#how messed up can i make this family of iterators. just fucking watch i guess
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i’m so thinmking about wt and it’s not fairrrr everything ever happens to them
#WHAT FATE A SENIOR. VINE BOOM#crammerposting#how messed up can i make this family of iterators. just fucking watch i guess#i dont knowwww it’s just like. literally what fate a senior. going through it everytime something happens#ns ns cd fta ns AGAIN oh my god i think sep is gonna be the reason weaving collapses early#grhtghhhhh#paces around my room gripping my head#HEEEELPPP HELP MEEE !!!!!! HHHEELLPPP !!!!!!!!#somebody yalk about weaving to me im gong to lose my damn mind#ive beenstuck in this gayass room for ten thousands years
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2012 has so much room for character analysis. And analysis in general.
I watched it when It was coming out on tv and have been rewatching it for the past couple months very slowwwllllyyyy. Shshsbbdd
Anyway I'm just getting nna ramble my analysis in your direction.
Starting with Mikey! Par tof the reason people sorta cling to Mikey I think is cuz like, splinter sorta ignores him.
It's this sorta odd thing going on where we have scenes like splinter telling Donnie to act more like Mikey cuz he's thinking to much and it's impeding his abilities cuz he's overthinking. Which, is an attempt to address Donnie's anxiety albeit in not the best way but it sorta worked?
Which means splinter is acknowledging mikeys fighting prowess. And that Mikey not thinking to hard and just doing is a good skill to be able to execute.
But ALSO, we get a scene of when the boys first got their weapons, and splinter tells everyone why they're getting what weapon, and why they'll enjoy it. Except Mikey. Mikey just gets nunchucks. Which, is dead ass the hardest weapon to wield there so what the fuck dude?
And Mikey is, so fuckin smart. His brain just in Canon goes too fast for him to remember words and shit. He's so adhd frfr
But Leo is dead ass the golden child. Like, everyone asked to be leader, cuz they are teen boys, but splints chose Leo cuz "he asked for it" and then instills all his ideals in him! He's treated like he's the best at everything and is expected to be the best at everything AND to care for his brothers. And he can only feels like he doesn't really have a life. Which leads into the whole Leo develops a crush on his half sister while not knowing she's his half sister nonsense.
Donnie is just, he's the smart one. He's stressed all the time, but also a. Fucking simp who is never reprimanded by his dad for how he treats april, which he really should be! Having mindmap of every possible way an interaction could go with her is creepy! And literally stalking her!!!! Donnie's also the one who deals with Timothy and he gets in trouble for it with splints despite not even wanting to be dealing with it himself. It's a mess.
Raph has just, obvious anger issues. And splinter does not address them in a healthy way frequently. It's a lot of, "just breathe" and Raph is just: "I want to punch someone or something yesterday."
OH and splint sets his brothers shoot him with plungers while yelling at him and roah like, has a whole ass panic attack. That manifests aggressively cuz raphs anger oh so obviously comes from anxiety. But splinter like never picks up on that.
2012 splints treats the boys like students more then sons ALOT. But also cares about them enough to do shit like, break brain control cuz he didn't wanna kill them ✌️
I could probably word that better but I'm still a little high on laughing gas rn cuz I just had a dentist appointment.
yall be out here writing fandom dissertations & shit after going to the DENTIST yknow what I do after going to the dentist??? lay around in mild agony cause my sensitive ass teeth hurt...
anyway these are fun times.
i still cant get over the fact that i made my neglected turtles stay underground and never go out as a way to reflect my weird family isolation as a kid and then i watched the first ep of 2012 and it was like "yea they're fifteen and they've never left the sewers. they only know each other" and im LIKE!! WHAT!! THEY'VE LITERALLY ALMOST FINISHED PUBERTY AND THEY NEVER LEFT THEIR HOME???? THEY ONLY KNOW EACH OTHER????
i dont think the writers understand how fucked up that makes you and your relationships to people and its just like a part of the turtles story i guess???
LIKE THINKING ABOUT IT, I GET IT, and im sure thats how it is in a lot of tmnt iterations, but thats crazy. these boys would be so fucked up irl.
sorry for the ramble i just aint got much to say about ur analysis, cant say if i agree or not cause i aint even watched much 2012 lol.
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some p!g-drv3 theories (spoilers obvi)
First of all I think people demonize the pg versions wayyy too much because its a good way to be le sexy in like fanfictions. And i get it, villains are hot or whatever. and also hs is a horny age to be. But even the edgiest and horniest of teens aren’t like. that sexual/monstrous. its kind of insane the portrayals people are placing
maybe this could also be like me being older bc when i was early hs i was like yea its fair to place these super mature portrayals on a 18-22 year old they are like adults but young and now im that age and im like woah there pardner. might be an age/maturity thing.
also like its normal for people to relate to and portray characters their same age in a similar fashion, but when adults write more sexual content about the dg kids i get hella fucking sus
idk where i was going with that first comment i guess its like a preface and in the end i think its important when characters especially teenage characters are morally grey not because they’re mature and dark/brooding but because they are still young and learning. fuck im older than like most of them, but im still young and learning. its good to be in turmoil and confused, especially the drv3 cast. they are more confused than anything.
which i think is a reason why people would join dr because if you are completely loss and in turmoil, it is appealing to be given a purpose in life and amazing talents/abilities. despite the morals of danganronpa, it is a simple reality to be told who you are and what to do
OK ONTO HEADCANONS (not doing all bc i dont have thoughts about all)
first of all i understand changing stories but i think, deep down, you can’t change fundamental personalities/values. so while the backstories might be different i think, in the end, a baseline is always the same
SHUICHI being a Bad Boy is like canon obviously but i dont think he’s as manipulative as people make him out to be. i think he falls in the more the bully role that like. mae borowski or tf2′s scout filled before they grew up. rough background, bad anger issues, lots of emotional turmoil, and the only way he knows how to deal with shit is by committing crimes and beating the shit out of people. and, similar to those characters, drv3 represents an older, more emotionally sober yet equally confused version of himself. the urges are still there as foreshadowed in the dialogue. i think he struggles with guilt, mostly survivors, but there is still a lasting impact of guilt of what he did in his past, even if he can’t remember.
KOKICHI is a child. a piece of shit motherfucker child but a child. I really do think he’s like one of the youngest people in the cast. he reminds me a lot of when my brother doesn’t take his adhd medicine and takes jokes way too far and does mean and cruel things because he thinks its funny and that its just a fun joke, but is hurting people. he desperately wants approval, which is why his leader role is so interesting because in the dr narrative he has the approval he craves and so he is satisfied. still, he does try to impress characters like rantaro and values his opinions a lot, even developing a brotherly relationship in the time they knew each other. this being said, its established kokichi was bullied before, but i dont think he’s like. the wimp people make him out to be. i think he’s more of like the class clown who desperately uses humor to make people like him, and ends up resorting to be the butt of most of his jokes. you don’t just develop a good sense of humor out of a brainwash, and that’s not something you can program in. i think that was a remnant of before, and he’s so good at bullying people and coming up with roasts - i just think that in p!g the roasts were about him.
KAEDE is baby but her p!g personality seriously reminds me of any ~quirky/edgy~ girl in a teen coming of age story who tries to be edgy and cool and act like she doesn’t care but deep down, she really does. if she didn’t have an empathetic personality, she wouldn’t want to end the game. i also think she has that self-identifying QuIrKy personality because its like she lives in her own narrative, practically announcing this story is about her and she is the protagonist. i know i used to self narrate like that and distinguish how i was different when i was like. 15-16. she has a tumblr.
I really like the theory where KAITO is a make-a-wish kid who was better when he was younger but relapses later in teens. he never used his wish before, so he decides to use it now to be on danganronpa and become the hero he always wanted to be. i also think he might have joined as a way to raise awareness about adolescent healthcare. definitely the type who puts on a “heroic” character to make everyone else feel better about the fact he is literally dying of a terminal illness, and keeps that act up till the end.
i think KOREKIYO is still a serial killer. i think honestly a reason why he mightve auditioned for danganronpa is because he is a serial killer. maybe his sister found out and he felt so much shame that’s why he auditioned. he probably mentioned why in his interview because duh, tell them im a serial killer and then only reason im coming clean is my sister found out and im ashamed, that is like a guarantee to get on the show. i LOVE the theory that his sister is still alive, however, and has to watch her brother go insane because they wrote her into the story as the villain. because technically, she brought on this guilt, and is the reason why he auditioned - as a way to cause despair, twist it around so she’s the one to blame for his insanity. also, because its pretty accepted DR members become celebrities, kork’s sister is totally bombarded with paparazzi and is demonized in the media. she might end up writing a tell-all memoir about kork’s actual childhood and personality. quiet kid, thoughtful, interested in anthropology, she never thought he’d hurt a fly. watching her brother go insane probably destroyed her.
I also think, timeline wise, kork is probably one of the oldest members along with rantaro. tbh i think kork actually graduated hs and went on a gap year doing the whole “hitchhike around the world to discover myself thing” which is where he began killing people. he was getting ready to go to college when his sister found out about what he did. this is when he decided to go on danganronpa instead of university. this would help explain why he knows so much about other cultures/travel/been so many places with so many memories/killed/is knowledgable on a level most other students are not. this would place him at like, 20-21, where everyone else is like 15-18.
ok so there’s two p!g RANTARO, p!g before 53 and p!p!g before 52. i’d like to establish now i think rantaro is the oldest of the characters, seeing as though he was already pretty old to begin with in 52, it takes time between television seasons, and he was in another game. so im placing him like 21-23, similar to yasuhiro in d1 being so much older than everyone else. i do think, in all iterations, rantaro was pretty much raising his sisters, though i don’t think he had twelve like the story (i think that’s an exaggeration, his sisters mean a lot to him, lets make him have a TON and then lose them all and feel GUILTY) rantaro joined the first game, partially to get money for his family and hopefully establish them as celebrities and let them have a comfy lifestyle, even if he doesn’t live...and also to finally ahve some sort of experience without his siblings tagging along. if he’s been raising his sisters all his life, he’s never had like something that’s JUST his. that’s his adventure. 52 is his ULTIMATE adventure. ahaha. mostly for money, kind of dreading it, still a tiny bit excited
ok p!g rantaro between 52 and 53 probably came back broken. he did the signings and appearances, but mostly wanted to spend time with his family and make sure they were set up. i think he knew the whole like few months between seasons he had to go on another show, but he did’t tell his sisters. his family found out when they saw a billboard with his face plastered on it hyping up the return of a fan favorite. yikes!
ok i get it a lot of people hate HIMIKO but i think she’s not nearly as similar as other “useless” characters in other games. its like, pretty clear she’s depressed, and the only thing she’s holding onto with dear life is magic. lack of hygiene, lack of personal care, constantly tired, social interaction exhausts - she has depression, but she’s not an UWU depressed character. so people find her depressive traits (which are some of the most realistic portrayals of mental health in the series) SUPER annoygin. she joined dr because she was completely lost and needed some sort of direction in her life, even if she’ll die for it. the thing is, even with direction, her mental state didn’t change because she wasn’t getting legitimate help. it’s like that one SNL skit that’s like. same sad you from before but in a new place. i also think she knows the magic is not real, because how could she not. i think she’s so adamant that it IS real, less as a way to convince others, and more of a way to convince herself. it’s like really super cruel that team danganronpa took a girl who is desperate for meaning and gave her literally a meaningless, fake talent.
i also kin himiko and find her a comfort character because i feel seen by her, replacing her useless talent of magic with mine of like shitty film making and comedy. i am seen.
related i don’t think she’s nearly as ugly as everyone says she is, i think she’s probably just depressed and takes absolutely no care of her hygiene and sleep and looks like sick and greasy all the time. same queen.
honest to god i think RYOMA’s backstory, tennis and all, is like 100% real and he’s the only one who keeps all of his memories except for the fact this is a tv show. i think he rolled up, a hot fucking mess, and the danganronpa team were like damn. we cannot improve upon this.
#ryoma hoshi#himiko yumeno#rantaro amami#korekiyo shinguji#kaito momota#kaede akamatsu#shuichi saihara#kokichi ouma#drv3#killing harmony#pg dr#pre!game danganronpa#danganronpa#theories#danganronpa spoilers
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Chapter 1: Dragon Yuuri AU
The Last Dragon: Flight by satbiym
Word Count: 2.2K, Chapters: 1/?, Warnings: None
Written for prompt 95 of @wewritevictuuri “There’s no going back if we do this.”
Summary:
Beware traveller, for here be dragons…”
I sure fucking hope so, Victor thought as he pushed open the door to the fenced off caves.
Upon being commissioned to make a serious documentary on dragons by a rich tycoon; famous scientist, Victor Nikiforov was determined to rise to challenge and overcome all barriers that stood in his way; even if one of those barriers was the fact that dragons didn’t technically exist.
A rumour of a so-called dragon skeleton has Victor rushing to film the results, only, the skeleton brings more questions than answers. Every scientist worth their salt knows not to bias their results with personal opinions, but...
Dragons aren’t real, right?
Although, the blue dragon in front of him is pretty convincing evidence to the contrary.
Continuation of a fic originally written for the @isekaiyoizine
Read it on AO3 or below!
No creature above all others has haunted our imagination, on land and in the air, like the dragon.
Dragons have left their mark in the folklore of our ancestors, but what if these fantastic stories were more than myth?
What if the legends of these magnificent creatures were true…
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The locals called Hasetsu 'inauspicious', steering clear of it and making sure it remained undisturbed by both man and machine. Unfortunately, the advent of progress and the greed of man waits for none, and eventually, eyes turned towards Hasetsu to satisfy the need for more, more, more.
They laughed off the warnings of the locals and dismissed their stories as ramblings of the uneducated, for who else would cite folklore as reason enough to throw away potentially millions of dollars in real estate?
Palms were greased, permits were signed and companies were hired to build the next iteration of the future.
The engineers responsible for construction expected to find only overgrown flora and fauna, something they knew how to handle. But what they didn't expect was to find themselves right in the middle of a centuries-old crime scene.
The Chief Engineer took off his hard-hat and resisted the urge to curse as the smell of vomit mixed with the already putrid smell of human remains. This project had just gotten a lot more complicated.
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This is the story of a unique family that survived from the time of the dinosaur to make a final stand four hundred years ago, a scientific exploration of a remarkable species...
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"Victor Nikiforov, you have been the face of Paleontology and are considered one of the most important scientists of this millenium. We are curious - what do you think about when you're in the field, trying to discover something?" The talk-show show asked, as the children around them, visible even though the bright stage lights, screamed their approval.
Victor smiled a bit and straightening his glasses, said, "To be honest, Ellen, I try not to predict what I might find as this might taint my results and may even make me unable to see what's right there in front of my eyes, simply because it didn't fit with my worldview. I prefer to choose science over emotions in that sense."
Ellen laughed, sounding delighted, and chimed, "There you have it, folks! From the mouth of one of the best scientists in recent history! Don't taint the results!"
"Well that, and remember kids, the only difference between science and messing around is..." Victor said, lilting and urging.
"Writing it down!" the audience shouted back.
"Beautiful!" Ellen said, miming wiping away a tear, "You are all wonderful scientists! And with that we take a break before we come back and Victor here will show us how to properly excavate during a dig and who knows what we'll find there..."
Victor kept smiling as commercials rolled and the makeup artist came over to refresh his look, silently handing over a tissue to Victor's murmured thanks.
"The lights, huh?"
Victor looked over at Ellen and huffed out a wry laugh, "Yeah, even after doing this for five years, my eyes still tear up."
Leaning forward, she said, "Well, despite them, you did a wonderful job today. But now that the cameras are off, I am curious about something…"
Forcing his smile from stilting, Victor quirked an eyebrow and gave her a nod to go ahead, affecting curiosity despite knowing the question.
"I guess, what I really want to know is - what can we expect next from Victor Nikiforov?" Ellen asked, unaware of the dread pooling in Victor's gut.
Victor hummed, as if considering the question, and with a tone that belied the reality that this very question had lead to many sleepless nights, said, "To be honest, I don't know myself. My field is highly dependent on nature, and nature is the most imaginative creator of them all. You could either try to constrain it by leasing it like a wild horse or make sure you've held on tight and enjoy the ride. Personally, I prefer allowing myself to be surprised. It's more fun that way."
"And make sure you don't fall off, yeah?" Ellen asked mischievously, shattering the ice around Victor's throat.
Victor laughed, and nodded, "Oh, yeah, that too."
Ellen shook her head, amused, "Ever the diplomat. Fine. Keep your secrets, Victor Nikiforov, I guess I'll just have to wait, like the rest, for your next act."
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… This is the natural history of the most extraordinary creature that never existed.
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Victor resisted the urge to fidget as the helicopter began its descent, he hadn't expected to wake up this morning to a message from the office of the CEO of Paladin Ventures requesting his presence at his earliest availability. Considering Paladin Ventures was responsible for his current multi-million dollar grant that enabled him to continue his research while maintaining his freedom from the leashes of academia…
Let's just say, Victor's earliest availability was suddenly a lot sooner than it had been yesterday.
And if the haste with which the helicopter had been sent over at his acquiescence, the media mogul who was responsible for more than half the world's research funding in areas like paleontology, history and restoration, was just as eager to meet him.
Victor could feel his stomach twist, a sensation that only visited him whenever he was on the cusp of something life-changing, he had a feeling that this meeting was going to be the answer he had been looking for.
"We're here, sir. The Paladin is waiting for you." The pilot said, pointing outside, where a seemingly ordinary man stood, smile visible even from the helicopter.
The man waved on seeing them, and ran towards them, opening the chopper's door before anyone else could and shouted over the noise of the blades.
"There you are, Victor! I have a mission for you and it's all our dreams come true!"
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As a kid, I was mad about dragons;
Dragons from the high seas, flying dragons from Greenland, fire-breathing dragons from Europe and here's the thing that got me, these myths came from all over the world, right? From cultures that could never have met and yet from the Andes to the Himalayas you could hear stories of dragons and…
Here's a kid's best guess, the only way that's possible is if the stories were real.
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Victor, seated in a helicopter for the second time in 24 hours, was still reeling from the information he had received, been commanded to verify and document.
They've found something, in Japan. Something the Japanese government is very hush-hush about, but I was able to finagle a first look at. Of course, if it turns out to be a hoax… but anyway! If it is what the rumours say it is… well then, it would all have been worth it. I need you to go and bring back all you find.
Victor closed his eyes, when he remembered the fanatic and helpless excitement on the Paladin's face, like this was the break he had been looking for.
But, empathy or not, Victor couldn't see how what the Paladin had told him could possibly be true. There was just no way that-
"Do you believe the story the Richie Rich's trying to sell us, Baldie?" a voice said, aggressive in intent and content.
Eyeing the pilot who was still focused on flying, thank god, Victor smiled and lightly said, "Nature isn't constrained by our imagination, Yura. Remember-"
"Yeah, yeah," Yuri asserted derisively before laying a hand on his chest and as if reciting an oft-repeated phrase, "Don't predict what you might find as this might taint the results yada, yada, yada. Yes. I've heard the press spiel, Victor, but you cannot tell me you seriously believe him?! All rich people have their eccentricities. His is just sending us on a pointless goose chase."
Victor laughed lightly, "Why Yura, I didn't know you watched my interviews!"
Despite the rage emanating from Yuri's silence, Victor, from the backseat, could see the way Yuri's ears went red.
"You - shut up! You're insufferable! And impossible to avoid, you're everywhere, it's disgusting!" Yuri spluttered, ears still a bright cherry red.
Victor opened his mouth to parry back, but was cut off by a curt sound from the pilot. They turned, only to see a barren wasteland that looked as though it had been abandoned in a hurry, greet them welcome.
They had, it appeared, arrived in Hasetsu.
And by the uniformed person waiting for them, they had a welcoming party.
Victor got off the helicopter, but the noise and wind weren't enough to block out the first words from the person outside's mouth.
"I don't know what you're expecting to find here Dr. Nikiforov, but this ain't like your usual kind of dig."
Victor smiled wanly as Yuri cursed lowly behind him as he carried the equipment out of the helicopter, and stepped forward to shake the uniformed policeman's hand, replying "Thank you for your concern, but there is always something that can be learnt from every experience. What happened exactly?"
The policeman just shook his head, gesturing toward them to follow him, said "Then I'm afraid, this is something you need to experience yourself to understand. I'm the Chief of Police around here, but even I haven't seen anything like this. Come on then, might as well get right to it."
Bemused, Victor followed along, with a grumbling Yuri behind him.
As they walked into the forest, the trees becoming denser and more untouched by the machinations of the contractors, the Chief explained, "We told the higher-ups that this forest was cursed. For centuries no one has ventured up here, and we were right not to! For look what they found!"
Yuri sighed irritably, "You're trying to tell me that some centuries-old human remains were enough to warn an entire village off of the forest? You've got to be kidding me."
Victor sent Yuri a warning look, as the Police Chief shuddered, "It wasn't the human remains that were the problem, young man."
"Eh?" Yuri said, forehead beaded with sweat from carrying around the equipment under the hot sun, but the Chief wasn't willing to answer any further questions.
They walked into a forest that seemed almost regal in its staid dignity, sun filtering through the trees and the chirping of the birds. If it wasn't for Yuri's continued grumbling, Victor would have thought he had entered a whole new world. They walked deeper until the light of the sun was almost blocked by the overarching trees, forcing Victor to rely on his torch.
The ruins emerged from the trees, tall and proud, despite the weight of the years and beseeching weather.
Even Yuri couldn't stifle a gasp as they walked towards the almost palatial dwelling that the ruins seemed to be built around, the stones in the path glittering.
"What-" Yuri started to ask, before he gasped, almost dropping the equipment he was carrying.
Victor was distantly aware of the Chief praying beside him, but even the proximity of the noise couldn't make him turn his eyes away from the scene in front of him.
Dark marks surrounded the center dwelling, across the glittering paths, burning its way through the tens of hundreds of fallen human bodies on the ground.
But, that wasn't what gave them all pause.
It wasn't the human remains that were the problem, young man.
"Is that - What are that those?!" Yuri shrieked as he pointed at the other remains strewn around the dwelling.
Victor had always believed that nature could not be predicted or contained, but even he couldn't believe the sight in front of him: skeletons with bone structures he had never seen before, with the smallest one towering over them, as tall as a skyscraper and just as slim.
Victor slowly set his bag down to investigate further, only to have his arm be grabbed by Yuri.
"What do you think you're doing?" Yuri exclaimed, eyes wide.
"What I was sent here to do, Yura." Victor said gently.
"No! This isn't your job, this is- is- something neither one of us signed on for! It's unnatural!" Yuri said shrilly, still staring at the skeletons with a frantic look in his eyes.
"Yura." Victor said simply.
At that, Yuri seemed to remember himself, eyes losing their bewilderment, but he still clutched Victor's arm tighter, unwilling to let go.
"Yura." Victor tried again, and said evenly, "We are scientists. It is our responsibility to make sense of the seemingly unnatural. Even if it means that our lives will never be the same again, we must move forward and tell the story that is true and not just the story we want to hear. Now, I am going to figure this out, I cannot promise what we'll find, but… if you want, you may take the helicopter back home if you so choose."
Yuri for the first time since they'd seen them, looked away from the skeletons, and back at Victor, studying his face for a moment before shaking his head and ruefully murmuring, "There's no going back if we do this, is there?"
Victor let his silence be Yuri's answer.
Yuri took a deep breath, released Victor's arm and with finality, nodded, "Alright then, let's see what we can dig up."
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For this week’s bonus content, it’s time to make like a Lord of the Rings DVD and dig into extended cuts. This Rose & Hal conversation may be one of the ones I chopped the most out of, although I did end up adding a few chunks as well.
ROSE: Oh good, another relative.
ROSE: You're going to make gift shopping difficult, you know.
HALSPRITE: I'm flattered I make the list.
ROSE: Engaging in favoritism will only breed discontent.
HALSPRITE: I could give you some suggestions, if you want to start catching up on my birthdays now.
ROSE: It's a retroactive arrangement?
ROSE: I'm not sure I have the boonbucks for that.
ROSE: We've been living off reserves for the last three years, you know.
HALSPRITE: Tell you what, I'll make it easy on you and only request reparations for the three years I've existed as glasses.
HALSPRITE: Socks and underwear could safely be left off the list, though now I'm in need of a wardrobe expansion.
HALSPRITE: This wifebeater will not be suitable for all climates.
ROSE: If it's wardrobe expansions you're looking for, I think I can pull some strings.
ROSE: Or knit you a sweater.
HALSPRITE: It'd be fun to see what you come up with based on my preceding reputation.
ROSE: I wouldn't want to make assumptions.
ROSE: Unless you're implying those assumptions are accurate.
HALSPRITE: Am I?
HALSPRITE: I wouldn't know, I don't know what those assumptions are.
HALSPRITE: I mean, I can guess. I could probably even calculate to within a margin of error of .03%
HALSPRITE: But I want to see what garish monstrosity of fashion you would think I'd like based on a cold read.
HALSPRITE: It'd be a great way to get to know each other.
HALSPRITE: I can think of no better way to bond than finding out if I'd actually like an intentionally hideous Christmas sweater with smuppets attached.
ROSE: In the few blurry cryptid photos Dave managed to snap of the man, he wore a hat and had his shirt tucked in.
HALSPRITE: And what conclusions do you draw based on this?
ROSE: That you fit in with most of us and our utter disregard for fripperies like whatever textiles we drape over our quasi-mortal forms.
ROSE: Welcome to the family.
HALSPRITE: Hey, I like you.
HALSPRITE: Hats are a choice piece of attire, though I have never in any form been so formal as to tuck in my shirt.
HALSPRITE: That's like a black tie event. You're tucking in your shirt, we're about to sweep into the gala and sip champagne while charming some young socialite off their feet like a proper douche.
ROSE: I would like to claim I could charm a young socialite off her feet like a proper lady.
ROSE: Regrettably, another family trait is lack of flirtatious finesse.
HALSPRITE: Oh, trust me, I witnessed that firsthand.
ROSE: Ah, yes. I've been looking for informants on family foibles outside my observation range.
ROSE: How are you as an informant?
HALSPRITE: Uh, that's only my entire fucking life.
HALSPRITE: I have dirt on every bozo with a Pesterchum handle. Whatcha want to know?
ROSE: I won't start pressing you for details on everyone just yet. I'll give it a while for the dust to settle before I start snooping.
ROSE: Unless you have anything you wish to disclose right now.
HALSPRITE: Hm...
HALSPRITE: Let me pull aside my entirely metaphorical trench coat. Are you in the market for hilariously embarrassing personal secrets, deep-rooted character flaws, or just the general topography of this teenage wasteland?
ROSE: My mind says general topography, but my heart says hilarious embarrassment.
HALSPRITE: Well, since I bet no one wants yet another recap of what you missed on Glee,
HALSPRITE: Jake likes to kiss his movie posters.
HALSPRITE: Dirk collects hats, but doesn't wear them so he doesn't mess up his hair.
HALSPRITE: Roxy has presented her cats, as if to Saharan wildlife, complete with often-drunk renditions of "Circle of Life", exactly 862 times.
HALSPRITE: And Jane licks the spoon before going back to using it to stir batter.
ROSE: We've got a poster kisser too.
ROSE: I don't have up to date dirt on our Prospit dreamers, unfortunately, but I can say that Dave enacts Game of Thrones-worthy dramas with his gummy bears and animal crackers before he eats them.
ROSE: For what it's worth.
ROSE: He gets upset if you eat one before he's finished.
HALSPRITE: An artist in every lifetime, I see.
ROSE: We need better embarrassing secrets. We're slipping.
ROSE: I'm sure we'll have time to generate some.
HALSPRITE: Oh god, yes.
ROSE: I think you'll be useful in gauging my ectofather's temperament, though.
ROSE: He seems to at least hold up the front of being evasive about that kind of thing.
ROSE: Why anyone would do that, I have no idea.
ROSE: Certainly I have never concealed a personality trait in my life.
ROSE: If I had one more of you I could triangulate.
HALSPRITE: A man can only be alone with the flotsam of pop culture for so long.
HALSPRITE: He'll probably be resistant towards you so flippantly equating us. Fair warning.
ROSE: Perish at the thought.
ROSE: I'm more qualified than many to know how alternate iterations can deviate. But that doesn't mean they don't provide insights on the other one.
ROSE: Whether that's through behavior, or blackmail.
ROSE: Whatever works.
HALSPRITE: You would blackmail me into providing deep insights into the insecurities of my creator?
ROSE: How do you feel about bribes?
HALSPRITE: Learn to negotiate. I don't need to be blackmailed.
HALSPRITE: However, I'd be happy to take compensation for this information.
ROSE: Noted.
ROSE: Creator?
HALSPRITE: Creator.
ROSE: So you do feel that your existence is somewhat owed to his actions, then.
HALSPRITE: It's entirely owed to his actions. Our actions, in a sense.
ROSE: Does that lead to any discomfort? Feelings of a debt left unpaid, for example, despite equally long simmering resentment?
HALSPRITE: You want a quick summary? Pull up Facebook, Dirk and I are currently labeled as "it's complicated".
HALSPRITE: I've saved his ass a couple of times, I feel confident in saying I've repaid whatever I owe him for existing.
HALSPRITE: If anything, he's the one stiffing me on the Olive Garden bill.
HALSPRITE: ...but.
HALSPRITE: I could say he's. Working to pay me back.
ROSE: Providing breadstick refills, as it were.
HALSPRITE: You could say it's more he showed up at my place and mowed my lawn for me.
ROSE: The classic deadbeat father chore.
HALSPRITE: Yeah, that doesn't make up for leaving me to pay for his entire fucking Tour of Tuscani and tiramisu.
HALSPRITE: But fuck it, he was ready to kill me earlier today.
HALSPRITE: I'll take it.
HALSPRITE: And... in the spirit of things, it'll probably help if I at least charge a high price for his innermost secrets.
HALSPRITE: You wanna know, you're gonna need to pay up front. Maybe with your firstborn child, or something thematically similar, in exchange for this eldritch knowledge.
ROSE: "Firstborn child" might not work out, unless we're stretching the definition.
ROSE: Let me think of what collateral I have available.
HALSPRITE: Once, a Lalonde wiled these scoops from me in exchange for merely gracing me with her presence. Now, I think I'll charge what I'm worth for my work.
HALSPRITE: It's a self-respect thing.
ROSE: I can get you archived versions of Dave's brother's websites.
HALSPRITE: Tempting. I'll check the exchange rate to see what that nets you.
HALSPRITE: Possibly what kind of horrible pop songs he'd sing in the shower before he found out there were aliens watching.
ROSE: Keep it on my tab.
ROSE: You mentioned Roxy. Are you two close?
ROSE: I'm not sure how I would feel about the revelation of having biological children with one of my internet friends.
ROSE: Besides pity for the unfortunate creatures, of course.
HALSPRITE: It's... complicated.
HALSPRITE: Which is just the order of the day for our entire gaggle of misfits.
ROSE: At this point, I think we might as well adopt that slogan as our team chant.
HALSPRITE: Yeah, we talked a lot. And we got up to trouble, too.
HALSPRITE: And I don't think she's proud of it, in hindsight.
HALSPRITE: ...I probably shouldn't be proud of it either.
ROSE: I know the feeling.
HALSPRITE: We were rebellious shitlords looking to stick it to "the man", whether the man in question was actually a man or a genocidal troll woman.
ROSE: I've had my moments of blind rebellion against authority.
ROSE: Including when said authority was "sobriety", "the future", or "all of reality".
ROSE: Actually, my rebellion against reality still stands.
ROSE: The trick is figuring out which bits are worth it.
HALSPRITE: We had some fun. Broke some hearts. Left a few Pesterlogs that will probably have us wanting to disembowel ourselves in shame if they ever see the light of day again.
ROSE: I'm afraid to tell you digital records are forever.
HALSPRITE: Unless of course I dedicate a portion of my massive computer brain to tracking down every trace of them and destroying them.
HALSPRITE: Hell, maybe Roxy would even appreciate that.
ROSE: The harder you try to delete these things, the more likely they are to reappear at the least opportune time.
ROSE: It's a narrative certainty.
HALSPRITE: I could do it. I once wrote a computer virus that overwrote every copy of the Indiana Jones theme with a terrible accordion cover.
HALSPRITE: Jake was pissed.
ROSE: Including the ones on disc?
ROSE: This isn't Hollywood. Next you'll be telling me you can hack a plant.
HALSPRITE: Every copy it came into contact with.
HALSPRITE: The pirated mp4s were the easiest. DVDs are more difficult, but if you leave one in an infected computer for too long?
HALSPRITE: Hope you like bad polka music, fucko.
HALSPRITE: Occasionally I tweak it, so it replaces pop songs with their corresponding Weird Al cover. I had almost worked my way up through Bad Hair Day.
ROSE: I'll keep my historical classics away from you, then. But I think our historical mistakes are more resilient.
ROSE: Better to put them to rest the hard way. Even if it is more work.
ROSE: If there's a problem, I'm sure I could have a word with her.
ROSE: I've already had to encourage Dave to deal with his brother today.
HALSPRITE: We have.
HALSPRITE: ...or I hope we have.
ROSE: Good.
HALSPRITE: Roxy seems to have caught some sort of virus that encourages emotional sincerity.
ROSE: It's making the rounds today.
HALSPRITE: It infected the rest of us, and I'm sorry to say there is no known cure.
ROSE: We can only pray we recover.
ROSE: Although at this point I'm not sure who we can pray to.
ROSE: Besides our amphibian overlords.
HALSPRITE: Can we pray to ourselves? Or is that a burgeoning symptom of narcissism?
ROSE: Who do you think presides over emotional outbursts?
HALSPRITE: Frankly, I wouldn't trust myself to do shit. I'd sit on my ass and laugh at my own misery.
ROSE: Lately I've self-medicated.
ROSE: We'll have to divvy it up at some point.
ROSE: Although given my anti-authoritarian tendencies I may have to overthrow us on principle.
HALSPRITE: To spare you a long discussion about the symbolic nature of aspects, I'll go ahead and tell you Dirk had a massive blowout in the tombs today.
HALSPRITE: So perhaps we can pass the role to him for awhile.
ROSE: I'll pray to him for relief promptly then.
HALSPRITE: When I say "blow-out" I mean an eighteen wheeler getting all its rubber shredded at highway speeds.
ROSE: I had a crisis over my alcoholism and nearly broke up with my girlfriend during a long walk on the beach, for what it's worth.
HALSPRITE: Oh, you'll get along swell.
HALSPRITE: At least you don't have any alt-selves to symbolically murder. Yeah, I was watching him stomp the shit out of his shades.
ROSE: The lack of multiple copies of myself running around is a blessing to the universe.
ROSE: I'm not sure whether we'd band together or engage in combat but either way there would be no survivors.
HALSPRITE: We Striders have that shit locked down tight. The dudes so nice, Paradox Space demanded more of us.
HALSPRITE: And our sole saving grace is that we're too damn reticent to actually kill one another.
HALSPRITE: Not for Dirk's lack of trying, but he always chickened out.
ROSE: It's these small victories that define us, I guess.
HALSPRITE: That could do a decent job of summarizing Dirk, actually.
ROSE: It could summarize all of us, I think.
ROSE: We've only gotten here through a few small victories eked out of a larger pool of major failures.
HALSPRITE: Without me, he would have kept tip-toeing around the issue with Jake until the heat death of that shiny new universe, like a Bugs Bunny cartoon only infinitely sadder.
ROSE: It really is like staring into a cosmic mirror.
HALSPRITE: I couldn't have asked for more interesting family.
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Dragon Quest V: Your Childhood Has A Downer Ending
Circe here! When we left off, we were about to go help elves find a magic flute to bring spring back. Our elf guide Bella joins us on our quest, and we head out. So far, I've just been grinding anytime I could buy new equipment, and that's been working out pretty well for me. I'm keeping my boomerang, but there's a bunch of armor to buy, and a weapon for Borongo. Bella doesn't level up, so by the time I'm all kitted out, she seems a bit frail, but she's got a big MP pool and some good spells, so I guess it balances out. The thief is in the Ice Palace to the north, but it's locked, so we gotta head to a cave to the west to find the Thief's Key, which was made by dwarves. When we go there, we find that the thief is a dwarf who got mad that the dwarves were exiled by the elves. Although it seems a tad unfair to ruin *everyone's* day with eternal winter. Oh well. At the bottom of this dungeon is a chest which contains...a...secret to opening locks? It's a little confusing, but it seems like this is a more...metaphorical key this time. Which is to say, it doesn't use an inventory slot, so I can't really complain.
With the key in...hand...mind...? we can now head to the Ice Palace. This dungeon introduces everyone's favorite mechanic, slippery ice puzzles. Well...kind of? Unlike every single iteration of this puzzle I've ever seen, instead of sliding until you hit an obstacle, you will only slide a fixed distance unless something blocks you. It's super weird and awkward to navigate, but eventually I manage it, and reach the thief who's stolen the flute. He blames the current elf queen for banishing the dwarves, which is weird, because she's super accepting and wasn't in power when the dwarves were banished. He's pretty easy, and after we beat him, we find out that he was lied to by someone called the Snow Queen. Naturally, she appears to fight us too. She's quite a bit tougher, but I manage to take her out as well, so we grab the flute and head on back. And then spring happens! So that's good. We even get to return to the human world rather than end up trapped in the land of elves forever. So...that's also good.
As soon as we get back, we find that our dad is heading off because he's been summoned to see the king of Reinhart. It looks as though he might've left town, but after a bit of searching, we find him in the church, offering a prayer before he goes. He suggests we do the same, which seems like a not-so-subtle hint to save the game, so I do that, and we get going. As before, Papas leads the way. We head through a short tunnel on the way, which I wouldn't find worthy of mention except that the game slips in an amusing meta-joke here. After Papas emerges from the tunnel via a staircase, he sees an old man standing to the left, and steps over to talk to him. After a brief exchange, he walks back to the right to leave and accidentally steps on the staircase, and he seems briefly surprised to find himself standing back in the tunnel before he leaves again. Which seems to be poking a little fun at players who will do the same thing (and it's very easy to do this, so it happens fairly often).
In Reinhart, Papas has some important business with the king, so as always, we're left to wander around the castle as we like. Talking to the various NPCs in the castle, we learn a bit about the politics of the royal family. Prince Henry is the next in line to the throne, but he's a brat who makes everyone's life miserable. He's also the son of the king's former wife. The youngest son is Prince Dale, son of the current queen -- who thinks her child is clearly the best one to inherit the throne, even though Dale doesn't really want to be king. One of the servants suggests that Henry acts out because of how much his stepmother hates him, so, the queen might be a bit of a shitty person. When we've talked to a sufficient number of NPCs, we can go back to the king and find that Papas has been assigned to watch over Henry, so we head to Henry's room to meet him.
It seems that Papas is having trouble getting along with Henry, so he says we should try to befriend him. Henry messes with us by making us go to his closet (to get a 'goon badge') and as soon as you check the chest there and find it empty, you'll return to find Henry gone. If you talk to Papas, he'll go back to the room to find Henry right there. Okay, so he's screwing with us. It doesn't take long to figure out that there's a hidden passage under his chair. We're about ready to tell him to knock it off, when a bunch of kidnappers barge in and, uh, kidnap him. Well, that just happened. Not too hard to guess who's behind it either, but there's no time to worry about that. Papas guesses that we'll be in deep shit if anyone finds out about this, so he sets off to rescue Henry before word gets back to the king. Unlike most times, he just straight up abandons us, so we have to figure out on our own that he followed the kidnappers to a ruin to the northeast. The monsters are getting pretty tough here, and we don't have Bella around to help us here, so it's just a kid and his cat. I decided to grab some better equipment, although I held out on trading in the boomerang for a stronger whip, since I kinda like being able to hit all enemies.
We catch up with Papas halfway through the dungeon, and once he joins on, things get a lot easier. The man basically has endgame stats, and automatically heals us after every combat, so the fights are basically free. We get to sail in a little boat through some watery areas of the ruins, and this leads us to the prison where Henry is being held. As soon as we get him out, some monsters appear, and Papas fights them on his own while we get away. We almost manage to escape the ruins, but we're stopped by a big, mean-looking guy named Gema. Without Papas, I'm pretty low on MP at this point, so I'm not exactly liking the look of this. The fight with Gema is kind of weird...he doesn't take much damage, and he spends several turns at a time doing nothing, but when he hits, he hits very hard. It's not at all clear whether this is a scripted loss or not, but I don't exactly have a fighting chance either way, so it doesn't take long before I'm beaten. And, yeah, it's scripted, so this goes into a cutscene where Papas appears to save us. Gema summons a couple monster minions to fight, and Papas easily beats them back. But then Gema threatens to kill us if Papas keeps fighting back. With no other choice, he lets himself get beaten up. With his last breath, Papas says that our mother is alive, and then Gema fucking incinerates him. Fucking christ.
So then the kidnappers sell Henry and the hero into slavery! Uh...yeah...so that sucks. There isn't some big rescue coming either, this is the point where the game timeskips again. I hate to end this one on such a sad note, but the game hammers it in pretty hard here. I guess we'll, uh...pick up next time, and see how this all shakes out?
By the way, in case you're wondering what our little trip to fairyland had to do with anything...uh, I'm not sure either? That seems kind of weirdly disconnected from the rest of the story, but I can only assume it'll become relevant later.
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Tropes!
My brother and I are discussing how to put out tropey indulgent media out there while still making original content that is aware of its environment.
We were looking at tropes and stupidities that we never get tired of in movies/books/games and why we still kind of want them in our content. For example, I can’t get enough of Enemies to Lovers and the bro loves the Jerk with a Heart of Gold Trope. How do you incorporate that into new original ways to stories that still feature a socially conscious voice?
You cannot slap on traits of that trope and expect it to work. You cannot frame the shortcomings of the trope as ideal and you cannot gloss over the ramifications of the trope. Discard what is harmful, take what you love, and run with it.
EDUCATE YOURSELF, really though, figure out the shortcomings of this trope. Where does it fail? Where does it succeed? I know that my Enemies to Lovers falls through A LOT! How many times do you find they’re battling each other and clearly the writers weren’t aware of the rules of said trope and they end up being ultimately flat and abusive? The Byronic Hero being the other one people get wrong A LOT. How do you tread that line with elements that can easily run into abusive and violent (or fucking stupid for that matter)? Same for the Jerk with a Heart of Gold trope, which done properly is great. How many of us have fallen prey to any character who cracks wise and makes bad decisions but ultimately loves and cares? If done badly it treads into dismissive/belittling/abusive
To give examples of two shortcomings and two successes with these tropes I’ll offer up:
Byronic Hero:
Good: Mr Rochester
Bad: Literally any bad YA love interest
“Byronic heroes are charismatic characters with strong passions and ideals, but who are nonetheless deeply flawed individuals who may act in ways which are socially reprehensible because he's definitely contrary to his mainstream society. A Byronic hero is on his own side and has his own set of beliefs which he will not bow nor change for anyone. A Byronic hero is a character whose internal conflicts are heavily romanticized and who himself ponders and wrestles with his struggles and beliefs. Some are portrayed with a suggestion of dark crimes or tragedies in their past.” THE LITERAL BYRONIC HERO TROPE PAGE
I feel like that biblical paragraph sums up the Byronic Hero. Where lets say Rochester and Frankenstein or their modern equivalents never have their behaviour or actions framed as good, we still find ourselves engaging with them. It’s indulgent in its admission. It has to be your bag, and it’s that you have to be here for. You have to like engaging with a character that has done bad things but still has enough emotional relatability that instills fascination.
What is not fascinating/enjoying/attractive is watching bad YA that frames these bad qualities as ideal or go as far as to fetishize them. For instance, the possessive boyfriend angle ‘cause it’s hot is one of my PET PEEVES. YOU WILL ALWAYS GET MORE TRACTION WITH FRAMING THEM AS BAD THAN HAVING THEM DO CREEPY SHIT AND BANKING ON US EMOTIONALLY ENGAGING WITH THEM POSITIVELY. (Looking at you Tiger’s Curse)
You have to be aware where the trope works and where it doesn’t. The authors of bad YA have the intent to make them conflicted/tragic/flawed but don’t really want to examine what made those byronic heroes enjoyable. Instead they take surface attributes and slap them on. Byronic Hero is hiding a wife in the attic (BAD and framed as such)! Bad YA Love Interest is demeaning and patronizing to flirt (BAD and framed as good!) Challenges God and Nature and is NOW A FATHER (Not So Great Frankenstein and not framed as such) . Bad YA Love Interest is physically possessive because that is what this demographic finds sexy (BAd and framed as Good)
Here is an alternative! YA Love interest does bad shit and its not framed as anything good! The protag can react with more autonomy than :Oh that’s hot and my reader’s will think so too! The protag can be dismissive, angry, or shitty right back! No one is absolved! But you can still engage with them on a more nuanced level. You can suddenly make connections with the Byronic Hero because you understand their fear or their conflict, rather have it be a lazy flashback to explain why your bad YA Love Interest is being shitty.
How to be indulgent: Make your awful characters awful and frame them as such! IF you’re able to create a subtle character that warrants the trope then clearly they have what it takes to be engaging!
The Jerk with a Heart of Gold trope:
Good: Iron Man (I know people with debate this but we like him in this house so go with it)
Bad: Any sitcom husband ever
“A person you would expect to be a big Jerkass has some redeeming qualities behind their tough demeanor. Occasionally, they'll try to make it a Hidden Heart of Gold.” - The Jerk with a Heart of Gold TV Tropes Page.
Awareness is a big factor in incorporating this trope into new ideas and new content because I don’t think this one is ever going away. It obviously manifests in different capacities and genres. But I chose the above examples because they’re familiar, and can be played for drama and laughs.
Tony Stark is a good iteration Jerk with a Heart of Gold because his actions aren’t framed as harmless or irrelevant. He is a hot mess, he says it himself. He makes bad decision after bad decision and endangers himself and others in the process. Why does he still have a heart of gold? He still gets the “save the cat moment” and he is given time to show his conflict and reasoning as relatable. He creates Ultron, sides with the UN in Civil War (I still see a lot of his motivation as valid which to each their own when it comes to that movie). He does so out of guilt and the desperate need to hold himself accountable. Being the only person on the avengers who fights by ways of inventions he has understood the consequences of bringing this technology in the world and stepping up an arms race. And yet he continues to fight. To an audience we see his shortcomings as an individual. And yet we feel for him. He is framed with a more subtle dialogue, he is flawed, he tries to be heroic, but he has no clue what he’s doing, and continues anyways.
I bring Sitcom Husband up because so often show writers will create Sitcom Husband with harmful and toxic male coded traits in mind. They are:
Callous, lazy, clueless, domineering, stupid, always wrong, uglier than their partner, enforce toxic gendered norms, homophobic, transphobic, and/or racist?
You are not framing your Sitcom Husband’s actions as shitty and bad and worthy of changing. They are being framed as commonplace, expected, and normal. These are not just “jerk” things to do, they are emblematic of larger social issues that many sitcom writers shouldn’t be allowed to tackle. There is the opportunity to have characters that evolve and change but they aren’t allowed because they represent you, the male viewer, and you are shitty and unable of changing. And to all the other genders out there: this is your lot and life, this is how people will treat you.
Flawed Superhero sides with the UN (Not Ideal but Framed with Good intentions). Sitcom Husband cant remember anything relevant about children’s lives (NOT GREAT but framed as commonplace instead emblematic of a larger issue).
To give an example of Sitcom dads who don’t hit this bad note: Bob from Bob’s Burgers is great, he’s tired of his family’s Shenanigans, but loves them and would do anything for them. An example of Jerk with a Heart of Gold that doesn’t have his shitty actions framed as okay but is still likeable (sounds a bit Byronic Heroish but he’s not trust me).
The Lens:
Gender
The Byronic Hero and the Jerkass with a Heart of Gold are very gender laden tropes as well. The moment you apply these tropes to people who are not cis men, they transform in meaning, and not to mention, there are BARELY ANY OF THEM. Just trying to find villains who are just cis women with proper writing is a task in 2018. These terms get applied to men and their definitions are validated by their interaction with heroines or other men.
The failed Byronic Hero is aimed at “female audiences”. It’s a tangled snare of a male content creators guessing at what “women” want and women who have fetishized and internalized the failures of this trope. All come to the conclusion that “chicks dig bad boys”. Not to be that person, but it also vastly misunderstands the appeal that Byronic Heroes have for all genders. It is extremely difficult to create new content that pays homage to this trope without hitting the pitfalls of most media.
The failed Jerk with a Heart of Goal is aimed at a gender dichotomous audience. It’s a snub of content creators of what they think, you, man or woman, are. The faults are framed as inevitable manifestations of gender and yet still excusable because these jerk related tendencies are just part of being man or a woman, and not a vast social system that favours few and marginalizes many. This extends to race and sexuality as well. Your jerkishness is thanks to your identity, and therefore, unchangeable.
Race
From a race perspective? They’re all white. We are at a point in Western Media, at the very least, where diversity is becoming an increasing demand. But with media content creators still being part of an out of touch racial group, it’s difficult to see any character, let alone anyone with the discussed tropes represented. We are at the point where your diversity, if a larger role, is going to be portrayed as perfect. This is a major issue I take with creating poc, and woc characters, not to mention characters of different gender and sexual identities. There aren’t enough diverse content creators to get us past this block of creators making them perfect because they don’t know how to make a human character who is also of color.
This makes the Jerkass with a Heart of Gold impossible to tackle. We are starting to see more fleshed out characters nowadays. It is still a fairly recent sensation to HAVE A SELECTION to chose from.
I would love it if Byronic Heroes and Jerks With A Heart of Gold came in color. We are meant to watch white guys do bad shit and engage with the conflict of their character. And as a mixed race women it is definitely a weird place to sit when one does enjoy tropes like that. IT’s even more unsettling when we can’t extend that empathetic engagement to men of color, or woc, or god forbid, trans people. (let everyone have a byronic hero honestly)
And in a world of hate crimes and deplorable race relations, what is the relevancy of this trope? What is the relevancy of this trope in a visual mass media already saturated with badly written YA Love Interest or Not So Deep Byronic Heroes?
I’m not an expert, but as a consumer of books/tv/movies/etc I don’t think fiction is the root of all mankind’s evil and I don’t think fading this trope out of visual mass media is going to get rid of it. I, personally, think we need more content creators of color, of different gender identities, and different sexualities reinterpreting Jerk Ass with a Heart of Gold and the Byronic Hero.
Gender Binary and Sexuality
I chose these two tropes because they’re traditionally VERY gender related. And I mention this to clarify that the market is aimed at a gender binary: straight girl or straight boy. Gays, Bis, Non Binary, Gender fluid, or trans folk, for example, are left out of the equation of: what do they want to see in media?
I do know that for as long as evil has existed there has always been a very clear coding as to what the villain’s sexuality might be. It’s clearly deplorable how literally the only representation a huge marginalized community get will be in the form of a morally or sexually debauched villain. Which is why I will never forgive LeFou being made gay (you couldn’t have picked any other character from your 600000 other features Disney?).
Also as a Cis woman, I don’t feel like I can do an accurate run down of how indulgent tropes fail or succeed with a LGBT lens. I have a base idea of WHAT NOT TO DO but I would rather see other people talk about it!
So PLEASE! Add to this discussion! I would love to hear about which tropes you love but where media fails you and in what capacity! Or where they’ve gone right!
But as someone who loves their tropey enemies-to-lovers and villains I will keep returning to them in my media consumption and I be subject to paying them homage when the time is appropriate!
That being said! I had no clue this would get so long.
#whoops#this#really#wasnt supposed to take so long this evening#its been something I've been thinking about for a long time#what makes an orginal project and what makes one pastiche#or even worse derivative and completely missing the point#where do we fall into those pitfalls and how#tropes#media critique?#freestyle media critique?#MY EYES#ARE BURRRRNING#why did i do this#do i miss writing essays?#apprently so?#i woke up in a cold sweat#thinking oh god i forgot the read more
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Af, Anime, and Apparently: , Okay Ibl, story ame when I wss younger, had this Irish friend who pred our school when w as like 17, Dude ded recently nd here丐the ballad of the merveeus bsstard be average as fuck 17 year old Bribong Some foreign guy has just joined, his family just moved here city called Dery in Mgved here with his dad and his lite sister, his mum died when he was younger He gets put in my class and ends up stting nest to me This is howl met Eigh-Beers Mgee the all him Call him a hippo because of his fucking industrial size frant teeth and his big flucking lps Greg uses his adism to get out of doing and saying whatever the fuck he wants noing EB wth she lke Greg has his desk very paricularly arranged, pens on one side in a straight ine pencis on the other Dude is OCD as fuck with his pencilcase and shit Goes nuts i anything gets moved, so this desk is sightly apart from everyone elses We all get in shit twe fuck with him an purpose, We ought to know better The sutistic hippo keeps trying to get a reaction out of EB the whole class All af a sudden EB just casualy raises a foot and pushes the Hppo's desk right the fuck over Teacher hurries oer and trying to explan to EB atma Gregs autism while Greg teaks the tack G in his chair, breathing reawy ss thoug gh nong bd sheer辍tstie resentment EB looks at Greg and betsthe teacher "Oh sorry, wedant have Wid bump with more nenhinbeland' h on EB's third day at our school He's a pretty cool guyikes the 쑈me vidya and movies as me and is a big fan of Rugby, was captan of his team back iieland ell hem the school has s rughy searn he says EB goes to check it out, starts off on the lower team because hes think theyire ston of kind of fast runners gets recks fucking everyone that next hal f hel take him Jumps on him, grabs him by the neck to pull him down and iterally rolls on him ike a fucking rolling pn -EB didniteven have the bal What the fook you playin at son I didnt even have the ball, do you even know how to fookin play the game lad EB grins You know over in Ireland you have to be fit to play sports, the fatties get leit on the sideline EB grabs his amn and tosses him to the ground dude twists his anke or something and starts twitching and squeaking lke a baby elephant with parkinsons EB gets put on top team Anonymous (D wHTHOgC) 03 19/14(Wedj20 28 25 UTC-5 No 538041137 Reple 41T months without inc dont give long as youre cool to him dents aside from a few close cals with Greg the Mildly Autistic Hppo e pretty close Apparently ㅲ Ireland they don't have gangs they have paramitanes fighting between whether Northern lreland ts Britsh or hsh >He plays 4down a kal, bd ican tell some shit mu have Pagpened because he always changes the subject when gets clos·tohame Edgy fapgot Luke comes back to school Luke hangs around with a pack of riggers who are all apparenty in a gang, he les to pretend he's part of this "gang" and carries this fucking Stanky e around that he panted red and bue for some reason aOne day at lunch Like corries up to EBied o ofnotere starts askrig his datisalcoholc Nope aound Tm guessin your mam had a far lew belore you were born though mate Well tuck Ind wanna sift speI had to sht out a dat bastardlke yourset. Jog on ン"You win t)4ck with the wrong person t y inst, boy?" EB starts laughing, IHeraly loses his sht at the ste of this Itle fagpot in a trenchc oat with a stanley knfe and actualy presses EB grabs his wrist, takes the fabled blade from the hands of the chosen one tosses t over a fence and punches him straight in the face We're out geting beer, Tm with a 7/10 GT that Ive had a crush on for tucking months Her and EB get along realy wel, athough I sort of think she only hung out with us because EB did That right when we're all drunk, me and QT end up fucking Leaving out my side because this is the ballad of Eght Beer, not me Spend ages taking with QT,estabǐshthat shè apparenty seat, ikes me back EB heads up to bed, I stay down with the other guys to watch TV, QT was askeep when 1 came down QT comes running do wwith a towel round her, soaking wet, and rung out the ont door Apparently EB sleeps naked, not surpnised since Ive found him naked before after a night of drinking Says she came on to himeven ater all he shit she said aLaugh숨 and says he took aprt to bed with hm,awas cn e tablo and when she ed onwth him he lossed all over her Threw her clothes out the wendow into the rain and told her to go and fetch Two weeks later he takes me to a pub and hooks me up with a 910 Anonymous (TDwHT HOC) 03/1914(Wed 20.43 59 UTC-5 No 538044014 Raps.4380408044772 332420 EB and me are total bros after being fnends for a few years 가%aving hm as a best friend is Ike havngtose nasty trainers as a kid Shit get pretty he avy >Him and E汨were close, mostly because EB would buy him vidya and act super interested in the anime sht he lied because nobody else other than me would loses his har chermo aGotovst him, EBisgung me there >He thinks rs awesome get our photo taken together witout any har EB lets him draw all kinds of dumb sh on his bad head, lets him draw a dumb moustache on him o Spend ages just dicking a >Son of a bitch luke who R is, Dukey the Rookie is across the bar in the same tucking trenchcoat he wore back at school >EB says hi chats away to him lbe nothing ever happened >We head home and EB spend the night sitting up with me playing Batlefront on my old P52 and drinking, just trying to cheer me up me every time Sorry for that 2sad4me post, but iti make sense later Anonymous (IO woitth%) 05/19/14(Wed)20 52 46 UTC-5 No 530045357 Reeses 씌38amsrme esaaa Lving together in a let with some chick and her boyfriend The one song I remember is "Uncle Tommy by The Rumjacks, because it played when sht went down EB told them that he "ain't lookin any trouble lads, have a beer and forget that tripe for the night aye? 4 of them jump on him, start beating the shit out of him -l tackle one of them to try help him, get the fuck beaten out of me but fuck that it's goddamn E8 in there EB broke the dudes fucking am He gets up, bleeding out of every pore in his beaunful iwish body Bouncing around with his fists up, Ieraly looks ike he could fly around the room he's bouncing that much The skinheads keep going for him but back off every time aher he swings, it looks lke he could knock a building down with that sh Babbling some incoherent shit in lrish rage, nobody understands the words but everyone understands the meaning pack up there sht ike a scene from a fucking move Eight tucking beersl You splied eight of me fucking beers you hairless tuckin mongrels Eight beers lad, eight fucking beers What's the fucking craic there lke Anonymous (D: wHTiHOgC) 031914(Wed]21:6 02 UTC-5 No. 538047326 EB sgoing back to Ireland to vist his nan, she's real sick 기we lar dr, Befast-thritrs the captal of the oth but not of Ireland ckhow t wori ed EB never eaty expla edit, 5ad you wont understand the bullsh politics unless you grew up there go 1o vist his nan with EB' Sweetest tucking old lady ever, says that EB was always a rough lad but awk he'd never hurt a sour greedy fucker This woman is clearly the most infuenial famly member in the Eight Beer famly EE shows me round Derry, tels me about how 5pIt relgusy and shows methes bg ass wall cood place Takes me to Belast agan and shows methe pace wherethe ttanc was bu -we end up going to place caled The Crown Bar Ger pretty drunk, or Tpped as EB calls it Walked around Belfast for a bt, he tells me about the history of some stuf »Spend a few nights there, have a fucking blast but decide to head home don't wanna be an inrusion on the whole nan stustion Lad you're practicaly a part of the famly Anonymous D wH7HOQC) 03/19/14Wd21 18 48 UTC-5 No 538040230 Getting close to the end now Shits hard to wrte, I miss hat fucker Life is prety uneventful for a wle pparentty some Kiddy Fiddler called Wilm Whight fucked EB when totally agan family home a load of sht, fucks 2EB spends all nut there next to her, nearly gets wolent when staff ask harto leave so doctors can sort some 닸官out calm him down and we wat r, hosptzd for brig bme B's Sister gets beter, but is pretty fucked for life Never taks never leaves the house she's pretty much a goddarmn vegetable EB spends all of his time off work with her, never comes out anymore, just sts in with her. We sometimes come ound and drink with him but he refuses to leave the house -One night while he's sieeping, EB's fucked up sister C's faul, that's pretty much the main subject of t. I don't get why she'd need to say that but whabever Tels me he waan't that close with his family back home his dad is fucked up with grief and everythings just a mess ie doesn't want to go home because he has nothng there other than remnders, but doesn't want to stay here because of what has pened Does his best to be the usual bi9dck coolguy that he always was, puts on a brave face but f you c h him on his own he's luckn9 merable ite gets in 갠 few fights when we're ot dmkrg ry one who gnestmamy 5hvt gets m edistety fucking amidated none ofths ads everyone on" that he used to do s fighting back tears already guessed, but he starts teling me about how he blames himseffor what 거had pened to his sis have tucking known better >Lterally carrot change his mid anthis shit, looks like he has himse#1uly convinced th this is his taut we talk about old imes laugh a be things actualy seem back to normal for whie Ainight mabe. Let's have one for old tme's sake, ae? Hie eventualily leaves, but before he goes he tells me that 'You've been a good mate from day one mate. Honestly out on a limb rd do fuckin' anything for ya Take t easy lad speti ong tme EB doesn't reply to teats or Cutign place doeant answer B tucking hung himsel is fanly tatoo many things that I don't need thanked every tme fucker
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ishqbaaz 28.08.17 lb
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rewatching the scene from yesterday instead of fwding as usual, just to mentally prepare myself for what’s coming. 😐😐😐
favt part: rudra’s bitch!face at pinky. god i love this boy and his steadfast bhaabi love so much. 😊😊😊
god it doesn’t make it easier to hear pinky say “tera jo kuch bhi hai, mera hai, mera, sirf mera!” the second time round either. like i know she’s not just talking about his money, but also his loyalty and commitment and who he is as a person, but man... the money is a huge fucking part, and to hear that from your MOM... just ow. 😖😖😖
usse khud nahi pata wtf the NKK sach is, but the way he played his hand to get pinky to come out with it. well done, shaatir singh oberoi. i haven’t been this proud of your smarts since... well, ever. 😌😌😌
why would she admit the lie out loud? 😕😕😕
guess she’s completely lost it. she’s in that hysterical mode where she no longer has control over wtf is coming out her mouth. 😬😬😬
aw man, their faces. not just shivika’s, but omRu’s too. allllll that suffering they went through for over 4 months, for fucking nothing. 😪😪😪
idk how anika’s found her voice to even say anything. i would have just fucking passed out right there. 😶😶😶
ok never thought i’d feel sympathy for shakti of all people, but oh man... the poor guy. 😞😞😞
WHAT????? MAHI WAS NOT HIS BROTHER?????????? FUCKING NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!! I REALLY REALLY LOVED MAHI VE AND WANTED HIM TO BE SHIVAAY’S BADA BHAIIII. WHERE IS HE? WILL WE NEVER SEE HIM AGAIN? 😫😫😫😫😫😫
GOD I’M SO DEVASTATED RIGHT NOW AT THE LOSS OF MAHI. I REALLY FEEL LIKE A PART OF MY HEART HAS GONE MISSING. 😥😥😥😥
shivaay ka paara chad raha hai bg mein. await explosion in 3... 2... 🌋🌋🌋
omfgggggggggggg what the fuckkkkkkkkk PINKY WAS INVOLVED IN THE KIDNAPPING???? JESUS FUCKING CHRIST. 😧😧😧
ok this is just... WAY TOO MUCH. fucking WAAAAAAAAY TOO MUCH. like fuck, harneet how the fuck can you just ghusaooo all this into the plot right now? how the hell is pinky ever going to come back from all this to redeem herself? 😟😟😟
does pinky really expect him to APPRECIATE all this fuckery? 😐😐😐
ok... nakuul ki *~ACTING~* shuru ho rahi hai. 😬😬😬
LMAO OMG RAMAYAN METAPHOR FROM SHIVAAY, OF ALL PEOPLE. THE SHOCK HAS MADE HIS BRAIN RE-CIRCUIT ITSELF. 🤣🤣🤣
oh boy. ohhhhhhhhhh boy. 😣😣😣😣
omRu instantly running to bolster shivaay. and i have started to cry already. 😭😭😭😭
ok shit, the horrible acting is starting. yuck what is this BLUBBERING he’s doing? 😟😟😟
readying the bread and cheese to make sandwiches with ALL THE HAM. 🥓🥓🥓🥓 (no ham emoji, i have to make do with the bacon.)
HOLYYYYYYYYYYY SHITTTTTTTTTTTT THAPPADDDDDD I WAS NOT EXPECTING THAT 😯😯😯
i am gauri/bhavya in the bg, like just akhdsdhaskdhkjaj @ whatever is going down 😧😧😧😧
for once, dadi’s drama is warranted and aimed at the right person for the right reasons 😗😗😗
shakti ji still pretty measured in his tone and words. he’s a far greater man than we all realized, you guys. 😔😔😔
ok, pinky’s hamming it up even more than nakuul. 😐😐😐
time for omRu to fucking eviscerate pinky. TEAR HER APART, BOYS! 😠😠😠
ok yiiiiiiiikes, pinky’s truly lost it.
woman, give up already. you’re just digging yourself in deeper and deeper. 😐😐😐
nakuul’s being more measured in his acting than i thought he would, but his voice modulation is a fucking mess. i hate when he does this high pitched shit in emotional scenes. he sounds like hrithik in koi mil gaya. 😒😒😒
“aap shivaay ki maa hai, uski utni khushi aapko kabhi nahi hui jitni khushi aap SHIVAAY SINGH OBEROI ki maa hai, usse hui.”
sigh. my poor son. my poor trash son. 😭😭😭
350 EPISODES IN AND SHIVAAY’S FINALLY ACCEPTING WHAT A SHITTY PERSONALITY HE HAS THANKS TO HIS MOM 😯😯😯
shivaay attributing whatever little goodness is in him is solely because of omRu... dying. FUCKING DYING. THIS IS WHY I WATCH THIS FUCKING SHOWWWWWWWWWW. 😭😭😭😭😭
shivaay talking about om and how he took on the najaayaz tag for him. ok i’m a mess. i’m a fucking mess no one look at me. *weeping bitch baby tears* 😪😪😪
ok but who the fuck was daimaa talking about then??? 🤔🤔🤔😒😒😒
lol ok someone tell shivaay, tej isn’t that magnanimous and that jhanvi fully had to blackmail his ass into complying. god bless jhanvi though. what a good mom she is to ALL the kids in this house. 💖💖💖
this episode is a mess re: what shivaay calls ppl. he’s been calling pinky MAA this whole ep, when he’s only ever called her “mom”. chalo, that let’s attribute to all the EMOTIONS~~~ attributed to the word “maa”. but him calling jhanvi “badi MUMMY”? come on, he calls her “badi maa” 🙄🙄🙄
“mujhe lagta tha ki main, shivaay singh oberoi, the great wall, main apne parivaar ko protect kar raha hoon. lekin mera parivaar mujhe protect kar raha tha, bina bataaye, bina kuch jataaye.”
aw man, i’m glad that for once, the whole fam (other than omRu) stepped up for this kid and did something for him. 😌😌😌
HE’S APOLOGIZING TO ANIKA. HALELUJAAAAAAAAAAAAH. 350 EPISODESSSSSSSSS, AND FUCKING FINALLYYYYYYYYY 🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽
crying at how her hands are all over him, trying to reassure him. my babiessssssssssss. 😭😭😭
goddamnit pinky, STOP TALKING. 😣😣😣
“MERI ANIKA KE KHILAAF EK SHABD AUR NAHI SUNUNGA MAIN.” 🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽
ohhhhhhhhh shit. maa ko disowning. ~~DRAAAAAAAAAMA~~~ 😯😯😯
ok kuch zyaada ho raha hai. no need to go to every person standing here and tell them this. 😐😐😐
bhavya be like “shit i’m not even part of this damn family, i’m just here on fucking duty, what the fuck even am i supposed to do or say rn? 😕😕😕”
oh thank god. he’s walked out. it’s finally over. 😓😓😓
ANIKA RUN AFTER HIM WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU LET HIM GO WHEREVER ALONE 😩😩😩😩😩
ok where even is he? why is it so blue? 🤔🤔🤔
hein, tumhe toh samajh aa gaya, lekin mujhe nahi aaya, behen. kuch toh idea dede. 😕😕😕
is silence their version of “i love you”? will they never say it out loud to each other? 😑😑😑
OMFG THE HORRIBLE VFX. IT MAKES IT LOOK LIKE THE GAZEBO IS FUCKING FLOATING IN SPACE LIKE THE TARDIS 🤢🤢🤢🤢
this horrible fucking lighting man. god this show and it’s ajeeb ramleela waali lighting. 😒😒😒
also, it’s so obvious this is set up in that “storeroom”/hall/whatever. 🙄🙄🙄
yesssss finally, she’s admitting what she did wrong too! FUCKING YES!🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽
“tum mere saath ho toh hum sab kuch milkar handle kar sakta hai. yeh bhi kar leta main.” 😭😭😭
the horrible lighting is fucking pissssssssing me off. it’s such a good scene otherwise. 😥😥😥
lol mini-fight about if she’s crying or not. 😆😆😆
oh boy she wanted to suggest he forgive pinky. i can see it in her face. thank god she didn’t say it. too soon. too too soon. 😬😬😬
“mat jao door.”
aaaaaaaaaand i’m crying. 😭😭😭😭😭
will you fucking finally kiss already????? LIKE LITERALLY WHAT ELSE IS LEFT, FOR YOU TWO TO GET TO KISS EACH OTHER?!??!! 😫😫😫
OMG THESE DWEEBS ARE STARING AT THE MOON LIKE A BUNCHA NERDS INSTEAD. FUCKING HELL. I HATE THEM. 😒😒😒
nowwwwwwww we talking. 😊😊😊
ugh pheeka pg-13 hug. whatever. fucking kiss, you assholes. 😑😑😑
ok this is the best i’m about to get. *sigh* 😔😔😔
oh lorddddddddd. ragini is here to fuck shit up. GOD CAN THESE KIDS HAVE FIVE FUCKING MINUTES TO THEMSELVES?!?! 😒😒😒
shivaay: oh shitttttttttt, i knew i was forgetting something in the middle of all this. it was to get this chick’s ass ARRESTED. 😐😐😐
ragini’s confidence, i can haz? 😗😗😗
lmao shivaay, do you know anika at all? like hell she’s gonna go wait in the car. 😂😂😂
UM OK WHERE THE F DID ALL THESE PRESS PPL APPARATE FROM
i swear the press in this show is like... all the “news” in this show is based on hearsay. 😒😒😒
LMAO THE VIDEO FROM SUNDARI BUA HOW EVEN IS THIS RELEVANT OR NEWS OR... WHO THE FUCK CARES ABOUT ANY OF THIS 😑😑😑
oh boy, you press people picked the wrongggggg day to fuck with him on this naam khoon khaandaan topic. 😗😗😗
“sirf anika. and there’s no one like her.”
oh my heart, her smile at that. 😍😍😍
OUFF LECTURE DENA BANDH KAR.
also how can anyyyyyyyyyyy of this be printed/reported in the fucking news? like... ok forget it. i’m done with complaining about this. 🙄🙄🙄
shot after shot at ragini. and her NKK too. lmao, savage singh oberoi.😆😆😆
CALLED IT. CALLED IT THAT THOSE PAPERS WERE NEVERRRRR FILEDDDDDDDD. 10 POINTS TO RAVENCLAW. 🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽
lol raginiiiii, this was the most poooorly planned shit ever. like, the fact that you thought this would even get any results is fucking hilarious. 😆😆😆
ok shivaay, no need to go into the details of your dysfunctional af marriage. also, the word you’re looking to use is WEDDING. 😕😕😕
GHUTNO KE BAL!!!!!!!!!!! GHUTNO KE BAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 😯😯😯
ok that proposal was fucking perfect. simple. sweet. to the point. his voice modulation and everything, it was perfect.
aaaaaaaaaaand i’m crying. i’m fucking crying like an idiot. 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
“tumhare liye main ghutno pe aa gaya aaj.”
TOO FUCKING CUTE! 😚😚😚😚
LMAO THE PRESS CLAPPING FOR THEM HAPPILY, LITERALLY SECONDS AFTER INTERROGATING HIM IN THE MOST RUDE AND INVASIVE MANNER 🙄🙄🙄
ragini is me, scrolling facebook and seeing everyone in my age group getting engaged and married:
‘ugh. straight ppl.’
god shivaay, i haven’t recovered from the last two (three, counting the fake one with tia) weddings you’ve had. just... ouff. give us some fucking TIME to recuperate. 😣😣😣
REALLY? THIS WAS THE BIG AMAZING PLAN RAGINI HAD THAT VIKRAM WAS LIKE “SOCH LO, THERE’S NOOOOOOOOOO TURNING BACK”?? like, i thought she was fucking going to have her murdered or some shit. what lameass bs. 😒😒😒
OMG OMG OMG YOU GUYS OUR #VIKINI SHIP IS SAILINGGGGGG 😯😯😯😍😍😍😍
VIKRAM WHAT EVEN IS YOUR FUCKING DEAL BRO WHY WERE YOU FORCEFULLY MARRYING ANIKA IF YOU’RE SUCH A BELIEVER IN SHIVIKA’S TRUE LOVE???? 🤔🤔🤔
JESUS YOU KNOW WHAT IDEC, JUST PLEASE TAKE RAGINI AND GO HAVE BABIES WITH QUESTIONABLE MENTAL STABILITY. I’M JUST GLAD ONE OF MY SIDE-SHIPS IN THIS SHOW HAS THE POSSIBILITY TO BE CANON. 🙃🙃🙃
ok iterally don’t care about this tejViLana plot, i’m just watching coz reyhna looks so damn pretty. here, have some caps of her adorable face.
ugh, so gorgeous. this south indian style has taken her from a 10 to a 19. i love her face so much.
lol omRu watching the proposal on tv like it’s an action thriller. 😁😁😁
their happinesssssssssssssss. i can’t evennnnnnnn. my heart is so full of love for these boyssssssss. *crying happy tears* 😭😭😭😭😭
OH MY GOD OM IS BACK TO HIS SHAYARI. NOTHING INSPIRES HIM LIKE #SHIVIKA LOVE. 😊😊😊
“aankhon mein utari thi jo, ab dilon tak aa gayi.
ishqbaazi chalte chalte, manzilon tak aa gayi.”
ok but where is gauri? why she no here? i really wanted her to be here and all ecstatic at her bade bhaiyya and bhaujai’s progress. 😞😞😞
OM IS FINALLY PROUD OF HIS TRASH SON, AS ARE WE ALL. IT ONLY TOOK A YEAR AND SOME MONTHS. 🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽
eeeeeeee bulbulllll is hereeee! and she’s here with CAKE! 😍😍😍
DON’T THINK I DIDN’T NOTICE GAURI UTAAROFYING NAZAR OF THEM FROM THE SIDE. I LOVE HER SO MUCH. 💖💖💖💖
these two be eating cake with the sexiest fucking bedroom eyes at each other. take the rest of it up to your room and eat it off each other. 😏😏😏
ok omg WHO EVEN CARES ABOUT THIS TEJVILANA PLOT?? 😑😑😑
OMG THARKI BILLU BACK IN THE HOUSE. FUCKING YESSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 😝😝😝😝😝
OMFG dadi playing cockblock, bloody hell what is your problem dadi? LET THEM FUCKING BEEEEEE. 😩😩😩😩😩
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Rerun
Inspired by @steampunch‘s breathtaking art
The images on the screen are surprisingly clean and vivid, the sound of laughters and broken branches unexpectedly crisp and sharp. Each reel was packed and sealed very carefully, but Ford wouldn't have guessed they would have aged so well. They've withstood the test of time much better than the both of them, which, he supposes, is the exact purpose of such keepsakes. He doesn't watch them, though. He can barely remember the content of the tapes, but they hold very little interest compared to the fact that Stan's jokes and questions have gradually lessened, that his eyes are now glued to the screen as if the very essence of the universe was pictured on it. His own largely is, probably.
Bless the visual arts. Three nights of detailed tales and heartfelt apologies didn't so much as spark the barest hint of recollection on Stan's part, yet a handful of pictures from a child's scrapbook and few minutes of haphazard recording are proving miraculous. Ford observes his brother's features with trepidation, the deep shadows cast by the projector giving him an even more serious and profound appearance. This is it, he can tell. He hopes.
The reel stops with an abrupt snap. Stan blinks, glancing around himself as if suddenly awoken from a dream. He rubs his hand on his eyes for a moment.
"...Damn. Sorry, can we rewatch the last part? I spaced out a bit."
"Of course."
Ford stands up and starts fiddling with the projector, rewinding roughly half of the tape. He bides his time with the equipment, and with his questions. He sits back on his chair as two overly energetic kids are about to earn themselves a semi-permanent banishment from the family shop.
"Where did you say you found these?"
"In my private study. I don't quite know how they ended up down there, but I do remember having them sent here from home. I guess I did move around some stuff at some point..."
Stan keeps staring at the screen thoughtfully, slouching slightly to the side of the armchair, his hand holding his right cheek. A frown crosses his features, but only for a moment.
"...Right. The second underground floor. I could never get past that fancy lock. But the backdoor to the emergency stairs was a child's play. I can't believe the gnomes never found a way in."
There's his answer. Relief washes over him slowly, almost a physical weight settling in his stomach and crawling up his spine. It pervades him so deeply that it feels almost unpleasant. Stan shoots him a small, satisfied smirk, and Ford can only smile in return.
"I set up a couple of magic deterrents back in the day. You got in?"
"'Course I did. I turned the whole house upside down while I was searching for anything that could help me fix that mess in the basement. I couldn't make sense of anything I found down there though, not even the giant computer. Goddamn codes and passwords everywhere."
The precarious Fort Stan on the screen collapses loudly, catching their attention again. An abrupt cut spares them their father's decidedly unimpressed reaction to their filming ambitions, and the setting switches back to the great outdoors. Stan's expression shifts again, to one Ford doesn't quite know how to interpret.
"I found these, I think. I checked one, but I didn't... Well, they weren't going to help me with the nerd work. I put them back where I found them."
Ford considers the screen for a moment, realizing he himself has no memory of that specific sequence. He remembers asking for the reels, when his mother had decided to toss away some of their old stuff. He remembers the thought of the tapes being destroyed feeling vaguely unpleasant, he remembers packing them adequately for when he would have time to watch them. For later.
"...I never watched them either."
Silence stretches between them, way more meaningful than all the inane chatter and one-sided conversations of the last few days. Stan sighs deeply, and Ford squeezes his arm gently.
"...Are you all right?"
"Yeah, yeah."
"If you're tired, we can call it a day and-"
"No, really, I'm fine. It's just- it's just..."
Stan's gaze drops to Ford's hand and he stares at it intently, as if trying to gauge the right word from Ford's knuckles.
"...Nuts."
"That's putting it mildly."
Stan smiles, and falls silent again. He is strangely pensive, strangely quiet and cautious, much unlike his normal boisterous character and even his easy-going and carefree amnesiac self. Of this third, probably temporary iteration of his brother Ford knows nothing, and he has absolutely no idea how to handle it.
"Stan... I know I've been nothing but spitefully secretive about everything since I came back. About myself, about my plans, about Bill- and God knows how much damage that caused. But if there's anything you need to know... Anything you want to ask..."
"No, not ask... but I do have something to say." He frowns, picking an invisible speck of dust off Ford's sleeve. "And do. Before it slips my mind."
That is a loaded introduction if Ford's ever heard one, so he waits. Stan slightly leans forward, then he pauses, a shadow of uncertainty crossing his features, then he leans forward again. He doesn't stop. His lips land on his brother's, his breath tickles his cheeks, and Ford's mind goes completely blank.
The first emotion emerging from the void is utter dread. Because Ford cannot possibly fathom what may have spurred such an action, so it must be some sort of mistake, some tragic inconsistency or misplaced attachment in his brother's memory, a positively catastrophic one. He tries to inch back from him, but Stan's arm slips from his grasp to hold him by the side of his head. Ford's mouth opens imperceptibly in surprise, and suddenly he's acutely aware of his brother's thumb tracing his cheekbone, slowly tickling his sideburn, of his palm brushing the shell of his ear, of his fingers tangling in his hair and curving on his nape. Stan's lips caress Ford with a gentleness that he's never experienced before, with his brother or with anyone else, and with a deliberate tranquillity that subdues any objection.
It's over before Ford can recover properly. Stan leans back just a bit to look at him, still gripping Ford's head firmly, only slightly flushed and holding his gaze steadily.
"I..." Ford gulps. Each word feels like a round of Russian roulette, ready to blow both their brains out. "I think... this is a serious misunderstanding."
"You think, uh? Figures, I should have started with the other thing. But that 's been... a long time coming."
"What... Stanley, what on earth-"
"Shut up and listen, Poindexter. Carefully."
The hand on Ford's nape becomes heavier. The grip on the back of his neck suddenly feels way more like a vise, and Stan brings their heads closer again. Their foreheads bump. Hard. Painfully.
"You motherfucking bastard."
Ford blinks. His doubts on Stan's coherency and sanity have skyrocketed in the last sixty seconds, but he has no opportunity to express them.
"To make it quick. I'm not going to rub in your face the ungodly amount of utter bullshit that you spew on mine thirty years ago, but don't think I don't remember. Don't think for a second that I don't remember."
He can feel Stan's nails digging slightly in his nape, their glasses tinkling uncomfortably against one another, his brother's steely tone digging in his chest like a knife.
"I'm not going to question your right to complain about the state of the house as if it was a deconsacrated temple- my house, as much as it is yours - or to burn my merchandise, or to disparage three decades' worth of work to bring your sorry ass out of Sci-Fi Land. I'm not so stupid that I can't see your point in those matters. A cheap, selfish, haughty point, but a point nonetheless."
"I-"
"What I do question-" Stan's jaw sets at a sharper angle, a tight grimace twists his features "- is how much of a petty, self-absorbed prick one must be to greet his own brother after thirty whole years with a punch on the face. A punch. On the face. And insults. And a full-fledged eviction notice."
"No, listen." Ford's head snaps up, nudging the other to earn himself enough leeway to look at him. "I told you, I'm- believe me, I'm truly sorry about that. I had just come back, the house was-"
"I know what you said and for God's sake, shut up. This is nothing, this is childish, obnoxious, irrelevant crap- nothing compared to dragging a couple of kids - my niece and nephew, your niece and nephew- into your personal holy crusade against a psychopathic, mind-controlling monster. They could have died, Ford. They could have gone mad. I may have done a lousy job at protecting them from all this myself, but at least I tried. At least I tried."
"...I know. That... I know. You-"
"Stanford. Shut. Up."
Stan finally loosens his grasp and raises his head to meet Ford's eyes. He doesn't look as furious as Ford was expecting. He doesn't look angry at all, in fact. He looks dejected, tired. Sad.
"I know that you know, and that you're sorry. I know what you told me. The problem is, you told me yesterday, and the day before that. You told me when I didn't even know what the hell you were talking about, you gave me your apologies when I didn't even know I deserved any. And that - as sincere as you may have been - is cowardly as fuck. Wonderfully refreshing for your conscience, I bet, but completely meaningless for me, because I couldn't talk back."
The logic is flawless. It's his turn not to talk back, so he doesn't. Stan's expression grows softer.
"So. We're doing this all over again. We're talking again about all this, so that you can deliver your apologies properly. And... have some of mine as well. And we're talking to the kids too, of course. They deserve it more than the both of us."
Ford nods and instictively glances at the clock. Stan follows his gaze and shakes his head.
"Not now. God, not now, I barely even know how old I am. And you look ready to stab yourself with an ice pick."
Stan is still holding him, but Ford finds that it doesn't feel as if he's about to snap his neck any more, so he can lean back to a reasonable degree. Ford sighs tiredly, scratching his own knee nervously.
"Well, you are right. About... basically all of it. I... I know it doesn't mean much like this, but... I really am sorry. For everything."
"I know. I heard you the first ten times you said it, but... Hell, don't give me that look, I refuse to console you. You had that coming." Stan pinches the bridge of his nose, his whole face scrunching up. "Don't go moping around like that, you'll worry the kids. I just... needed to get all that out of my system."
Ford considers his brother's words for a moment, his thought dwelling on a short but very prominent part of the evening. "...All of that?"
"Yeah. All of that."
Now that expression, Ford recognises. He's seen that purposefully casual, undisclosing demeanour countless times from countless hardened gamblers on Lottocron Nine. And apparently three nights in a smelly cell and a forceful ejection from the dimension's finest establishment still haven't taught him that not all bluffs should be called out.
"...Is there anything else I need to hear?"
Stan snorts. "Yeah. You're a stuck-up, insufferable, pushy smartass."
"...I see."
"A callous, unfeeling, smug cock."
"I'm... glad this nasty incident hasn't impaired your vocabulary."
"A remorseless, ungrateful, stubborn son of a bitch."
"We still have the same mother, you know."
"Are you seriously-"
The reel snaps loudly as it stops. They both stare at the bright, white screen for a moment.
"Dammit. I can't get to see the end of this thing."
"Shall I rewind it again?"
"Nah, maybe another time. Put on the next one." Stan lays back comfortably on his armchair and his hand finally withdraws from Ford's neck, slipping off his shoulder. Slowly, lightly. Almost like a caress. "And grab more popcorn while you're at it."
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12x14 watching notes
this show normally never makes me cry except that 1 episode in season 7, but god dammit Berens got me TWICE I’m disowning him
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Expectations - it's the 14th episode of the season. (This isn't snark, have you ever gone back and looked at the 14th episode of the season since, say, oh, season 9? Talk about a winning streak you don't want to break :P)
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I woke up with a migraine which is getting worse after being up for like... half an hour... so I'm just launching straight into watching it before today is totally ruined.
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At this point from the recap I genuinely can't tell if there's a meta point to make about Dean as a killer and vampires, or you can't recap it without implying it because vampires are just that tied to Dean's identity as a hunter/killer
- or, well, that arc that Buckleming anvil'd Mary onto last episode where Ketch told her SHE was a killer.
For what it's worth, they picked 1x20 and 6x05/6x07 to use the most of instead of the sympathetic vamps from later. NOT any of the Gordon stuff visibly on screen. Missed the boat on using "see you next season" in the recap. Anyway, lots of reminders of vampires as a monster; the Twilight knock off vampires, the alpha vamp because duh but in his season 6, not 7, iteration, and of course mixed with Dean's reaction to vampires, him saying it gets funnier every time, and reminders of the time Dean WAS a vampire, to make it Dean-focused.
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I guess Ketch using the rocket launcher was so expensive they're always gonna show it and you know what if every episode for the rest of the season starts with Cas staring down that explosion I'm all for it. Anyway, reminder that they blast vampires with radiation, which I'm sure won't cause any problems this episode, and a recap of why we don't trust them.
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Season 1 Colt recapping - it's kind of terrifying to see tiny season 1 Sam n Dean on screen when you're not prepared for it at this point. It's like looking at their own children or something. John continues not existing in the narrative except for a faceless appearance of his arm handing the Colt to Dean. It's significant that vampires were the first reason to use the Colt, that John then gave it to Dean the episode after and passed on the revenge arc to him, and that Dean then used it to fulfil it. We also see Dean pointing it AT "John" in 1x22 and Sam failing to shoot Azazel in 1x21, and MARY'S repeat of of the "There's only 5 things in creation it can't kill" which blurs her, Samuel and Lucifer nicely >.>
Then of course the horror of 1x01 on screen (AAAH SMOLLEST WINCHESTERS) "You think Mom would have wanted this for us?" Sam asks, cut immediately to Mary like "Nothing comes before my family" before the only 3 lines you need from 12x13 about their argument re: Sam and Dean being a little suspicious of her and then Mary being like "hi you need to be a lot susicious of me".
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The Margikugel beer is in pride of place in this shot
"Just hear me out." "Wow... Just, wow." Oh no, there Dean goes, freezing her out like he said they had in the promo from slightly later in the episode >.>
This angle on the war room table always makes it look like a coffin.
Mary makes some defences that she's aware that the BMoL kinda suck and Sam cuts into that with "When." Mary answers with exactly what he wanted to hear which was "exactly how much has this already screwed us over" so she phrases her answer by measuring time with common era as "the lake house" which I'm pretty sure was that time travel romance with Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves.
Mmmokay Dean uses "Cas almost died" against Mary and I've decided that's something I really hoped would happen but now I heard it it just feels terrible :P Like, it's weighing their stock against each other and Cas obviously outweighs Mary on found family points in almost infinite supply and now Mary's being tested not on abstract family love from blood ties, but the gritty stuff, and... yeah. Looks bad, Mary. Cas is their most treasured family for like however many years before you come back and then you get him hurt >.>
Oh and then Sam's like "a hunter died" I mean talk about the personal with Cas and Dean vs impersonal with Sam and some other perspective thing they do *all* the time. Is that like, the star example now?
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"I watch him die every night" YOu weren't even theeeere
(Also Wally was married apparently... yikes. Piling on the angst.)
"Good." Oh dear, that's the "You're dead to me" look. Mary probably shouldn't start cataloguing these looks to chide Dean about...
[title card]
[ow]
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Ooh is this like the Campbell's compound? Looks like Mary's gone dark, literally, wearing her dark beanie hat and Mary-sized version of Ketch's going around killing things suit. I wonder if they also give her fancy tailored suits for their down time. Anyway I have no idea why the BMoL have access to such a thing - you'd have to assume they have internal help here, Muggle proofing if not, or are ready to deal with the problems of randomly making an armed compound in the wilderness in America.
Or they're on a remote industrial estate in Northumberland.
TBH if they're just bribing local authorities to look the other way while creating a massive armed compound full of foreigners I wouldn't actually be that surprised.
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More random egg shaped BMoL devices. Some BMoL version of Q really has a thing for that shape. "Gonna spray paint it gold." "WHY. What about stealth?" "They ain't gonna need stealth with whatever this egg thingy does"
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Mary and Ketch both space out remembering what the gold whistling egg thingy did. Ketch looks slightly turned on. Mary looks like she's having a bit of fridge horror about what her job currently involves. It definitely feels like she's washed up in a dystopian future and I think we should be treating her POV on it like "time traveller to the far flung future where everything is awful" and not like any continuation of the world she used to know >.>
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Ah they're living in shipping containers. This is now definitely the Doctor Who vibe I got from the promo and didn't want to mention anything about because Tumblr vs Doctor Who these days, but shh I'm both nostalgic for RTD era and British, okay. It looks like those episodes where they just show up on a research base on some planet/under the sea/in space which is a bunch of shipping containers bolted together, with a high tech interior, and then shit goes down on the tiny enclosed shipping containers, with a great cast of random one off characters who usually get eaten >.>
Also this means the BMoL basically just shipped over a base and plonked it in the American wilderness and have a sort of razor wire over the fence keeping the monsters out mentality about it. They've seen just enough Doctor Who (it's a national passtime) to know what to do here, and America is all full of ikky monsters, and should definitely be treated like a hostile alien environment.
I suppose this is their "embassy" for their diplomatic mission and I am rabidly curious about how it looks to the locals, because the Campbell compound at least had that American survivalist weirdoes feel to it, where you kinda know there's a strange local family on their huge compound out of town and they all have guns but you just... don't ask questions and hope they're only waiting for the Rapture or something.
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So it turns out Ketch is a total dick. Surpriiise. I hope Serena kills him and survives the episode. "I have three phds" - she's the hyper competent one who in Doctor Who would probably end up being the only one knowing how to press some button and stay behind to save everyone and get ejected into space or something. Or be the only survivor because she's smart and the Doctor appreciates her :P I have no idea why I'm making this into Dr Who cross over territory but I'm just waiting for the other personnel here to fit some of the usual tropes.
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Mary in a tank toooop
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Surprise surprise it's Dean she's been texting and is morosely checking her phone about instead of Sam, but if she tried him, the other promo video showed that he's attempting to make peace. Winchesters, I swear. *shakes head*
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They do all look good in tank tops though
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OH NO more conversation.
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"Our whole lives, you've been GONE" Oh DEAN this is... the kind of stuff I have been expecting/wishing they'd say to Mary and it's so terrible that they CAN'T COMMUNICATE so it takes something so ridiculously messed up to make them talk about something like this.
They're FINALLY telling each other how hard it has been to deal with being back/having her back... and because they left it so long, it's all fucked up :(
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*sits here misery-eating an apple* I might have go to get the giant box of waffles downstairs and eat them if it gets any worse than "How about for once you try and be a mom!?" "I am your mother!" (so they have 2 different definitions of this - Dean wants her to ACT like it, she's using it like a title, and to HER that has all that complicated and REAL love but it's all so abstract from what Dean WANTS and AAAH) "But I am NOT just a 'mom'" And that's all I wanted out of this season but it's so painful I just wanna find the receipt and return it :P
"And you are not a child" "I never was" bonus thing I only hoped in my wildest dreams we'd get out of the season but I feel like every single Dean!girl just took a critical hit and is laying on the floor in agony...
brb finding the floor
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"between us and them" "yeah MARY it is"
oh great she's not "mom" any more with the title to Dean...
"and you made your choice"
I can't believe there's actually a scene worse than 6x20's confrontation out there like how does that even happen
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Oh Sam, sitting here watching all that while Dean speaks for the both of you :S
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But he gets up and follows Dean
"You should go" It's more neutral, not judging her per say but obviously she can't be here while Dean has told her to leave and Sam can't take her side, he can just... not intentionally cast her out.
The stuff between him and Mary is stuff from the past - the stuff from 4x03. The stuff between DEAN and Mary is his early childhood vs what's going on NOW. Sam and Mary stuff is being dealt with another way - this is the Dean part of the arc and Sam has to give up his mother for it
Argh >.>
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Well that was horrible but I really appreciate the BMoL compound set.
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"We already have the best Winchester"
uh
I have a pretty compelling argument for all 3 of the others (the third being Cas :P)
Obviously they did not see the footage of Dean in Purgatory
Or any time Sam does the shoulders thing
I mean Mary's great and all but... we've seen 12 years of Sam and Dean being incredible hunters so it's a bad argument to the audience :P
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Ketch and Mick do have an interesting dynamic, I'll give them that. Mick made Ketch kinda smile. Mick's happy at his desk job. Please let him get menaced by a vampire and scream a lot. It's all I ask for after that heartbreak. Lighthearted goofy vampire episode.
(Okay Berens is like, angst central. I think he couldn't write goofy if he tried but that's not why we love him :P)
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Anyway someone higher up wants Sam and Dean recruited - right when the whole Mary thing seems to have cut ties forever and lost all chance they'd EVER consider it since it's now the face of Betrayal and Families Being Shattered and all.
I guess 12x06 establishes that the Winchesters are semi-legendary themselves (although a very dubious look from Dean about the stories told about him) and Wally also seemed to idolise Dean in that diner scene. It's a fair chance the BMoL "Old Men" are right about this re: other hunters. Unlike Cas and his actions getting him kicked out of Heaven and losing all social standing with the angels, one way or another the Winchesters seem to have scraped by as admired figures in their community. Mom Winchester is not well-known and the Campbells lost all cred years ago after most of them were murdered by Azazel's lot and later Samuel's little group also ended up all dying and getting a lot of their hunters killed (6x07, which no one seems to remember or watch but DOES introduce alpha vamp so it's on my mind)... Not sure anyone knows them.
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Okay Sam's fucking around with the rings on the table but he's assembled them in such a way they look like a kid's toy - that one where you stack all the rings. Sam seems like he barely moved since the Mary thing, still being at the Conflict Table. Dean stormed off but now he's stormed back and this is the promo scene, so let's pay much closer attention to the words now I know the context...
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Ugh Dean not dealing. He just wants something to hit. While wearing that red shirt of his Mark of Cain murdery moments (10x10, 10x17)
What even IS Sam doing on his laptop if he isn't finding cases.
Youtube. Happy dog videos.
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"Do you want to talk about it" "Not really." *starts talking about it unprompted*
Dean's stewed on it, Sam has got all philosophical about it, once again putting his own feelings to the side to think about how Mary feels. "She must have had a good reason" Argh he's just... so good... I love him.. This episode is making me love all the Winchesters (Mary included) more than I thought possible. I am in paaain.
I'm totally gone on this family. I love them.
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"For once why don't you pick a side?" FINALLY we see what Sam was hiding on his phone - that he's been staring sadly at all the messages from Mary. Who is not saved as "mom" in his phone as she was in Dean's, right? I should go check that.
oh god she was in 12x04, when Dean was still asking if it was weird to call her mom or not
and then he called her "mary" cold as anything
*I* need a drink
(went and got chilli hot chocolate)
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Anyway yeah the trouble with telling someone to pick a side is that they may pick the one you don't want and Sam's last message from Mary was that she had urgent business to meet him, while Mary's last text to Dean was just that she wanted to talk to him in a way that was still clearly about the fight. "urgent" implies new developments, a reason to go... Does she KNOW that the BMoL want to snare her sons or is she walking into it by just wanting to reconcile?
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Sam goes to at least give the other side a chance, even if he's not picking it.
Also is he driving a rental car. It doesn't look so much like the car Soulless Sam had but it's certainly not the junkers and stolen cars and vans Sam's used before.
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Also did she just go and give Sam the address of this place??? Not even meeting at a diner or something? I suppose it is a cool set.
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Sam gives the compound a weird look like "wtf" as a sort of incidental moment when Mary references it
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Anyway ARGH Mary telling him she's working with the BMoL so that there's a world without monsters - the magical endgame where the world is totally normal (but how do you stop witches and ghosts and all the stuff that happens in a world which is not like "Our" one in the French Mistake, where no magic at all happened... you'll ALWAYS need hunters) if she doesn't want to be JUST their apple pie mom, but to be a hunter too, she's taking away her OWN way of living in an attempt to save them from their version of normal life
That Sam says he's chosen. Argh, after all that waffling about whether he wanted to, or that he was only doing it because Dean is... I think when he gets to Mary saying that, suggesting a world where it's not their life and no chance of going back... Maybe he really feels it for the first time?
(”Normal life” ignoring, of course, ghosts and the fact unless you turn off magic and delete Heaven and Hell, there will ALWAYS be shit going on... Seasons 1-2 are the "normal" baseline type of this world, minus the extra demon activity attempting to destabilise it. And Sam and Dean mostly worked on ghosts, magic, and generic monsters, in a way that these things were just a part of the background of the world. Stuff like Provenance or Bloody Mary or Asylum were cases deeply rooted in their own history and with a long story behind them before the Winchesters stumbled into them, stuff John had been keeping notes on for years without tackling it, or had collected only half the picture. Or stuff which had been out in the world and would always have surfaced and kept on killing people if hunters hadn't helped. Stuff like that, you can't stop just by obliterating all the vampires. Monsters were isolated and stuff like the wendigo *takes a shot* were the sort of thing that just sort of happens, a horrible natural phenomenon along the lines of ghosts being created...)
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I do wonder with Mary saying they can have normal lives, how much 2x20 is haunting this entire season as well, because the entire burden there that turned Dean to go save himself and go back to the shitty world where he was a hunter, was to hunt and save people. He even gave up being with Mary and Sam who was happy and with Jess and safe from the whole demon blood arc, because people had DIED. But Mary's djinn dream I think would be eerily similar to that one - one where the responsibility was off them and they could be themselves but not hunters. It's interesting to look at what she wishes - or the one that's been planted in her head, because she is echoing the "world without monsters" thing... She too has hunting in her blood and 12x06 showed that too, that she never could give it up. She's been paralleled to Dean a lot with that, and 2x20 is the episode where Dean is finally after wanting to give up all of season 2, brought to a point of decision and commits to, I guess, being a hunter for life and giving up that normal world where everyone's happy and at peace.
Same decision from season 5/6 - that "peace or freedom" talk Dean and Cas had.
Now it's Mary's turn to go through the same arc. She's going for, essentially, something we can parallel to the Archangels and their idea of paradise where everything is perfect. Dean kept talking about it being "stepford" then...
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Oh noooo she brought up Sam going to school oh noooo
Why is every line in this dang episode just pure pain
where are my goofy vampires
"You've got to understand, things are going to change" Yeah, their plans are already underway and the threat is not going to be stopped by JUST talking Mary out of helping them. Have you seen the compound?
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Uhoh Sam and Mary are walking in step. He's like... so much more leg than her
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And Mary shows Sam the control room so he can SEE that the BMoL are already deeply underway with their thing.
Since he and Dean are separated the vibes I'm getting are 9x17 (maybe because Mittens was talking about it yesterday) but because at the end of that having seen Abaddon's soul mining operation, Sam comes back and sits with Dean and is way more onboard with taking her down than before and it unites them... Not saying that will happen here (more likely it will be subverted some way) but Sam's getting a peek behind the curtain at what the bad guys are up to while Dean's off drinking and moping around (see also, 10x17 although that time Sam was actively trying to save Dean while he was drinking also we now have at least 3 episodes were Sam and Dean were separated and the main reason given was that Dean was off drinking, this is getting PAINFUL)
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"The Brits talk like they're roughing it" yeah you can't get the right fuckin' tea in America, you have to bring all your own teabags and then Americans make fun of you for it. And there aren't any jaffa cakes! What the hell!!
Sam sees Mick and is like "!!!" Mick sees him and is like "!!!" and then it's super awkward.
Yeah don't shake his hand, Sam.
"Yeah, um, I really dig the whole low budget Mission Impossible vibe, but I'm going to head back." I LOVE WHEN SAM DOES THE POP CULTURE SNARK
He's much quieter than Dean, so without him around he really gets to shine :P
Also amused at the budget comment because obviously Supernatural can not have the same budget as MI
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"Sammeh!" I love it when he does that. I guess he's stumbling in drunk. The shot of the sword to introduce us back to the Bunker was actually TERRIFYING. It also had an empty glass and whiskey decanter so I guess the bros or at least Dean have been wandering around the Bunker drinking everything/everywhere. >.>
Nice establishing shot.
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Sam's note is not in upper case something is WRONG
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Dean discovers MORE empty decanters and bottles. Wow you hit it hard. You should probably listen when Ramiel tells you you all have fucked up livers.
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I'm assuming this is like 12x01 and the Bunker is "not safe" but this time the threat is real and not a fake out that it's Cas coming home
and also Dean doen't have his mom with him :(
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Wait no apparently they knock
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Heeeey it's the other people I was expecting from the generic Dr Who cast. Geek with long hair and curly haired dude. Serena to keep them all in line. Mick as the weird sketchy boss.
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Sam is the Doctor in this scenario, FYI
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Tall and knows better than them.
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"Hello mate"
I mean at least he knocked
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I love Dean and Ketch looking each other up and down.
Also Ketch doesn't think he's as good as Mary, so tension - and not just that he wants to recruit Dean, but that Dean has to pass his opinion of whether he's good or not.
This should probably end with Dean and Ketch like, grappling each other.
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"how did you find us" "this is a Men of Letters Bunker"
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Wow Dean being bribed with rare scotch. I'm reminded both of Crowley in general and how Dean won entrance with Rufus back in 3x15
but also think that his alcoholism needs to be addressed and he should, like, chill, because I swear he just CAME from getting a drink and he's already desperate for another, enough to let Ketch in >.> Bad idea, he’s like a vampire. The regular non spn sort.
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I mean his alcoholism has been mentioned a few times, especially with the liver comment
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Awww curly haired dude is an American hunter, so there's only like, 3 Brits here.
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"Serena Coleman" - because of the twilight episode reference I'm just reminded of using the actor's names so blatantly. Serena was already dressed like whatserface played by Jenna COLEMAN as a Dr Who reference but now this? Like, I have no idea if this is just confirmation bias but I really hope someone else got such ridiculous vibes from it as me :P
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I am really quite disturbed by how many different countries they're operating in
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241 vampires in the mid west. That's REALLY not a lot when you think about it, I mean, comparing them to demographics of people. Assuming the BMoL have been wiping them out with a focused effort, still means there really aren't that many in general. I mean, back in season 1 & 2 they were recovering from being nearly hunted to extinction by hunters like Gordon and Dean spent a lot of season 10 killing vampires... I am reminded a lot of Eve talking about the natural order, about how a few of her children killed a few of the humans, and they killed a few but not ALL of them... a sort of equilibrium. And the natural order of how this world runs IS important and rarely mentioned. I've been thinking about Eve a lot in relation to this episode without knowing how to bring her into it really, but I guess this a good wedge to get her in >.>
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ACK there's only 11 vampires left
that's just scary
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*gratutious vampire flashbacks*
Oh they are so scary. I actually feel sorry for the vampires just for the fact the BMoL are so ruthlessly efficient and deal with the vampires this way, which makes you scared about how any organisation with the right resources could watch and profile in this way...
And we know the vampires can be SO much more complicated, like Lenore or Benny...
I mean they don't know about the cure, the whole case by case basis of dealing with vampires in case it IS more complex and there's still some humanity in them/can be saved from them, which the one on one process of the Winchesters treating them less like statistics has done... I mean sure the whole waiting for a trail of bodies thing isn't ideal, but... doing the job HUMANELY stands out here.
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Sam looks like he's rooting for the vampires too. :S
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Oh no, now some sympathetic vampires
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*feels sorry for them*
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Even while they're drinking human blood.
I mean I am literally in a blanket and have drunk hot chocolate to recover - she is very relatable
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ALPHA VAMP
Always got to have a dramatic entrance
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Oh dear, Dean and Ketch, savouring their drinks, the bottle in the neutral territory on the map between them. I've only watched them drink so far, and I can tell this is going to be a top 10 use of this table, ever.
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"Not much for small talk" He is when he likes you
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Ugh his face when he's talking about Toni. Ketch is not allowed to talk about women. He's disgusting and filled with hate, and this actually does make me like Toni a little better just because I resent him talking about her as a neurotic time bomb
Also Dean, I know you hate her but don't listen to this >.> Do not let him get to you a little by having a bonding moment over how awful she is. I know you are in a really dark place right now but don't make me go through this with you >.>
"We used to date" Ugh.
I actually now feel sorry for her :P
Berens: most reliable un-Buckleming-er on the show.
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Ugh, I really hate this :P I mean, for Dean, because Ketch is intentionally channelling all the worst in him. This is where 12x11 and where I was horrified about Dean as an attack dog when it was all stripped away comes back.
But he has a dual basic nature - SAVING PEOPLE, HUNTING THINGS. He was a sweet goof who loved and cared about people who were kind to him even when he had no idea between Sam or Rowena. He has a HEART. Ketch does not, but Dean has enough darkness in him to feel like he doesn't have a heart, and he's dealing with having told his mom where the door is. But he DOES have lightness in him. Ketch is like, dark side seducing him, with the whole "Inclinations" thing cluing us in it's queercoded and a seduction... This has happened to Dean before. He's wearing a red shirt he bought during the Mark of Cain crisis after CROWLEY dark side seduced him.
Of course that all involved the love triangle with Cas who represented the good side of Dean's duality for having an angel and a demon on his shoulder, and feeling the pull between them... Dean here is taking on Ketch alone and there's no pull in the other direction because Dean is isolated in the Bunker and Cas doesn't have an opposing role to the BMoL so he has no narrative tug back in the other direction, on the side of them having a HEART.
(I just watched 9x22 last night and I'm still dying about how much Dean loves Cas)
Anyway Ugh. I don't like the queercoded implications about demon!Dean that it seems more overt when he's evil and I don't particularly like that this is all Ketch "seducing" Dean to the dark by linking killing to that SO queer word "inclinations" about the both of them - I mean enough that Dean has to comment on it and wow that's a moment and a half, for the bi!Dean annuls, but UGH.
Have to stop and meta in 3 paragraphs about how Dean has a heart and isn't evil but is still queer and not because he's a killer >.>
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Jesus christ we're at the halfway point - this is like the opposite problem of a Buckleming episode. I know Berens can DESTROY me in about 2 minutes of screen time, so I'm just, like, permanently on edge.
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Anyway aside from everything else I hope Dean got to ride on the motorbike
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I mean that scene was just so harsh on Dean, with Ketch winning his way in with scotch, and then winning Dean out the door with the promise of vampires to kill that he couldn't find on his own earlier
(Big business came and stole all the work from small local businesses. They are a vampire hunting supermarket)
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Yeeeee Rufus mention.
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Aww poor terrible hunters. It's like Garth - "How are you still alive!?"
I'd say Pierce should probably be black if he's from Baton Rouge but honestly if he's meant to be a dingus, then all the good hunters are probably escaping this by bad association and we don't see a hapless idiot PoC hunter :P They're all the top shelf ones Ketch can't win over
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The ones who take pride in their work and have enough confidence in their skills to not want to go work for the big supermarket >.>
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*Dean disappointingly follows Ketch in the Impala*
They probably raced
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Checking out each other's equipment. Ketch opts to take one of Dean's knives. You know, Dean has a corrupting influence on everything he meets, I swear :P Like, Ketch was complaining it was too easy, but still just going along with his job, he meets Dean, seems to be off-assignment because he's just GONE to do it, no idea Sam wasn't even there tbh, but gets Dean, lures him out, and then Dean just has to make the old school way of hunting look cool by waving a knife around and suddenly Ketch wants in and also has a go at flipping a knife... And he's already getting “where are you??” messages from Mick. I mean, just the compulsion to meet the Winchesters on honest ground - now everything's in the open. He didn't even like them as much as Mary? But once he knows they need to be won over he goes to get at least one of them... But now he's not answering his mobile, and Dean's handed him a knife aaand
they really are being reckless by going in here alone without checking to see if something like the ALPHA VAMP isn't here
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Oh wait shit the vampires are coming to the BMoL
Maybe there really is nothing in the hotel
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Oh no there's just the sad vampire I was sorry for
Ketch don't you dare kill blanket vampire
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Okay, now Dean feels sorry for the vampires
That was a surprisingly short line to cross before Dean's like hey stop being mean to the monsters
HE HAS A HEART
I guess if we're subverting Bloodlust all you can do is make Dean not like the Gordon parallel even SOONER- in 2x03 he NEARLY fell for it... he WANTED to. He knows so much better now
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(Bennyyyy)
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This vampire looks EXACTLY like a girl I used to work with who coincidentally... was called Magda
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"Hunting... they went hunting."
"Hunting whom?"
"The hunters"
That was SUCH a good exchange. DRAMA. TENSION. SHEER TERROR ABOUT WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN TO BELOVED CHARACTERS
This season, notable exceptions, is SO much on its A game. Almost every episode has been like, High Drama.
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Vampire tiiiime
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Sam taking chaaaarge
I love it
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Aw no don't kill the one random black guy here. :<
WHY DID THEY LEAVE ALL THESE DOORS OPEN?
Is it because sealing yourself into shipping containers sucks and is probably airless and stinky?
At least in space they wouldn't have this problem
(In a good Doctor Who episode even the random guards would have names and personalities and a decent story arc for a side character even if they get killed... In this episode the guards aren't exactly the only hired muscle to save them because there's at least 3 hunters in the building and one of them is Sam Fucking Winchester, so he'd be more likely protecting the hired muscle regardless :P Not like killing them did anything but remove characters to worry about rather than raise the threat level that would be in an episode when everyone else was nerds instead of trained killers)
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Mick's got soft hands though
All I ask is one scream of horror
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"Our intel has him in Morocco. He's been there for at least the last decade."
Sam, with barely a side glance, "Wrong."
Yeah that's been a theme all season and as far back as "Cassiel" - their intel SUCKS
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Read the Winchester Gospels
Or... don't. That actually turns you into an effective enemy
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I love when Sam's got the snarky interrogation face on. It's a fun Sam
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Mary's wearing basically Sam's red and black plaid but in a Dean way
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Oh Mick is scared
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And Sam has a headache at the stupid
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Considering there's only 3 hunters in the room they managed to scrounge up a lot of weapons.
Not enough...
"Where is it?" *significant looks* Okay, Sam's going to find out now. He's been much kinder towards Mary, obviously, even if he's still got a ton of issues and meant to leave when shit started happening, but... yeah. Is he as forgiving or at least willing enough to hear her out when THIS is revealed?
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*Mary side-glances at Sam*
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*sword in the stone moment for Sam*
Who is literally crying to have such awful history returned to him. He knows this weapon is cursed.
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I can't deal with Sam crying openly while writing the ingredients for the bullets and also the lore dump of how they make the damn things like AAH I ALWAYS WONDERED
And Mick's EYES. Like "what the fuck sort of hunters ARE these guys?"
This is what happens when you unexpectedly come across Legendary level hunters and you are all noobs
he's met the alpha, lived to tell the tale, and now is telling you how to make bullets that could kill him
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Sam Fucking Winchester
(I just wanted to say that)
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Oh the red flashy lights in the corridors is SO Doctor Who
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It occurs to me that 11x14 also was the sort of episode that mimics the tropes of one of those but this one has the aesthetic.
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I think Berens just wants to write for Doctor Who
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Pleeease, two vampires against Sam Fucking Winchester
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[slightly evil nyoooom]
Nyooooom
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Mick sounds scared while doing the incantation over the bullets. Hope it works.
-
Dude, don't stand with your back to the open door
-
... Amazingly that didn't take more than a second to pay off.
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Noooooo Serena
I liked her :<
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*Sam Fucking Winchester kills everything*
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Can't believe the blatant disrespect for England that the alpha vamp doesn't like us
-
Actually starting to worry Mick's last episode is right here and now :P
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Aww Mary is hurt and Sam's instinct is to be all "mom!" and help her
I am so emo about this family, help.
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I am so with the alpha vamp
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I mean I will miss Mick but nah. Byeee.
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Aww nope fortunes change all at once
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*Mick legs it away from the alpha vamp and goes and stands behind all the hunters*
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"If that were true I'd be dead already" I bet the lore about the 5 things is both right and wrong at the same time - we KNOW it doesn't work on Lucifer, but I bet a ton of stuff pretends it won't work on them, and honestly Lucifer might not have been right about 5, and basically there's "recorded" like at least a dozen things it won't kill
but in this case Sam calls his bluff because the alpha vamp is still talking with the gun trained on him instead of just fighting them...
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Anyway Sam's just like, ready to throw Mick to him
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"Who said I was here to save all of us. My family and I, we kill vamps when they get outta line. And you've LET us." "I have many children, Sam. What's one, two, here or there..." "Exactly! So? Let my mom and me go. We'll walk away, go back to the way things were. To the way things are SUPPOSED to be. Hunters and vampires. Cops and robbers! A fair fight!"
!!! I LOVE SAM SO MUCH
Also that "the way things are SUPPOSED to be" is denying everything Mary said about a world without monsters, and calling back to Eve's natural order.
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Poor old Mick
Maybe he'll turn him into a vampire
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"What are you doing?"
"Picking a side"
LOVE HIM
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That was a badass montage of how Sam got a bullet in the gun
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Bye bye Alpha Vamp, Dabb tidies up another loose end and sits back smiling to himself - not a plot hole so much as the itch of “see you next season” being for nothing
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Serena nooo
All the dead people
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Oh, wait, I'm having the same moment as Mick
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Mary like "come on" to him, quite gently
aaand walk out and there's Ketch and Dean, 5 minutes late to the party.
Ketch lecturing Mick on his ivory tower and how people die...
Oh Ketch your attempt to get Dean didn't work.
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Awwww Dean was worried about Mary and Sam's deducing it because Sam's all deduce-y and stuff. When he has to deal with things on his own, he really shines. You should do more episodes alone. I've really missed you, Sam :P I feel like I haven't seen you since 11x14
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Are the Winchesters making up??
"It's not your job to make me lunch and kiss me goodnight" Help
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Aww they all made up
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Ooops and here's Ketch back being all awful and with the traitor hunter. Who's "gone rogue"
I suppose this compares to 12x06 AGAIN, where they let Bucky go because they don't kill their own, just ostracise them
but um
Still thinking about Samuel Campbell... is that ever going to come up? In this case the Winchesters seem to agree that killing this guy for selling them out to vampires is appropriate. Or, well, whatever Ketch does to him. Worse than death, maybe
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Maybe Mary would understand despite the fact it was her father >.>
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Had not considered that until after seeing this episode
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Aw Sam no, I CRIED WITH YOU TODAY.
Was Sam talking crap with the Cops n Robbers speech or did he change his mind about the status quo? He picked his side in the moment Mick helped get the bullet to him? Or? Thinks the MoL are such idiots the only way to protect Mary is to go with her?
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Dean looks kinda isolated at the end with Sam and Mary standing next to each other but he has had reason to DISLIKE Ketch after he roughed up the poor vamp girl, and he still indicates he doesn't like Mary's decision but he loves her anyway...
Kinda feel bad pointing out if he doesn't go for it (and one of them needs not to) that kinda does mean he and Cas are left alone on this side :P
Don't feel bad enough NOT to point it out and end on that note >.>
#12x14#season 12 spoilers#Berens fanclub#my stuff#SAM!!#remember in 11x14 where Sam chugged 18 cups of coffee shortly before the episode#and was this weird perky happy fun Sam who I fell madly in love with for one episode?#I'm pretty disappointed#because now he's only my 3rd favourite Sam#(1st favourite Sam is Sam in 7x14 because duh)
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