Watchful Order. He takes her badge and we are allowed to leave. Kessler does fingers to her eyes, then fingers to Snobeedle. Makes an intimidation check for a 15. Snobeedle audibly chokes. We hear her telling Xorone about how she needs protection.

Ahleqs tells Kessler that he meant every word; she’s brave but she scares him and she’s a TERRIBLE watchwoman.

Jirr shouts us all drinks.

Ahleqs sees a familiar face smoking a pipe at one of the tables - it’s Mr. Pickles! He drops his drink and rushes over. (Brother Charity thought Al-Miraj’s were made up.)

“Ahleqs old boy!” Ahleqs doesn’t know what to say.

Mr. Pickles says that one of Ahleqs’ party are carrying something that is a potential danger to the city. Melaina, he says is the one holding it. (?) We spent some time in a haunted mansion; we slew a night hag. Did we bring something back from the mansion?

Melaina - yes, there was a scroll? A stone, or something?

It would appear to untrained eyes as a gemstone.

Melaina, suddenly horrified: “No, no, no, that’s mine! It’s really shiny! You’re not having it!”

One of Brother Charity’s eyes is the same colour as the stone that Melaina is refusing to give up. (Only one? I don’t remember writing this.) Mr Pickles tells her we need to hand that in to the Order or at the Temple. The gem is evil and should be locked away.

Nothing bad’s happened yet…? She’ll think about it. “Thanks, bunny.”

The gem can sap the very life essence from a body. Kessler wants to try it. (Does Kessler have a last name? Gideon: Well according to Xorone, her name is “Kessler, Kessler, Kessler.”)

Brother Charity wants to try a drink called the Flaming Sambuca…?

Ahleqs asks Mr Pickles if they can talk somewhere quiet. He can join him at the temple of Mystra later. Mr. Pickles offers Melaina 750 gp for the gem. Are we sure he’s good people? She says she’ll hand it to the Watch.

“Must be either the tower, or the temple. See that you do one of those.”

(Matthew, OOC: “Bidding war?”)

It’s up to Melaina what she wants to do. It is terribly shiny… That said, gold isn’t evil. Brother Charity asks to see the gem. Makes an Arcana check; a ten. It is emitting faint necrotic energy. He believes Mr. Pickles is correct.

Melaina has a look. It will sap energy from a person and do damage over time. It should probably be locked away somewhere. She decides, reluctantly, to hand it in at the tower of the Order. She does tell them she has a rabbit friend who says it’s worth a thousand gp, not 750. Counter offer of 800; she asks for 850. It is accepted. The gem is lowered into a bag and taken away.

Xorone appears again; Melaina has done the city a favour by handing it in. All of our party who are members of the Order get promoted a rank. Joe will email us (them) a copy of the handbook.

Brother Charity approaches Melaina to apologise for getting all up in her grill; she spits at him. (Clearly very upset about Gunna still.)

Joe asks us for downtime activities for next week. Kessler says she will go job hunting.

Ahleqs will go and see Mr. Pickles, then actually do some research and write down the languages he knows on his character sheet.

Gideon wants to hang out with Bromrich and maybe go and search for some good stone work. Also carousing and bar fighting, now that he’s knows he’s good at it.

Cass lets Melaina know there was a tiefling woman asking after her while we were away. May have been from the criminal underworld. She could do a crime spree if she wanted? She wants to go and do elf shit in the woods.

Ahleqs wants to talk about magic with Mr. Pickles; his magic is scaring him because it almost killed our whole party. He’s afraid of hurting us.

Tarragon makes an Insight check; she noticed a heartstone in Melaina’s bag when she was handing over the gem. It could maybe help Tansy. She asks to borrow it; Melaina gives it to her.

Brother Charity does church stuff.

#dnd #thetradeway #campaign diary

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