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#he also loved fundy with all his heart

mayrine · 1 year

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Seeing q!wilbur beeing an actual loving father to tallulah is making me feel really mixed emotions.

I personally like to the idea that qsmp!wilbur is the same as dsmp!wilbur because i think it’s cool and fits with the flashbacks he has with quackity. And watching him care for tallulah and love and protect her is making me think about c!fundy and how he never got the chance to see that side of wilbur. The side that is caring and loving and a good father and all the other things he wasn’t to c!fundy. Will literally said on stream that he’ll take better care of her then “the other ones” most likely referring to c!fundy and maybe even c!tommy

idk, c!fundy has always been my comfort character and the fact that he never got the chance to have a true conversation with d!wilbur and now seeing that maybe Will was always capable of beeing a caring father but just never tried with fundy is really fucking sad.

Like, im glad he’s not beeing a shit father to tallulah but c!fundy also deserved a good father

sorry for the rant but i just had to get this of my mind

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blakeswritingimagines · 1 year

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When you cup their face

Dream: He is very happy and calm, feeling safe and being able to calm down if he’s feeling anxious. A nice, sweet, tender cupping would make him feel loved and that you are there for him if he needs you.

Sapnap: He’s probably be very surprised because they'd never done anything like that before, I think he’d feel really happy and loved, and probably smile a lot. He’d probably just hold your hand for a while, or put his arms around you, just because it feels good, he might end up blushing a bit too, because it'd be a little embarrassing to have someone do something like that out of nowhere. But he’d definitely enjoy being with someone who was comfortable showing their affection in that way.

George: He would be so confused, He’d would be like woah.. then probably laugh a little because it would be so funny. It really depends on you, he is not too big on physical touch. I think it could be nice for him to have a partner who likes physical touch so he’s happy but surprised.

Wilbur: He would probably have a mixed reaction of confusion and some form of happiness. He would be confused as to why you would do it and what you would do after but at the same time he would probably enjoy the feeling of your hands on his face.might just try it on you too and see how you liked it

Fundy: He would probably blush a lot because he’s very easily embarrassed about it. But he would really appreciate that. It would truly make him feel loved and I’m pretty sure it would put a smile on his face. He would probably try to cup your face too if he was brave enough. It would be the perfect moment to do so.

Karl: He would feel his heart swell with love. He feels like he’s waited forever for someone to be this interested in him. For you to cup his face shows you really know and appreciate the real him. He would think of all of the people who were doubtful, and say to himself, “Haha, I made it! They were wrong!”.

Eret: Feels like it would be an affectionate gesture coming from you. Would most likely blush and not know what to say or do. It would probably make them feel loved and special. It would be a very sweet moment that they would not want to end.

Foolish: He would be flustered as he would not expect you to do this suddenly to him. He would smile and look at you with love, then he would then give you a kiss on the cheek just wanting to show you the same kind of soft love you gave him along with the warm fuzzy feelings.

Niki: She would be so flustered! It would be the cutest thing ever. Like she would immediately blush and smile and her heart would beat really fast. She would also be so happy knowing that you wanted to be so close to her and hold her face. She just wants to be loved and for that to happen would be so cute and amazing to her.

Ranboo: The most realistic answer here is I would say he’s shocked for a moment but he would let you. He would just stare back, then smile a little. After that he would ask "what was that for?" then laugh a little and say "but it was cute" then go in for a hug.

#dreamwastaken x reader #sapnap x reader #georgenotfound x reader #wilbur x reader #fundy x reader #karl jacobs x reader #eret x reader #foolish x reader #niki x reader #ranboo x reader #dsmp #dsmp headcanon #dsmp imagine #dream smp

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the-mcyt-crackships-brackets · 3 months

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PSA: These Brackets contain multiple Ch!WilburSoot ships, We DO NOT stand with CC!WilburSoot actions, and send all of our support toward shubble, if you are uncomfortable with these ships, please don't interact and/or block the wilbur soot tag. if those ships are too problematic, they can be replaced. anyway his ass got destroyed

Welcome to the MCYT Crackships Bracket!

Here, we will be seing which crackship is the best, and because that statement is vague, you get to make your opinion!

Each crackships was randomly agenced from Characters You chose! (This also sadly means we can't take more submissions, at least yet (mcyt crackships brackets V.2. Confirmed ???))

This is all meant to be in good fun, so please be respectfull with others and use propaganda the least wisely you can! (propaganda isn't endorsed, it's encouraged!)

We as a community can get inspired by these, make art! fanfics! (and if you do, please tag me) of your favorite Crackship!

Maybe we could even find a name for them, after all, maybe the next "big ship" will be in this, who knows?

WE ARE NOW IN THE SEMIFINALS!

The brackets will not be revealed yet, but when all of the polls will be published! this way, we can still get you surprised!

*Orionsound - Rat SMP version

*LDshadowlady - Empire SMP season 1 version

*Zombiecleo - Pirate SMP version

*Katherine Elizabeth - Empire SMP season 2 version

*Fundy - L'Manberg version

*Fwhip - Empire SMP season 1 version

*Pearlescentmoon - Double life version

*Slimecicle - QSMP version

Our thoughts and observations under the cut!

Round 1:

I clearly thought Ninjaslap would be the biggest sweep, but pixltoile suprisingly fought well, And fish yuri left no shot to Zaypixel and Geminitay

Round 1.1.3 was extremly close, but Shubble x Hypno won by O.8%! (≈4 peoples!)

We already got two piece of "propagandart" (propaganda art) in round 1, and both were for Fish yuri! (by @t4tpolypd and @staringamassivemistakeintheface)

Round 2:

Mogbeans/Swamp boys tried hard but T4T yuri was stronger (My boys 😭 - Admin 1)

Littlesoot got its ass kicked by hotguy/fundy and was crying in a corner when suddendly, out of nowhere, it took itlwblr by storm, broke containment, the poll broke 1k votes, became the most noted of the brackets (yet) and won with a large margin!

FWhilza fought well but Bighills was stronger

Fish Yuri still prevail with the biggest sweep yet (87.3%!!!)

Jojosolos/Jack Manifold vs Tommyinnit/Scott Smajor was the closest yet! (50.1 to 49.9!!!!)

So many art!!!!!!! look at the tag (#propagandart) it's worth it!!!!!

Round 3 and PURGATORY 1 :

Scegg vs Stresstherine was so close it switched side at least 5 times!

i'm genuenely impressed by clownscar comeback they've constantly been close but didn't get ahead during the whole poll and somehow managed to win in the last stretch!

WE MADE MOGBEANS CANON!!!!!!! VIVA LA SOS SMP!!!!

Fish Yuri is unstopable and has killed many great ships now (rip Bighills we loved you so much)

Bdubs Smol Bdubs is tall!

Content SMP fans are sad today, the last two ships they had just sank! (bye bye Evillnox and Skizzlerat)

So much art! and even more as been promised! (you need to check out #propagandart if you haven't already)

Round 4 and PURGATORY 2 :

Fish Wives felt resistence to the first time facing Clownscar, but still they were too powerful

Clownscar you will forever live in our hearts

Wilbur you're a pig, Yuri beat his ass! (and so they did)

Zombiecello/Ivorycleo popped off! >90% sweepage!

3/8 ships still in line are yuri, but none of them are part of the PURGATORY Brackets!

Goodbye Zaypixel, our only Yuri Loss this round :(

You guys seem to love shipping Ethoslab a lot (bunch of ethogirls) as he is in 35% of the remaining ships

even more art, and art trades! (go ceck out #propagandart and #takin' request)

Round 5 and Purgatory 3:

Yuri lost so much, and is now only represented by Fish Wives :(

Half of the ships still in have a wild etho in them (ethogirls rise up!)

The now no-longer-crackship mogbeans is still thriving and bested the fan-favorite fwhilza!

Seapeekarl fought well, but lost to the ethogirls again

this is the first round where they weren't a >40% sweep! but the choice are only getting harder from here!

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kmclaude · 2 months

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Ive been listening to Jesus He Knows Me lately (Ghost just released the music video for their cover and its great) and its got me thinking of an AU were Tiefer goes on to become like a superstar priest/televangelist. Puts on an act about how Jesus saved him from his terrible childhood abuse, Jehan is his protege who he treats as his own son after his father died, maybe he's even got a wife he pretends to love (only in front of others) Absolute debauchery and abuse out of the public eye of course

not me like 'he could marry his sister' no but he sure could marry a wife that looks like her (honestly she fits the blonde t r a d wife look)

i am devouring this, brilliant, debauched, lovely

(honestly I was thinking about a question @idalwaves asked or reblogged about if being a different flavor of christian would like...how it would change tiefer or jehan's relationship to their sexuality or something -- like would bein southern baptist or fundie work -- and anyway it had me thinking about basically how catholicism is perfect for someone like tiefer who is gay and loathes women, whereas something like fundie or southern baptist that expects a patriarchical figure with a wife and kid, the family man archetype, would be painful for him. like torture to have to fake a loving marriage to a woman.)

BUT IT WOULD BE DECADENT god cuz he can be charming, put on a southern drawl (his accent is southern but different southern, cajun southern, and massaged away by a more new orleanian accent flattened out), lie and lie and lie -- has a wife he fucked (timed it all right and everything, natural family planning and all) until she got pregnant (thankfully quickly) because that's what she wanted, that's what was expected -- and if he works extra hard and after hours and away from her and the home its for god, it's the right thing, it's what she signed up for, of couuuuurse he loves her, ignore that he won't touch her except for briefly in public or when she needles wanting another child (and if he knocks her up enough and then crushes some pills in her food or drink to get rid of it because three's e-fucking-nough, well, hey, what she doesn't know won't hurt her...)

AND JEHAN WELL......things could be the same: dead exlover friend's son is left without a father and, well....wouldn't be too odd for him to offer to a new widow and new mother to take her eldest (his godson) under his wing, later even let him live with them (because he only has daughters so far and one day he won't be around -- makes sense to have someone ready to take over after he's gone -- jehan would be perfect for that -- in fact, it's not his idea's, it's God's even, God put it in his heart that jehan would take up after him -- so why not let him spend a summer with them...and winter...and spring...)

and you KNOW he is fucking jehan -- maybe he waits a bit longer than canonically, properly has him under his thumb until he's fifteen or sixteen (very much the adolescens that he finds attractive) or maybe it starts right after nathan died (he's not even attracted to a 10 year old's body -- not that canonically he's into a 12 year old's body either but at least puberty is hitting and it reminds him of him and nathan in their youth and he's not coping well -- but it's a heady thing, power, and he's been able to get wealth and opened doors and it's a far cry from being a beaten faggot whore on his sister's leash being whored out so why not, why not, it's not like jehan's upset about it, he always gets to cum, and it's not like his wife knows, it's not like anyone knows, why not? who's gonna stop him? God?)

basically tiefer would be soooooo much worse. not that he's great canonically but add wealth and power without rules?! (Catholicism at least has rules.) C H R I S T.

(honestly if you wanted to get real fucked up -- televangelism would probably make this also a modern or modernish AU -- say 80s or 90s at earliest making Tiefer being born....instead of 1930s, probably 1950s or 60s...and well....the implications of being able to take photo or video....well.....well....)

#character stuff #kmclaudereplies #kmclaudereplies to ask

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spurgie-cousin · 5 months

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I went down a reddit rabbit hole last night.

Jrod isn’t posting about Tim or Heidi per their request (boundary?) but Ellen (Heidi’s mom) is/can.

Engagement pictures came out recently and they are so normal and I mean that in a serious way. Like straight pinterest inspo posing. There’s a front hug and a pose where he’s hugging/holding her from behind. And it looks entirely natural. I have no snark for those pictures, they look truly happy and comfortable with each other. They’re wearing the same outfits from the proposal so there’s speculation that they were taken right after - so Jill was missing from the engagement and the engagement picture setup. Apparently she and David were either in Maine or Texas? I didn’t dig too deep on where they were. They weren’t at the engagement and nobody knows if that was her protesting the whole thing or they did it behind her back.

Around the time the pictures and video went up, Jill shared that she had been undergoing spiritual warfare. She shared all of the pictures other than the front hug and back hug and made some kind of comment about how Heidi’s ring wasn’t a diamond, which people think was unnecessary and that she’s mad that Tim got Heidi what she wanted and not what he wanted?

Jill recently posted a message from Philip, after his college visit, that “no girl will ever steal all of my heart from you” (or something like that) and there’s speculation that that was directly targeting Tim and Heidi.

Tim is/was apparently spending Thanksgiving with Heidi’s family? There’s a candid picture that was posted of them and he’s looking at her with what I can only describe as wonder and love at the same time (someone said something along the lines of “like a rescue dog that knows it’s been saved”)

Ellen made a post about them thanking Tim for being respectful and treating Heidi right - as opposed to how Jill would post that her daughters have servant’s hearts or something. Ellen also recently(?) posted a picture of her daughters praising them for being independent.

The Coveretts had some family photos done and included Tim. If I remember right, when the Rod son in laws were included in family pictures, it was either on the wedding day or when they were already married, but they were separate from the family? Was it Nathan and Nurie? Like they were there but not in the big group photo?

Ellen has been sharing some vague shade quotes on instagram (“stay away from the person who always makes themselves the victim” or something). Meanwhile Hallie was sharing very fundie shade specific things like skirt length holiness - people think it could be directed at her father since they apparently argued about clothing choices once before? But knowing how Jill is about modesty it could be directed at her. Apparently there was also a TT live where someone told Hallie to watch out for Jill and she was like “a lot of people have said that” but I think that was before Tim and Heidi’s courtship; during Kaylee and Jonathan’s pre-marriage.

Speaking of, apparently Ellen’s invite for Kaylee’s bridal shower had been lost in the mail and one of Ellen’s friends was like “yeah Jill isn’t responding to me either” about another missing invitation.

Ellen is in Jill’s downline for plexus, she’s Jill’s #3 seller. If Ellen stops selling, she can probably damage Jill’s overall income and rewards quite a bit.

It seems like with most fundies, the bride’s family is in charge of the planning. Jill will be left out, her only job will be just show up on the day of as the groom’s mom.

So it sounds like Tim, who Jill herself admitted that was her most difficult selfish willful child that they had to “correct until they were tired” (I’m assuming there was a lot of physical punishment), found someone to love him unconditionally and fiercely - Tim apparently described Heidi as feisty, so she herself may not be taking any of Jill’s shit and Jill’s on the attack. As a result, the Coveretts, who were allegedly warned about Jill’s antics since Jonathan started courting Kaylee, have circled the wagons in support of Tim and Heidi, and now Jill is spiraling because of how much control she’s lost in a short amount of time.

Just real quick while I'm thinking about the photos thing, I think what you're thinking of is after the Rod girls were married, Jill started separating them and their husbands/kids from family photos because now they are The Keller Family or The Hill Family, but the fiances were included in family pics before that.

Idk I could rant about it forever but overall, there are only so many people as insane as Jill and David out there even in their corners of Christianity. Jill has a long, long history of making enemies in even her own church communities because of her deep, unyielding self-righteousness, so it was really only a matter of time until they clashed with one of the kids' spouses and it doesn't shock me at all that it was the first female spouse (if our suspicions are true). I think Jill is the most critical and cruel towards women and I also think that makes it way more difficult for her daughters to 'escape' in this way (if that's what Timothy is doing) because Jill's interpretation of the Bible allows her to wield more power over them.

I don't want to seem like I'm letting the Coveretts off too easy because they were friends with the Rodrigueses for good reason, but they do seem a tad more open-minded, and honestly, I'll take what I can get for any of the Rodrigues kids if it means getting them out of the toxic, isolating world their parents have created. I hope Tim is able to finally find actual unconditional love and support with their family and is able to learn about himself as a person without being supernaturally punished for doing so.

And if he is spending this Thanksgiving with the Coveretts and not his family, good. I hope he does the same for Christmas and I hope the fact that he prioritizes time with them will somehow shake something loose in Jill to make her wake up (not likely but we can dream). Or at least that it's a good example for his siblings moving forward, like showing them that there can be a life outside of their parents' ridiculous standards and it can actually be good and happy, not miserable like I'm sure Jill has taught them it would be. Idk.

Anyway all that to say I hope Heidi IS beefing with Jill, I hope she takes Timmy and runs and I hope Jill has to suffer the consequences of her smothering, abusive parenting style. And that Tim, the Willful Child, gets to have the last laugh.

P.S. do we have a source for the invitation thing? Like where someone said "yea Jill isn't talking to me either"? Just curious

#heidi coverett #the coverett family #timothy rodrigues #jill rodrigues #jill vs. heidi

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griffintail · 1 year

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Lost Ones Halloween

I managed my brain to write something! They're more like headcanons of what the Lost Ones (With some special guests) would dress as for Halloween. It's just some cute shit for you guys. K! BYE!

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Tommy

(F/L) would dress up just like Tommy in his suit, calling herself Little Trusty and try to trick people into giving her more candy. Tommy would be very proud.

Wilbur

Star would still dress in her L'Manberg uniform but she'd care around a book with Declaration of Indepdance printed on the front and a guitar on her back. Wilbur would be honored by his little girl and make sure she'd get plenty of treats.

Technoblade

Little Blade would dress as Athena (her favorite goddess). Techno would praise her choice and take her out. Though he wasn't really welcomed in the countries, no one was willing to tell him no when he'd lead his little girl in with an axe on his shoulder.

Philza

Phil would be surprised by Angel's choice as she'd be dressed as his goddess. (Techno giving her no influence or help whatsoever. Nope!) Though he'd smile widely at the choice and defend her choice as they went out. He was sure Kristen loved it just as much as him.

Ghostbur

Blue would wear a blue sheep costume and Ghostbur would not stop squealing with joy as he looked at his little girl. It was just perfect and adorable! Her cuteness didn't affect just him either and she most certainly got the best and most treats. (Which she split with Tommy).

Eret

She was already a princess! She wanted to be something different, so instead she put on a cape and crown, calling herself a king instead. Eret would grin and promise she'd make the best king one day. She most certainly felt like a king with the amount of treats she got.

Dream

She was a bit embarrassed with her costume as Dream managed to make time to be there for her. He would stand shocked as she was in a perfect outfit making her look like him. Eventually, he'd tell her he loved it before even giving her a sword to match his as well. No one would dare give less than what she deserved.

Tubbo

Lamb would dress as a bee. Tubbo would keep her on his shoulders all night, letting her "fly around" as they went out trick or treating.

Ranboo

Boo would dress as an enderman. To help her complete her perfect outfit, Ranboo let her have some ender pearls but had her swear to not throw them too far from him. She had fun the entire night and when she accidentally break his rule, Ranboo didn't have the heart to scold her.

Fundy

Kit and Fundy had the perfect plan for mischief! She dressed up as a baby zombie and scared people the entire night, while also making sure to score plenty of treats. (It's alright if a few were someone else's)

Quackity

Duckling dressed as well as duck! Quackity would be unsure about the costume at first but she looked too adorable to say no to. He could never say no to her.

Schlatt

Ram hadn't really planned on going out, but when Schlatt took her out to get an outfit to go out the day before, she was thrilled and knew exactly what she wanted to be. When she came out in a suit, Schlatt was confused until she said she was dressed as the best president, him. Damn it! She had to stop making him feel soft!

Awesamdude

Creeper had thought about dressing as a creeper but thought of one better. She dressed as a prison guard and when Sam would ask her why, she told him so she could go to work with him instead since he was going to work that night. He had planned on letting Sam Nook take her, but, he could afford one night off instead.

Foolish

Pup would dress as a shark. Foolish would absolutely love it and if she didn't get nearly enough as he thought she deserved, he'd make sure she'd get it.

#mcyt oneshots #mcyt x reader #mcyt imagine #mcyt fanfiction #dreamsmp x reader #tommyinnit x reader #wilbur soot x reader #ghostbur x reader #eret x reader #philza x reader #technoblade x reader #fundy x reader #dream x reader #foolish x reader #quackity x reader #schlatt x reader #tubbo x reader #ranboo x reader #awesamdude x reader

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mcytrecursive · 3 months

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Nomination Overview - Space AU

We have had over a hundred source materials nominated already, so it's time to start looking at some of the works that people intend to request or offer! And the first one to look at is Space AU, which has been nominated 8 times, ranging in length from a 2847 word one-shot to a 299,349 word epic.

Title: Out To the Galaxy Steady She Goes Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/48639868/ Fandom: Hermitcraft SMP Author: TheDepressedCanary (FPSCanarussia) Characters: GeminiTay, ZombieCleo, PearlescentMoon, FalseSymmetry,Xisumavoid Length of the work: 28,277 Genre: Action/Adventure, AU, Family, Friendship, Space AU, Space Fantasy (SciFi/Fantasy cross, not sure how to tag it) Type: Fic Summary: Sailing ships cross worlds and stars, hunted by pirates and monsters. Ancient ruins sit undiscovered, concealing long-forgotten secrets. Space is vast and full of wonder. Pearl, in grief, clutches at every opportunity. Gem just wants to know more. Cleo - well, who can say? Yet the stars are not kind, and every journey holds its dangers.

Title: Space Mining AU Link: here and here Fandom: 3rd Life SMP Creator: wszczebrzyszynie Relationships: Team Ranchers, Cledubs, Ethubs, Scarian, Treebark, Convex brothers, ImpSkizz, Flower Husbands. Zedaph, Doc, Pearl and Gem are also characters. Everything mentioned as platonic, except romantic Jizzie. Characters: Tango and Jimmy Genre: Action/Adventure, AU, Drama, Post-Apocalyptic AU, Space AU Type: Art Series Summary: Space Mining AU. Tango was an engineer, became a wanted terrorist after he blew up Callisto, a moon where he was doing illegal skulk mining. He blew it up alongside other miners after finding out that skulk is alive, parasitic and infecting people, but he ended up being the sole survivor of the explosion, and the skulk wasn't completely sealed off. He ends up living with Desert Duo for a while (a pair of also dangerous criminals), and that's where he meets Jimmy. It kind of all goes downhill from there.

Title: He Has a Soul Made of Stars Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/35533927/chapters/88583056 Fandom: Dream SMP Author: NobleDragon Relationships: Wilbur Soot & Technoblade & TommyInnit & Phil Watson, Ranboo & Toby Smith | Tubbo & Wilbur Soot & Technoblade & TommyInnit & Phil Watson, Wilbur Soot & Philza, Wilbur Soot & Fundy Characters: Wilbur Soot, TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Technoblade (Video Blogging RPF)Philza, Ranboo (Video Blogging RPF), Toby Smith | Tubbo, Fundy Length: 16,875 words Genre: Domestic/Slice-of-life, Family, Found Family, Hurt/Comfort, Space AU Type: Fic Summary: And the heart of a galaxy. There is something in the vents of his ship, stealing their food and walking around at odd times of the day. Phil was going to catch that animal and cook it up for dinner if he has a say about it. Wait...it isn't an animal, but a sentient? And it's probably scared and hurt with no one to take care of them? Well...that changes things. Or: I'm going to make Phil want to found family something he hasn't even seen yet.

Title: free falling love addict Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/52783816 Fandom: 3rd Life | Last Life SMP Series Author: moonieangel Relationships: Grian & Scar, Grian/Scar Characters: Scar, Grian Length: 2847 words Genre: AU, Space AU, Relationship Study Type: Fic Summary: Grian's curls each knuckle, pressing it down, watching silently as the metal plates whir, clicking into place, as each finger tucks down in short, jittering ticks. “Yeah,” he says after a moment. “It's wonky.” “Well,” Scar says, “I could've told you that.” Grian grins at him, and there's a thrum of excitement in it, a sort of childlike enthusiasm to play with a machine. Scar had seen it precede the bursting of bombs. // Or, a fic where Scar is a cyborg whose arm is damaged and Grian is the mechanic who owes him. Or maybe the other way around.

Title: Lifeline AU Link: https://archiveofourown.org/series/3156309 Fandom: Hermitcraft SMP Author: SlashMagpie Relationships: Impulse & Tango, Impulse & Pearl, Bdubs & Etho, False & Stress, Impulse & Skizz, Pearl & Tango Characters: Impulse, Tango, Pearl, Etho, Bdubs, False, Cleo, Skizz, Ren Length: 299,349 words Genre: Action/Adventure, AU, Fantasy AU, Horror, Modern AU, Time Travel, Space AU Type: Fic Summary: A science fantasy AU about a species of body-snatching aliens attempting to take over the Earth and the ragtag bunch of misfits trying to stop them. Based on the Lifeline series of mobile games.

Title: if - then - else Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/45779260/chapters/115204942 Fandom: 3rd Life SMP Author: Anonymous Relationships: Etho & Tango, Bdubs & Tango, Bdubs & Etho & Tango, Jimmy Solidarity & Martyn Littlewood, Jimmy Solidarity & Tango, Martyn Littlewood & Scott Smajor, Martyn Littlewood & Tango, GeminiTay & Pearl, Jimmy Solidarity/Scott Major, Bdubs/Etho Characters: TangoTek, Bdubs, Etho, Martyn Littlewood, Jimmy Solidarity, Scott Smajor, GeminiTay, Mumbo Length: 69103 words Genre: Action/Adventure, AU, Romance, Slow Burn, Space AU, Sci-Fi AU Type: Fic Summary: Tango wakes up in a hospital with no memories and a moderately concerned pair of crewmates. Along with a few of the others in the same ward as him, he attempts to recover his memories, navigate a few significant obstacles, and figure out just how he got here. OR a space opera au that started as something very self indulgent and slowly developed a plot bigger than the walls of the hospital it began in. now with space chases and strange new planets!

Title: Among us AU Rating: E-rated Link: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2478559 Fandom: Hermitcraft SMP Author: Tunfisken Relationships: Etho/Grian, Tango/Grian Characters: Grian, Etho, Tango, background appearances by other Hermits Length: 19,899 words Genre: AU, Smut, Space AU Type: Fic Summary: Air was rushing through the ventilation ducts, and there was a faint hum of machinery from the dormant medbay scanner. Ever so often, the lights overhead would flicker. His stomach was cramping, and Grian curled in on himself on the bed, trying to ignore the hunger that clawed at him. The imposter didn't want to die.

#Nomination Overview

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echolocati0n-art · 1 year

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my dsmp , qsmp , empires , hermitcraft, etc headcanons because im insane

when c!puffychu are cuddling sometimes c!niki has to come up for air because c!puffys hair is just like, very curly/wool like and in the summer they have to turn on the ac to max, very nice in the winter tho

katherine would own a motorcycle but specifically in season 2 of empires and it would be painted half pink with glitter and the other side black with spikes

c!fundy makes a contraption where c!phil is able to use his wing again, that plus the syndicate helping him do physical therapy, he is able to fly again

the dream smp did not end badly fuck that ending they all live happily ever after

life series pearl tends to pick her nails a lot/bite them and tends to have a lot of bandaids on her hands, especially after the events of double life it got so much worse, in limlife, she kept doing it and big b would help bandage her hands and when he noticed her doing it, would give her a stick of gum or something to chew on + distract her or even they would paint eachothers nails

A CHEW TOY AHAHAHA werewolf pearl agenda

froggy is liml!pearl's PTSD ESA 👍

c!fundy is transmasc and c!quackity once had a lot on his mind and c!fundy happened to be shirtless, he saw the top surgery scars and was like "who did this to you", he still gets made fun of for it

avians (grian , jimmy, whoever else with fanon wings idk im too tired) cannot fly in the life series as the watches make their wings smaller to stop them from having an advantage / flying away but they can glide down hills and short distances, if they panic whilst falling they cant catch themselves

shelby and oli are swifties

in empires s1, both scott and xornoth have trouble walking through doors because of their antlers. Like xornoth will be chasing someone or something then he just hits the doorframe with a CLANG or scott will be trying to get outside and he just gets stuck and has to get someone to free him

speaking of those antlers my own hc is that when scott found the book in that tomb, he went from a regular elf to having the antlers and like deer ears / deer hybrid thing, during his elsa arc he shed them / he sawed them off because he felt he wasnt worthy but they grew back and sometimes have icicles hanging off them

jimmy hates the crust on sandwiches in all universes

c!purpled and c!punz are brothers, or at least sort of, c!purpled is an alien who crash landed on earth at like 5 years old and tiny 10 year old c!punz found him and they became very close, c!punz taught him earth culture

i loved that hc of lmanburg having a different language and using it to communicate and their own culture and such, for some reason I very much imagine it as french

no one speaks it anymore but when frustrated or excited you may find former members of lmanburg using it / they have slight accents

c!schlatt banned them from speaking said language so c!niki used it to spite him specifically

c!niki also shouldve lost a life during that festival she was beat to death by c!ponk under order of c!schlatt WHY ISNT THAT CANON!!

Tallulah loves the movie Tarzan and q wilbur really regrets showing it to her because. gorilla

qsmp has access to tv streaming services and the internet, chayanne and bobby love action movies but q phil chooses what he watches very carefully, tallulah and richarlyson are OBSESSED with bluey, dapper loves nature/informative documentaries, leonarda and ramon i feel would be a huge fan of nickelodeon, tilin used to love peppa pig, juanaflippa preferred to read

bobby has adhd because i said so he is a little ball of insanity

jaiden with the conure wings you already know

cellbit drinks an insane amount of high caffeine coffee, he started to have heard palpitations from it. The other portugese speaking people had an intervention

forever gives me ashfur vibes idk with the i love you philza you broke my heart

hcs9 impulse forgets to sleep because hes underground / inside a lot and doesnt see the sun, when he stays awake purposely to get work done gem and/or pearl will march him to the nearest bed and sit there until he is asleep

there were times where scott didnt feel safe at home because of xornoth so he would sleep in other empires, he felt safest in the cod empires because of jimmy (not because jimmy was strong but because gay people)

same with shrub, she would often end up in the overgrown napping in katherines castle

gem and fwhip are identical twins but it's impossible for there to be opposite gender/sex (?) identical twins so basically: transfem gem

thats it for now i am eepy but hope you all enjoy

#dream smp #empires smp #mcyt #qsmp #dsmp #empiresshipping #life series #third life #last life #double life #limited life #hermitcraft

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sunflower-rat · 1 year

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I found this in my drafts from over 4 months ago and I felt like I should finally release this into the wild. Please let me know if there's any tags I need to add cause it does deal a little with grief.

Because imagine if Techno had been hibernating for centuries there, undisturbed and untouched. People know of this lovely and always warm house out in the tundra - a deep and powerful magic laced through the walls and floorboards.

It's been there for so long - but the fire is always flickering and the pantry is always stocked.

Techno sleeps undisturbed - surrounded by over a dozen dogs who have collars with inscribed birthdays that go back too many years to be normal.

Phil goes in and out without issue.

He is, after all, his greatest friend - and he does not disturb him.

He does, however - wake up one day when he finds a child (probably just 12) sifting through his cabinets - stuffing his face full of gapples and his fingers coated in cocoa powder.

Judging by the tin discarded on the counter - the kid didn't like it very much.

Techno welcomes the kid into his home - and finds out over the course of a hundred stories told in quick succession - that his name is Tommy and that he has a family in the south.

He also finds out - not from his words - but from the aura that surrounds him that Tommy is a God - but it seems like he doesn't know that himself - even though the red vines on his skin and the flowers in his hair never rot and spread like wild fire when he wills it to grow.

He finds Dream at his door - who runs out worried and draws Tommy away from the God who's limbs still feel sluggish and slow - draped in a huge red cloak that the kid has been gushing about for the past ten minutes - and finds himself welcomed with coffee and biscuits.

The visits become normal.

He starts living with the expectation of company.

He finds it hard to fall back asleep - when Tommy arrives the next day, and the day after - bringing in more kids his age that he's never seen and faces that feel oddly familiar - and it doesn't make sense until Philza arrives one day while he's having a lovely chat with Wilbur and Dream - when Fundy calls him 'grandpa' and suddenly it makes sense.

His dogs wake up - one by one - and shows Tommy almost every trick they know (he doesn't want him to know he can order them to attack. They won't listen to him, but he'd rather not risk it) - and he prepares gapples for the growing God to eat and snacks for the little ones and watch them get bigger and bigger each year.

He watches Dream become stronger, and Philzas family grow. He teaches Tommy how to fight and control the vines, and bids Fundy goodbye when he decides he wants to see the world, and sits silently beside Wilbur when he misses him too much for his heart to bear.

He sees it all.

And when Quackity, Karl and Sapnap get married - he leaves his little cabin - and arrives in a suit - sleepy from a months long hibernation and celebrates because he can see all his friends gathered around him, and knows he wants nothing more in life than to see them grow up.

One day, they'll all be gone, he knows.

He knows he will sleep in his cabin for another few centuries, undisturbed because no one will be there to knock on his door or eat his gapples.

He'll find no one digging through his cabinet and tasting all his spices and stubbornly refusing to admit he hates the cocoa powder in his pantry.

There will be no more wedding invites, and his friends will be as strong as they'll ever be, and their songs will be nothing but a distant memory.

But until then, he will celebrate with them.

He will be there, for every milestone and every year that passes.

And he will love them, because in that moment where they all exist together- it would've been all that mattered.

#technoblade #dsmp #tommyinnit #dream smp #dreamwastaken #philza #wilbur #sunflower posts

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lepidopteragirl · 2 years

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sometimes i think about cquackity being the one to propose to cschlatt, being the one who cared so much, wanted things to work so bad, think about him building the white house. sometimes i think about him wanting a big lavish wedding with all of manburg watching, daring to daydream about it at work some days with a silly little grin on his face (he was 19) (he was 19) until schlatt yelled over at him from across the room, demanding to know why quackitys just sitting there lookign moony eyed for and when quackity doesnt say anything him telling quackity to get back to work with an eye roll and a snort. sometimes i think about them getting married, a quiet, official affair officiated by fundy and attended by two witnesses and i think about him just being happy to be married. i think about him eating schlatts heart, searching within it for a crumb of the love he gave, with his teeth. and sometimes i think about him getting together with karl and sapnap only a day after manburg fell, finding each other before the ashes settled and promising to get married as soon as the burned down city was restored. i think about him staring at his engagement rings, little and cheap bc they don't have a lot of money right now, and what they do have goes into el rapids growing infrastructure, a home for them someday, with certainly not enough left over for fancy jewelry, so sapnap made them by hand. they're messy and a little uneven and the jewels wiggle sometimes but quackity refuses to take them off, no matter what he's doing, even when george makes fun of him for wearing them as they dig up a garden and i think of him sitting in the quiet and twisting them around his fingers and reminding himself that he's loved he is that he put their rings on his finger and his on theirs and they want him too and i think about karl casually dropping "and when we're married" into conversation like its no big deal and sapnap going along with it like its nothing too and i think about him grinning like an idiot but trying to hide it, because its clearly nothing to sapnap and karl? and karl catching him first and not believing him when he says its nothing and laughing and kissing him like q being excited for the wedding is the sweetest thing he's ever heard and i think about them staying up all night trying to figure out what they want to write in their vows. and i think about an effiel tower and wedding chapel in the youngest country in the server, surrounded by roses bc they stand for love and they're also sapnap's favorite flower and i think about him standing outside the prison and feeling a promise to propose fall out of his lips with mist into the cold air and i think about him taking his rings of his finger for the first time since sapnap gave them to them, flushed and grinning, and trying to throw them into lava, leave them behind. i think about him collapsing and not being able to finish the job and tying them on a string round his neck and trying to forget the weight of a grindstone around his neck. i think about him on his hands and knees in the hot summer sun tearing the rose bushes out of the ground with his bare hands until they're more thorn than flesh and i think about him swearing not to go back, to leave first every chance he gets

#this is a lie i do not think about this sometimes its all the time this is my inner monologue always #i feel deranged btw

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imagines-babes · 1 year

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Who is She? (C!Quackity)

I've had a week off now I'm back again. Thank you for almost 30 followers and hearts to all my stories honestly thought people weren't gonna enjoy these but thank you. Also the end of season one of dsmp was so good. I did watch tubbo version instead of Tommy. So who did you watch? When I saw tubbo side all I thought was the song As the World caves in by Matt Maltese (story idea?maybe). Anyways I'm rambling. Since everyone loved my c! Quackity I thought why not another. So today story is about the last Las Nevadas lore adding my own thing to it. So this is about the characters. The song is Who is She? by I Monster. So I hope you enjoy this. Ps this does switch to quackity pov to the readers pov. Maybe a another Foolish one will be posted next week?

Quackity List Masterlist

************

'It's been a few months since you left us. Why did you take his spot? It hurts to wait for you while there is a war on the top. What you didn't know is that you both died. Charlie, that's his name now. Purpled put you both in. So you died for nothing. I cried every night. The nation I built lost already. Awesamdude left once I found out he lied about Dream being in his cell. Fundy left saying nothing. I went to his house but it was empty. Purpled well he is the one that you are in 6 feet under while slime is frozen. I know you saw purple and fundy as navie and young. Importantly you saw them as family. But one left you and the other killed you. Foolish is the only one I can trust he is the one that is loyal to me. The thoughts in my head always guess he's gonna leave as well. He hasn't and I hope he never does. Now I must be going I have a meeting with Foolish.' He closed the book placing it in a chest near the grave. Glance at it once more towards the grave with the engraved.

UnknownY/n

Beloved by many but betrayed twice as more.

Mí amor

He stood as he destroy the torch walking away from the grave as the light dim. With the distance of a man with a white hoodie with black line beside him stood the man that was gonna destroy the next thing he loved with a book in his hand.

Waking up I started to take in a breath glancing around to see iron bars as well for the door. I start to hit them as I looked around. " Hello," starting the question while I shake the bar, "can anyone hear me please." with that the iron door opened. With as confused I was I step out slowly notices the hall to it felt familiar but nothing was coming to me. Hearing voices at the end of the hall I lean up to the door. "They are gonna wake up soon. What are we gonna tell them?" One voice answers as the other stay his ground. "Just let me talk to them I've been with them since las Nevadas." Walking in to see three young men. One approach me giving me a hug I didn't even move my hands while the other two talk. "I thought I lost you?" He pulled back tilting his head, "y/n it's me purpled remember?" Nothing came to mind. This also caught the eyes of the other two men. The air in the room started to change as purpled told me everything. Of how I was in Las Nevada, how I was in love with a man called Quackity, how I was purple older sibling, and how I died. "Quackity trapped us both y/n he pushed you in the lava along side slime." I couldn't believe what he was saying. My feet felt week as Purpled help me bring one man over. The man I loved killed me. Not only me but Slime aswell.

After that day I swore to take a life from him. Even if it was to my death. Punz help me train. While Dream and Purpled started to strategize a plan. Purpled brought Slime as he ran to me. He was the only one I remember since being revived. The day was choosen. I thanked punz as I headed inside his tower walking to the top to see lights but the further I looked I notice the sign. The red. The logo. The white. Everything was bright the details on the sign. Something in the air shifted as if a liar came outside and only the wind knew. "Why are you out here? On the top of the tower no less?" He questioned sitting down next to me. All I did was stared front looking at the lights as a staring contest. "Would you ever lie just to get revenge, Purpled?" He stares at me as he glanced down as if he was questioning his words to answer that simple question. That's all it was a simply question. "No I wouldn't lying just gets people killed." Breaking the eye contact with the sign to see Purpled. He was one of the young one. Yeah I saw him as a brother but something in that moment made me doubt his words. Quickly turning my head, "Get some sleep. Tomorrow is when Las Nevadas gets burned to the ground."

We walk near the sign noticing the colors face to face. Walking down the road to see him. A maroon button-up shirt with suspenders along with black slacks. With no beanie. He froze. "Seems like you have seen two ghost quackity?" walking closer to the fountain he started to yell, "Get back both of you." Quackity walked back as we step a foot forward only 15 feet apart. He question what he was looking for as for Slime he tried to calm him down. The fear that quackity had flushed alway. With a smile seeing us both together and alive. "The last thing I remember was y/n going in lava then I went in lava." Quackity tried to make words holding onto my hand walking in front of the casino. Then asked us about purpled saying if we remember what he did. That's what caught my attention. But if it was on cue Purpled and Dream appeared. The smile on his face instantly disappear. The two got closer as quackity yelled at us to go inside the building. The worry of losing both of us once more worried him. It was all over his face but why would he worried if he killed us. Right? Purpled wouldn't lie to me, right? The tnt broke the door open. Dream and purple talked to Quackity. Wanting to take him to the prison and torture him. Like he did to dream. As for slime and I made it to a corner, quackity held out a lever switch it to only hear fireworks. The two in front of quackity tease him more. "I just don't want to just kill you. I want you to die, abandon by everything and everyone that you love. Your city ruins run by the one person that betrayed you. Your best friend Realizing that you're trash. Human Trash. And your partner. Leaving and forgetting about you like Karl and Sapnap once did to you." Slime approach quackity, "Legacy is all you leave behind, Quackity" Slime put on the netherite that Dream and Purpled provide to us as Quackity turned to see him glowing. "So why did you leave us behind." He glanced over at me as I wore the same standing next to Slime. To only see a glimpse of a totem god, Foolish by the entrance running away. Something was coming. So I did what I knew best was run. Dream and purpled stayed with Slime trying to put Quackity in a corner.

Making my way to the tower to overlook the top. The ground started to shake as little slimes started to appear out of no where. It was Slimes just like Slimecicle but they weren't. I tried to look for Slime, Purpled or Quackity till 1 minute later they ran out of the building to only hear a fuse light us landing tnt everywhere blowing it up. The footsteps by the stairs caught my attention as I waited for then to appear. Quackity was too busy running, in the process I tripped him pulling out my sword. "So you left us and you think you can just get away?" The blade was getting closer to him as he stood walking backwards. "Y/n please listen," Quackity tried to talk. Purpled started to yell. "Don't listen to him he never tells the truth." Purpled started to go in front of me. While quackity started to beg saying he tried to protect us two. All purpled did just denied he left to go in front of quackity. Slime walk forward standing behind the two. The next second to only see him push purpled off the building. One life of his was gone. Slime moved back. "Quackity from Las Nevadas." That what got quackity to smile. While quackity wanted a hug to only see slime walk down the stairs not saying an only word. This is your fault," was all I said once I step closer to him. Holding the blade up looking at him. "This is your fault." He stood next to the ledge. "You thought it was right to torture someone into getting a book to revive people. So you can what keep it." All he did was look at me he never noticed this person in front of him. "For what? Everyone dies you can't live forever!" He kissed me. I tried to pushed back but my heart took over my body. The sword fell to the side as he kissed me. Pulling me in closer. This kiss was a ending of us. "I promised you that I would've loved you till my life ended and I did," I moved his hair to the side getting close to whisper in his ear, "Now it's your turn." With that I pushed him.

#x y/n #twitchstreamer #fanfic #mcyt x y/n #feral boys #mcyt fanfiction #dreamsmp #dtqk #quackity #quackity x y/n #quackity x reader #c!quackity x y/n #c!quackity x reader #c!quackity #c!purpled #c!dream #c!slimecicle

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hiko-the-teacup · 1 year

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DSMPSTUCK DESIGNS PT2

heheehehe tommeeeyyyy

he's so goofy, i tried to make him look interesting cuz i saw a lot of designs that were really simple and i wanted to add more silly details

so tommy is a human, but he is in fact an Aries, he is a Prospit dreamer and i believe he is a Heir of Blood (im too sleepy to explain just trust me on this one) so, hypothetically, if he were to be a troll he would be in the (canon extended zodiac's) sign of Arcer (sign of the officer)

OKAY SO TUBBO

i love the idea that tubbo had kind of a jade situation and had to fuse with his sprite which happened to have a ram and is actually god tier but uses normal clothes :)))

so tubbo is a human as well but he is a Capricorn, and i believe he is a Derse dreamer and a Bard of Breath

mostly because of the way he developed as a character, starting in a way, very attached to Tommy, looking for connections and trying to be the leader of a country, but in the end not being able to bare with it all and pushing people away

so hypothetically if he were a troll he'd fall on the sign of Capriun (sign of the cartographer)

fundy!

fundy is a human which also had a jade situation and became part fox!!

hes a Mage of Breath i believe, mostly because of the way he felt isolated from everyone

he is also a libra and a Prospit dreamer which would land him on the sign Libus (sign of the vibrant)

OMG MY FAVOURITE ONE :)

ok more like my second fave but still hehe

Wilbur, unlike many designs would lead you to believe, is actually a Virgo!!

i believe he is a Prince of Mind, and i will elaborate in another post (maybe) because i have a lot to say about him bc i LOVE THIS CHARACTER SO MUCH AGHHH

so anyways, he therefore is a Derse dreamer Jadeblood, Prince of Mind, which would fall into Virza (sign of the puzzle) ((fun fact that's also my extended zodiac sign)) (((i swear it wasn't or purpose i prome plz-----)))

JJJJJSCHLATT

slatt

he is also a virgo actually, that surprised me lmao

i believe he is a Witch of Rage, a Derse dreamer and being a Jadeblood that would give him the sign of viriborn (sign of the stringent)

i don't have much to say, this design was kinda lazy, i might remake it actually

ERET MY BELOVED

they would also be an ancestor design, i just couldn't render him cuz,, i got lazy---

but yeah he is a Capricorn and he is a Sylph of Heart♡♡♡, he is also a Derse dreamer and that would give him the sign Caprio (sign of the opaque)

FINALLY I GOT TO HIM I REALLY WANNA TALK ABOUT THIS

so first of all quackity is a Capricorn, HOWEVER i couldn't think of a very good design with purple for him specifically and so i was talking with a friend and came to this thought:

Quackity, like Jack Noir, was kinda pushed around and undermined,(more things i wrote but were deleted,ill do a deeper analysis when im more awake i swear)

essentially hes a derse Capricorn page of space, that would fall on Capriga sign of the surveyor

((edit;; oh my god it deleted like half of my post im going to die))

((ill post the rest tomorrow maybe))

#i hate everything #aghhhh my post sobb #homestuck #dsmpstuck #dsmp #c!tommy #c!tubbo #c!fundy #c!wilbur #jadeblood wilbur #c!jschlatt #c!quackity #carapacian quackity #homestuck designs #my art

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bugflies00 · 3 months

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do phil & techno exist in your au?

yes they do!! i keep forgetting to talk about them and i think it's because i haven't explored their characters enough in my head so im not as attached to them in this au, but i really want to develop them more. originally this was an sbi au but then my crimeboys solo brain (and my tntduo brain) took over. but sbi is very much a found family in this au too!!!

i think i mentioned that wilbur met techno first, probably through their job? originally i wanted phil to be a college prof who meets wilbur when hes a student, but then i scrapped wilbur going to college after school because he doesnt have the money or time (he does eventually go in his late twenties!! because he really wants to like he loves learning and it was always a dream of his), so phil is still a college prof in my heart but yeah.

he's techno's dad, and techno's mum isn't even in the picture, i guess she's dead lmao. yeah im making that canon she's dead because then wilbur and techno can make dead mum jokes. <- you just saw the live process of a fact being canonised.

anyway twinsduo bond at their retail job over talking about history and ancient greece and literature. techno is a classics major at his dad's college, and he took a job to get some money on the side. sometimes he sneaks wilbur his textbooks just because he's really passionate about the topic and he's really jealous of techno who gets to learn about it and have the college experience and live at home with his dad.

phil and wilbur have a Somewhat? fatherly? relationship? over time as crimeboys & emeraldduo grow closer phil definitely starts acting as a father/mentor figure for wilbur, but it's never like. official. wilbur doesn't call him Dad or anything. but they still love each other a lot it's very much found family but i suppose not in the traditional sense.

it takes a LONG time for wilbur to warm up to phil though, he has a tendency to distrust adults given. well. His Whole Life Experience i guess. but the second tommy meets techno he makes it his life's mission to annoy him as much as possible. This is a mark of love. it takes a long time for techno to realise that . tommy and phil also get along pretty quickly, phil's chill, easy-going vibe matches well with tommy's . General Presence.

they live a couple streets away from wilbur & tommy's flat (and later in the story when wilbur buys a house with q they buy the house right beside phil and techno's. they make a hole in the fence separating the houses so they can hang out in the other house more easily!). phil gets really worried about wilbur when he learns that he has a teen and a baby in his care alone, so he tries his best to help out where he can, but obviously wilbur's a stubborn asshole who refuses help, so phil has to be subtle about it. one day when he's visiting he finds the fridge is empty except for baby formula and a single sandwich for tommy's lunch, he doesn't leave wilbur a choice he makes him come over and feeds all of them. and wilbur keeps protesting but phil's like "it hurts them too if you refuse help" and so he shuts up.

phil teaches english, and he's kinda the cool old teacher who always swears and talks shit but who cares a lot about his students, and it's a similar relationship he has with crimeboys. he and techno also have a very funny (to me) relationship because often when they talk it doesn't feel like a father and son, more like two weird old friends who constantly jab at each other. it's very confusing if you don't know them.

techno also doesn't have a lot of friends (mostly by choice) and phil is like. The One Person he trusts the most. he begrudgingly starts allowing wilbur in that circle. eventually also tommy although that takes work (thats a lie techno loves tommy but he has to act like he hates him because yknow. The Principle).

to a lot of people's surprise, fundy and techno latch on to each other very quickly. it's surprising because fundy was a very very shy and anxious kid, and as a baby, he would cry if he was held by anyone who wasn't wilbur. and techno is this big burly socially awkward guy who doesn't know how to give hugs. but for some reason fundy immediately trusts him and lets him carry him and techno is very gentle with him. he doesn't talk to him like a baby, he has conversations with 6 month old fundy about ancient greece and politics and linguistics. he's the only person besides wilbur who fundy will fall asleep in the arms of. even when fundy's an older kid they still have that bond, at any social events they'll be in the corner so they don't have to talk to people.

techno also plays the violin, and when he learns this tommy begs him for months to play him something and he refuses. one day tommy comes home crying because he had an awful day and skimmed his knee and got a bad grade and his lunch got soaked in the rain, and techno leads him up to his room and silently begins to play a piece. tommy never shut up so quickly in his life LMAO

i think that's all i have for now but if you prompt me i can talk about anything in this au for days

#THANK YOU FOR THE ASK ! !#alex.rambles.txt #alex.asks.txt #c!techno #c!phil #c!emeraldduo #the fostering au #mcyt #c!bedrock bros #c!twinsduo #c!sandduo

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hamliet · 2 years

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The Masterpiece That Is Queer as Folk

Well, right before a reboot is set to come out, I finally got around to watching a show I first heard about (albeit without knowing the name) when it came out while I was like, eight years old. I then got in huge trouble for even mentioning to my parents that a friend had told me about a show with two boys french-kissing in a shower (okay, eight would’ve been way too young to see it, but still, fundie Christian memories ✨).

And, I fell hard for this story. I genuinely think this is one of my favorite stories ever, definitely favorite TV show, with writing to parallel MXTX’s levels of wringing the most potential out of every little detail. The writing is of a consistently high quality throughout its five seasons, without a single weak season (although there was the occasional weaker plotline), which is something I don’t think I can say for pretty much any other completed TV series I’ve seen. I love, love, love this story, and those of you know have been following me for awhile know how rarely I say that.

It’s explicit, often gratuitously so, but honestly that’s part of its charm and message: it’s loud and unashamed of itself, even when that makes it crass. It’s tired of being shut up inside a closet and it’s going to make it your problem if you choose to watch (and in doing so, mimic the journeys of its characters learning to feel and love and grow into human beings without apologies).

Brian, Justin, Hunter, Ben, Michael, Debbie, Emmett, Ted--they were all fantastic characters with complexity to boot. It seemed like many of them could be stereotypes--particularly Brian or Emmett--but to call them stereotypes is blatantly wrong. There was just so much intricate complexity woven into each character’s psyche. If anything, it seemed almost like taking back the stereotypes by infusing them with humanity (one of the major themes: learning how to be human). It was existentialist, philosophical at parts, and genuinely moving.

Brian could be seen as a stereotypical promiscuous gay man, but he is really a wounded child. Melanie can seem like a typical “butch” lesbian, but she has the arguably biggest and most sentimental heart in the series. Debbie is the voice of reason and moral compass, but also can get too caught up in her beliefs that she is a good person and hurt those around her. Ted seemed like a typical “loser” character whom I actually struggled to like through the first two and a half seasons... before his descent into addiction, which felt like one of the most humanizing portrayals of addiction I’ve seen. Ben and Hunter are both HIV positive, and neither of them are characterized by their illness or have their arcs primarily be about suffering and death porn.

Admittedly, some parts haven’t aged super well. but without some of those elements (namely, the age difference between Justin and Brian), I’m not sure the story could have pulled itself off with the same poignant psychological insight, the same provocative themes, and the same character depth. So, that one I’m giving a pass on a literary perspective. Other parts that didn’t age super well are that really aren’t any trans or bisexual (although it seems like Hunter is bisexual, though the idea is never really labeled) or nonbinary characters, plus almost everyone is very white. It’s a very outdated understanding of sexuality in some ways (although in other aspects, the show is quite forward-thinking in others--for example, it says “acab” before it was cool).

So let’s break down Hamliet’s thoughts on different themes, motifs, plotlines, and symbolism. I’m going to start with Justin and Brian’s relationship, because it really did form the beating heart of the show in encapsulating, without fail, the main themes of each and every season.

Brian and Justin: Being Human Means Growing and Grieving (Season One)

Brian: Look, I don't believe in love. I believe in fucking. It's honest, it's efficient. You get in and out with a maximum of pleasure, and a minimum of bullshit. Love is something that straight people tell themselves they're in, so they can get laid. Then they end up hurting each other, because it was all based on lies to begin with. If that's what you want, then go and find yourself a pretty little girl, and get married.

Justin: That's not what I want. I want you.

Came in skeptical about this relationship, left convinced.

Through season one, Justin and Brian’s issues build into the tragic finale through the themes of growth and loss that run through each episode of the entire season. Growth is what makes us human, but growing, living, always ends in death eventually.

At first glance, Brian seems to be the character who goes after everything he wants... but he actually is running away from what he wants. Justin is the one who actually goes after what he wants: he is super clingy to start with, to the point where it’s a bit cringe--but also, surprisingly earnest and honest.

Brian has the opposite problem to Justin’s clinginess: he’s dead inside and pushing everyone away from him. Brian acts like he owes nothing to anybody and desperately has sex with every man he can, and makes a “big spectacle of everything” (as Debbie tells him), all in a childish attempt to feel something, anything at all. He wants to be human. He wants to be alive. But he doesn’t feel like he’s either of these things. His refusal to grow up is not so much a rejection of maturity so much as it is a rejection of his life in general: how can you grow, when you were never alive in the first place?

Justin’s clinginess, while initially a flaw, is actually what makes the relationship perfect: Brian would never grow if he was not relentlessly pursued by someone who also asked things of him (Lindsay and Michael, while great friends, rarely ask things of Brian, while Justin does). Justin's childlike faith in humanity in some ways (and, admittedly less-charmingly, black and white way of thinking) helps Brian experience those things for the first time. The irony of course is that Justin seems like he wants to grow up--have sex, move out of his home, getting a fake ID--while Brian claims he wants to stay young, yet before Justin avoids anything actually innocent. When he finally starts opening up to Justin and his innocence, he’s confronted with what he’s been avoiding the entire season: grief.

Brian needs to grieve his own nightmare childhood and his own issues, or else he can’t ever grow or feel human.

To be human is to accept loss, accept that you aren’t superman, that you can’t control things. Literally the entire season is about the writers handing Brian challenge to grieve after challenge to grieve and him denying it until it smashes into the head of innocence (Justin).

Firstly, Brian is tasked with whether or not to pull the plug on Ted when he’s in a coma, a choice that he thankfully doesn’t have to make when Ted wakes up. Then, Brian’s father tells him he’s dying and Brian finally tells him he’s gay (with horrifying results). His father dies (symbolic again of one symbol of his nightmare childhood passing away), and Brian doesn’t cry, which everyone points out is odd. Brian also ruins his relationship with Michael, and refuses to grieve it, pretending it’s all fine. While they do reconcile, Justin and Michael do more work to bring them back together than Brian does (speaking of, the scene where everyone leaves in disgust, telling Brian off for his cruelty at Michael’s birthday party, but Justin tells Brian “someone’s gotta help you clean this mess” was clearly a double-meaning and a genuinely heartwarming moment). Then, Brian struggles with signing away his parental rights to Gus to help Melanie and Lindsay, and does so in a bold moment without much grief. Brian treats Justin terribly on and off, but doesn’t grieve it because he tells himself that’s just who he is.

However, Justin in season one, despite being a portrayal of innocence, also treats other people pretty poorly. (Brian is largely the exception.) His father is the worst, but Justin is also a brat with an immature understanding of love and people. He does his best to alienate his mother early on. He antagonizes people when he doesn’t have to in order to show off and prove he deserves to exist (like outside of Babylon when he tells everyone he gave Chris Hobbs a handjob, a moment where Brian warns him directly that he’s now “made a real enemy”). Justin’s brattiness is clearly coming from a place of pain and repression, so to be clear there is no moral equivalence there: he only humiliates Chris because Chris has been humiliating him throughout the series.

Justin also tries to convince Brian not to sign away his parental rights at first, which hurts Melanie and Lindsay, because Justin projects his own parental issues onto the situation without considering that Brian is not his father and the people involved are so different the two situations shouldn’t be compared. Plus, if anything, Justin puts too much responsibility on others, and is challenged to accept that he cannot control other people and how they feel or act towards him (Daphne falling for him, Brian, trying to win his father’s approval by considering business school despite his father’s hatred of him, etc.) This idea of putting too much responsibility on others is childish and normal for someone his age, and makes Justin and Brian very similar while also having contrasting ways of handling their relationships (clinging vs pushing away).

This all culminates in the finale where Chris tries to murder Justin right when he and Brian seem to finally be happy at Justin’s prom. It’s only then, when Brian sits bloodied in a hospital waiting room, that we see him finally give in, grieve, cry, in the same place he and Justin named his son in the first episode.

Justin’s lost a sense of innocence. Brian realizes that he is not the island he pretends to be, and that being human hurts.

Justin and Brian: Being Human Means Accepting the Worst of Yourself (Season Two)

Michael to Brian: I think you're afraid to let anyone know you love them. That you have feelings. That you're human like the rest of us.

Throughout the second season, Brian hides the best parts of himself (literally not allowing anyone to know that he visits Justin every single night he’s in the hospital). Brian also self-sabotages himself by demanding Justin hide the best parts of himself (loving Brian) with their semi-open arrangement that fails epically, and Justin leaves him. But part of the reason is fails is also that Justin starts becoming more like Brian, even imitating Brian in word and action when he sleeps with a virgin, and... big surprise, neither of them like Justin becoming more like Brian. Justin doesn't want to be Brian, and Brian doesn't want to be Brian either.

Despite Brian’s narcissistic persona, the dude basically embodies the concept of “methinks thou doth protest too much.” See: him pissing on art of himself as a hero. After, Justin demands a real apology for that--directly telling Brian that his vague “sorry” isn’t good enough, and Brian gives i. A few episodes later, this scene then repeats after Justin starts his affair with Ethan with almost the exact same dialogue, but this time Justin is the one giving a vague apology, and Brian isn’t strong enough to ask for a specific apology.

Justin: I’m sorry.

Brian: For what?

Justin: You know what for.

The point is again that Justin is becoming more like Brian, and it’s not a good thing.

As long as Brian hides the best parts of himself, their relationship is doomed. It’s not a coincidence that after the first time Justin tops him, after Brian literally lets Justin inside, Brian immediately panics and starts causing problems. Brian doesn’t acknowledge Justin’s birthday besides literally hiring him a hustler to symbolize how he’s pushing Justin into another person’s arms (Ethan). To highlight this, we have Ben and Michael’s birthday celebration as a foil, where Ben is upset over his declining health and behaves terribly. However, Ben apologizes, and Michael tells him a major theme:

Ben: There’s no excuse for it. There’s no excuse at all.

Michael: Sure there is. You’re human.

The point is that Brian and Justin are human too, as much as Brian tries to deny his own humanity. Human beings make mistakes. And that becomes a major motif of the third season.

Justin and Brian: Being Human Means Accepting the Best of Yourself (Season Three)

When we see Justin and Brian in the opening of season 3, Brian is still so defensive over Justin despite Justin publicly humiliating and leaving Brian that Brian punches his best friend, Michael, for suggesting that he shouldn’t have saved Justin’s life. This again ties into Brian’s self-hatred: he expects Justin to leave him, even feels he should. But Brian finds it easier to fight someone else on Justin’s behalf than to fight himself to keep Justin; numerous characters comment that Justin left because Brian didn’t fight for him, and they’re right.

Brian and Justin are still stuck on each other, and shown through their indulgence of illusions (fantasy vs reality is another motif throughout every season). Brian literally hires a hooker to dress up as Justin, and Justin focuses on Ethan who is whom Justin thinks he wants Brian to be, only to discover that Ethan is Justin at his worst: brought to life by art, yes, but a cheater, and a liar.

As viewers, we recognize issues all along: for example, during a sex scene, Ethan directly tells Justin “don’t be nervous;” this stands in sharp contrast with Brian, who had previously told Justin that he was clearly “terrified” when they first got together. Brian acknowledges Justin’s fears; Ethan pretends they don’t exist. Ethan wants an illusion; Brian wants the real thing.

We also see the “real you” aspect of Brian and Justin’s relationship foiled with Ben and Michael’s struggle over Ben’s HIV. Michael almost wishes he has HIV to relate to Ben more, and this plotline climaxes in Michael holding a needle to his arm, contemplating giving himself it to be more like Ben, and this line:

Ben: I don’t want you to be like me!

There are other relationships in the show, even nonromantic ones, that emphasize that Brian can’t accept the best of himself. Brian refuses to accept any thanks for saving Ted’s ass, because he’s still denying the best parts of himself. Both our good and bad traits make us human: Brian needs to accept the best of himself, and Justin needs to accept the worst.

Brian and Justin finally face each other while having sex with other people in Babylon’s backroom, but lock eyes and it’s clear who they wish they were with. They have to accept themselves at their best and at their worst to be able to accept each other at their best and worst.

Fortunately, that’s precisely what happens. When Justin decides to win Brian back by interning at his company, he gives him a sincere compliment that Brian can only smile at (ie, Justin confronting Brian with the best of Brian’s traits):

Justin: I've already learned more than I would in an entire semester of school... Which says a lot about you, actually.

Brian: About me?

Justin: Yeah. They say the tone of the workplace is established from the top. So it's a great compliment to you that you have such a dedicated and hardworking staff.

And Justin is then able to show Brian that yeah, he knows Brian’s worst traits. And even with his worst self, he still thinks Brian’s best traits make him worth it, and that Brian can actually become better, grow.

Justin: If you had any brains at all you would never have let me leave. You would've told me I was making the biggest mistake of my life. That I would live to regret it. That what you gave me was worth a thousand--a million times more than anything he had to offer. You would have told me that you loved me, and that you would go on loving me even after I was gone.

Brian then confronts Justin on his worst traits:

Brian: That is so like you! You don't hear what you want, so you leave! Try standing up for yourself for a change!

Aaand then Justin is able to admit his best traits:

Justin: I decided you should take me back... even though I’ve made a few mistakes, I think you’d be making an even bigger one not to give me a second chance.

In other words, when they get back together, they’re able to see each other as fully human.

When they get back together, Justin and Brian are able to pretty much save the world by stopping Stockwell. Debbie outright states the season’s main theme after Brian gets fired for sabotaging Stockwell (such a smallscale Trump it’s almost eerie):

Debbie: it's your innate goodness.

Brian: *laughs*

Debbie: we all know good from evil and you’re no different.

Again, the “you’re no different” line emphasizes that Brian is human despite his denials thereof, and being human is not just about fucking and being selfish--it’s about love and community and a long arc towards justice. And then Brian finally becomes the hero Justin and Michael have always believed him to be and gives up literally everything he owns--everything except the people who love him, honestly--to stop Stockwell. Not only that, but no one except his closest friends will ever know he is the one who saved the town.

The idea of accepting the worst/best of yourself is also foiled in the finale when Ted reunites with Blake. Ted cared for Blake because Blake brought out the best in Ted--his generosity and kindness and belief in goodness of humanity--but was destroyed by the worst (Blake’s addiction). At the rehab where he once dropped Blake off, Ted finds himself a patient, and Blake as his counselor--showing Ted that there is a future, that the best in you is never dead no matter how far you’ve sunken. You can always find it again.

Justin and Brian: Being Human Means Accepting Help (Season 4)

Season 4 at its core is about learning to be weak and ask for help. Ted needs help finding a job. Ben needs help processing rejection of his manuscript. Brian needs help keeping his apartment. But none of them want to feel pitied, and so they flounder.

One of the ways people can need others is to need others to forgive them. Obviously we have Blake and Ted, Ted and... everyone after his addiction, Debbie forgiving herself for the way she treats Vic, and Brian and Justin forgiving each other and therefore forgiving themselves.

Obviously this was first set up in Season 3, when Brian forgave Justin for leaving him, but it’s further expanded on by repeating a lot of season two’s elements... in a way that doesn’t feel repetitive but instead shines a light on just how much growth the characters have undergone.

Justin’s brief foray into vigilantism is clearly paralleled with his foray into gogo dancing in season 2: both Brian warns him about, but Justin insists he can take care of himself only to get way in over his head. With gogo dancing, the boss sexually assaulted him; with the vigilantes, Justin ends up realizing that Cody is not that different than Chris Hobbs--he’s cruel, he’s hateful, he’s violent, and he only wants to use Justin for his own pride. But instead of how Justin allowed his guilt over needing Brian’s help for school to drive them apart after the gogo incident, this time Justin allows himself to get closer to Brian after realizing Brian was right. Justin also doesn’t forgive Chris Hobbs (nor really should he), but he does realize the pointlessness of revenge.

Brian then needs help but resorts to I can take care of myself when he’s diagnosed with testicular cancer. He lashes out at Justin and refuses to tell Justin what’s really going on. Brian’s lashing out becomes particularly cruel where he essentially tries to force Justin to leave him... only for Michael to show how much he’s grown by intervening and mediating. When Brian comes home sick to find Justin cooking soup for him, Brian falls to the floor and is literally struggling to get up from a fetal position (hello, obvious symbolism):

Brian: I’m all right!

Justin: You're not all right.

Brian: Then why are you asking me?

Justin: So I can tell you what a motherfucking piece of shit you are for not telling me! For shutting me out! For thinking that you could handle this on your own! And most of all for thinking that I would leave you! Why would you think that? 'Cause you had a ball removed? 'Cause you're no longer perfect? Well, believe me, Mr. Kinney, that is the least of your imperfections! And if I wanted to leave you, I've had plenty of better reasons.

Brian: Well, maybe you should have.

Even though it’s framed as an argument, it’s actually Brian finally opening up. The look on Justin’s face when he realizes that Brian has finally told him the truth that he’s not been able to admit the entire series--that Brian hates himself, that he thinks he doesn’t deserve any love--was stunning. He said some pretty cruel things to Justin, yet Justin forgave him. Sometimes, that’s the best help someone can give--even the only help.

Brian and Justin: Being Human Means You Can’t Control Others (Season Five)

Brian: My mother was a frigid bitch. My father was an abusive drunk. They had a hateful marriage, which is probably why I am unwilling or unable to form a committed long-term relationship of my own. The fact that I drink like a fish, abuse drugs, and have more or less redefined promiscuity doesn't help... much. As a result, I've lost the two people in my life that mean most to me.

Season 5 is all about everything changing and the resistance people have to change, but that doesn't mean the love that grounds it goes away. Melanie and Lindsay break up for a bit, Debbie leaves the diner only for a copycat to take over, Babylon changes when Brian buys it... and then when it explodes.

Season 5 really explores the limits of change and what can and cannot change. Brian in particular has always used being gay as an excuse for why he doesn’t feel human, when his issues are far more complex than that. His being gay won’t change and shouldn’t (despite what the homophobes scream out their cars in certain gutwrenching scenes), but his attitude towards himself and others and towards his own sexuality can and should and does.

Despite not feeling human and supposedly being very “live and let live,” Brian is actually something of a control freak, as becomes increasingly obvious in season 5. He lashes out at Michael for marrying Ben and setting up house, at Ted for pursuing a monogamous long-term relationship, at Justin for wanting commitment. Everyone moves on, but Brian is terrified of losing the only ways he feels alive... and he’s still stuck in a childish, egocentric mindset that he controls the world. (Justin has his own issues with control this season; namely around his mother’s new relationship, Michael and Ben struggle regarding Hunter leaving, etc).

Brian: Before you and your husband tied the noose around your necks he was perfectly happy! But now, he's a defector, just like the rest of you!

Michael: He was never perfectly happy! Waiting for years for you to say "I love you, you're the only one I want."

Brian: That's *not* who I am!

Not only that, but there’s certainly irony in Brian claiming he “accepts” (his term) Michael’s choice for domestic life, but he clearly does not. The concept of “home”, which has been a motif for Brian and Justin’s relationship since the very first episode where Justin points out he’s not able to go home and hence he stays with Brian, and how Brian negotiates their semi-open relationship in season two with the idea that he wants to “come home to” Justin, comes up again in this same scene where Brian confronts Michael and blames him for Justin moving out:

Michael regarding his house with Ben: It's a home!

Brian: It's a farce! It's a freak show!

Michael: ... (Justin) didn't leave because of (me). He left because of you. Who wouldn't?

Again, there’s irony here. The “farce” and “freak show” are comments Lindsay’s parents have lobbed at her marriage to Mel throughout the show. Yes, Brian, resident gay stud of Pittsburgh, has some serious internalized issues that brush up against homophobia and that just boil down to the same issues driving many of the show’s antagonists: control. Wanting to be God, not human.

Brian needs to accept the limits of being a human being. You cannot control others. When you love them--to truly love someone--you don’t even try. You give them free will. You love them. You support them. I’m sure you can see the parallels between the general portrayal of the Prop 14 supporters who are using religion throughout the season to try to control others and claim it’s love when it’s blasphemy to call that love.

As usual, Debbie is the voice of decency, not only by yelling at the religious protester “JESUS THINKS YOU STINK!” but also by saying to Brian:

Debbie: your problem is he left you. He left you, and he moved on. Only he didn't. You and he just made different choices, that's all. Doesn't mean that you don't still love each other.

Everything reaches a head when Babylon--symbolic of not just the gay community in QAF, but of Brian’s entire life--literally explodes. That scene is horrifying, disorienting, brilliantly shot and nauseating (like, I almost threw up, and it’s not gory at all--it’s just devastating, and the pure emotion hit me like a sack of bricks).

Justin and Brian choose not to control each other, which is actually a sign of love. About the finale, it has its own section below.

The High Cost of Living

Justin: time will inevitably leave its mark... we should accept our mortality with dignity.

One of the things about growing, and growing up, is that you inch closer to death. There is no growing up without wrestling with mortality.

Brian in particular is called out by the narrative constantly. By episode 4, Ted forces Brian to be his power of attorney, to make the final decision whether he should live or die, because Brian needs to make the same damn choice. It’s the central choice Brian will have to make in the series: does he want to live? Because if he wants to live, he has to grow. And the rest of the remaining five seasons constantly ask Brian to think about what that means, holding his feet to the fire and forcing him to grow.

The concept of aging is brought up in terms of this as well. From the start, Brian is terrified of turning 30 (oh boy, I feel ya there, Brian). He’s even suicidal at the thought, because he can’t fathom being older which has dual meaning for his character: firstly, that he’s stuck in adolescence emotionally, and secondly that he’s afraid to take charge of his own life. If he does, he’ll have to take responsibility for things. Being forced to take responsibility for not just Gus, but Justin, Lindsay, Michael, and other moments... it was good. Being young isn’t demonized either: in some ways, Brian being with Justin is a symbolic (literary please I’m not talking real life problematic elements) way of Justin meeting Brian at that age emotionally, and them growing together. Debbie even says that they are “pretty evenly matched” maturity-wise. It’s also a real-world psychological fact that people who experience trauma as children can become emotionally “stuck” at that age, unable to move past it.

All of this ties into the PTSD motif with both Brian and Justin suffering from the disorder post-Chris’s attack. PTSD can make you feel like you’re not really living, which the show displays. A psychiatrist tells Brian:

It's like a fairy tale, Rapunzul or Hansel and Gretl, but the cage is his mind, and it's up to you, the handsome prince, to release it.

This applies to more than just Justin’s repressed memories of the attack; it applies to their entire relationship over the course of the show. They have to escape their cages of trauma and terrible coping mechanisms in order to fully, truly live. Justin is as much the handsome prince to Brian’s trapped Rapunzel as Brian is a prince rescuing Justin--for the entire show.

In season 3, Justin even directly tells Brian that the latest comic based on Brian is about: "It's about thawing his cold heart, bringing him back to life. It's about their love. It's about commitment." Those elements give life.

Season 4 is where the motif of life and death really picks up again, when Vic dies and Brian is diagnosed with testicular cancer. Brian contemplates letting himself go out in a blaze of glory, young and handsome, but in the end goes through with the treatment (which involves removing a testicle) after spending time with Lindsay and his son Gus, with Michael, and with Justin telling him that he loves him again.

The finale of Season 4 has Brian breaking his collarbone and still insisting on finishing the bike ride. Brian is literally in front of a graveyard on the path when Michael shows up next to him and insists that if he’s going to do this, they’re going to do it together. They come to the finish line hours after everyone else has finished, and Brian, in agony, decides he’s close and enough and wants to stop.

But then he sees Justin waiting for him over the finish line, along with Debbie who loves him like a mother, and Ben (Michael’s newlywed husband) and Hunter. And he’s motivated to push forward and finish well, despite the pain because the people who love him want him to live.

The Scarf and Art as Life

That bloodstained scarf Brian buys himself for his thirtieth birthday becomes a beautiful symbol of not just Brian and Justin’s relationship, but Brian’s life, which is forever tied to Justin. Brian at first buys the expensive scarf to indulge himself (as he starts the series doing in spades), then uses the scarf to get off and simultaneously flirt with dying via autoerotic asphyxiation, and then finally uses the scarf to dance with Justin. But the scarf becomes soaked with Justin’s blood after Chris’s attack, and yet Brian continues to wear it.

He can’t take it off, because it’s their lives in a symbol. When Justin starts to remember what happened, he uncovers the scarf on Brian. When they make love for the first time after the attack, the camera focuses on the scarf lying beneath their feet.

Justin’s life is his art, which Brian directly says in the first season, and which Debbie emphasizes by telling Justin as he wrestles with whether or not to go to Dartmouth for business like his father wants or to pursue his art (his own life):

Debbie: you don't have the power to get [your parents] back together. But you do have the power to fuck up your own life. So make sure you think twice before you do it.

Chris’s attack almost steals Justin’s life and his art (literally, though the damage to his brain and hand) from him. When Justin struggles with his recovery and considers dropping out of art school and Brian buys him a computer so he can do digital art, he reacts angrily:

Justin: You can tell everyone you fixed Little Justin's problems? Well, you can't fix this. No one can.

In season 2, Brian pissing on Justin and Michael’s comic is really symbolic not just of the injustice he did to Michael and Justin’s lives, but also symbolic of how he feels about himself (as Debbie says, they literally based the hero on Brian, because “you’re their hero”).

At the end of the series, when Justin goes to New York to pursue his art fulltime, it’s symbolic of him being fully alive--and symbolic of Brian being so as well. Why? Because Brian’s life is tied to Justin’s, forever and always. If Justin lives freely and succeeds, then Brian will as well. Brian telling Justin to go was him choosing to live fully and freely for the first time.

Religion, Fathers, Mothers, and Sons

Justin: I've caused them enough pain.

Brian: It's bullshit. They cause their own pain just like everyone else.

There are so many parental relationships in the series, and they span from the horrific to the beautiful. Debbie is the mom I want to be, and good religious rep... in contrast to, say, Brian’s family, which is horrifying. I mean, Brian’s dad legit telling his son “it should be you who’s dying” when Brian tries to finally tell him he’s gay after his father’s terminal diagnosis was a moment I audibly gasped in horror.

Brian’s mother, however, while horrifically homophobic, cold, and emotionally and verbally abusive, was still very humanized in that it’s clear she has no one to love her and be kind to her. Brian’s kindness is to not take her faith from her. I also liked the priest character, because he was upfront that he never taught anything but God’s love, and God was whom he answered to. He also pointed out to Brian that he has someone he can always count on and have around: God. For Brian, that person is Justin (the religious motif is emphasized also by the fact that Justin tells Daphne “I met God” after meeting Brian the first time, and by the scene in the final season when Brian prays with Debbie for Michael to survive his injuries--although, as both say, they aren’t asking God so much as they’re “telling” (which btw is actually biblical lol). But the point is that Brian then goes and tells Justin the truth finally: that he loves him).

Debbie moms everyone in the group, and helps Jennifer learn to be a better mom to Justin as well. But Debbie can herself grow as well: she projects her fears and trauma over Vic’s illness onto Ben and Michael, and allows her own insecurities to ruin her relationship with her brother.

Justin’s father is terrible, but Jennifer is instead well-intentioned and flawed, fairly complex. She at first blames Brian for Justin’s injury, and Brian ironically chooses to believe her (that it’s his fault) over Justin (who directly says “it’s not your fault” multiple times while embracing him). Again, this is symbolic of Brian’s childishness (believing a parent over an equal), but what helps is how Jennifer grows and apologizes to Brian, asking him to help Justin instead. By showing Brian that growing doesn’t always mean turning into a miserable, angry bastard, Jennifer actually gives Brian a good example of how to stop being an asshole.

Parents can grow, because parents are human.

Injustice

Ben: Your children lead privileged lives, and you dare to laugh at my son's misfortune.

By the end of season one, the relationships we’ve been following all reach significant moments: Blake runs away from rehab and thereby from Ted, and he has to face that he cannot save Blake. Michael moves to Portland with David, taking a risk that ultimately doesn’t work out. And Brian finally makes a good choice, coming to Justin’s prom. The couple that made the best decision for each other in that episode? They’re the ones that end up in the worst tragedy, when Chris attacks Justin. It’s wrong, it’s infuriating, and it’s devastating.

It’s also unfair in another element: the narrative has been challenging Brian to grieve, but Justin being the one actually to almost die seems horrifically wrong--and that’s the point, and what makes it powerful. Justin did nothing wrong insofar as learning to grieve goes, but he pays the price. In this, the show calls out a double standard in society, shows us how unfair it is. The innocent, the childlike sunshine, pays the price for society’s bigotry, for adults inability to healthy process emotions, for all of it--burdens they should never take on.

The motif of injustice comes up again and again throughout the show: Lindsay’s parents paying for her sister’s three weddings yet calling Lindsay’s marriage to Melanie not “real.” Hunter being targeted at school for having HIV after being abused physically, mentally, and sexually his entire life, the pursuit of justice for the murder of Jason Kemp, Michael and Ben not being able to legally marry, the issues around adoption... we also never really find out who attacked Babylon. These plotlines are seldom resolved with feel-good bows (with the exception of Jason Kemp’s murder), because there’s still work to be done in the world.

Love: An Unconstrained Risk

One of the main symbolic messages of the show, especially when taken in the context in which it was made (early 2000s, before same-sex marriage was legal in any state in the USA), is that love can’t be easily defined or put into a box, but love is powerful and life-giving. The fact that most of the romantic relationships in the show were, obviously, queer, highlights this. The romances also weren’t limited by age--we have younger, older, and elderly people falling in love--or by health.

Whether or not legal marriage was allowed, the love and commitment Melanie and Lindsay have is real. Ditto for Ben and Michael. Despite the weird, even creepy on the outset age differences between Emmett and George (and to a lesser degree Justin and Brian), both of these relationships ended up being really beautiful. Love isn’t even defined by time or broken by death: it goes on and on. That’s one of the main messages of the ending--that time and space have little say in the love Brian and Justin have for each other. Love will not, cannot be constrained by forces manmade or intrinsic to the universe. (That said, I still would have liked to see them actually get married, because there was foreshadowing for it... but the ending is well-written.)

Love also comes with risks, which itself is a theme that ties in with the concept of being in the present moment (another theme). Marriage is a risk for Lindsay and Melanie, Ben and Michael, Brian and Justin, Debbie and Horvath--and not choosing to marry is a risk as well in the latter two cases. Moving to Oregon with David only for it not to work out for Michael was a risk, as was choosing to love Ben despite the fact that people were warning him about Ben’s HIV positivity. Vic moving out with Rodney was a risk. Tucker and Jennifer was a risk. Ted falling for Blake was a risk that seemed to not pay off, but then later did.

There is no love without risk, and the tides may not run smoothly, but it doesn’t make it any less real and eternal. This applies to an extent to self-love as well. Drew coming out, Melanie and Lindsay giving themselves permission to get married, Brian really only learning to love himself through loving and caring for Justin.

The idea of love as a risk is honestly most fully embodied in Michael’s character as well, particularly in the motif of fantasy vs reality. Michael’s major issue early on was his unrequited love for Brian, which made him leaving with David a good choice for his character... even if it was obvious the relationship was doomed. Why? Because David clearly loved the idea of Michael more than Michael himself, and Michael loved the idea of David and the white picket-fence life (which he genuinely wants and does get) more than the reality of who David was. With Ben as a husband and Hunter as their son, it was hard, riskier than staying in reveries.

The Finale

Which is again why the finale works from a literary perspective even if my taste is to like things neatly wrapped up. Instead of marrying, they commit to loving each other without full guarantees, because they both still have a little more growing up to do (honestly, QAF is a bildungsroman). Brian’s finally saying the words “I love you” was progress; the proposal was less so because it was made out of fear, out of I can’t risk losing you, rather than a full maturation. But you have to risk in love. I honestly think the implication is that Brian and Justin will end up together for real, probably married, since it’s still abundantly clear that what they want is each other, and they are forever each other’s life; we don’t necessarily need to have it spoonfed to us to see the narrative implication.

I mean, really. The narrative showed us at the start of season five that Brian made room for Justin to move in even while not expecting him to come back from LA (showing a part of him does know they’ll be together), called out the fact that Brian didn’t return the rings, they promised to visit, and how. many. times. did the series have Brian fantasize about going to New York for some fancy life, while Justin’s fantasies were always about ending up married with the love of his life? It’s pretty clear their goals do align--there’s just still more growing to do first. Yes, no future is guaranteed, but the hint at an off-screen happily-ever-after so blatant I’d barely call it a hint. We even have, back in season 4, Vic’s post-death pseudo-spiritual visit to Brian’s dream, where he tells Brian he was lucky to get four more years after his almost-death, but “you’ll have a lot more than that.”

Also again, season 4′s finale can be seen as symbolic of where it’ll end up. Michael and Brian move towards the finish line, Brian, because he’s crippled in pain and literally broken, is running hours later than everyone else. But with Michael pushing him towards the finish line--where Michael’s husband and son wait alongside Brian’s partner in Justin... well, it’s clear they’re still pushing towards that line by the end.

And finally, all the foreshadowing of an off-screen married happily-ever-after ending for Brian and Justin in season 5: Justin going to LA and coming back, despite Brian thinking he won’t. Hunter leaving, and then returning. (Let love go, and it’ll come back.) Someone remarks that it is “magical thinking” that Melanie and Lindsay would get back together, and Emmett responds “Well, you never know.” Lo and behold, they do get back together, despite reaching the lowest of the low in their relationship and doing things to each other that could honestly be seen as unforgivable. Blake and Ted reunite at last, because it had always been “right person, wrong time” for them, and it was finally time. I kind of don’t think the main relationship of the entire series is supposed to be the exception.

Being Yourself

Michael: ...being different is what makes us all the same. It's what makes us family.

Of course, another main theme throughout the show was that of being yourself. It’s pretty expected for a queer show, but QAF gives it a unique twist in how it emphasizes this (not just in season 3). But starting in season one, Brian tells Justin he’ll go on to meet lots of other guys, and Justin replies that he doesn’t want other guys: he wants Brian. The rest of the show is precisely about Justin discovering what that means. The end is Justin still wants Brian, but he doesn’t want Brian to deny himself completely--that’s actually Justin showing that he really loves and wants Brian as he is.

But, the show also emphasizes that no person is an island. People do need each other, and the things we do with our lives do affect others. See again: Brian choosing to go through with his cancer treatment for the sake of his loved ones, Hunter desperately needing Ben and Michael as his parents, and how when the community bands together, they’re really able to accomplish the unbelievable, even the miraculous (taking down Stockwell, rebuilding Babylon).

Stuff I Didn’t Love

The season 3 plotline with Brian’s nephew accusing him falsely was a retread and not a good idea: the idea that kids often lie about that is just not particularly helpful (because it’s not true), and the plotline/challenge for Brian’s character was done much better with the sexual harassment suit from Kip in season one.

The season 4-5 plotline of Lindsay cheating on Melanie and the ensuing custody battle was another retread of Melanie cheating in season one and while it did ultimately not ruin their characters (which it could have done; to their credit the writers made it work), it wasn’t exactly the best choice of writing either.

Emmett and Ted had no chemistry so I could never buy them as anything more than filling space, which I think was the point in the end, but for a few episodes it seemed to be taken too seriously as something to root for when it... wasn’t.

Overall Impression

I’m drawn to stories about existentialism, stories that explore nuance and empathy, stories with themes like what it means to be human, stories that aren’t sanitized for the sake of a moral message (biggest fear for any reboot right here). Maybe it’s again the fundie upbringing, but I constantly feel like I have to earn the right to exist and struggle with accepting both the best and worst aspects of myself, and media that explores questions more so than hammers a message appeals to me (because I actually feel like the messages of these media pieces comes across stronger). Queer as Folk is all of those things, plus some really tight writing and excellent symbolism for any literature nerd to salivate over (most shows never use symbolism anymore! Never!)

In some ways, certain aspects make it very much a product of its time, but in other ways, it’s timeless. It’s really an artistic masterpiece that reminded me of what I love about humanity and life itself, that makes absolutely no apologies for its stance on love as something powerful (another thing missing in modern media: the concept that love wins), that doesn’t give us simple answers for what it means to recover from trauma as individuals and as a society, that doesn’t write literally any single character off as a one-note person who can never change while at the same time acknowledging how hard, long, and winding changing is, and what can and cannot change in a human.

On a personal note, realizing, after I’d finished the show, its connection to a genuinely traumatic childhood moment that actually, years later, helped me escape me a cult adds another piece of sentimental value. And @our-mathematical-universe, you were right when you nagged me to watch this over the past few years.

10/10

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rain-on-wax-feathers · 3 months

Text

hi so. dsmp countries as countryhumans.

im not sorry this was funny

explanations of each design and also a bonus doodle under the cut (its arguably the best part of this)

okay first off the height was loosely based off of how big the actual countries are.

LMANBURG - i based it kinda off of the people lmanburg was for. fox ears for fundy, flower for tommy and also a homage to the whole tommy singing to flowers and that's how they got the national anthem. The glasses are for wilbur bc he kinda made the whole thing. the outfit is based on the lmanburg uniforms. the tail is because most of the people in lmanburg are hybrids so. also the hair felt hamilton-y to me and that was funny. the three hearts on the uniform is part of a headcanon im currently working on but basically its a war medal. oh btw i love the lmanburg flag its symbolic and nice and works very well.

GREATER SMP - i made the flag for this bc there isn't an official flag. the flag was based on dream obviously cause its literally his whole country. anyway the crown is because that's what the leaders wear. the under shirt isn't very fancy because none of the members wear anything fancy. the coat jacket suit thing feels very traditional and proper to me which is the same as the nation so. also i debated on what i should do for the ears bc i was thinking human ears but also like all of the people have pointed ears so i decided to go for that

MANBURG - uhm i love the manburg flag btw <3 its so good and representative of the administration and also it feels like very modernized and sleek and americanized if you get what i mean but its still very destructive and has strong "evil" connotations as well as being a mockery of the lmanburg flag. okay now on to the design. i promise promise there's a difference between the suit/hair/pants and the skin its just really slight. anyway i think it looks cool either way. the big tie gives off "false confidence / cocky / big shot" to me and i thought that worked well. the horns are there bc schlatt obviously and its almost touching the eyes bc manburg is very self destructive and will never last. the ears are human bc manburg also isn't super friendly to hybrids (headcanon??).

POGTOPIA - sorry guys but i hate the pogtopia flag it makes no sense and has no reason and also i just ugly. but alas that's the flag so ill do what i can. anyway pogtopia is very desperate and also an absolute mess so the outfit is symbolic of that. the beanie is for pogbur ofc. you cant really see it but it also has big eyebags. the fangs are half destructive and also half bc its for hybrids. the ears and tail as well are the whole hybrid bit. i think that most hybrids (if they could) left manburg which treated them badly and went to pogtopia which was for the hybrids. also the tail is kinda reminiscent of niki who to me feels like what pogtopia was for. if that makes sense.

NEW LMANBURG - i also really like the new lmanburg flag. i think its cool. anyway the eyepatch bc it looks cool and also i thought it was reminscent of how fucked up lmanburg was and how they rebuilt. the wings again are kinda phoenix-y and also peace and whatever. the flowers are again like rebirth and renewal and stuff. the tail and ears and such are again bc of the whole hybrid thing. also the outfit is like a suit-ified lmanburg uniform

BADLANDS - okay so admittedly idk shit about the badlands. so. the flag is pretty cool tho. i gave it horns like bbh and cat ears like antfrost and a mouth like sam / bbh. i did the cloak and scarf thingy bc both bbh and ponk have something like that so i figured that fit. sorry there's nothing really special about this

SYNDICATE - wooo boy theres a lot here. so the syndicate does not have a flag so i had to make one. i looked some up and there was a lot of red and black which i liked. red bc of like anarchy and shit and then black bc that's also pretty anarchy-y but also withers which. they do a lot. i put it like slashed bc its very "conflict opposing dangerous" and that works well with the syndicate. and then i saw one a long time ago that was based on their end portal table so i also added that with the border and the thing in the middle. then i added a bit of gold because i wanted to and i thought it looked cool and to me gold is a syndicate color. i gave them a crown bc both techno and ranboo have crowns so. they have a cape bc its like a secret organization and then i added fluff bc its cold in the artic. the outfit is supposed to resemble the type of outfits that techno and ranboo and somewhat niki ? so like older outfits with the corest and fancy sleeves. and then also like good boots bc they do like fighting and stuff. the hair is short as like a niki and phil thing. also the tail kinda looks like ranboo and that was kinda accidental but i like it. the ears are feathered for phil and also kinda niki and i didn't think wings fit. the clasp is an eye of ender bc of the end portal table. you'd think the syndicate would be tiny tiny but i headcanon that they have other lesser members everywhere (just random informants and such) so

SNOWCHESTER -snowchester's flag is pleasing. also i like the memes about it being close to the mlm flag. anyway the outfit is obviously inspired by ctubbos outfit but its cold and called snowchester so i figured it fit. the small horns are for ranboo. the flowers are for peace and healing and whatever and also a homage to the lmanburgs. the curling horns are not close to the eye but could grow to be bc of nukes and such. the tail and curling horns are both puffy and tubbo.

LAS NEVADAS - i love the aesthetics of the las nevadas flag its so so good. anyway the outfit is pretty self explanatory. the horns and devil tail is bc its a place of sin (casino and whatever). the only reference to the habitants are the feathered ears (quackity) bc its not reeeaaaally for the residents.

KINOKO KINGDOM - okay. okay. the flag is absolutely by far the most aesthetically pleasing flag. i love love off white its amazing and makes sense. i gave it a mushroom hat because. mushroom. the hair is a mix of tina's, sapnap's and karl's. the collar is for george, and the sleeves are for tina. the rest of the outfit is kinda for karl??? if that makes sense. and then the tail is for tina and sapnap

EGGPIRE - i also lovee the eggpire flag. it works well. anyway you may notice that there is literally no callbacks to the eggpire members. that's cause the egg literally does not give a shit about the members. its hair is long and kinda curls like the vines. the dress is about temptation and also like. not battle ready doesn't need to explore or anything just happens. if that makes sense. vines around the head and waist for the silly factor. vine tail because it looks cool

LIMBO - i just did limbo bc i didnt know what else to do. anyway limbo has a sweater bc i feel like ghosts get sweaters and then also is in grayscale because that's the commonality