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roosterforme · 5 months

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How You Play the Game Part 8 | Rooster x Reader

Summary: Bradley was miserable without you, and the pain just wasn't lessening even though you left him weeks ago. He needed to find a way to move on, because you didn't want him, and you weren't coming back. But he should have known there was no substitute for the best thing he'd ever had.

Warnings: Swears, broken heart, angst, consensual sex, sex with a condom while intoxicated (18+)

Length: 5000 words

Pairing: Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw x female reader

Check out my masterlist for more! How You Play the Game masterlist. Banner by @thedroneranger

Weeks later...

As you flew to Vancouver from Detroit, you thought about that six hour flight to Boston where you hadn't stopped crying for a single minute. You thought about leaving San Diego and how it broke your heart to move on to the next city and the next assignment. At least this time you had a window seat instead of the middle seat in the last row. And this time you weren't continually wiping your tears on Bradley's Padres jersey.

You had his jersey on again today, but this time you felt calm as you reached into your bag to take out your computer and read over the research you'd outlined about the Vancouver Canucks. Your eyes caught on the blue golf ball, and after a second of hesitation, you reached for that instead.

You'd taken it everywhere with you. It joined you in every hotel room, on every flight and in every rental car. You had it with you in your tote bag when you were in Boston about a month ago working on the exclusive with the Bruins' coaching staff. You were carrying it when you bumped into Abigail Archer for the first time in person.

With your article completely forgotten now, you dug your phone out of your pocket. It was in airplane mode, but you took a deep breath and unlocked it. You had to scroll a bit to get to the text thread with Bradley, and then you tapped his name and you almost let the tears rise to the surface. You held them back as you read the series of sporadic messages he'd sent you since early November.

I miss you.

Did you make it to Boston safely?

Ace, please call me back. I miss you so much.

I have this whole weekend off, and I can't help but think it would be easy for me to fly to wherever you are. If you would want that.

I still miss you.

I hope you're doing well.

You hadn't responded to a single one of them. And you never called him back either. But sometimes, when you were in a hotel room in a city that you couldn't even identify without looking at your calendar app, you'd get lonely enough to listen to his voicemail message. See ya, Ace.

It took until you met Bradley Bradshaw for you to really understand just how lonely you were. Going back to your apartment in New York City didn't feel like going home. There was nothing there that made you smile. There were no baseball cards or too small Angels tee shirts. There was no Bradley making sure you were taking a break when you needed one.

And he was part of the reason why you let yourself start to be convinced that you could have more out of your career. Maybe he was right. Somebody else might have something better to offer than Greg or the New York Times. When you talked to Abigail and started to test the waters, it wasn't as terrifying as you thought it would be. Making some calls to see what else was out there ended up validating one fact for you: Bradley was right, your writing was in high demand.

But you had to complete your contract with Greg before you could do much else. And that included Detroit and Vancouver. But you hoped after this, your work-life balance might improve. If you decided to take this information back to Bradley, you hoped he would listen to you. Maybe he would even see what you wrote about your career change in your Detroit Red Wings article. If he was even still reading your articles. There was a chance he might still miss you now, and maybe he'd understand that you needed to see the bigger picture for yourself first.

Before you left him alone in his bed, he told you that you knew where to find him. He made you feel like it was still okay to go there.

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Bradley walked past his coffee table dressed in his flight suit with his travel mug of coffee in his hand. He paused at the front door and looked back at the mess he still couldn't bring himself to clean up. You left him weeks ago, damn near a month ago, but he just couldn't bring himself to clean up all of the fucking baseball cards.

He closed his eyes and took a calming breath. He was being ridiculous. He was never ridiculous before he met you, so you must have made him this way. Every time he tried to clean them up and put them back out in his garage, his hands faltered and he left the cards out on the table. It was like some sort of sick reminder that you'd really been here with him. It was a way to convince himself he didn't imagine up the perfect woman in his mind and then have to live through the aftermath of watching her leave.

He tightened his fingers around his mug and rubbed the heel of his other hand against his eyes. Then he took his phone out. He knew he shouldn't do it since you never answered his other messages before, but he texted you anyway.

I hope you're doing well.

When he re-read what he'd sent, he started to panic. It sort of sounded like he meant it with an air of finality. The last thing he wanted was for you to think that he didn't want to hear from you, because it was quite the opposite. There were times when he felt so lonely, he'd have done anything for you to write to him or call him back.

He swore he could still smell you in his house, and right now it felt a little too much like you were there. He wrenched his front door open and slammed it closed behind him, breathing in the crisp December morning air. He had to start making some changes, and he needed to do it this week. You weren't going to respond to him. After four weeks he should accept that as a fact and stop bugging you.

He'd been skipping Hard Deck nights and leaving the locker room after work without really talking to anyone. Nat knew why he was miserable, but even she seemed surprised it had gone on for this long.

A few days ago, she said, "You've never behaved like this over a woman before. This has all just been very surprising, and I don't know how to help you."

Bradley had shrugged and laughed sarcastically. "Well, I fell in love with her. First time for everything, right? I'll know better for next time."

And that was the truly fucked up part. He had fallen in love with you over the course of ten days. As he drove to work, he thought about your face and your voice. He knew exactly how many miles he put on his Bronco driving back and forth to see you at the games in Anaheim. He knew exactly how much money he spent on all the tickets. He knew how badly it hurt right now to be without you. And he knew he'd repeat everything all over again if he could see you for five minutes.

Just like every other day, he had to collect himself before he could head inside to the locker room. There was no getting his time with you back. There was no second chance. There was no communication. He needed to stop. He took off his aviators that you'd liked so much and set them in his cup holder. When he checked the time on his phone, he had a notification that a new article from you had been posted eight minutes ago. It was like this every day. He'd wait to see each morning if you'd written anything, and then after it was posted, he'd read it at least three times.

Your final World Series article was the worst one. It was released two days after you left. He must have read it a hundred times. He'd even take a screenshot of the short passage he was certain was about him.

This World Series was exciting and dynamic for so many reasons. We witnessed some of the best major league pitching in the last decade, and there were more stolen bases than the past three finals combined. Professionally, I may never witness anything like this again. And I can even tell you that on a personal level, I was profoundly changed for the better by everything I allowed myself to experience and enjoy between San Diego and Anaheim over the course of the series.

Bradley looked at his phone screen now. It had to stop. He desperately wanted to read your article on the Detroit Red Wings, but he needed to make this feeling stop. It was like he was constantly in pain every time he thought about you or even simply read your name on his phone. Your written words were never going to help him move on, so he needed to do something about it right now while he felt like he could.

He deleted the New York Times app. He thought about deleting your number as well, but he needed to save some of his strength to get through his workday. So he just tucked his phone in his pocket and climbed out of the Bronco.

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When Bradley walked into the Hard Deck on Friday night after work, he felt defeated and exhausted. He managed to delete the app you wrote for, but he still couldn't bring himself to delete your phone number. Moving on was a necessity right now. He didn't even know why he bothered to come to the bar, but staying home and looking at baseball cards on his coffee table didn't seem to be helping him.

"You're here!" Nat called out as soon as he walked inside. The bar was decorated for Christmas. Was it that close to the holidays? He'd completely lost track of the weeks, but at the same time, he knew exactly how many days it had been since he'd seen you. His mind was too aware of that number, and it tacked a new one on each day.

"Hey," Bradley managed to grunt when his friend came over to him and wrapped him up in a hug. The Christmas tree and the strings of lights blurred, and he had to close his eyes. He was missing the feel of your arms around him and the way you smelled. None of this was Nat's fault or anyone's fault really. Bradley didn't even blame you. He couldn't. You and he were nothing.

"Let me get you a drink," Nat whispered, and she took him by the hand. He recognized the upbeat Christmas song, and he saw the guys waving from the pool table. But when he turned to face the bar, Shannon was right there with her usual smile and a pint glass in her hand. He didn't know why he wasn't expecting her. The last time he saw her was when he brought you here, and he'd give anything to go back to that night.

Bradley just shook his head. "Something stronger. Please." Shannon raised one eyebrow at him and set the pint glass down in favor of a whiskey tumbler and a bottle of Johnnie Walker. "Yeah."

"Haven't seen you around in a few weeks," she said, watching the amber liquid slosh neatly up the side of the glass as she poured. "Kinda missed you." She met his eyes as she pushed the glass across the bar. "You look so sad."

He held eye contact with her, trying his best to push the intrusive thoughts away. "Maybe I'll be around more now," he muttered, downing the whole drink in one go and setting the glass down again.

Shannon was familiar to him. Comfortable. He'd been messing around with women for damn near two decades without any deep feelings. You were really his first foray into something... more. But you were gone. You didn't want to talk to him. You weren't coming back.

She refilled his glass and said, "Take this one a little slower, Bradley." He nodded before downing it just like the first one, and she kind of smirked and shook her head. "You'll pay for this in the morning."

He laughed sardonically. "That's the idea." He left the empty glass on the bar with a little nod indicating that he would be back. He desperately needed to clear his head, but he'd been trying everything for weeks. Taking a walk outside, having a cold shower, going for a drive. Nothing fucking helped.

He needed to forget the feel of your body and the sound of your voice. So he drank an extravagant amount of Johnnie Walker on Nat's tab, and he started to feel looser. He laughed at her when she asked how many he had so far.

"Don't worry. I'll pay you back," he rasped with a smile that he knew could charm every woman except for his best friend.

She just rubbed her hand up and down his arm and said, "I hope you know what you're doing. Let me know when you want me to get you home."

He kissed her cheek. "I'm fine, Nat. Just fine." He finished his tumbler and tried to remember if that was his fifth or his sixth, but it didn't matter. He was warm now, and his lips were a little numb. This was exactly what he needed tonight. After he shot a round of pool and lost, he flipped through the jukebox, but it was all bullshit Christmas music. He wasn't in the mood. He thought about playing the piano, but there was an empty stool at the bar now, so he headed in that direction.

"One more?" Bradley asked Shannon as he sat, and she reached out to touch his cheek.

"You sure you really need one?"

"Yep," he said, swallowing against the lump in his throat as she swam out of focus for a split second. "Just one more. It'll make it easier."

She turned away from him to get one more clean glass. Then she filled it for him. "Thanks, Shannon," he muttered when she set it down in front of him. He was leaning on his propped up hand, and he knew she was kind of pretty. But he knew you were prettier and funnier and smarter.

"You can't have what you want," he mumbled to himself after Shannon walked away. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, unlocked it and just looked at the screen. Delete it. He had to. He opened his contacts, and there you were right at the fucking top.

Ace

You'd always be at the top, wouldn't you?

Instead of deleting your number, he sent you a text before he could reconsider.

Ace, I fell in love with you.

Fuck. Fuck! You didn't want him. And there was no way to take that message back now. He closed his eyes and shook his head, because he couldn't tell if he was about to cry or laugh. He was fucking miserable. Truly, he'd never experienced this before, and it hurt like hell. His thumb hovered over your name once again, but he couldn't delete it. He drank the whiskey and tried again. But still nothing.

He watched Shannon move around behind the bar. She wasn't you. She wasn't what he wanted, but when she announced that it was last call, she made her way over to him.

"But no more for you," she teased, reaching to take his glass away. But he had her wrist in his hand before he registered what he was doing. She looked a little surprised. The tears were in his eyes again, but maybe it wasn't so obvious to her. He couldn't say the words. He needed her to be the one. When he licked his lips, she leaned a little closer. "I'm done in fifteen. Are you interested? Or are you too drunk?"

He took a deep breath as his eyes closed. He needed to try to move on. The pain needed to stop, or else he didn't know what he would do. Right now he was numb enough. It was now or never. "I'm interested."

Bradley was very aware of what he was doing, it just vaguely seemed like someone else was doing it. He gave his keys to Shannon once they were outside. "Remember where I live?" he asked, walking toward the Bronco.

"Of course I do," she whispered.

He found himself with his back against the passenger side door with Shannon's lips on his. It felt fine. Would probably feel better the more he got used to it again. He could do this. He kissed her back and told her to drive, because he knew he shouldn't.

She drove and parked and took him by the hand, leading him inside his house. As soon as he saw the baseball cards, he wanted to upend his coffee table. He wanted to do this and get it over with and go to sleep for a week. And if he didn't feel better after that, then he didn't know what he was going to do.

When Shannon tried to turn on his bedroom light, he took her hand in his and guided it away from the switch. "Too bright," he mumbled, and she started to get undressed. He stumbled across the hallway to the bathroom and closed the door. When he looked in the mirror, he'd never seen anything quite so pitiful. He splashed a little water on his face, but it just made his flushed cheeks stand out more. He dug around under the sink for some condoms he thought he still had. When his hand closed around the box, he sat back against the wall and cried.

He had no idea how long he was in the bathroom. He took his shirt off and used it to wipe his face. You didn't want him. He went back to his bedroom where Shannon was naked on his bed, her skin glowing in the light filtering in from the bathroom where he forgot to flip the switch off.

"Fuck," he grunted, running his fingers through his hair. But she must have taken that as a sign that he was ready to go. He wasn't, but he told himself he was. She touched him, and he let her. She kissed him some more, and he let her do that, too. He reciprocated. He knew to do that much. But it didn't feel like anything. He fucked her, but it just wasn't right. And then he fell asleep with a throbbing head and an aching heart and the wrong woman next to him.

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It had been years since Bradley had a hangover. When he opened his eyes, his left arm was hanging off of his bed, and his face was halfway smashed in his pillow. His mouth was completely dry, and he tried to press his lips together and swallow. He had no idea how he got home or what time it was.

"Oh, shit," he groaned. He texted you last night. When he was sitting at the bar. He was pretty sure he told you he fell in love with you. He knew you wouldn't write back. You must have blocked his number by now. He was probably texting nobody by this point, but it still hurt like hell that you didn't want him the way he wanted you.

Then he remembered what he did after he texted you, and the bile rose in his throat so quickly. Shannon was right there next to him when he turned his head. He let her sleep over. He never let her sleep over before this. She was in your spot. He needed her gone immediately.

"Hey," he grunted, his throat like sandpaper. "Shannon. You need to leave."

She rolled over and glared at him. "Still tired," she whispered, completely naked in his bed.

"Please," he begged. He was so fucking stupid, it was incredible. Now he was miserable and hungover and angry with himself. "I need you to."

She sighed and stretched, and Bradley made a beeline for the bathroom, stepping on a condom wrapper on the way. At least there was that. Then he emptied the contents of his stomach into the toilet. He sat back against the wall for a few minutes, afraid there might be more he had to throw up. He knew his head was throbbing due more to the fact that he regretted everything he did last night with Shannon than him drinking most of a bottle of whiskey.

There was tapping on the door. "If you want me to leave, I need to use the bathroom."

"Give me a minute," he groaned, standing up and looking at himself in the mirror. There were dark circles under his eyes and he looked pale. When he brushed his teeth, he felt the tears burning behind his eyes once again. Was this ever going to stop? It had been more than a month.

Bradley rinsed his mouth and opened the door, barely looking at Shannon as she walked past him, still naked. He went back into his bedroom for a pair of clean underwear and some gym shorts and fought the urge to put all of his bedding in the washing machine. He couldn't even be in here right now, so he left for the kitchen. And he passed the fucking baseball cards again. He would have to throw them away or ask someone to come get them, because he needed them gone as much as he needed Shannon to leave.

As he turned on his coffee maker, he heard someone knocking on his front door. He already wanted this fucking day to end. He tried not to look at the baseball cards as he passed the table and wrenched his front door open, and then his jaw dropped in surprise.

"Bradley. Hi."

He braced his hand against the door frame as he looked at you standing there on his tiny porch. You were wearing his Padres jersey. He had to be hallucinating. This had to be a dream. You were here.

"Ace."

He watched your face light up at the nickname, and you laughed softly as you examined him like you'd been dying to see him. He gripped the doorframe a little harder as he reached his other hand out to cup your chin and feel your silky skin.

"Holy shit, Baby. What are you doing here?" His heart was pounding, but he felt somehow normal again. Just like he had five weeks ago before you left him in a state of panic.

"I came to see you." He stroked his thumb along your lip, but you didn't back away. In fact you took a tiny step closer as you added, "I have to be up in Anaheim tomorrow afternoon for some Ducks interviews, but I wanted to see you first. I thought we could talk."

Your eyes were open and earnest, and Bradley felt weak as he looked at his jersey on you. He let his hand drop away from your face, because he had no idea what to say to you right now. He had convinced himself he'd never see you again. "Did you get my texts? Or did you block my number?"

You pressed your lips together and then whispered, "I got your texts. And I've listened to your voicemail a lot. I've missed you." Bradley watched you smile tentatively and give him a little shrug.

"You missed me," he said in disbelief. "And you got my messages. And you missed me. And you're wearing my jersey."

You looked down at yourself and laughed. "I've been wearing pretty frequently, actually. Turns out I don't have a dress code at my new office, which ironically is in Houston now, but I hardly ever have to be there in person."

When you met his eyes again, he asked. "New office?" He was so confused as he reached out and stroked your cheek with his fingers again just to try to make sure you were still real.

"Yeah," you said softly, taking another step closer to him. "I have you to thank for that. I have you to thank for a lot of things." You bit your lip before you said, "I left the New York Times. I just finished my last assignment for Greg yesterday. I'm working on a brand new piece now. I actually begged my new employer to let me come back to California for the Anaheim Ducks article even though it's a bit of a fluff piece, because it meant I could come here and tell you that I'm happier now."

"You are?" he asked, unsure what you meant by that. He was having a hard time listening to your voice and looking at your face at the same time, and he wondered how he'd managed ten days in your presence for the World Series. You were just so overwhelmingly perfect.

"Yes, Bradley. You made me think about my career, and I kind of took the time to change some of my priorities. Because if there's a man as incredible as you who is willing to take a chance on me, then I can take the same kind of chance on myself."

"Ace."

You smiled up at what he was sure was a look of longing on his face. "I'm working for Velocity Report now, and I'm going to have a lot more time off between assignments. Which is important, because you reminded me that I need to take breaks and eat and take care of myself. Even when you're not around."

"I loved doing that for you," he gasped, suddenly dying to kiss you.

"Yeah, well, you were really good at it," you said as your smile faded a little bit. "But that's why I'm here. To tell you all of this in person. You deserve to hear it in person instead of over the phone, especially since I never responded to you. I wanted to, but I just wasn't ready until now. And I don't know if you read what I said about you in my Detroit Red Wings article... but, I still miss you. And I love you."

His heart was pounding so hard, he thought he was going to pass out. "You love me?" he asked, absolutely needing you to say it again for him as your eyes drifted to where the box of baseball cards was still out on the coffee table.

Your smile grew as you reached out for his hand and tugged him closer like you were going to kiss him. "Yes, I do. I love-"

Bradley heard a noise behind him, and his heart sank as his eyes went wide. You were looking off to the side, and he heard Shannon's voice. "Oh, sorry." He turned to see her with a puzzled look on her face. He had completely forgotten she was even here. After a few minutes in your presence, you were the only thing that mattered.

"Oh my god," you gasped, wrenching yourself away from Bradley. "Oh, fuck." You looked at him with your hands on your forehead and tears in your eyes. "You know what? Forget I was even here. I'm sorry," you gasped, turning on your heel and walking full speed across his yard to the black car that was parked at his curb.

It took him a second, but then he was right behind you. "Ace! No, Baby, you don't understand." But it didn't look like you were listening as you dug the keys to your rental car out of your pocket. "Ace! Please!" He ran barefoot out onto the street to try to beat you to the car door, but you were too fast. When he reached for your hand and spun you around to face him, you had tears streaming down your cheeks.

He was frozen, clinging to your hand as you whispered, "She's the bartender. I should have never come here."

"No," he begged, stepping into your personal space, but you kept dodging him. "It's nothing. I want you here. I need you here."

But you pulled your hand free and reached for the door handle as you sobbed, and it broke Bradley's heart. "I need to go."

He was ready to drop to his knees. "She doesn't mean anything, Ace! Please! I missed you too, Baby! I've been miserable without you, okay? You have no idea."

You wouldn't even look at him now as you pushed him out of the way so you could climb in the car. He felt all of his dreams slipping through his fingers twice now as you slammed the door closed, started the engine and drove.

"Ace!" he shouted running alongside your door until you hit the accelerator and left him standing in the middle of his street without shoes on. "Ace. I love you," he whispered as you turned left at the end of his block, and then you were out of sight.

Bradley sank down until he was squatting with his face buried in his palms. "Fuck!" he screamed, the sound only slightly muffled as he jumped up to his feet and made his way back to his house where Shannon was standing on his porch. She looked disgusted as another car pulled up in front of his house.

"Why are we sleeping together if you're clearly in love with her?" she asked, barely looking at him as she headed toward her Uber. "You should go take care of that."

As Bradley watched her away, he tried to pinpoint exactly how he'd fucked all of this up. He wondered if there was any way to fix it. Once again, he couldn't breathe correctly as that crushing feeling returned to his lungs. This feeling has vanished for those few minutes he was with you again.

"Maybe you don't even deserve her," he told himself as he walked back inside alone, thinking about how for a minute there, you'd loved him back.

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Oh, Bradley. Oh, you sweet thing. Should I add one more part? Thanks to @mak-32 and @beyondthesefourwalls

PART 9

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writingwife-83 · 5 months

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Let’s kick this post off with a little definition-

Mousy- nervous, shy, or timid; lacking in presence or charisma

This term is often used in a negative way, and in this fandom we all know who gets called mousy. Literally just saw someone today equate Molly being mousy with character flaws. But read the definition again… what’s wrong with this? Nothing. These are just personality differences, not flaws. Why does a female character have to be loud, pushy, and full of confidence to be seen as strong and valuable? Yes sometimes men don’t write women well, but I’d actually argue that’s not the case with Molly Hooper. There’s literally nothing wrong with being quiet and mild. (Which, btw, you’d have to have stopped watching at s1 to think that’s how she is all the time lol) And there’s also nothing wrong with being in love with someone, even when they don’t love you the way you want in return. Those things don’t make you weak or mean that you’ve had no character development.

People should be careful not to miss the point of Molly. The other characters that are important to Sherlock are very in your face and obvious. With Molly it’s more subtle. That’s a huge plot line! Because Moriarty missed it too. But there’s also plenty of times where it’s spelled out nice and clear.

“You do count. You’ve always counted and I’ve always trusted you.”

Don’t ignore what those words of Sherlock’s mean. It means that even back when she seemed less important to the viewer, she actually wasn’t. She was always important to him. Do you think he’d feel that way if she truly was a doormat of a person? No. Again, just because you’re quiet, nervous, or shy doesn’t mean you’re weak or worthless. Sherlock always knew how strong and intelligent and loyal she was, so he didn’t care about how she came across socially. Why should the viewer? Maybe because it’s just more comfortable to see her as the badly written doormat. 👀

And how about the argument that she “deserved better” and got cheated out of “closure?” I’d really like to dig into that and compare Molly’s supposed lack of closure to the other characters. Does anyone claim Greg got no closure? Or John? Or Mycroft? Or Mrs Hudson? Huh, that’s funny. Because I don’t recall a scene with any of them hashing out all their feelings with Sherlock and coming to a mutual agreement of where things stood. They all got the same thing. They were all included in the montage at the end. They were all shown to be happy and clearly still close with Sherlock. The implication of that is so incredibly obvious, despite not having it spoon fed to us on screen. So again, explain to me how she’s the poor sad victim when all the other characters aren’t? 🤨 Adding to that, a lot of us believe that Sherlock (at least by the later seasons) did indeed love Molly in a way that wasn’t just platonic. There’s plenty of evidence to that as well, though that’s not something that needs defending. You either see it or you don’t.

But anyway, regardless of ship canon, there’s plenty of Molly Hooper canon that is so misread and/or ignored. That’s what I wanted to defend. Because IMO the justice Molly Hooper deserves is simply that her character and canon is seen for what it truly is.

#molly hooper #sherlolly #seeing pity for Molly gets to me #fandom woes #I maintain she’s the most well adjusted character on that show #she’s got her life together #she has friends and an amazing job #just because a character is shy and doesn’t get screen time the whole show #doesn’t make them badly written #clearly I could go on and on lol

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jovenshires · 3 months

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the official iwks lore dump post

okay this is long-overdue but basically both @spencersagnew and @hoohoobeanie asked me to do a little lore dump for if we keep score and here it is!! this is not everything by far (some of what's missing will be covered in future fics and some im simply forgetting) but this is the basics for all the stuff i felt like i couldn't include but i had in my brain - ages, mascots for different schools, etc

THE AGES OF THE MAIN CAST:

st charles:

SENIORS: spencer, damien, shayne, brennan

JUNIORS: alex t, jeremy, patrick, ify

SOPHOMORES: rock and tim

FRESHMAN: marcus

our lady of perpetual sorrow:

SENIORS: tommy, keith, garrett

JUNIORS: alex a, luke, duran

SOPHOMORES: andre and greg

FRESHMEN: chanse, josh, peter

THE AGES OF THE MINOR CAST:

holy trinity (based on the try guys and second try):

SENIORS: zach (captain), keith (vc), kwesi, nick

JUNIORS: johnny, hughie, alex, jared

SOPHOMORES: miles and jonathan

FRESHMEN: jack

aquinas academy (based on dropout tv):

SENIORS: sam (captain), brennan (vc), josh, murph

JUNIORS: zac, grant, trapp

SOPHOMORES: raph and tao

FRESHMEN: lou and jacob

st. george's (based on mythical):

SENIORS: josh (captain), david hill (vc), carney, jordan, lucas

JUNIORS: chase, davin, matt lieb, pasley, zack

SOPHOMORES: trevor

MASCOTS:

st charles: cheetahs (chosen because it alliteratively went with st charles)

our lady of perpetual sorrow: pirates (chosen because it alliteratively went with perpetual)

holy trinity: triceratops (i meannn. when they have a mascot already i simply must)

aquinas: spoonbills (lil inside joke for brennan lee mulligan's love of birds and that one game changer ep where sam tortured brennan with birds)

st. george's: roosters (once again i feel like i had to. i almost went with 'beasts' but i think roosters makes more sense)

MOTTOS:

st charles: Dirige Nos In Fide - Guide Us In Faith. (i knew this one from the very start because i had the speech ian gives him in my head. where spencer has faith in his team and that's why ian chose him to lead them. guide us in faith!!!)

our lady of perpetual sorrow: Est Gaudium in Dolore - There is Joy in Pain. (honestly this is tommy bowe's personal motto to me. no but i picked it bc tommy persevered despite all that he suffered

holy trinity: Conare Iterum Conare - Try Try Again. (this one is pretty on the nose BUT they're all about giving it their best shot even when they're the underdogs!! when they get knocked down they get up again! ain't nothing gonna bring us down!)

aquinas: Virtus in Culpa - Strength in Fault (their students are really, really intelligent and like. the best of the best. but that's because aquinas, though it's a school for academic excellence, is very relaxed with consequences for failure. like there's a lot of support for students who are struggling academically or behaviorally. we are only as strong as our faults!!)

st. george's: Esto Tuus Optimus - Be Your Best Self (once again they had it right there. be your mythical best!)

WHY I CHOSE THE SCHOOL NAMES:

(ive posted this before but im making this comprehensive!)

st. charles’ academy for boys: this is entirely based on spencer’s first name actually being charles LNDKNFLKNK like i knew i wanted to go with an all-boys school (as opposed to olops which is actually a co-ed school!) and i thought. “this is kinda funny.” and it was!

our lady of perpetual sorrow: this is actually - and i Did Not Know This - the catholic school from suite life of zack and cody SDFGHJK which means one of two things: 1. either i heard it there and it stuck in my brain and i didn’t realize OR 2. i just have the same brain cell as the suite life writers. i have no idea. but i chose that name bc, growing up in catholic school, i heard So Many ‘our lady of ___’ school names and i thought tommy, known Mental Illness actor, would enjoy 'perpetual sorrow’ as a nod to that knfkfnfk

holy trinity preparatory school: ah the easiest one tbh!! holy trinity because TRI. TRI bc there’s three of them and also it sounds like TRY. try guys! no more thought to it than that tbh.

aquinas academy: i went into it in more detail here, but basically st. thomas aquinas is the patron saint of college students - thus college humor, thus dropout!!

st. george: this one was a little more deep-cut!! i almost went with st. martha, the patron saint of the culinary arts, but i wanted their patron to encapsulate more of the crew rather than just the kitchen. even if it was josh’s world and we were all living in it. but basically, st. george is the patron saint of knights, cavalry, and armourers. he’s frequently depicted as slaying dragons and was often compared to many mythic heroes. therefore, you can consider st. george your official patron saint of mythicality!

SOME FUN FACTS THAT DIDN'T MAKE THE CUT:

damien is in the st. charles' choir which is why spencer plays guitar for them; he also does the school plays. he's a busy boy!

patrick is an altar boy and that's how he stole the communion wine

patrick and jeremy almost kissed when they got drunk off the communion wine and have NEVER talked about it

shayne is in the running to be valedictorian

chanse has a crush on tommy (and who can blame him.)

jackie does not do soccer and although she was at most of the games in iwks did NOT know what was going on

jackie also goes to public school bc i love her so she gets to win <3

i've mentioned this before but yes amanda and angela were on the same team in high school and were best friends (and..... you know. a little more than that maybe.)

tim is rock's calc tutor and it's not going well

if spencer had any input he would push for jeremy to be the next vc because he just has a soft spot for the guy and he thinks it would do him some good. but jeremy would rather die than be in charge of anything so <3

alex's hello kitty bandaids have nothing to do with like a ravenous love of hello kitty or anything - frankly they bought them because he thought they were cute and pink and sparkly. he didn't even realize they were hello kitty but that just makes them even better. they make All the players wear them when they can.

literally no one has told marcus who ian is so when he shows up at that one party he's just like. haha! who tf is this guy :) just smiling and nodding as if he knows what's going on but EXTREMELY confused by the stranger in jeremy's house

ify and patrick were buds before either of them met jeremy

brennan took four years of latin as we know, but what you don't know is that tommy took four years of french and damien took four years of german! (spencer took the minimum requirement of spanish and that's it LKDNKNFLFKN)

a lot of the team member's relationship with religion fluctuates but ian specifically is like. agnostic-christian. where he's like "idk what's out there but the Idea of christianity is comforting." he's not sure what he thinks about god but he's cool with praying does this make sense

tommy has spencer in his phone as "charles" forever and ever bc he said so. what is spencer gonna do. stop him?

despite the ban on interactions between the two teams damien and keith have been buds/texting each other for years. they are buds to ME.

chanse is like. en route to play professionally. he's being scouted like right now. he wanted to go to like a Specialized sports high school but his parents insisted on keeping him in catholic school

aaand trevor is putting in a transfer request as we speak LKSNDLK

okay i think that's it for now as far as lore goes. i hope you all enjoy!!

#iwks #fic #katie writes #spommy #personal #mine*#i believe in queue! spring break!#rpf #shut your pie hole katie

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pynkhues · 1 year

Note

What do you think about it is about Kendall that’s it’s like, of course he’s the only one with a real friend?

It's lowkey one of my favourite choices on the show, anon, just because I think it's so revealing in more ways than one. Like, it makes sense, not just because of who Kendall is, but also who his siblings are, and the different ways they navigate their way through the world.

Interestingly, I think Connor and Shiv actually have the clearest boundary (or hurdle, depending on how you look at it) when it comes to fostering friendships, and while I think those things are different, I think they're both steeped in these factors of them as characters that shape their experiences of adulthood.

I think Connor's stems from an extremely disrupted childhood between his mother's mental health, her institutionalisation, his father's absence and reappearance, and then his being pushed into a parentified role to the golden trio at a formative age (canon explicitly tells us that too! Camping trips, fishing trips, fulfilling the father duties at Shiv's wedding before Logan decides to show up!) when he should've been away at college building his own relationships, in order to feel he had any sort of place in his family.

Similarly, I think Shiv has been soaked in hatred for her own gender since she's been born. Her relationship with her mother is strained and seems to have been weaponised by her father, she likely went to an all girls school (Spence, I imagine, which is basically the all girls equivalent of Buckley, the all boys school we know Kendall went to) and her own misogyny hampered any genuine friendship attempts. I think Shiv probably had frenemies, but nothing deeply meaningful, because vulnerability and emotional honesty is something she can't allow herself if she wants to survive in a male-dominated household festering in a male-dominated industry. I think male friendships were off the table in that sense too because Shiv seems to have always sought power in whatever way she could, and the two things she has to exert power are her name and her sexuality and at least her sexuality is hers.

I think Roman's a little harder to put a pin in in that sense, because I think he's a little bit of both of them, and a whole lot his own thing. I think he's experienced a part of Connor's disrupted childhood by having been shipped away to school and for his physical abuse, and I think he's experienced a part of Shiv's self-loathing for a part of his identity he can't face up to, but I also think Roman on paper should have friends. Roman's funny and insightful and (most of the time) the right sort of mean, and he's no more self-defensive than the rest of them, but I think the reason comes down to the biggest difference between him and Kendall:

Roman can be honest without being vulnerable, whereas Kendall can be vulnerable without being honest.

Roman as a character isn't actually particularly duplicitous. He can absolutely be an asshole, but he doesn't play to what people want in the way that both Kendall and Shiv (and even to an extent, Connor) do. His moments of vulnerability though are rare, often private, often, still, fleeting and guarded, while his moments of honesty are more frequent, yet often just ugly and naked and there. He fronts to it, and takes it, and usually tells the other person to take it too, which is what he did with Gerri and Tabitha and even Lawrence way back at the start of the series.

Kendall's not an honest person, but he is someone who's inherently vulnerable, and I think it pulls people to him, despite themselves. We've seen it in real time with Naomi and even Greg, and retrospectively with Rava, Stewy and Frank. He can break, he can curl in a lap or bury a head in a shoulder while still telling half truths or nothing at all. God, probably one of the best examples is in 2.04 when he pulls Shiv into a hug while talking around what she actually wants to hear.

Kendall lets people mop up the blood while he either tries to hide, ignore or justify the wound, and I think that vulnerability lets people feel a degree of intimacy with him and protectiveness of him that becomes muddied as they discover that Kendall is inherently a dishonest person and an addict, as it seems most characters in this show have learnt the hard way. After all, discovering that he's not told you a whole truth doesn't erase the memory of the weight of his head against your shoulder.

#i kind of had two responses to this one anon #but i thought this was maybe the more interesting one?#because i do think their circumstances and personality types have been really formative in their ability to form relationships #i do also think a lot about birth order with the four of them though and how that shapes the way they engage with others #a part of that too is the fact that i think stewy and kendall met when they were little kids #(they met at buckley! it's kindy to ninth grade!)#(in theory they would've been six!)#and i like the idea of their friendship starting over something pretty innocuous #because you have no idea right?#and then at some point they just clearly became ride or die #kendall roy #roman roy #shiv roy #connor roy #hbo succession #succession meta

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misguidedasgardian · 13 days

Text

The Lifeaters (III.3)

III. Your greatest fear

MASTERLIST

Chapter Summary: Your classes test you in unimaginable ways

Pairings: Draco Malfoy x Fem!Reader (platonic)

Warnings: Cursing, magical objects, Mugglephobia, classism, charms and curses, might miss some warnings

Wordcount: 3,4 k

Notes: I’m adapting a lot of parts of the books… hehe…

Have you seen Brooklyn 99? if you have you’ll now this

If you see something say something, come on and party tonighttttt wooooooo

Tuesday nor Wednesday Draco went to classes, his arm still tightly taped to his side, you helped him in what you could, no, actually, in what he would let you help him, you offered to carry his bag but he made Goyle do it, he wouldn’t let you personally carry his things or help him up, nothing that would require strength, you wanted to feel insulted, but what he truly meant is that he did not wanted you to “trouble” yourself

Also he was enjoying the attention you and Pansy were giving him, letting you fix his hair and robes, and even help him eat

It felt nice to help a friend

So Thursday you had potions, and Dray could not miss that.

Most classes would put aside one block, one hour and a half of your schedule, but not potions.

Many took too long to prepare, so once a week, you had THREE consecutive hours to brew potions and be almost tortured by Professor Snape

Even though they were almost on the same floor, the potions classroom was nothing like your common room. It was stuffy, damp and the various smells from the potions made it really hard to breathe or have a nice time, on the contrary, it also depended on the potion that was being brewed, sometimes they made the air lighter, so every class was everyone’s guess.

All eyes where on you when you arrived with Draco to the potions classroom, you shared the class with the Gryffindors, and many of them looked annoyed when they saw Dray’s grimace

Pansy wouldn’t leave your side either.

You didn’t know how to feel

You liked her, she was your friend, but you were not used to a “third wheel” in yours and Draco’s relationship, before there was Vince, Greg and even Matthew near him, but they couldn’t get that close to him

Pansy was managing to do so, and it made you a bit queasy

Draco whimpered when you settle in your places and Pansy was on him on a

"How is it, Draco?”, she asked, in a tone a bit sweet for your taste, "Does it hurt much?"

“Yes”, he said, trying to show himself brave, but as soon as Pansy looked away, he winked at Greg and Vince, you slapped his good arm, annoyed, he looked back at you apologetically

Your attention was called by Snape, the class was going to start

You were a bit late, but your professor didn’t say anything, you enjoyed more… freedom… with the head of your house than with other teachers, it almost made you a bit embarrassed

But then you remembered all teachers who were heads of houses had a soft spot for their students, Snape had a soft spot for you lot, his house.

“Today were going to be making a Shrinking solution”, snape Introduced, “please take out your ingredients”

You were sharing one of the big tables with Potter, Granger, Longbottom, Weasley, Greg, Vince, Draco and Pansy

"Sir," Dray called, "sir, I'll need help cutting up these daisy roots, because of my arm…", you looked at him, wanting to offer your help, but Snape had other plans

"Weasley, cut up Malfoy's roots for him"

“I can do it”, you whispered to him, but he shook you off

“He told Wesley to do it”, he said with a smirk, oh how he was enjoying this

"There's nothing wrong with your arm," Ron accused him

"Weasley, you heard Professor Snape; cut up these roots”, he demanded, and Weasley started to masacre those poor roots

“Professor!”, called Draco, “Weasley is mutilating my roots!”, Snape even seemed happy with this arrangements

“Weasley, change roots with Malfoy”, he demanded, and you could barely choke in a giggle

So the redhead had to spend double time trying to fix his roots for himself to use, you tried to focus on your own ingredients, but Draco had you a bit on edge.

Don’t misinterpret this, it was fun to pick on Potter and Weasley, but not in the middle on the potions class, when many things could go wrong

"And, sir, I'll need this shrivelfig skinned," said Dray, pushing his luck, you actually liked working with the plant

“I can do it Dray”, you offered, and you felt Pansy’s heated gaze on you

"Potter, you can skin Malfoy's shrivelfig," was the response

“It’s no trouble”, you insisted

“He said Potter to do it”, Draco said with a smile

Potter was quick to skin those poor plants, and slided them over the table at Draco as quickly as he could. Draco’s face was one of victory, he seemed pleased with himself.

Oh but not yet

"Seen your pal Hagrid lately?", he asked them with a mean smirk

"None of your business," responded Weasley.

It was a sore topic, you did not like the turn it had taken

"I'm afraid he won't be a teacher much longer," Said Draco. "Father's not very happy about my injury… he complained to the school’s governors and all", he said, sighing, “And a lasting injury like this…who knows if my arm will ever be the same again?". You wanted to tell him to drop it, you did, back in the common room, but he wouldn’t listen, the horrible gash in his arm looked terrible.

“So that’s why you are doing this!”, said Potter, “you want to get him sacked!”

“Well, maybe”, teased Draco, “Weasley, why don’t you slice up my caterpillars for me?”

The Redhead was about to throw his cauldron at him, when Professor Snape walked by the table, looking into Longbottom’s cauldron

"Tell me, boy, does anything penetrate that thick skull of yours? Didn't you hear me say, quite clearly, that only one spleen was needed? Didn't I state plainly that a dash of leech juice would suffice? What do I have to do to make you understand, Longbottom?", his potion was the wrong color, and Neville looked like he was about to cry.

"Please, sir," said Granger, there was something about her tone that you really found annoying, "I could help Neville put it right…", you couldn’t help but rolled your eyes, and Draco at your side snickered

"I don't remember asking you to show off, Miss Granger," you couldn’t help but smile, Snape always saw right through the golden trio, "Longbottom, at the end of this lesson we will feed a few drops of this potion to your toad and see what happens. Perhaps that will encourage you to do it properly.", now that made you raise your eyes from your cauldron up to Neville, who’s hands started shaking

"Help!" he moaned, looking at the entire table

"Hey", said Seamus Finnigan, a Gryffindor who no matter what he was doing, he always managed to provoke an explosion, "Sirius Black's been sighted”, he said, you and Draco shared looks, “it’s all over the daily prophet”

"Where?" asked Potter, all the table were listening

"Dufftown," said Seamus, who looked excited. "It was a Muggle who saw him. By the time the Ministry of Magic got there, he was gone."

"Not too far from here... " said Granger, then Weasley catches us looking

"What, Malfoy? Need something else skinned?", he asked

But Draco was looking at Potter with malice, and you knew exactly was he was about to say

"Thinking of trying to catch Black single-handed, Potter?", he teased "Yeah, that's right," responded Potter, ever the petulant fool

You knew what was coming, you had discussed it at length, Sirius black was the one that betrayed Harry’s Parents, causing them to die in the hands of the Dark Lord

"Of course, if it was me, I'd be out there looking for him.", said Draco, “I wouldn’t be staying in school like a good boy”

"What are you talking about, Malfoy?", asked Weasley. And you looked at Potter’s face, looking for any clue, but now it dawned on you… he didn’t know. He didn’t know what Black had done, of course you did, because uncle Lucius didknow, he was deep in the Ministry.

But Potter didn’t know what Sirius had done to his family, and why he was out, probably looking for him.

"Don't you know, Potter?", asked Draco, truly surprised, but he looked like he did on Christmas mornings

"Know what?". Draco laughed cruelly, it made your skin crawl.

"Maybe you'd rather not risk your neck," he said. "Want to leave it to the dementors, do you? But if it was me, I'd want revenge. I'd hunt him down myself."

"What are you talking about?" asked Potter angrily

You were going to tell Draco to stop, but Snape did it for you, calling the attention of the entire class

"You should have finished adding your ingredients by now; this potion needs to stew before it can be drunk, so clear away while it simmers and then we'll test Longbottom's... "

Neville stirred his cauldron miserably, with his mouth twisted in agony

You put away your things and Draco before he could say anything, you were somewhat happy that your potion was the right shade of color

A few minutes later, Snape was standing next to Neville, Theo and Matt stood by your side, to watch

"Everyone gather 'round," said Snape, “and watch what happens to Longbottom's toad. If he has managed to produce a Shrinking Solution, it will shrink to a tadpole. If, as I don't doubt, he has done it wrong, his toad is likely to be poisoned”, you grabbed onto the hand that was closest to you, it was Theo’s, he looked at you alarmed, but you only watched as snape with a special instrument took a bit of the potion, while he held Trevor on his other hand

“Professor…”, you couldn’t help it, you were not thinking, Snape looked at you with those dark glistening eyes, “Trevor will… die?”, you asked fearfully, “we understand the consequences Sir, I don’t think it’s necessary…”

He seemed truly surprised

“Hush your mouth Basilik, unless you want your points removed”, he said angrily. The Gryffindor seemed truly surprised as you intervened

Theo didn’t released you, you squeezed his hands waiting for the inevitable, if that was Umbra instead, you’d be crying, as Neville shed a single tear of his trembling cheek

Snape fed Trevor a spoonful of the potion…

You could drop a pin on the classroom and it would be heard loudly, everyone was looking expectantly… and then, with a pop, Trevor had become a tiny little tadpole.

You released Theo, taking a deep breath, relieved…

Snape, who seemed like he didn’t get any presents for Christmass, took a vial from the insides of his robes and turn Trevor into his normal size again

"Five points from Gryffindor," said Snape, which wiped the smiles from every face. "I told you not to help him, Miss Granger. Class dismissed."

You never walked out of potions so quickly, dragging a laughing Draco with you

You went to the great hall to have lunch, not before you sneaking out to the inner courtyard to take a long breath of fresh air, Winter was looming in and you could already feel the chill in the air even though the trees were already turning orange

You weren’t alone

“Hey, ppssttt”, you heard a shushing noise, you looked to your side and saw Theo and Matthew, hiding under the threshold of the castle’s door. Theo was hiding something on his robes

“What?”, you asked, coming near them, they clearly wanted to show me something, but you thought better of it, “I swear for Merlin’s fluffy robes that if I look into something remotely inappropriate I will tell Snape…”

You heard a croak, and your curiosity got the better of you and you looked inside

Theo was hiding a toad, and not just any toad

“Is that Trevor?”, you asked them both who started laughing

“Maybe”, he giggled

“You stole him?”, you asked them, scandalized, and then you looked into both their eyes, “no…”

“What?”, asked Theo

“Please don’t hurt him”, you begged them, honestly scared for the poor familiar

“I will not!”, Theo said, he seemed offended that you believed he was going to hurt him

“Why did you steal it?”, you asked them

“Longbottom didn’t have the guts, he was going to let Snape poison him!”, he said, taking Trevor out of his robes and caressing his tiny head, he was cute… for a toad…

“So what’s your plan?”, you asked the pair, and they shared looks

“We are going to keep him…”, said Theo

“Yeah, and share custody”, muttered Matt

“What are you three doing with Longbottom’s toad?”, you three freezed at the unmistakable voice of Severus Snape, you three turned slowly, and shaking

“Stealing is not tolerated at Hogwarts”, he said with his dark, dragging voice, “Miss Basilik you interrupt and question my teaching methods and then you steal a classmate’s familiar, this is unacceptable”

“Sir! but…!”

“And furthermore you send a request my way to drop the divination class… not so fast… Gaunt”, he said, grabbing into Matt’s robes who had tried to escape. You looked up at him with wide eyes, “well, lucky for you I found a way to solve your little problem, and… give you and Mister Nott and mister Gaunt a lesson…”

“Which is?”, asked Theo fearfully

“Ancient Runes as Arithmancy are full… but not Muggles studies…”

“No…”, you all whimpered at the same time

“Congratulations, you three are the very first Slytherins in taking the class”, he said with a smirk that was going to haunt your worst nightmares for years to come.

You didn’t even dared to tell Draco, Matthew, Theo and you looked like you just had seen a ghost, you barely ate… you were so… frighten

It did not help what Professor Lupin had in store for Defense against the Dark class after lunch…

“Boggarts!”, presented Lupin, as he stood in the middle of an empty classroom, with a huge cabinet that was moving like it had something inside it, and it did, “can anybody tell me.. what a Boggart looks like?”. he asked

“No one knows!”, said Granger, “boggarts are shapeshifters, they take on the shape of what that person fears the most, that is why they are so…”

“So terrifying, yes…”, he looked back at the cabinet, “Luckily, there is a very simple spell to repel them, everyone says it with me, wands away… Riddikulus!”, he pronounced in a way that was a bit contrary to what your minds told you to pronounced it

“Ri…di…kulus”, you practiced

“This class is ridiculous”, mocked Draco

Once you had practiced the spell, Lupin put you all in a line

The boggart turned into cobras, spiders… many things… and then… you were standing in front of a turning mesh… a cloud-like creature who was reading your mind to find whatever frightened you the most…

You thought about many things that frightened you, total darkness, being completely alone, death? many, many things, but then… something came out on top

The boggart started taking shape, and the result was a huge mass that almost touched the ceiling with his ugly head…. or rather… lack thereof

Trolls were huge, and this one wasn’t the exception, except… it didn't have a head!

A headless troll, with a bloody stomp where his head should be, was standing in front of you

You couldn’t help but whine in fear, wanting to take a step back

“Well, I have to admit, this is an unusual one”. laughed Lupin

“I can’t believe it Basilik!”, said Draco behind you, and you couldn’t stop looking at it, “still?”, you heard laughs behind you, and that only made you whimper more

“Wand at the ready Basilik”, said Lupin, who seemed ready to jump, it wasn’t until that thing tried to hit you with his wooden club that you snapped out of your stupor

“Riddikulus!”, you said, in a second the headless troll became a big voodoo-looking doll, that fell to the ground as it was filled with sand

You kept hearing laughs behind you, and Professor Lupin applauded

“Very good Basilik! very good! Potter, you are next!”

Everyone was expectant of what Potter’s boggart was going to be, and you feared the most

A Dementor showed itself in front of you… well… at least it wasn’t the Dark Lord

Lupin stood in front of him, casted the spell, and… he dismissed the class despite the complains of the res of the class

Potter had the tendency of ruining things

But if the first class was any indication, finally you had a competent Defense against the Dark Arts teacher, and you were excited, despite hearing Draco talking very rudely about Lupin’s appearance.

He did look like he had been attacked by a pack of Wampuses

. . .

The rest of the week, and for the weekend you three were acting as you were guilty of committing an awful crime and everybody was suspecting you. Draco was too “angry” at you for dropping divination that he didn't even ask you what you were going to take instead. Theo and Matthew were as skittish as you, avoiding the subject altogether

You didn’t even know how everyone else was going to react when you told them, nobody of your house had taken that class

It wasn’t until the very next week on Monday that you had your first Muggle Studies class

“I can’t believe this is Snape’s idea of a punishment, Longbottom haven’t even noticed that Trevor was missing”, muttered Theo

You had to admit you were somewhat excited… you didn’t even know what to expect, it was a complete mystery of what was going to happen inside that classroom

“An entire year with Muggle studies”, muttered Matthew, “I bet that if we bother that professor enough, she will let us switch”

“I don’t think we should play along with that, it was a miracle they let us change and… Arithmancy and Ancient runes are full”, you muttered, “and we HAVE to take two electives”, you whispered

That Hufflepuff girl thought you were trying to prank her when you asked her where the muggle studies classroom was.

It was in a part of the castle that you weirdly had walked through a bunch of times, but never took the time to actually tell.

You walked into the classroom, looking everywhere with surprise in your eyes, the room was filled with… unusual things… muggle things, in the corner, there was this… round transparent object that was glowing! What was that about? they couldn’t use magic!

You then noticed that a complete silence had installed in the room and when you looked around you realized that you were being stared at by the entire class. Some of them even had their mouths wide open at the sight of the three of you

Let’s just say that you would have more luck experiencing a 31st of February than spotting a Slytherin in a Muggle studies class, let alone three, let alone Matthew Gaunt that by this point… had a certain reputation inside the school.

In front of the class, there was a sweet looking woman, wearing what you guessed was muggle clothing, she was wearing some school pants, bluish ones, they look so comfortable

“Is this another joke?”, she asked shakily as she saw you three coming in, “Snape is my friend you know, and I’m allowed to take points from Slytherin as well as any other teacher”, she said, she reminded you of Neville

“Please Professor, this isn’t a mockery”, you tried to explain quickly, your new classmates looked at surprised as the teacher to see three Slytherins in there, “we really want to take this class”, you said, it wasn’t specially true but… whatever

“You three are warned! any funny business and I will talk with Snape and have you suspended!”, she threatened, and you nodded quickly, so you went and took a seat quickly in the back of the class, and you stayed quiet the entire lesson.

“I may or may not have… pranked her several times last year”, whispered Matthew to your ear

Even so, both Matthew and Theo were in their best behavior for the first time.

And you had to admit… it was more interesting than you thought.

#misguidedlifeaters #harry potter #harry potter fanfic #harry potter fanfiction #draco malfoy #slytherin boys #slytherin!reader #house slytherin #slytherin #slytherin house #theodore nott

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gemsofthegalaxy · 10 months

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Greg and Marianne are so interesting, in addition to Greg and Ewan (and the fact we somehow never got any interactions between Marianne and Ewan?). @mossiestpiglet said in the tags of a post that we don't talk about them enough, and I concur. So allow me to do so.

I really do need to re-watch the early episodes to confirm, but from my memory, Marianne says she can't give Greg money and encourages him to go to New York City to ask for a job from Logan despite having, like, $20 left when he arrives (which makes it a huge gamble to do, given how fucking expensive NYC is otherwise). And despite the fact her own father would hate this, and wants Greg to have nothing to do with Logan. I always took it to mean she was not willing to give him money, but later on Greg talks to Caroline how his mother is solvent, debt free now. And even later, he's paying for her credit cards. So perhaps she simply had none to give.

Still, I remember getting the feeling that she was tired of dealing with him in the first few episodes and I sort of think that's part of it, but I also think she just can't help him any more than she has. She probably feels like a total failure, I mean, look at her cousins in comparison. Sure, we as the audience know they are complete messes, but at least they're rich and have the freedom to do whatever the fuck they want. Marianne at the very least does not have that luxury, and I'll say more on the financial situation throughout this post.

Greg is very clingy to her early, on and I believe they're implied to still be in contact afterwards. I think Ewan says that Marianne asked him to make sure Greg ate at Thanksgiving- that means Marianne is worrying over him going hungry (and he was going hungry, he was stealing food from work and Tom made fun of him for it).

Despite one mention in the script, Greg is vaguely not in contact with his father canonically, and I take his father's marked absence (when Greg is so reliant on his mother) to mean that he was raised by a single mother (I strongly believe he would have asked for support from his father too if he was in contact with him. It doesn't make sense to me that he wouldn't.)

Many people have noted that Marianne's scenes are often held in a bedroom, and it gives her a vaguely depressed vibe, and with her alluded financial issues, it seems like she struggled, alone. Even though her own father has millions of dollars he refuses to use.

Greg, although he is taking care of his mother financially (after she was unable and seemingly less willing to do so for him), is also a brat to her despite being an adult. No more than in the scene at a funeral where he tells her to shut up. (I personally have fairly chill parents who I can get fairly angry at and we bitch at each other, so,) I don't see this as majorly out of line or horrific, but rather as portraying that they are very casual with one another and she probably did not do a great job with discipline or, arguably, boundaries.

One thing I do want to take as canon despite it only being in the scripts is Greg's post-funeral fight with Ewan, and what I want to point out is that Greg says "mom and I have been talking and We are not coming to Christmas" which is only one line, but it feels HUGE in put together with the rest of their scenes.

Here, Greg is presenting himself and his mother as a united front against Ewan, a rich man whose child was in debt severe enough to be a topic of family gatherings, and whose grandchild was in such poverty he was sleeping in a church at one point... We have almost nothing to go off with Ewan and Marianne, but, I say again: it is quite absurd to me that he was sitting on 250mil for Greg while she struggled to raise him, presumably on her own. While she clearly checks in with Ewan about Greg back in Thanksgiving (again, unless i am mistaken then oops), Greg sits between the two of them at the funeral although he is her father, not his.

I have had friends tell me that even with their limited interactions, they get a strong impression that Marianne and Greg are quite codependent with one another, and I feel like I agree; he relies heavily on her for guidance and does not want to do things alone, but also takes care of her financially and comes across as mildly defensive about her towards Caroline, at least trying to make sure the family knows she's in a better place than she used to be. And, then with Ewan, he goes out of his way to say something to feel like it's him and mom against Ewan, when he is feeling incredibly, incredibly defensive and upset at Ewan.

For one reason or another, whether it be depression or financial mismanagement (probably a combination of both that fed into each other) Greg probably has not had much stability from Marianne but seeks her out anyway. Sure, he is an adult, and you may argue that he should be able to stand on his own feet by the start of season 1, he doesn't seem to have much else support besides her- and her him, from what very little we have seen. And honestly, parenthood does not stop at 18 years old, parents in my humble opinion should be prepared to support their kids for their whole lives as best as they are able.... and from what we can tell, this very well might be the best Marianne could have offered Greg, with how little support she must have gotten from Ewan who is incredibly gruff and only interested in his own 'environmentally-friendly' agenda. I doubt he was much help if she is indeed depressed, as many have taken her to be.

I am not even sure how to wrap this up. Just- the little glimpses that we get into Greg, Marianne, and Ewan paint such a sad fucking picture to me. Single mom, obstinate grandfather, and child who tries to please both of them but still never quite measures up. Growing up poor, with a grandfather who has millions but thinks money is the root of all evil and would rather nearly starve his own family than give it to them. And Greg doesn't even seem to resent this, although Marianne might at this point; at the start of the series he genuinely wants to make a good impression on Ewan and be sweet with him still. We didn't actually get their funeral fight, either, we got Greg saying "that was a good speech grandpa", playing both sides to the bitter end, still wanting to please Ewan in what tiny way he might be able to after his show of trying to stop him speaking. Greg desperately wants love and approval from Ewan, and he seems to get some but not a ton of support from Marianne, and we have almost no way to know exactly what goes on between father and daughter with the other two but... I cannot imagine it's a strong or loving relationship.

#greg hirsch #marianne hirsch #ewan roy #succession #the way marianne is a roy and greg is not but shes just like. in the background completely #i bet her and connor would get along well T-T #long post #hope you dont mind i tagged you but you said we should talk more about marianne and i was like. youre correct #justice for the random women in the background of succession............

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pepperpaperpopper · 2 months

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Married to a Brute Chapter 2 now up!

"So, did you read Night Terrors? Howlingoblin’s latest Golazar that I owled you?"

"Uhhh....yeah."

"Did the snake part absolutely blow your mind?"

"Yeah…yeah the snake. That snake killed so many people."

"Killed so many people?? What are you talking about? The only snake part in the whole story is when Sal has tied up Godric spread-eagled on his bed and then he commands the snake in parseltongue to....you know.."

Gregory looked a bit green in the face.

"How did you miss that part? That story is famous for that part."

"Actually Draco, I've been reading Golga fics lately. I really like those."

Draco was gobsmacked. "Golga? Surely you don't mean Godric and Helga Hufflepuff!"

His instinct was to savagely make fun of that pairing because who even read Golga fics?? There was no contention, no dilemma, nothing to make the plot interesting. Godric and Helga probably just held hands and skipped around a field of daisies with a litter of crups on their heels. He managed to temper himself though. Gregory's friendship was important to him and he didn't want to hurt his feelings. He didn't want to be like Pansy, coldly dismissing what your friends said.

"Oh!" he remarked, "But...isn't that...you know..boring?"

Gregory's face had lit up. "No. They're really sweet, and romantic. Plus, Golazar fics are so dark. I feel really uncomfortable reading those.”

“What do you mean?”

Greg looked a bit scared, so Draco tempered his expression. “What do you mean?” he repeated in a sweeter voice.

“It’s just..the last three stories you sent me had Salazar holding Godric prisoner in a dungeon and manipulating him into having sex.”

“That’s just one type of stories. I thought you liked those. There’s all sorts of Golazar fics. There’s one in which Sal sacrifices his life to save Godric and Godric only realizes after he’s dead. It’s a real tearjerker. I’ll owl you that one.”

Gregory was avoiding eye contact and looking guilty. “I’ve tried others but they all have a dark vibe. It makes me feel weird.”

He was beginning to feel offended. “Well it’s just fiction. You don’t have to be so judgmental about it.”

“No Draco No! I’m not being judgmental. I’ve always thought you had great taste. It’s just not for me personally. Honestly, I can see the appeal of the ship though. It’s so intense. It’s like you and Potter.”

Draco felt himself go red in the face. He gave an embarrassed laugh. “No it’s not. Godric and Sal are friends to enemies to lovers. Potter and I were never friends. And now we’re…we’re just enemies.”

“Golazar isn’t real though, but you’re going to marry Potter,” replied Gregory, sincerely, without any hint of irony.

#drarry #drarry fic #hpdm #harry potter #draco malfoy #hpdm fanfic #dramatic Draco Malfoy #oblivious Harry Potter #Fanfic writer Draco Malfoy #Draco ships Golazar #Gregory Goyle #Loyal friend Gregory Goyle #arranged marriage fic #crack fic

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ezlebe · 1 year

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Day 7 - Hugging

Tom looks up, as Greg enters the break room, offering a nod. “Morning, there.”

“Hey,” Greg says, wandering over to the counter with a serious peer at the breakfast trays. He picks out a cinnamon donut of some sort, breaking out into pieces, as he turns around, “Do you want… Oh, shi-shit – it’s the day, huh?”

Tom slips a mug under the coffee machine. “Yep,” he says, absently, as he reaches out and plucks a chunk of donut from Greg’s lax hand, while he presses the farthest button on the coffee machine. “You want one?”

“Wow, it’s really happening?” Greg says, voice lifting, and he doesn’t really seem to be talking about the coffee. He appears to square his shoulders, bracing for something, “If you like, you know, need anything? I’m your guy, right?”

“Sure are?” Tom says, looking down at the coffee machine, as it sputters out and hisses a weak stream of pressed, packaged coffee. “That was the deal.”

“Seriously! Really, I know it’s been a-a difficult journey,” Greg says, now far more than a bit patronizing, as the smile thins a bit across his face. He leans in, all of a sudden, wrapping both his arms awkwardly around Tom and undoubtedly leaving a steak of cinnamon sugar across his suit. “But it’ll get better.”

Tom realizes that he’s impersonating a statue only after Greg pulls back, as he stares for a pair of beats, ignoring the way his shoulders seem to impossibly retain the heat from Greg’s abrupt hug.

“I know I haven’t been –” Greg jerks, back straightening, and seems yanked out of his odd little diatribe. “Oh, that’s Yousef.”

Tom feels a bemused moue settle across his mouth as he watches Greg hurry out of the door with his phone at his ear. He exhales slowly, glancing toward the trays, as he lifts a hand to scratch at his chin.

Did Greg do something?

Tom can’t think of a reason that he’d need some extra gentle handling, which is offensive to begin with, but maybe not without some precedent. The only thing about that, specifically, is Tom never really sees it coming until afterward, and he’s pretty sure Greg isn’t fucking psychic, so it must have something to do with him, but what? The corporate drama has cooled down to non-nuclear proportions.

He really can’t think of a fucking…

What if it’s quitting? Tom hasn’t checked his –

No. He doesn’t have an emailed resignation sitting like a bomb in his inbox, though that’s not really a surprise, since he hasn’t historically been great about – Well, except Greg seems to think Tom knows about it?

Tom checks his calendar, nothing; private calendar, nothing; the various PGM-ownedwebsites… Nothing.

Greg could just be being fucking weird. It could be he listened to one of his dork actualization podcasts and it said to… who knows, let people know you have value, or some crunchy bullshit.

It’s exacerbated already by mid-day.

…Or it’s all the same.

It’s damned difficult to pin down, really, because Tom doesn’t actually know what he’s even trying to dodge. He messages Greg about lunch, because he does every single day, only to get another hug, in the lobby, like it’s been more than three hours since the last one. Greg follows it up with a pat his arm, as they sit at their table to ear, squeezing it down to the wrist, prompting Tom, to some great and powerful mortification, to suffer his face heating with a flush.

Did someone die? Tom cannot think of a single person he’d give a shit about shuffling off the mortal coil that Greg would know, aside for him, and he’s definitely still around being a bewildering presence and making faces when Tom orders his lunch for him. He maybe said he’d stop doing that, sure, but that was before Greg started up his mindfuck.

“Do you feel any different?” Greg asks, as he picks at his fries, mixing together the speciality aoili and ketchup, because he’s a heathen. “Like… lighter, I guess?”

Tom glances down at his chest, feeling his mouth somewhat flatten; he’s lost a little weight recently, but he didn’t think it was noticeable. Does he look sick? Does Greg think he has the big C?

Tom steps out of the building onto the sidewalk with a nod to Greg, who’s fumbling typically at putting his cigarettes back into his murse. It’s another every day occurrence, mundane and comforting, to taunt Greg about leaving minutes early to eek in a last paid smoke break. He lifts a hand, clearing his throat, “Warming your lungs up for the marathon walk home?”

Greg pauses buttoning his bag with a glance up. He abruptly reaches over, as the doors close behind them, to offer an one-armed hug out here on the sidewalk. His voice pitches into a now-familiar patronizing chirp, “We should do something; you like totally held it together all day, man.”

Tom blinks over Greg’s shoulder and feels his posture briefly slump, trying hard to be irked, but finding some difficulty while leaning into Greg with a drawn out sigh. “Alright, enough,” he says, wriggling away and holding Greg out in front of him with outstretched arms. “Stop it – what the hell are you coddling me for?”

“Oh-h, you know,” Greg says, reaching up and scratching between his brows while his eyes dart away and back to Tom. “First day without the ol’ ring?”

“My ring – ?” Tom says, looking down at his hand on Greg’s shoulder and focusing on the tanline around his finger. “Right, I…” He had been conflicted this morning about it, because while the paperwork is drawn up, it’s hasn’t been signed, so he’s still married. He totally forgot about that in record time, because Greg distracted him over… it, apparently, which is sort of fittingly bizarre. “It was actually easy, ye of little fucking faith.”

Greg furrows his brows in a particularly dubious way. “Was it?”

Tom stretches his fingers out with a tight chuckle, then lifts it to wave between them. “You know what a Pyrrhic victory is, bud?”

“Yeah?” Greg says, eyes lifting with the movement, then he takes a quietly sharp breath. He briefly grimaces before it quickly slips behind a more mild frown. “Oh.”

“I don’t know what you’re thinking – the marriage, or the divorce, or the… way I asked for one?” Tom says, feeling his mouth pull to the side in a crooked grimace. “But I’m blanket statement-ing the lot of it. No more dragging around a shiny platinum albatross.”

Greg nods with a drop of his chin, brow furrowing, then looks back up to Tom’s face. “I prefer you without it, too.”

Tom exhales a weak scoff, as he squeezes his hand into a fist. He feels his face heat for the second time today; what is he, twelve?

#tomgreg #tomgregweek #credit to hotgirlhirsch for the plot idea

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brookheimer · 11 months

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PLEASE tell us your last chap predictions im begging you're always on point 😭

SOOO many asks like these and i do not think i can do y’all justice but i will do my best 🫡🫡🫡

honestly have not had much time to think succession the past two weeks (the timing of my irl shitstorm is horrendous like why NOW wait two weeks hit me when the show’s ov*r!!!) so i’ll just pop out a few thoughts here and definitely add/update/correct over the next few days as i actually like think ab it more! these r just some immediate first impressions ya know — nothing i feel confident on but i owe it to the dozen asks like this in my inbox to #break #my #silence <3

don’t know if ppl have already said this but matsson’s US CEO will not be shiv. he never actually said shiv, only she did, and it just doesn’t make sense - mencken wouldn’t agree to work with a prominent democrat no matter what she says, and matsson is very deeply uncomfortable with the thought of giving shiv that much agency as she’s someone he can’t puppet the way he’d like (and also someone with no experience in the business world who is not only a woman but pregn*nt). neither mencken nor matsson respect roman anymore, even though they both liked him over ken on a personal level, but ken…. ken they could work with. and ken would 100% be down. he’d fuck rome, fuck shiv, fuck his fucking of the deal, and end up endorsing the deal as the US CEO. he wins, but it’s lonely at the top. pyrrhic victory etc. that’s the most obvious way i can see it going, but i’m hoping they’ll surprise me bc it feels just way Too obvious (classic last minute ken flip-n-fuck tactic, classic classic pyrrhic victory ending, etc)

greg fires tom. just seems like the way his whole arc this szn has been going

hoping there will be something ab ken’s shit-on-dad plan from e4 — would be kinda disappointed if nothing came from that except for the one mention in e5 bc it just doesn’t seem super plausible to me that articles exposing logan’s abuse, the connor’s mon situation, etc. would fall by the wayside and not make a splash. like, unless they just took a super soft shit-on-dad approach that was basically j ‘his sons did his work for him at the end’ etc, it’s hard for me to imagine it realistically not having some impact and typically succession tries to stay pretty faithful to the media cycle etc

seen a lot of stuff ab how all these past skeletons (cater waiter, roman harassment, shiv silencing the cruise victim, etc) are going to be released from their closets but i’m hoping that’s not the case — succession just doesn’t seem like that kind of show. like yeah it’d be nice on a narrative, karmic justice, character arc etc level, but that’s not how life works. rich people get away with the shit they do and it does not come back to bite them. real life doesn’t have, like, a chekhov’s trauma that ends up coming back at precisely the right moment to be the most narratively satisfying — shit just… happens. logan dies offscreen on a plane in episode 3. there’s no arc, there’s no closure. that’s how it goes. so unless they find a way to work in those things subtly enough that it doesn’t feel forced or Dramatic TM, it’s hard to imagine it happening

ok that’s all for now i will post more thoughts as they pop up and will also answer more asks tmrw! got a lot of catching up to do :):)

#succession #succession speculation #succession spoilers #these r literally just the first things that came to mind — i wld list more but i gtg rn #asks #anon #long post #OH WILL ALSO HOPEFUPPY POST THE ROMAN EMPATHY THING FINALLY LOLLLL SEE YA TMRW

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gregoftom · 1 year

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ok thank GOD we survived another week CMON TOM GIRL THAT’S IT. okay well here’s my tg two cents since i’ve finished the episode.

so here’s the thing. i seen a post or two really crushing their rs down to bare bones basic cynicism it’s only about what they can do for each other businesswise and i gotta say, kids could you lighten up a little? tom wasn’t especially nice to greg this episode or anything, but i don’t think he was like. awful? or anything? he’s exhausted and stressed ofc he’s gonna snap, and ofc he’s not going to like greg being distracted and not paying full attention to him when they’re alone together and he specifically made sure no one else was there. he let greg go to the funeral first even though we Know he feels safer when greg goes in to things like this with him [re: logan’s wake] and ofc he’s gonna need greg going to bat for him to mencken making sure to repeatedly mention tom and putting what he’s learned into putting tom forward and while i get that it can suck not to see some sort of appreciation towards greg i mean, was it really that bad?

did he throw anything at him? did he call him any cruel names? did he bully him specifically beyond what he might say to other atn employees? did he do anything from his old ways except for order greg around?

no. and see, tom is probably very insecure at this point. what does he have to offer greg, except his love? and where has he been before where his love has been rejected? where it’s not been good enough? where it’s not been respected? so he’s gonna order greg around bc he wants to give a show of, see i’m still your superior and i can still take care of you i promise!! even though they both know full well that greg outranks him by now. if greg reaches a point in power and prosperity rivalling or even surpassing shiv then, oh boy here we go again! i’ve got nothing to offer you but my love and it won’t be good enough, just like last time.

tom has all these grandiose ideas of romantic runaways, leave this life behind and come with me but regardless of everything going on, for him personally it’s not as simple as that. he doesn’t see a worth to the other person unless he can give them protection or give them something in return. with shiv i think he figured that great sex, being servile to her and helping her rise to power to gain his own at the same time is what kept it going. and then after that falls apart he has his love. but the type of love he wants to give is not what shiv wants or responds to i believe. that’s not a slight on her it’s just. i don’t see them being able to work at least not without a lot of personal and marriage therapy and like. i don’t think either of them would go for that. he also has these very traditional ideas of a relationship i feel, and the way that he justifies his feelings towards greg is to make a joke out of it, go along with the whole disgusting brothers bit [which personally i think is Only referring to them being each other’s wingmen in scoring, which is interesting considering what shiv said about it and how annoyed she got about greg, bringing him up by name so i’m not exactly sure how much “scoring” was done, at least with women lmfao] add a splash of internalised homophobia, etc. and i think shiv, understandably, due to her repeated experiences of misogyny pushes back against that.

hear me out. it’s actually GOOD for tom to act the way he did towards greg in contrast to how he did to shiv! mattmac has said COUNTLESS times that tom is afraid of shiv. we’ve seen him with a black eye caused by her [before anybody starts i KNOW he flicked her ear and that was NOT cool, but let’s not forget this] and mm commented on how he changes his voice to a higher pitch around her, both in servitude and in being afraid. he’s on eggshells around her. the balcony fight was the first time we saw that not being the case. yeah i get that it’s disappointing to see him backtrack slightly with shiv, be kind to her and not to greg. to see him have to get permission from her to do things like sleep in contrast to with greg, where his basic needs are just met instead of begged for. but he’s NOT backtracking with greg! he’s NOT reverting to previous behaviours with him! and he’s being his honest true self with him!

yes okay he’s snapping at greg! he hung up on him! he’s ordering him around! but he’s insecure; of course he is, he probably thinks greg will walk! greg has gravitated to power repeatedly, why shouldn’t tom be afraid that his feelings for greg aren’t enough to keep him loyal to him, esp when those feelings have not been enough before? yes greg has proven himself a couple of times but cycles and fears are hard to break! we already have “you’ll do it with matsson and not with me?” paired with “i want YOU gregging for me!” like, what more do you need? tom wants to present as still in control and at point where he has the right to tell greg what to do because he wants to show he can make good on their deal, not knowing that greg actually cares about him personally too [which we know for a fact because he goes so mf hard for tom and has done ever since the deal in 3.09. it is not just about gain and i think we can see that’s a fact by now. what leverage does tom have that he could maintain?]

i’m not about to say that the business side of their relationship doesn’t exist at all. i’m not about to say that greg will not use tom, or tom will not use greg. i’m not about to say there’s no negative or manipulative parts of their relationship. but to reduce it to simply this, is just not true. there’s much, much more to it than that. i guess i get a little defensive on this part bc i hate a mlm pairing being lessened to just a joke, or not to be taken seriously, or well pack it up guys, because it didn’t mean anything and was Only a way for the both of them to get ahead and that’s all it ever was.

nah. it wasn’t just that, sorry. and i know the show will probably ditch them, i’m not gonna say succ will let them run off into the sunset. this ain’t my first rodeo. i’ve been in fandom for like 17 years, i know the game, i know how it works. i know tom/shiv is probably endgame in the long run. but i’m just saying, y’all gotta stop reducing it to something so minimal when clearly the dynamic between them captured not only shippers, but general audiences around the globe. i guess i don’t like when ppl contribute to letting the show give it a back seat and give in to it trying to really demean it to less than it actually was. bc we know and THEY know that it was deeper than that. honestly i have a feeling jesse might’ve been held back by hbo judging by the scripts, plus we know there was a lot of shit cut for time, but i digress.

i’ve been saying this for a while now, but if tom and greg are still in each other’s lives in some way by the end of the show, there’s always hope for tg. they don’t have to kiss or declare their love. it’s not as though it’s never been done with a het ship before, take x files mulder and scully for example. yes i know they were eventually “canon” to the point they were in a relationship, but not for years! years! and even then at one point they broke up but were still in each other’s lives with the chance to find each other again and reconcile, which they did!

tom and greg just have to be able to reach other in some capacity, for it to be a possibility. and we have creators in the community to explore how that would work.

#tomgreg #SORRY THIS IS SO FUCKING LONG #but i'm. como se dice....... a lil bit pressed!!!!!#the show is probably gonna have me eating my words but idc i'll take the l. i'll be satisfied as long as i get the base i wanted #now to get some lunch and then continue w my next tg art wheeeee

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wonderpommey · 11 months

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Kendall doesn’t love Naomi, Shiv never loved Tom, Tom didn’t love Greg, Greg didn’t love Tom. Tom stopped loving Shiv. Connor doesn’t really love Willa (did he even notice her whole face has changed?), Willa doesn’t love Connor. Logan didn’t love his pew bench and most of his pew bench didn’t love him or didn’t have time to stop.

Roman though.

Roman loves Gerri, Georgia always told us that and when she talks spinoff it’s Colin, Stewey or Roman & Gerri (and yes, RomanGerri wasn’t Jesse’s, it’s Georgia’s and Tony’s and J's and Kieran’s and Mark’s, but that’s enough!)

From reading around, I think the finale brought home the depth of Roman’s feelings from seeing him watch her on film reciting a maybe dirty maybe spiritual limerick and fall to the floor with it. He took from her, thinking he was entitled to ask her jump into bed or on that grenade. This spoilt little puppy prince who had never suffered a consequence. He attempted to climb his Everest, locked up in a cage. But as soon as he steps out of the cage at Logan’s funeral and abandons the poorly worn skin of whomever he was supposed to be for dad, and the reality of his feelings and his guilt and his shame hits, he realises he barely deserved to be at her feet. He’s a bruised, hollow prince who ‘knifed’ the only person who had real adult expectations of him (in every sense of the term - the scripts are part of my canon), for a throne he didn’t even want. How could you not break down at that??

And it morphs into a love that doesn’t need anything to feed the flame. No reciprocity, no touching, no comfort. Nothing transactional. It doesn’t even need to be spoken or told. It simply exists, in those jelly glass eye balls. He hasn’t earned it as it disappears behind screens and glass partitions where the adults are. She’s put her shoes back on and she’s walked out of his glass room.

Consuming that love becomes the only thing he can do to feel its burn, to satisfy the craving. He won’t be able to give her slow pleasure or any of his fluids but he can partake in hers in some way. Smart people know what they are and God forbid he sullies anymore of her with the oozing blood at the seam big bag of bullshit that he is. But you better believe he can find a way to have her on his brain, his heart, his tongue, his bloodstream.

He steps out of the cage and bids farewell to the toxicity of denying his own heart, he goes from a cage where he could just take, in exchange for pretending to be someone - no consequences but the occasional beating son I promise, to a world where he’s himself, needy and broken, nothing of value to give. He breaks out but the realisation of having fucked his relationship with her is the price of admission into the real world of his real feelings.

Oh she’d pick up the phone if he called, she’d meet him at the bar (I think he even knows that) but his superego, despite his hysterical cries about how good he looks and you can’t really see how broken he is and that it should be him, has acknowledged the fact that he doesn’t deserve her and wonders why she would take any interest in him if he was no longer this diamond in the rough? Can’t bear her eyes on him, if he’s just the nothing bullshit who fired her and lashed out at her. Which is ironic really because, being mad at Ken’s for his abuse, protecting Shiv, the clarity on his and all of their worth, staying and being the face of the humiliation, signing the deal. These are signs he’s morphing into something with grit, something worthy.

I think. Who knows. It’s day 1. They’re slow but it only lengthens the - excruciating - pleasure. It wasn’t a healthy, happy love story. It was a star crossed First Love meeting Last Love with all the unmatched expectations and maturity it entails, but only they knew it and a few of the people that watch. And really this was the most beautifully crafted thing I’ve ever seen on TV, the depths are almost out of reach. Romey-o Loves Gerri, it’s a feminist show and yes even the fact that Logan didn’t consider his grandkids his bloodline (and of course Roman would hate to have children and of course Shiv didn’t have time to tell him about her pregnancy). All these things are in the show and barely visible and thank god for that.

And you can wonder why the hell he’s in a bar smiling and crying at his cocktail or you may prefer to read it as being only about his dad or only about his sibs or just the company if you can manage the connective tissue. But to me, yes of course, his last second on screen is him ingesting her in some way. I mean, OBVIOUSLY. It’s not because it wasn’t in your face, that it wasn’t the realest thing, the only true romance this show has indulged.

#roman roy #gerri kellman #succession hbo #roman x gerri #with open eyes #he made it out of the cage #he's learning to accept and process his feelings #and yes #it's not all sunshine and roses #he has no self worth left in him #I do believe in some measure #we won #and we bought that win with our blood and tears thanks very much #so grateful to this show for being so subtle and yet so crystal clear #when I said at the start of the season they needed to exchange fluids I didn't mean that #but I'll take it #it's pretty actually

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vintagepresley · 11 months

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I’ve only seen a few Elvis movies so far, but I was curious how you would rank them? From best to worst. :)

Oooh.. Which ones have you seen? Also, I'd love to rank his movies! This will be fun. 😂

These are how I rank them personally. But I'd love to hear everyone else's rankings! I will be ranking the movies from the 50's first and then do the 60's, because his movies in the 50's are honestly my favorite because the stories actually made sense and weren't rushed and you can tell he actually cared.

The 50's - From best to worst

King Creole (Baby acted his ass off in this and the story was great!)

Jailhouse Rock (I really loved this because I could hope that he would've taken charge of his career the way Vince did without the asshole part. Another where the story was great.)

Loving you (He was just too darn cute in this movie with his little stuttering and I love that his parents were in it. Deke has my heart.)

Love Me Tender (Spoiler: this gets worst because he dies 😭)

The 60's - From best to worst

1. Follow That Dream (Does this even need an explanation? You guys know how much I love this movie and not even for the story. It's my comfort movie)

2. Girls! Girls! Girls! (This was the very first Elvis movie I saw and I hold it dear to my heart. I would play Return to Sender on repeat, lol)

3. Wild in the Country (I know this is like 50/50 for people but I really loved this movie. The story was great and his acting was amazing.)

4. G.I Blues (God.. This movie.. He.. Yeah, he looked fine as hell. Story was okay. The songs are my fave.)

5. Live a Little, Love a Little (This was the second Elvis movie I saw and honestly is a favorite!! Bernice is insane BUT I STAN. Greg Nolan is my baby.)

6. It Happened at the World's Fair (This movie was so cute and funny. I always love him in movies with kids! 😭)

7. The Trouble with Girls (DO I EVEN NEED TO EXPLAIN?!!? HIS EYES WERE SPARKLING. THE SUITS)

8. Change of Habit (Okay, I feel like this movie is incredibly underrated and AE made it seem like it was so terrible. But I personally loved this movie because of its serious story and plot. It was also a different character we've seen Elvis play. I think had there been no songs at all, this would've been taken more seriously. He also looked good af.)

9. Flaming Star (Despite the stereotypes and well everything else that would get this movie canceled.. I actually enjoyed it a lot. It was certainly different for Elvis. If I remember correctly, Tarantino said this was his favorite Elvis western because it was the most violent.)

10. Kid Galahad (This movie was good and another different character for him. But I'm not into boxing so it was kind of boring to me)

11. Blue Hawaii (I really enjoyed this movie, but I don't love it as much as everyone does. I don't get the hype and I also think Can't Help Falling In Love is overplayed and overrated. He's got so many better love songs. But that's just my opinion! This movie still gets a good ranking though.)

12. Viva Las Vegas (I enjoyed this movie! But much like Blue Hawaii I don't get the hype. It's not my favorite but definitely not the worst)

Now let's get into the movies that in my personal opinion were the worst. Now that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy them. Even with the stories not being great; some of them were funny!

13. Fun in Acapulco (This movie was enjoyable but the story could've been better and I didn't really like a lot of the songs.)

14. Roustabout (I just found this movie so boring and I'm not surprised the colonel loved it. But Elvis looked HOT.)

15. Girl Happy (I really enjoyed this but again the story wasn't great and his character wasn't anything special. But if you want a few laughs this is a good one. ALSO ELVIS IN A DRESS!!!) 16. Tickle Me (this movie was so funny and Elvis always has perfect comedic timing. It reminded me of Scooby Doo. But unfortunately the story was meh they also used songs from one of his old albums because they had nothing written for the film)

17. Spinout (This movie was okay, a few laughs. But nothing too special besides him threatening to spank someone, lol. Basic Elvis character.)

18. Speedway (A few good songs, but kinda boring to me)

19. Frankie and Johnny (I really liked the aesthetic of this film and some of the songs, but it certainly wasn't the best. He looked horrid in that yellow sweater lmfao)

20. Paradise, Hawaiian Style (I enjoyed the songs and his interaction with the little girl. It was too cute! A few good laughs, but nothing to rave about)

21. Stay Away, Joe (This movie was so ridiculous and stupid, but also funny as hell to me because of how ridiculous it was. Another one that would be cancelled. But Elvis looked so good lol)

22. Clambake (SNOOZE FEST. Stupid story also Elvis tried to get out of making this movie. So much drama behind the scenes of this, lol. He was fat shamed. His character.. I don't even know.)

23. Charro! (This movie could've been great since they weren't really any songs, Elvis' acting was great and he looked good with a beard. But the story was just so boring.)

24. Double Trouble (This movie was funny but that's about it. Story was eh)

25. Kissin' Cousins (Jesus Christ.. Where do I even begin with this movie? We should not be hooking up with our cousins first off, LMFAO. The only good thing was Jodie. 😂)

26. Harum Scrum (I DONT EVEN NEED TO EXPLAIN THIS DUMPSTER FIRE. I hate this movie, lol. 2.99 WASTED. Like wtf was this?? It was so bad Elvis gave up acting in the middle of it lol.)

Now let's rank the concert docs for funsies!

Elvis on Tour (THIS IS MY BABY. The amount of times I watch this is unhealthy. He's so fucking sexy in it and just watching him at all these shows doing what he loves. Ugh. The shot of him staring out the window and kind of just lost in thought.. It just makes me want to hold him.)

That's The Way It Is (The first concert doc I watched. This is just amazing. The album alone is my favorite. But seeing him up on that stage giving it his all and having so much fun doing it warms my heart.)

Aloha From Hawaii via Satellite (I know this technically isn't a concert doc but it belongs on this list. Do I even need to say how amazing this was??? How good he looked?? This certainly is underrated.)

Honorable mention

Elvis In Concert - (I wish they would release this because it only aired once I believe on October 3rd, 1977. But that was it. You can watch it on YouTube because someone remastered it and fixed the audio as best as they could. But It'd be nice if EPE would just release the actual footage and have CBS or RCA remaster it. Despite how ill he was he still put on a performance no matter what. He still wanted to make the fans happy. But I understand why they don't really want it out there.)

Sorry this was so long and I don't know if you wanted my actual opinions on them. But I felt I might as well give them, lol. Thanks for the question, bestie!

#elvis presley #elvis movies

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crossover-enthusiast · 1 year

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HEY please use this ask as an excuse to dump any and every jack & john thought in your head :o)k (the k is the clowns arms and legs look)

:o)k is really cute

Anyways, oh B O I thank you so much it is TIME

This got really long so under a read more it goes!

I'mma do them separately and then together

John

- *slaps his back* this bad boy can fit so much angst into him - Seriously tho I dunno why I've made him the object of my angst affections atm but heehoo >:} - He's gruff but he has a big heart, you just need to dig a lot to find it - This man is such a workaholic my god - I've also seen a few fics run with the idea that he has low self-worth which. Ough /pos - His last name is Doe, his wife's name was Jane, and his daughter is named Judy - John and Jane had a very Greg and Rose type of dynamic, just some guy and a woman who seemed extraordinary and far out of his league - Tho unlike Steven Judy actually did get to have a few years with her before she kicked it lol - Also his daughter is alive! I'm not THAT cruel. She was at a friend's house and John and Jack immediately rushed over to pick her up - However there's a good period of time where John just gets stuck on the idea of what if. What if she was there, what if she got hurt, what if he lost her, what if what if what if. He starts spiraling on all the ways he could lose Jack too, it got bad. Thankfully Jack was there to ground him :> - Why yes that was my projecting a little, why do you ask - Seriously tho he loves Judy sm he'd die for her in a heartbeat - Eventually grows to love Jack to the point he'd also die for him - I like to think John and Frank were really close when they were kids, not as close as Lila and Jaune but damn near it. Growing apart hurt. Discovering Frank's… business hurt even more, for the both of them - In general he misses when they were all just kids goofing around, not having to worry about anything - Also misses Jane. He loved her so much; losing her devastated him. Part of him to this day feels at fault for her death, even though there was nothing he could do - Absolutely stole this headcanon from @the-tick-tock-chaos-shoppe but I have become very attached to it: John has ADHD. He went undiagnosed and has no idea he has it - Not helping matters is that Jaune ALSO has ADHD and was diagnosed (this is also a headcanon), so that hyper and bubbly personality is just what John associates with it; if someone went "hey I think you have ADHD" he'd be in complete denial lol - When he was a kid he'd always have lollipops or straws in his mouth. When he got too old for that, it was pencils and pens, and when he got too old for that, he started smoking - It is absolutely a sensory thing and he doesn't realize it is a sensory thing. Mans just needs something in his mouth - If he happens to run out of cigarettes he goes back to pencils and pens. There are bite marks on all of the pencils at the police station lmao - One time he took a pen from Evermore's office and just went to town on it - Other stims for him include tapping his fingers on tables/desks, flicking his lighter repeatedly, and bouncing a pencil between his fingers/against the table - In general him stimming is a lot more subtle than Jack, usually doesn't even realize he's doing it - Definitely the type of person to flip the "lucky cigarette" when he first opens a pack. This has lead him to accidentally putting the end with tobacco in his mouth because he forgot about it, multiple times - Has really bad road rage. This is why Jack drives - As his kid self's costume would suggest, he's always dreamed of being a cop. It… definitely isn't what he thought it'd be, that's for sure - Is bisexual. Did not realize this until he met Jack - His favorite donuts are caramel glazed - I just want him to be soft and put down his dang walls

Jack

- Silly cop man!! I love him - Just a big ol' goofball with a big heart - Cares a lot for John and would absolutely die for him - Lowkey I love how he snaps at the end of Tender Treats, like YEAH GET HIS ASS!!! - Great with kids! Judy adores him - Has a tea kettle! it's easier to use than a coffee maker in his opinion, he can make things other than coffee with it, and the noise actively reminds him to take it off the stove because he WILL forget otherwise - Got bullied a lot in school because he was the "weird kid". After he graduated high school Jack left his home town and never looked back - Became a cop because he wanted to help people. Was not at all prepared for The Horrors - Is usually the one that patrols the cellblocks - Bob made a point to give him a fun fact every time Jack passed his cell and Jack got so sick of it, lol. Part of him was glad Bob broke out of jail just because he didn't have to hear it anymore - That partially attributed to why Jack got so pissed after Bob climbed onto their squad car (alongside y'know, surviving a bullet to the back and 27 to the chest) - He is autistic :> Like John he wasn't diagnosed, tho Jack's pretty sure he has it and is okay with that - Wringing/clasping his hands together is a nervous stim. In general Jack's stims usually involve his body, like cracking his knuckles, tapping his foot, or that little shimmy he does in the Newgrounds ending for Deadly Smiles - Also shakes his fists when he's excited, but tries not to do it at work - Pranks John sometimes to lighten the mood/make him smile - Has a surprisingly dark sense of humor - Literally him not understanding that using the actual dead body of some super cannibal for a joke was so funny (and very mecore) - After the whole thing with Mr. Clown, Jack had a panic attack in their police car and John had to calm him down :< - Actually a great cook! It's a hobby for him - Also loves to bake ^^ this is also a hc I stole from tick-tock, but hey it's sweet (literally) and I like it - He still gets donuts from GoNuts tho since they make them WAY better than he can - Always makes his eggs scrambled because regular eggs feel weird to him - Prior to Deadly Smiles, he didn't take the cult seriously. That changed real fast when they came back to John's house on fire - Gay gay homosexual gay - His favorite donuts are chocolate with sprinkles - Gives great hugs! He's been compared to a walking pillow - He's just a big softie aaaa

Both

- No thoughts, head empty vs many thoughts, head full - The OG sun/moon duo next to the thieves - Jack is the one who catches feelings for John first, and for a while he just. Sits on it not knowing what to do with it - Like he loves John, he knows he does, but he doesn't know if John feels the same way and really doesn't want to make things awkward between them, or worse case scenario outright ruin their friendship - John... whoo boy - Man's just in a big deep pit of denial for the longest time - Literally Jack was John's bi awakening, so John tried his damn hardest to pass off these feelings as anything else - When he finally realized "oh god I'm in love with him", his face went bright red (I'm specifically thinking of that one series of sketches by necr0dancin and I REALLY hope people know what I'm talking about) - Even after that it was still heavy denial because he didn't know if Jack felt the same way, didn't think Jack could love someone like him, AND he still had lingering feelings for Jane, and felt that finding someone new, hell maybe even feeling this way at all, was betraying her - So yeah John had a lot of roadblocks in comparison kjdfnkjf - Eventually Jack, with some spurring from Patty (and maybe Captain and Shotgun) does manage to confess. John doesn't know how to feel but god it's a weight off his shoulders knowing Jack feels that way about him too - Jack meanwhile is so damn happy it's reciprocated! He didn't fuck things up!! Now maybe they can kiss!!! - It's clumsy and messy as all get out, but they're partners now, in work and in love - Uhhh okay now that my full-ass setup is out of the way let's get to the cute stuff - Stress + overworking + his house burning down = that sickness John caught absolutely WRECKS him, he's tired and feels like shit for at least a week. Cue Jack taking care of him, all the while teasing him because he told him that coffee mug was gonna get him sick - Literally there is so much potential in John and Judy staying at Jack's house after theirs burns down oh my god - They're both surprising horror movie buffs: John's favorite movie is Nightmare on Elm Street, Jack's is Friday the 13th. Freddy vs. Jason is a guilty pleasure for them both - Sometimes Jack will lay his chin on John's hair. It's very soft - If he's okay with it Jack will also run his fingers through John's hair - The ways they show affection is just. So small but so meaningful. - Jack keeps a couple cigarettes on him even though he doesn't smoke and doesn't really like John smoking, just in case John runs out - John listens intently whenever Jack goes on a tangent, and it's one of the few things he's able to fully focus on next to work and his kid - Enjoying each other in silence, the only sounds being the white noise of a heater or TV - The damn SIZE DIFFERENCE with these two when they hug and cuddle my word - They're both forgetful as all hell - fittingly, Jack remembers what John doesn't and vice versa - They're both absolutely the type of person to walk into a room and immediately go "what did I come in here for again?" tho, sometimes at the same time - I want them to be soft and in love so bad

Uhhhh okay that's all I can think of atm and I feel I've left this ask sit for a bit too long so. Here you go, enjoy and thanks again for letting me talk about these guys <3

#Spooky Month #John #Jack #Hope #Headcanon

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synthshenanigans · 11 months

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HMS OTGW AU

Synopsis of the few episodes that i have planned its a lot of text i apologize + i wrote all this very late yesterday so it might be a lil rough lol.

Also I am very very tempted to write chapters on ao3 about this AU, so if you dont want spoilers on it you prolly dont wanna read the rest. Tho I gonna leave some things out just to save that for the fic. (i cant promise that theyll all be written and posted soon but i will try my best)

tw for depression and suicide (I mean have you seen the album)

Episode 7- For Whom The Bell Tolls

Instead of Laura and Aunite Whispers being there, the house is empty and wanting the get away from the cold, they decide to stay for the night. Soul goes out for firewood and leaves the other 2 to clean up and make a place to sleep in for all of them. They've all been getting along from that point so Soul isnt worrided about anything. Things are fine for awhile, but after searcing around, they find the bell from the original episode. But instead whoever holds the bell, can command another to do whatever the holder wants (kinda like the og bell but slight different). It at first goes fine, Hearts mainly just goofing off and messing around with it for a bit. Though, the concept of one controlling the other starts an arguement (like in the album) and without Soul to calm things down, it eventually breaks into a full fight. When Soul finaly gets back, one of them is just about to kill the other (again like the album). Which leads to a similer fight like TSE and The Bidding but now with Soul going with the fact that since they cant get along, they should just go their separate ways and find their own ways out. In the end none of them stay in the house and all go split up into the woods (which is definitely the best idea to do in the dark winter woods)

Episode 8- Cacophony

Instead of the drug trip dream that Greg has, itd just be the 3 of them trying and failing to go through the woods on their own. Each of them eventually having their breakdowns like in THA, TME and TSE. Leaving them all doing horribly mentally and attempting to sleep in the snow. (Like how Wirt and Greg do). Before Soul can (attempt) to rest, The Beast finds him, wanting to do a trade with him. If Soul were to go steal the lanturn from the Woodsman and become the new lanturn bearer, The Beast would let Heart and Mind go free out of the Unknown. And as long as he keeps the lanturn lit, theyd live happily and finally get along. Saying that as soon as hes even being near the Woodsman, they would already be free. The Beast of course is lying, and plans to kill off Heart and Mind and turn them into edelwood trees. Still, Soul has nothing else to go for, and so begins to search for the Woodsman.

Episode 9 - Into the Unknown

Flashback episode bby. I thought about making HMS go relatively through the same thing Wirt and Greg did (minus the whole Sara and school bit since none of the go to high school being like 20ish years old). Then I instead thought of Whole. (ps gonna try and write Whole as a separate person from CJ, since it feels weird to me to write about him so Wholes kinda his own character in this)

On Halloween, Whole would go through a rough day (one that would likely cause him to split into 3). Being frustrated with a lot of things he decides to take a walk to clear his head. Tho the rainy moody weather of *whatever this takes place* doesn't help his mood at all. Hell it makes it worse if anything. Its now night time and he eventually ends at a cemetary (like in the show).

Suprisingly no one is there, so he takes a break from walking by sitting up top a certain garden wall. At this point, this thoughts are getting worse and more depressing (his thoughts are also now spliting into 2 and then 3 voices). He gets knocked outta his thoughts when the rain really starts to pick up. Tries to get down but falls off on the other side onto train tracks. And like in the show, a train starts to head straight down them. Whole (still not in a good state of mind) stays there and waits for it. Its not till he suddenly feels him throwing himself out of the way almost involuntary. (The "Wait, no please wait!" sorta moment by Heart and Mind). And like Wirt and Greg, he falls into the pond/lake and passes out.

Episode 10 - The Unknown

(im using the stuff i typed last night so if it's incomprehensible and stupid, thats why)

Heart and Mind wake up similer to Wirt (in the snow with the edelwood branches on them). Now with clearer head, the both immediately panic worrying where the other 2 have gone and go looking for them. Heart gets disoriented with the harsh snow and winds, since hes ya know, blind, and ends up on the frozen lake in the show. And just as Mind finds him there, like Wirt, Heart falls into the frozen lake. Mind barely saves him and has another mental breakdown. Heart wakes back up in the middle of it and they have a lil bonding moment (they siblings your honor). They eventually get up and search for Soul. When they finally find him, hes like ONE second away from just fuckin murdering the woodsman for the lanturn. (hes given up at living at this point and just wants the best for Heart and Mind so hes like...less sane than usual) The Beast told Soul they should've already been out by now so Soul is now pissed he was lied to. The Beast gives up and decides to kill all three of them and have the (knocked out) woodsman stay at the bearer. Soul tries to fight it with the woodsmans axe but is too weak to do anything. The Beast and grabs the hatchet and throws Soul against the trees, leaving Heart and Mind to fight it themselves. Mind (and Darrell) can barley fight it off while Heart tries to find the not knowing its near Soul. Beast swats Darrell away and slams Mind into the tree, holding him there. Just as its about to wrap him in edelwood, Heart suddenly is like "haha bitch fear me" thinking he has the hatchet then realizing its actually the lanturn. Mind just slays there for a sec just like "god damnit juno you had ONE fucking job" Tho obviously, The Beast gets immediately pissed, not wanting the fire to burn out. Heart goes through the same realization that Wirt went through of "Why do you even care about the lanturn anyway? Its almost like your spirit is...wait" Beast moves, droppig Mind and threatens Heart. Although scared, Heart finally stands up for himself, tired of being ordered around at what to do. After freeing Soul, Mind then steps in front of Heart now protecting them while Soul uses the hatchet to stand back up in front of both of them. Willing to fight for his life again while also being pissed at the Beast for lying to him (also that it thought it could give him a purpose and tell him what hes supposed to be and do. Basically Soul has the realization he has in Two Wuv) Beast panics and tries threatening them/negotiate with all of them to let it live. Of course it doesnt work and they blow out the lanturn. Soul holds Darrell as Heart and Mind work together to hold Soul up as they finally walk out of the unknown.

Whole wakes up in the hospital in a similar fashion that Greg and Wirt do, reassuring close people that hes alright and just accidentally fell. He wants a bit of time to himself tho to comprehend him almost dying and the weird dream he had. Tho just as hes about to be like "twas all a dream" he finds that Darrell is laying next to him in the bed. The nurse saying that the chicken wouldnt leave him no matter what they tried to do. Darrell luckily didnt get too in the way and they figured it was his so just left him there. Whole then is like "yea...i guess he is" while mentally being like "WAIT WHAT THE FUCK HOW IS HE REAL??" The nurse leaves him be and he sits there thinking over everything and decides that he is a lot better mentally since that adventure and is happy his selves have gotten better and in turn he himself has gotten better.

Maybe he can talk to the three of them eventually or he gets inspired and starts making a certain album idk. As a wise man once said

Also had the ideas of 1.Heart and Mind being lost in the unknown with Soul as the woodsman trying to help them get back while also trying to save "Whole's" spirit in the lantern and 2.Heart and Mind are lost in the unknown with Soul being the Beast

#my tumblt has been WACK today so this has been stuck in my drafts and wont post #this probably is incomprehensible #if anyone actually reads this and like #made any sense of it but thank you for hearing my dumb little thoughts :}#but im still so glad you're listening you could say #greener my beloved #chonny jash #chonnys charming chaos compendium #HMS OTGW au #do i rlly need to make a tag for this? idk why not

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tellthemeerkatsitsfine · 1 year

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Okay, I was too busy yesterday to watch this episode, and today I have shit to do this evening, so I unfortunately can’t spend ages on the Taskmaster episode like I normally do. I normally do giant posts where I screenshot like half the episode, but that makes watching it take several hours, and unfortunately I do have a modicum of a life at this point. So I’ll still write down thoughts as I watch, but there will be fewer of them, and I won’t accompany them with screenshots, which should save a lot of time.

Anyway, I’m really excited for this episode either way. Thoughts on Taskmaster s15e04, written as I watch it:

- Excellent start. Alex’s horsefly pun got a proper laugh out of me, the Italy anecdote was exactly the sort Alex Horne-style “just drop this bit of talking into the air and pretend like it makes sense” that I enjoy, and then there was Hitchhiker’s Guide reference. And a fun prize category, with lots of room for different interpretations. Well done all around.

- That was way too short an exchange about Mae’s prize. Please tell me more about why they have a blowup doll of themself and think that would be fun to put on your head. I will be disappointed if we don’t get that in an outtake.

- Look, Frankie’s prize is not in a frame! It also has absolutely nothing to do with the remit, probably one of the most egregious examples ever of a constant just bringing in some shit they wanted to bring in even if it has nothing to do with the category. I wouldn’t have expected Frankie to play this any other way.

- More references to classic Britcom from my childhood, with Ivo Graham not messing around, bringing in something that perfectly fits the remit, a turkey. An item famous – famous worldwide, if we are to believe James Acaster’s Cold Lasagne claims about everyone in the whole world being into Mr. Bean – for being funny when it’s worn on a head even though you’re not supposed to wear it on your head. I didn’t know Friends did it too, though.

I mean, if I wanted to be pedantic, I could point out that a turkey on the head is funny to everyone else, but isn’t exactly a fun thing for the person wearing it. But I enjoy the joke enough to let that go.

- I swear I wrote the above point before I saw Frankie Boyle say “I don’t want to be too pedantic here, but…”, and then made pretty much that exact point. Not sure he has enough high ground for pedantry with his prize, but he’s got a point, as Ivo instantly admitted.

- Obsessed with the level of thought Jenny put into her pitch for her prize task, and the enthusiasm with which she delivered it. Also, I assume she didn’t make that herself, so did a member of production have to knit that? Was it the same person who made Jamali’s sweater?

- Absolutely wild over-scoring of Frankie Boyle there, what are you doing, Greg?

- I immediately love the instructions on that first task. That is so much fun. Like the season 8 bouncy ball task, but updated for a bigger budget. Too bad Frankie couldn’t find this thing during the “recreate musical instruments” task.

- Haven’t seen much of it yet, but my first thought is to take the drums and cymbals off their stands and put them all on the ground next to each other.

- Sort of like what I just watched Kiell do, but I feel like you could take it farther than that.

- Jenny, I would never call you a silly cow. I am really enjoying her energy.

- “You counted to seven but you only hit five” is somehow a problem Kiell has already had on this show, with the barge task. Why is Kiell not able to count to five?

- Okay, I’ve been calling the team of two “Franko”, but Alex got in his No More Jockeys reference by calling them “a big IF”, and I think I’m going to need to re-name the team to that from now on. Team Big IF.

- There, that thing Frankie’s doing, that’s what I’d do.

- Delightful to watch how much Frankie’s enjoying this. Ivo might be overthinking. I mean it’s amusing to include the Greg statue, and I do think overall Taskmaster has been underusing that thing, but it doesn’t really help.

- Honestly, I could watch Frankie Boyle drop a ball down a row of drums and then giggle all day.

- Ivo’s last idea would definitely be cheating, as it said one throw of a ball and of multiple balls at once, but it didn’t work anyway so it doesn’t really matter.

- Again, Drum March/April/Mae – solid pun. Alex is on form this episode.

- Love that Mae is not even pretending to not have watched all previous seasons and be using that for ideas. No messing around by trying lesser strategies and then coming up with this new one, just going straight for the Lou Sanders approach.

- Hang on. Hang on. What the hell are they arguing about in the studio? This precedent has been set. Okay, here are the wording of two different tasks:

Season 8 task: Bounce one of these balls so that it lands in that bin. After propelling the ball, you may not touch or strike it on its way to that bin. You must use the ball you touch first.

Season 15 task: Strike the most drum skins and cymbals with a single throw of a bouncy ball.

In season 8, Lou Sanders had her attempt count when she tied it to string and bounced it over and over. Yeah, “propel” and “throw” are different words, but they’re close enough. They both involve releasing the ball and then not touching it again, which neither contestant did. That precedent is already on the books, this should definitely be a win for Mae.

- There, according to Alex, the definition for “throw” says “to propel”. Meaning “throw” and “propel” are the same thing, those tasks should be considered equivalent, the precedent should be considered relevant, therefore Mae wins.

- Okay, Kiell’s argument was bullshit, you can absolutely drop something and throw it at the same time, that’s just throwing it downward. Ivo’s masturbation joke was quite funny but irrelevant. Frankie… might sort of have a point with the “casting” thing, about whether the moment they jerked it backwards, the first throw was over. That could be up for debate, if this were five years ago. But it isn’t. Season 8 has aired, the precedent has been set. You have to honour the precedent!

- You are not letting them get away with anything, Greg, you let Lou Sanders get away with it already and if you didn’t allow this we’d have anarchy! But that was enormous fun, that whole exchange. I did say I wouldn’t screenshot the whole episode again, but Greg’s right, Kiell’s face is pretty good.

- Bridges for potatoes and boats for eggs. Ordering things with restrictions based on letters of the alphabet. I like that some of the tasks in this season feel like classic Taskmaster.

- What the fuck are you going to do with a golf ball, Kiell?

- Power of suggestion’s pretty strong here, isn’t it? They all hear the word “boat” and then three of the five choose B as their letter.

- Title drop from Kiell, and it’s a good one. He does seem to be bad at both basic counting and working out whether things are heavier than water/air, given the time he through he could move a golf ball by blowing on it.

- Look on Ivo’s face when he broke the egg was some solid comedy.

- Ivo’s studio banter has been strong all episode.

- Okay, I haven’t seen them all go yet but having seen them made, I think Mae had it the best. Frankie making it out of paper seems like a bad idea, what with water tending to compromise paper’s structural integrity. No idea what Jenny made, and I think she just wanted to be able to say “bra” a lot, which to be fair, was funny. Kiell’s balloon was a good idea, Ivo’s multiple balloons were better.

- Well, I was definitely wrong about Mae’s boat. But that was actually really good, I think that worked better than I expected. Nice little editing with the music over Mae’s boat at the end. That was an enjoyable watch. And my apologies to Frankie Boyle, I underestimated the power of a little plastic to protect the paper.

- Oh no! Oh no! I am glad my roommate’s still out of town because when they showed the egg fall, I may have involuntarily called out “Oh no, Frankie!” before realizing I was saying it out loud. Oh no, Frankie! It is possible that you do, after all, need more structural integrity than paper with a little plastic coating.

- Ah, well done. Greg pretending to let Frankie go just to fuck with Kiell. This is fun.

- I’m really enjoying how genuinely nervous Mae seems. Which might be a weird thing to say, it’s just a sign of their extreme competitiveness that they look constantly on edge, expecting some surprise, trying to look for any loopholes. Funny, also highly relatable. I mean, I realize I’m biased by Mae Martin being one of the most attractive people I have ever seen on a screen, but I think they’d be one of my favourites even if they weren’t that.

- Love that they put the task where Kiell has to drag a bin full of water right after the egg boat task. How heavy is the water now, Kiell?

- Kiell is not wearing shoes, guys.

- I’m absolutely fine. I mean, I just thought the words “Damn, Mae scrambling to do math in their head is hot”, and then wondered if I should write those words down, and decided I will. But I’m doing fine.

- The obvious thing to do with bubble wrap is to rip off one bubble, put it to the side, and then crush the rest all at once with a book or something, right?

- Oh my God they took twenty minutes on the bubble wrap. Meticulous Mae. I love them.

- I’m not sure the banana sign is the same as a banana, is it?

- Could have been just editing that made it look this way, but I love that it appears that Frankie instantly knocked the bin over to spill the water on the ground, after Kiell had tried to carefully empty it into the bath.

- And then Frankie forgets that he can open the gates instead of trying to throw a large bin over them. Nice.

- Jenny shouting in all four rooms of the house had some strong “essence of Taskmaster” energy.

- The John part is pretty funny, seeing how long it takes them to work out that they have to call someone and John isn’t just in the house.

- Oh, it took me a moment to realize Frankie was burning the bubble wrap to complete the tasks. I thought he’d already popped all the bubble wrap so his task was completed, and he was so annoyed about what he’d had to do that he gathered up all the tasks, put them in a bucket, and burned them for no reason.

- Glad Frankie Boyle got to set some shit on fire, though. I always say people don’t realize there’s a strong intelligent and well read and thoughtful and politically informed side to Frankie, he’s not just what you see on Mock the Week compilations! But, you know, if you’re going to get Frankie Boyle on Taskmaster, you want to have a bit of bringing in pornography and setting shit on fire. I hope all five of them set some shit on fire this season.

- Okay, one screenshot and that is it for the whole episode. I just… I just need to take that picture of Mae Martin being petty about the definition of “throw”, and then coyly acknowledging the hypocrisy. For personal reasons, I need to show people that image.

- Really enjoyed Greg and Frankie yelling at each other about the definition of a banana. And I want Frankie and Jenny to be right, I really do. But a sign that says “banana” is not, in fact, a banana.

- Well, that whole sequence with Ivo was brilliant. He seemed to figure out that you’re allowed to pass on a task that’ll take too long, which could have been a smart strategy, if it weren’t for the fact that he had a complete breakdown and did every singe thing wrong. Mistaking the caravan for the shed is classic. Also forgot that the gate opens. I’m remembering what Nish Kumar said on the podcast before this season, that he thinks it’ll be fun to watch because he knows that Ivo Graham falls to pieces as soon as anyone puts the slightest bit of pressure on him. That was very funny all around.

- Really enjoyed the live task, too. Kiell trying fancy things, Frankie seeming to genuinely get into the art therapy side of it, Mae playing it too safe and meticulous, the look on Jenny’s face when she broke the stream for a second. And Ivo just had a solid strategy. Well done.

- Well, obviously I wrote that before I saw the ending. Good stuff. Classic Taskmaster. I do love it when they stick to the rules to the point of making it a ludicrous result. Also really enjoyed Frankie’s petty comment about the episode being a journey through language and meaning – he’s had a few of those throughout this episode, seeming to be fine with outcomes but then bringing it back later to complain. Which I also enjoy. I love some pettiness in a Taskmaster contestant.

- Aw, Jenny Eclair won an episode! A good one for her to win, too, as she seems like the one who’d have the most fun putting things on her head.

- Good stuff, I really really enjoyed that, and this is by far the fastest I’ve ever done one of these Taskmaster liveblog posts. Great episode, great season, I would watch Frankie Boyle narrate literally anything, did I mention how hot Mae Martin is enough times? Okay I have to go do actual things now, but that was a really good one, best episode of the season so far, I think.

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