#pretty sure he kills jimmy in the same episode he lets jimmy kill him. Like. He doesnt really care like that | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

single-malt-scotch · 1 year

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of course i have things to say about lim life and bdubs. you know its funny and great- of course i would love his pov. but i still feel satisfied by what i saw and i dont feel like i do. there is something very different about witnessing a player this way, something we really havent had at all. and of everyone its bdubs. the guy who is associated with time and the guy who acts out so well to the narrative in front of him. and we dont lose anything- bdubs is still bdubs.

after double life we see him team up with people he hadnt from LL-DL. something fresh. together they create a family themed around time and at the center of the map they make a clock tower. they watch every death that spawns for entertainment. regardless of his need to stay with the clockers he continuously shows attachment to TIES/etho (mostly etho). it may be in jest but the clockers point out numerous times that this behavior doesnt shock them, that of course hes like that with etho and of course its muddying his alliances. and lets not forget the grudges held by most members of TIES (eventually Skizz on the list for a bit due to killing him), a neat detail in this funny little situation.

and then for a good whole episode it does make a problem- in the sense it confuses him and everyone else as to where he lies. he later defends the hell out of etho even from the meta jokes of being washed up, later in game of putting himself in front of a group that wants to kill etho, again in offer his life that etho doesnt take. we dont get to hear his thought process, whatever commentary he may be giving about why he really wanted to be with etho again and why he struggled to make it happen. we see it through everyone else. cleo, who is amused at bdubs' very typical behavior but evermore trying to convince him to not go wot etho. etho, who gets glimpses at bdubs from afar and a few moments where they meet in private, having a connection only two close friends could have alone. the rest of TIES who takes him in in brief moments but never hearing more. overall in the end hes around and hes trying to do good, hes "trying his heart out", theres attempts being made but we can see them slip and falter from things outside of his control. the timing is never right.

but no im not done actually. his attempt to help isnt just tied to etho. bdubs has shown himself to be caring and kind, and putting himself out there in order to help others. i think thats where he fell apart- he wanted to keep it all good between clockers and TIES, despite the family dynamic putting in stone that it wasnt possible. as a whole he wanted to be in the middle and this extended to many other interactions. there wasnt a single person that bdubs was actively against this season (yes including skizz- their dynamic was on the same level after he first fight so it became mutual imo), no long building hate, and the clockers were welcoming to others too in their alliances but bdubs did still stand out as the clockers denied TIES and he held on to them. further in we get to the moments where bdubs then offers himself up. its like there was a realization on the game in episode 7, they were far enough in that he thought maybe he could help just before it got worse. he went up to jimmy who's known to die first (yet someone he hardly interacted with) and desperately and repeatedly asks to be killed and of course jimmy takes it, hes only a few minutes away. and then of course he tries again with etho, twice, including helping a fight and etho doesnt take it. you can hear bdubs in the background still laying out what etho could do.

as the season reaches its end let me wind back a bit to deaths in general. bdubs earliest death was certainly an interesting one, one fight he was so confident about and completely failed at, missing numerous hits. and this isnt a surprise to me. bdubs was actually pretty.... well he lacked a lot of kills this season. and not knowing his time for sure through the episodes made this all more interesting to watch, you know? he never seemed like he was really seeking it out. even in a stream before session 8 scar and grian both say they have no clue what bdubs' time is. im sure someone added this up but for everyone else and the average watcher, we see him fumbling or giving his time all while not thinking at all about what he had left just before the end. and then hes the first one to go out in episode 8. its not that it wasnt expected, but his time being in the dark for so much of the series leaves you not thinking about it. it didnt seem like he died that much, it didnt seem like his timer was that now- you wouldnt know for sure unless you saw his pov. most of all, we never really hear him asking for time? there arent any key moments with him saying he really needs to kill. hes fighting, hes helping, but theres barely a hint of desperation to hunt people down- he just stayed in the place he usually was, around the tower, hoping to lend a hand.

and death again. how does his series end? unexpected, completely unknowing to what would kill him. impulse had killed him once earlier and tried to a second time and the cute thing about it? they were laughing the whole time. this could be the moment where youd say impulse got the kill he wanted. and then we get to bdubs' perma death and its impulse again and he never saw it coming- out of the game first that session and left to spectate everyone until the next start to die. quietly until he gets in the chat.. not unlike LL, but not for nearly as long.

and of course, so much of his time is spent in around the clock tower. this led to all of the clocker's demise, with ow dangerous of a location it became, and its all the more in character for each of them to go out there. theres of course something poetic to take from that.

so what does bdubs give us this season? why does it still mean something despite his pov? well it can mean whatever you want it to mean, it can add up to whatever narrative you took from limited life. i dont know if we will know for sure why bdubs didnt upload outside of what he loosely stated on stream. but forever hes someone i look to for an act that has so much to take from it. intentional or not hes putting something in i never see from anyone else. there doesnt need to even be an artistic reason for his choice to not post but his choices always add up to something and i do think he goes out there knowing full well what he can do. he played a type only he can play, because its inherently just who he is and he will never stop being him and that is so great. ill never doubt his decision no matter if it was purposeful, or personal. bdubs is still bdubs and that is all that i wanted.

#limited life smp #limited life spoilers #trafficblr #bdoubleo100 #and guys please this IS a meta analysis on bdubs as a whole #this is about his ever evident and existing personality!#this is about every step we saw on the outside #and what it could mean #what it could be #and how i love him for whatever hes done and i never doubt his choices #if he didnt upload for personal reasons he deserves to do that #if he didnt upload for a specific narrative reason hes all the more allowed to #and looking at what he laid out for us in this circumstance #is something unique and not seen before

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mizumech · 1 year

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My thoughts on Traffic-Life Grian and the Watchers (Part 1 I guess I’m pretty sure the Watchers are here to stay)

So.

Xelqua seems to be an alternate way to say ‘Xelhua’, a giant (haha) from a Dominican friar’s retelling of Aztec mythology who escaped the flood by…

Climbing a mountain?!?!?!?

Xelhua is surnamed as ‘the Architect’, which might be why cc!Grian chose this name at first.

Interestingly, the retelling says that he attempted to build a tower that would reach the sky and that the Gods were angered, attempting to strike him down by fire, killing many of the men working on the tower.

Sound a tiny bit familiar?

Somehow, this is still applies in later seasons.

Even worse (or better), this tower is later dedicated to Quetzacoatl. Quetzacoatl is the feathered serpent, God of Light.

Light. Scott. Light.

No fricking way.

Quetzacoatl is sometimes attributed to justice, which I’ll come back to later.

~ Grian’s well known for killing his allies. Scar, Bigb, Jimmy, Joel, the list goes on.

He’s hungry for victory and desperate for survival, as opposed to Scott, who’s just too nice to kill and has more than one brain cell at any one time.

Even though he never does this on purpose, to my knowledge (mizumech is not a Grian main), he’s only been conscious of this while in the action of doing so once. That time was the time he won.

Every time after that, he’s no longer at the average. He starts LLSMP on 2 lives and is paired with Scar on DLSMP. These may be considered ‘disadvantages’, as perceived by himself.

If anything, the Watchers are cautioning him. This is the storm before the fire. They’re warning him that life is precious, that he is not invulnerable. They are in control. Their will be done.

In LimL, he is in control. He allots time and takes time based on kills. Time and victory is just out of reach. He is always reaching, for the sun, for wins, for time.

He has never been able to allot himself boogey time. He was only meant to watch.

And yet, we must consider, that in this server’s final hours, death is permanent until the next game.

He is in control, and the people around him are all vulnerable and close to death. His fingers must press the button. He has eyes but he cannot stop.

It is his instinct. He must. He is Xelqua.

He is Grian.

Outside the border of LimL is a desert. A village, too.

Grian apparently escapes this border from Etho’s PoV, of which I have not yet confirmed accuracy (Maybe I was just hallucinating, I have dreamed of Life episodes before. Weirdest stuff ever.)

And the Watchers are letting him. They’re showing him that he will never escape the desert.

The desert sands shift like his foggy memory, but it still comprises a dune.

And through the border, some of that hunger for knowledge is sated. But he as a watcher knows deep down that it will never do the real thing justice.

Speaking of justice, we come back to Quetzacoatl.

Feathered Serpent.

Scott never received the justice the Watchers served Grian. He just fell out of the world.

Funny tidbit, Quetzacoatl brought back the human race by going to the underworld and injuring himself!

He also has a twin brother who is the ‘evil’ version of him called Xolotl. (Xornoth, anybody?)

But I digress.

He’s associated with new and improvement, the same way Xelqua is a name of old and Grian is a new one.

Grian. Sun?

That’s the reason why Scott’s the stars and Grian’s the sun, after all.

And so he is reborn. Every life. He is Xelqua, enemy of the light. He is Grian, the light. He is Watcher. He is Player.

He is of the desert. And he has never left.

#trafficblr #watcher grian

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free-pool-trash · 3 years

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happiness - peter maximoff

yay a new peter fic <3 i was feeling a little unmotivated for a few days (since our boy wasn’t in episode 8 at all :/) but im back 😎 although im back in school so i might be on and off for a while 😩✋🏻

!!!it’s not a songfic those lyrics at the start are just my inspo!!!

word count: 5k <3 😳

warnings: maybe swearing but i dont think so i cant remember, peter being sad, angst, but mostly fluff, WandaVision spoilers maybe??? I pretty much made up this plot so idk, endgame spoilers, reader was an avenger, kissing but it’s not graphic😽 probably some mistakes yk how it is

feedback is appreciated <3

tagging: @enchantedcruelsummer (should i make a peter maximoff taglist? let me know and I’ll do it)

masterlist

haunted by the look in my eyes that would’ve loved you for a lifetime

leave it all behind

& there is happiness

Loneliness had always been something that plagued him. That and a plethora of other negative emotions.

There wasn’t a day that went by where Peter Maximoff wasn’t made to feel like a loser. Admittedly, he’d never held himself to a high standard, he grew up thinking that he’d never fit in anywhere and eventually that thought mutated into a lifestyle as he began isolating himself from the world around him, either far too good or heartbreakingly not enough to be a part of that crowd.

He liked spending time with himself. Nobody else knew him the way he knew him, and still, he found nothing but an overwhelming hollow space where his deepest most important hopes, aspirations, dreams and self discoveries should have resided.

Peter had always put this feeling of exile down to the fact that he was a mutant, it was the most likely explanation, right?

It was only when he’d decided to join the X-Men that he finally came to the conclusion that maybe the rest of the world wasn’t the problem, nor was his mutation the problem, but that he himself was the problem. For even in a school full of people exactly like him he was still the same loser that he was in his mother’s basement.

And he was under no illusions that that was exactly what his teammates saw in him; nothing. No potential. Just a space holder to bring the numbers up.

Super speed was incredible. That’s how Peter acknowledged jobs well done, he praised his speed but never himself. He just saved Charles and Erik from a room full of armed guards? No that wasn’t him, that was simply his speed. He saved an entire mansion full of people from a potentially fatal explosion? Nothing special, Kurt probably could’ve done the same.

Forget all of the good deeds and saved lives because the bottom line of it all, to him at least, was that all he was good for was cheeky one liners and hopeless kleptomania.

His life took a turn for the worse when he found himself being mind controlled in an alternate universe. And even then, he was playing the part of someone that wasn’t him, the thought humbled him, reconnected him to his roots and reintroduced him to his life long philosophy that he’d never be anything more than a social pariah. Not even an alternate reality could accept him for who he was. There wasn’t a warm welcome and despite not knowing what was going on, the definition of “imposter” or the weirder, “recast”, still shot to kill.

He settled on the notion that he was an inter dimensional waste of space. At least in WestView he could be blissfully ignorant, let the real him be drowned mercilessly in favour of being an integral part of someone’s life- to feel important, even if it wasn’t real.

When WestView fell apart he was completely lost. In every sense of the word. In a new world with no way home and as it turned out, nobody was looking for him. Although he didn’t expect anyone to care, it still stung that nobody did. He always hoped that one day Erik would step up as a father figure for him, this; getting kidnapped and smuggled into a different dimension, seemed like the perfect moment for that epic father son moment, but it wouldn’t surprise Peter if his father has yet to notice his disappearance.

But then, seemingly out of nowhere, he came into contact with a beacon of hope. A guiding star that might possibly lead him to an existence consisting of something other than misery and self loathing.

It offered him a choice; return to being the self proclaimed loser he was known as or start fresh as someone new and mysterious, with first impressions yet to be made and conclusions about him yet to be drawn. Peter had known himself to be rash in the past, when it came to making decisions he had the tendency to act impulsively, never putting too much thought into how his decisions would affect his life in the long term. The choice before him now is no different, he knew exactly what he wanted going forward, however selfish the choice may have been, the second he realised it was an option his heart was set on it.

That previously mentioned beacon of hope arrived to him in the form of a girl, in the form of you. An ex-avenger and close friend of Wanda’s, you were hired by S.W.O.R.D to help them clean up the more ‘sensitive’ fallout that the fall of WestView brought about. Obviously, they were sticking you- the only other avenger with magik- on babysitting and rehabilitation rather than letting you go after your best friend who had gone completely off the rails. Having said that though, you didn’t want anyone else handling him.

You hadn’t watched WandaVision, nor were you even aware that any of it was going on until it had reached a boiling point and you got a call from Monica Rambeau, she’d begged you to come and wait on the edge of town while she went in and act as her eyes on the outside along with Jimmy Woo.

That’s where you stayed until the hex broke down.

As soon as the barrier came down the base you manned was overrun by an armada of terribly confused and distressed citizens, Monica and Wanda were not among them but in their places stumbled in Darcy and the man playing the role of Pietro.

Jimmy appointed himself to Darcy, who in all honesty seemed relatively unscathed by the situation while you made a beeline for the dirty blonde charading as your former, dead teammate.

Peter was, to put it simply, completely enthralled by you as soon as you’d strolled over to him and in the moment he’d put his almost magnetic attraction to you down to the fact that you were the first friendly face he’d seen upon breaking free of Agatha’s possession.

But one thing in particular struck him; you’d asked him his name. You hadn’t immediately assumed him to be some knock off Pietro, as everyone else had. You acknowledged that he had his own personal identity and despite how often he caught himself hating the person he was, he found that when it was torn away from him that he wanted it back. The simple question you posed gave him the opportunity to regain his identity.

“Peter. My name is Peter.” He answered you, almost unsure of himself and you found your interest in the man piqued even further.

He remembered with perfect clarity the way you’d offered him a grin, tilted your hand, extended your hand and said, “Well it’s nice to meet you, Peter. Come on, I’ll be your babysitter for the next while.” There was something about the way you’d laughed after saying the words and the slight, yet unmistakable, glint of mischief in your eyes that had him captivated from the get go.

With you came a whirlwind of new emotions. After only a few weeks of knowing you, Peter noticed he wasn’t as lonely as he had been back home. He didn’t hate himself half as much either, he wasn’t entirely free of self deprovative tendencies and maybe he never would be, but undoubtedly, he likes himself more in this world than he ever had in his last. He thanked you and your determination to make him “a functioning member of society” for that.

It didn’t feel belittling, the way you helped him. You hadn’t dragged him to your favourite mall every weekend just to taunt him about how he couldn’t stop himself from stealing something. Even the very first time, when he’d sped away from you and returned within a second adoring a pair of freshly stolen sunglasses. Your only reaction had been to laugh and casually place your hands on both sides of his face.

“At least remember to take the tag off next time, speedy.” You’d muttered, subtly pulling the tacky stickers off the arms of his shades. No, you weren’t dragging him sight seeing or forcing him to help you go clothes shopping because you thought he was a loser who needed reforming you were doing it because you were a true friend who wanted him to succeed.

The pair of you seemed like two peas in a pod. Which to be fair, you were. Peter Maximoff intrigued you in every sense of the word. He was new, quite literally other worldly, he was kind, he was funny, he was perfectly mischievous and completely wonderful.

What caught your eye the most was the way he held himself, as if he wasn’t entirely comfortable in his own skin. It became apparent to you that he lacked confidence with the phrases he usually tacked onto the ends of his sentences. When you’d invite him to hang out in the beginning his response would always be something along the lines of, “Sure. If you want me to.” But the excitable puppy dog eyes told you that he was dying for someone to want him to tag along some place.

There was a certain understanding between you. You were both more than accustomed with the harrowing feeling of being alone and even though you’d never exactly voiced those thoughts with each other, you couldn’t deny that his was a spirit kindred to your own and he felt it too.

Since the Avengers has disbanded, one of your best friends, Natasha, was dead and your other best friend, Wanda, was gone completely off the rails and the people chasing her wouldn’t let you anywhere near her or even attempt to help pull her out of her darkness. You were being kept as a wildcard in case they needed her taken down. Peter was no stranger to the feeling of being cast aside and so he quickly responded to your frustrations, and in doing so, forced himself out of his comfort zone to be there for you. To his complete shock though, you’d been so appreciative of his efforts.

You never failed to thank him for the little things he did for you, always complimenting his mutation when he’d use it and giving him the recognition he never received at home. The friendship he formed with you was so… two sided, again, something he wasn’t accustomed to before. It didn’t involve him giving everything he had to offer and receiving nothing in return, you matched his energy meticulously and never left him hanging.

In a series of firsts, he didn’t wonder whether or not you genuinely liked him, never feeling the need or want to question it as you’d left him with no reason to doubt.

As he walked around the mall with you now, his mind brought his attention back to the question you’d asked him rather casually a few nights ago. You were both lounging on your couch, watching some ridiculous reality show (a favourite of yours and Peter’s) when you’d turned your head to look at him, a thoughtful look on your face. “Do you think when S.W.O.R.D figures the technology out to crack into other realities, you’ll go back to yours?”

The question had taken him aback for a second, in all honesty, he hadn’t thought about going home, not when he was with you at least and considering he’d become your roommate about three weeks after he got out of WestView, the thought of returning to his old life had barely crossed his mind.

Being an ex-Avenger you were fairly well off, you lived alone in a two bedroom apartment in New York that you’d bought to be closer to Stark tower. Peter had nowhere to go and aside from having a spare room to offer you’d also been sort of lost in the current of the busy city with everyone you once loved in the area either dead, on the run or busy elsewhere.

While the question hadn’t crossed Peter’s mind, it had crossed yours on several occasions. He’d been staying with you for six months and the moment you realised that he was becoming one of the most important people in your life, the thought of him leaving you too weighed on your mind but at the end of the day you wanted him to feel happy. He deserved to feel happy and if going back to his reality brought him that happiness then you’d support him.

“Dunno,” he’d replied, turning to face you, chucking a handful of popcorn at you when you looked incredulous at his response, “To be honest I haven’t really thought about it, m’way too busy babysitting you anyway.” He joked, effortlessly dodging the few pieces of popcorn you attempted to throw at him.

For the last few nights, the question haunted him, but it wasn’t just the question that was bothering him. You were at the forefront of his mind as he replayed the past six months of his life which also happened to be the best six months of his life. WestView put him through hell but coming out the other side of it and meeting you felt like heaven.

He weighed up the pros and cons of returning to his native timeline. The cons: he’d have to leave you behind, he’d go back to being the loser who nobody took seriously, his talents would be downplayed and disregarded and he’d inevitably end up revisiting his lifestyle of solitude. Then there was the pros: he’d get to reunite with his pac man machine. He couldn’t manage to think up anything else.

If he stayed he’d have everything he ever wanted and needed. You’d be there and he knew you always would be, besides he couldn’t leave you knowing that you needed him. If he left who would wake you up when you had night terrors about the catastrophe that your reality was still recovering from? There would be nobody there to comfort you when you woke up from the nightmares, reliving the deaths of Natasha, Tony or Vision and the experience of being snapped out of existence? If he wasn’t there to make you laugh when you were about to cry then who would be? In his heart of hearts he knew you had a huge support system at your disposal, he’d met most of them. Even though he was well aware that Sam visited you as often as he could, that Bucky wrote you letters on a monthly basis and sometimes tagged along with Sam on his visits, that Stephen Strange appeared in your apartment whenever the urge struck him, that the literal god of thunder invited you out for beer whenever he was visiting Earth, that the little spider-kid, also named Peter, swung by your apartment at least once a week to tell you all about school and his good deeds. Despite knowing all of this and knowing all of these people loved you dearly, Peter wanted to be your main source of support, he didn’t want to be someone who came and went, who’d love you then leave you. He wanted to be with you through anything and everything and the feeling that you’d love him for a lifetime had him satisfied with the decision he was about to make.

If leaving his old life meant he could stay here, with you, and experience happiness for more than a fleeting moment then he’d simply; leave it all behind.

“I’ve been thinking about what you asked me the other night.” He spoke through a mouthful of curly fries. You were sitting in the food court of the mall when he decided to let you in on his desire to stay with you indefinitely.

You raised your eyebrow, “You? Putting thought into an answer? Peter, I think I’m starting to become a bad influence on you.” You told him teasingly, taking a long sip of your drink as he rolled his eyes humorously.

“You’re a terrible influence which is exactly why I’ve decided to stay here and put you on the straight and narrow.” The glee you felt at his statement was undeniable, your eyes lit up and your lips curled upwards.

“You’re staying? Really staying?” Your smile was contagious, Peter’s face now painted with a wide grin as he nodded his head.

In a moment of weakness he frantically added, “Y’know only if you want me to though. If you don’t that’s completely cool.” He rushed through the words, feeling more embarrassed when the fond look on your face never faded.

“Of course I want you to stay. You mean a lot to me.” You reassured him, a gentle smile on your lips as you reached across the metal table, intertwining your fingers with his.

Peter squeezed your hand gratefully, holding it in his grasp securely and allowing his smile to return to his face, “I know. You mean a lot to me too.” It was somewhat of an understatement, he was starting to understand that you didn’t just mean a lot, but that you meant everything.

His resolution lifted a huge weight off your shoulders that you wouldn’t be losing yet another best friend. You were glad he’d be with you when everything blew over with Wanda, the two of them definitely had the potential to develop a beautiful sibling relationship and they both deserved that. Of course, Peter would never replace Pietro and having known them both it was obvious just how different the two men were, the only thing they had in common being their powers and last name. Still, he and Wanda would still be able to work on it. He didn’t hate her after WestView and you knew Wanda well enough to know that she was kind hearted and she’d be more than willing to give him a chance. When she eventually comes back to her senses, that it.

As the months went on, life with you and Peter seemed to only get better. You never stopped laughing, your nightmares died down and Peter had taken on a whole new lease of life. Yourself and Peter were the perfect example of meeting the right person at the right time, you balanced each other out and accentuated the other’s good qualities.

Peter could now say with complete confidence that he was happy and what’s more is that he was finally sure that he was making someone happy.

Up until nearly eleven months of living together your relationship had been purely platonic, save for the constant flirting but flirtation pretty much ran in yours and Peter’s blood. Peter wasn’t going to lie to himself, he’d fallen for you the second you’d peeled the security tags off his stolen sunglasses.

You, on the other hand, had been fighting with yourself because yes, you love Peter but you couldn’t have told him when there was the possibility he’d eventually leave and now so much time has passed and you’ve got such a good thing going you didn’t have it in you to ruin it.

However, all of that changed when your original Maximoff best friend came knocking on your door.

Wanda was on the run. She’d caused an amazing amount of chaos but Stephen Strange and S.W.O.R.D were hot on her trail and now she needed a place to lay low with the twins. She figured there was no place more reliable to go than to the always open arms of her best friend, who conveniently had a divinity for earth magik and could muster up a protective barrier without raising suspicions. And that’s exactly where she found herself; outside your door.

You’d been chasing Peter around the apartment when you heard the knock on the door. Peter was on the opposite end of the kitchen to you, using the bar as a shield from you. “You better get that.”

“Oh you’d like that wouldn’t you?” You glared as you spoke, it was his own fault really. What sort of idiot jumpscares a witch while she’s mid-meditation? He’d frightened you so badly you accidentally blasted a ball of your signature green energy and ruined your favourite couch throw pillow. When you were ready to pounce on the scared speedster the knocks sounded again, more frantic this time.

With one last glare towards Peter you stomped towards the door. Your anger melted away completely when you saw her. Her hood was up and she looked completely exhausted, two small hooded little boys by her side.

“Wanda…” You breathed out, relief flooding your system at the sight of her alive. She didn’t get a chance to speak before your arms were pulling her against you tightly, hugging her as if your life depended on it. Wanda returned in your embrace, allowing herself to relax for the first time in nearly a year, she sniffled against your shoulder, holding back tears as she realised how much she’d truly missed you.

Billy and Tommy watched in confusion as their mother cried into your shoulder. They didn’t know who you were, all their mother had told them was that they were going somewhere safe.

It was the yell of one of the boys that caused you and Wanda to separate, “Uncle P!” With that you felt a familiar rush of air across your leg but instead of Peter appearing one of the kids was gone.

You shared a perplexed look with Wanda, although your confusion was for different reasons.

“Hey hell raisers!” Peter responded, catching the mini speedster who all but threw himself at him barely regaining his balance before the other child had flung himself into the hug.

“Wanda? Those two… are they...?” You started, at a loss for words Wanda cut you off quietly, her tone as disbelieving as yours.

“My children? Yes. Is that…?” You nodded your head numbly, anticipating the end of her question.

“Your fake brother? Yeah.” Quickly, you realised you and a wanted woman catching up with the door wide open wasn’t ideal and you ushered Wanda inside, shutting the door when she walked in.

“Hey.” Peter greeted her simply, as if he hadn’t been used as a meat puppet in her altered reality. It wasn’t in his nature to hold any grudges.

“Hi?” Wanda replied, her voice still twinged with confusion.

“Peter, will you keep an eye on the kids for a bit? Wanda and I have some catching up to do.” You asked him with a nervous laugh, just thankful that Wanda was too tired to argue with your suggestion.

Peter ruffled the boys’ hair and gave you a grin, “Only if you stop trying to kill me.”

You rolled your eyes as you began to lead Wanda into your bedroom, “You’re on probation, jerk.” You called over your shoulder.

Once you were securely in your bedroom, the door locked and sitting comfortably you fixed Wanda with an amused look, “I’d ask you what’s new but I’m not sure I even wanna know.”

Wanda gave you a sad smile while she shook her head, “No, you probably don’t. I will tell you tomorrow, I don’t want to get into it tonight. I’m so tired.” She admitted, her voice overcome with sadness.

“I’ll pump up the air mattress and you and the boys can sleep in here for however long you need. I’d offer you the spare room but that’s where Peter’s been staying and I don’t think empty food containers are the kind of decor you’d be into.” Wanda nodded, squeezing your hand gratefully.

“So his name is Peter?” She asked, curious about the man Agatha had used to trick her in WestView.

You nodded in confirmation, “Yeah. Peter Maximoff, actually.”

Wanda’s brows came to a furrow at that, “Maximoff? So he’s a relation?”

“Yes and no. Peter is from a different reality but he’s still a Maximoff and he’s got super speed. So, and this is just my theory, while you’re not directly related he could still be your brother- if you wanted him to.” You explained, as gently as you could, not trying to push her too far but to nudge the idea in her direction.

Wanda, to your surprise, didn't seem to hate the suggestion, “What is he like?”

A genuine smile made it onto your face then, as you shot into your description of your roommate, “He’s caring, funny, a little bit of a kleptomaniac but he’s working on it. He’s understanding and moronically selfless, moronic in the sense that he doesn’t even realise he’s being selfless. Huge pain in the ass too.” Wanda had a soft smile on her face by the time you’d finished.

“You like him.” Was all she said and you let out a laugh in disbelief, standing up and opening the door.

“Go grab a shower. I’ll have Peter blow up the air mattress while I go introduce myself to my god sons.”

“I thought you’d at least wait until I actually asked you.” Wanda laughed as you walked out of the room.

Things moved fairly quickly after that. As promised you introduced yourself to Billy and Tommy as their god mother, which they seemed more than thrilled about and you assumed that excitement had to do with whatever description of you Peter had given them. Wanda and the twins were all cleaned and fed and had all but collapsed into bed, foregoing the air mattress and huddling together in your double bed instead.

“Where are you sleeping, mother Teresa?” Peter teased as he noticed your eyes drooping where you stood.

“On the couch probably. Or the air mattress.” You mumbled, cutting yourself off with a yawn.

Peter, unimpressed with your options, scoffed, “No way. Come on, you can bunk with me.”

Much like Wanda, you were too tired to argue and you let Peter pull you to his, surprisingly clean, room by the hand.

You both crawled into the bed, lying close together despite the amount of empty space on the mattress.

“How are you feeling about all of this?” Your soft voice broke through the silence and Peter turned his head to look at you.

“About Wanda?” You nodded your head, watching him intently as he rolled onto his side, facing you more comfortably.

Peter shrugged lightly, “I’m feeling ok. Just glad the twins still see me as their cool uncle.” You let out a small laugh at his response.

“Wanda was asking about you. Seemed interested in getting to know the real you.” You informed him, your heartwarming as you watched a hopeful look fall across his face.

A lull settled over the room once again and Peter caught himself staring at you. His eyes drifted over every visible part of you, reminding him of most of the points on his pros list for staying in your universe; your eyes, your lashes, your nose, your lips, you.

“What’re you thinking about?” The sound of your tired voice pulled him out of his thoughts and ultimately pushed him to bite the bullet and tell you how he’s feeling. With you curled up beside him, in his bed, fighting sleep just to stay in his company for as long as you could; he knew there would be no better time.

“Just about how happy I am to be here with you.” He answered you honestly, the butterflies in both of your stomachs fluttering in sync at his words.

You trailed a hand under the duvet and onto the bedsheets between your bodies, feeling around until you found his hand and gently intertwined your fingers. “I’m happy you decided to stay.”

“What you’ve all gone through in this timeline sucks- don’t get me wrong-“ Peter started sincerely, scooting closer to you and dropping his head back down on the edge of your pillow, leaving the pair of you practically nose to nose as he went on.

“And I hate that Wanda had to go through so much… but I’m really glad that it led me to you.” Peter swore in that moment, right after the confession left his mouth, that he could die right now and be completely content knowing that you now knew how he felt.

His heart stopped, and he thought that maybe he was about to die, when you gave him the softest, sweetest smile he’d ever been on the receiving end of and whispered, “I feel the same.”

Time moved in slow motion as he felt you moving your intertwined hands towards your lips, your lips pressed gently against the back of Peter’s hand before you brought them to rest against your chest.

It was a fact to say that Peter Maximoff had never felt intimacy quite like this before. But, experiencing it now, with you, led him to wonder how he’d ever survived without it. He wasn’t sure whether it was natural to crave more, especially when the affection you were showing him was so gentle, but he didn’t care as he let the impulsive side of him take over.

Not sparing another word, Peter closed the small distance between your lips and his. His free hand cupped your jaw while yours wasted no time in getting tangled in his silver hair.

His lips moved softly and surprisingly slowly over yours and he savoured the feeling of your hand holding his while your other got lost in his hair, your body pressed up against him, the way your jaw moved against his palm as you reciprocated the movement of his lips and the taste of your lips, promising himself he’d never let the memory slip from his mind for as long as he lived.

With complete clarity, Peter could say he had felt true, genuine happiness and he had no doubt in his mind that there was absolutely nothing Charles, Hank, Scott or anyone else from his original timeline could say to make him leave this happiness behind. Because in the process of forgetting his old life, he couldn’t deny that he has undoubtedly found himself in the position of a man who had so much more to live for.

#peter maximoff #peter maximoff x reader #peter maximoff imagine #wanda maximoff x reader #wandavision x reader #wandavision spoilers #x men x reader #avengers x reader #marvel x reader #mcu #pietro maximoff #pietro maximoff x reader

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poppyseed799 · 3 years

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Okay fellow 3rd life fans I think it’s time I come clean. I have been silent about this the entire time, thinking about staying quiet cuz it seemed the whole fandom disagrees with what I’m about to say but I will stay silent no longer.

I don’t get why people say the Desert was “clearly the bad guys”.

Let’s get this out of the way: I mainly watched Scar’s POV along with Grian’s. I watched a fair amount of Martyn’s episodes as well, a couple from Scott and then random episodes from Skizz, Cleo, Impulse, Jimmy, and probably more. Definitely plot important ones I watched from more POVs than just my main guys Scar and Grian.

I just don’t get why, when people look at all of the different factions, they look at the Desert and go “yes they are clearly in the wrong and the only ones I can easily label as the villains in the overall story” what??? Don’t even get me started on “it’s interesting that the villains won in 3rd life” what??? I always viewed them as the more innocent ones, although the story is very morally grey so it doesn’t say TOO much lmao.

So let me explain why! Well, honestly, I’m more confused as to why y’all say they’re so obviously the villains, so I’m just explaining why I’m confused here lol.

So first of all let’s get the scamming and monopolies out of the way. I have less to say about the monopoly so let’s start with that. THEY NEVER HAD A MONOPOLY… if the idea of making a monopoly is bad enough for you guys, then might I remind y’all of the cow monopoly that was attempted? Everyone was looking for ways to make business… and a SAND monopoly was CLEARLY doomed to fail!! Not to bring Dream SMP into this but if y’all are gonna say OG L’Manberg was innocent because they didn’t succeed in the potion monopoly at all then let’s have that same energy for the Sand People!!!

Now for the scams. “Oooh poppy how are you gonna defend the scamming” BECAUSE IT WASN’T SCAMMING??? Scar made it clear what he wanted and what the person would receive in return. They were told they were going to receive a piece of paper and they agreed to it! Don’t listen to Grian “don’t listen to Scar it’s a scam the papers don’t mean anything” because he was LYING. Not purposely, but he was lying. Scar NEVER said “hey Grian let’s scam people with fRiEnDsHiP” instead he always told Grian that it WAS real and that he WOULD go through with all of the papers. And he did! There were a couple of mishaps but obviously it’s really difficult to control every situation. Plus Scar had a hard time remembering all of the friendship passes lmao. But he really did try, he really did value these trades, it wasn’t scamming just because Grian thought there was no way it was worth it.

The only Scar hater I stan is Skizzleman he had all right to be mad at Scar but that doesn’t mean Scar was the enemy of the whole story lol

Now onto something that I don’t know how to start explaining but is a very big reason why I’m confused about the fandom calling the Desert the bad guys. NOBODY IN THE SMP TOOK THEM SERIOUSLY. I saw SO many posts about how “Scar and Grian seem like fun guys in THEIR POV but in others POV they’re really scary!” Like no? I always thought it was the opposite. Like watching Scar’s POV I was like “ah man they have to kill people cuz red life this is so dramatic they are feared by the server…” BUT THEN I WATCH SOMEONE ELSE’S POV AND THEY LITERALLY SAY STUFF LIKE “lol we don’t have to worry about Scar” “dang all those people just exploded. Anyways Scar is the weakest red life and we have nothing to worry about when it comes to him it’s all the other red lifers that are a problem” “lol there goes those idiots trying to make a monopoly on sand so silly” and I’m like. Oh. The entire server treats them like silly cartoon villains that never achieve anything. And yes they say these things WHILE hunting the Desert People down like what. Basically the server treating the villainous things the Desert did as not very serious made me think the same, which is why I’m so confused that people think they’re the Big Bad Guys.

ANOTHER THING relating to how the server treats the Desert: alliances!! The Desert was very loyal. Scott and Jimmy trusted the Desert, which shocked many people on the server but were they wrong? No! The Desert trusted the Hobbits back fully as well. They were the only alliance they fully trusted, but they didn’t go behind their other allies’ backs just cuz they weren’t so sure about the alliance. Sure there were comments about Impulse, but that idea was fed to them by Impulse’s allies, they had no other information. And yet they STILL gave him stuff and didn’t flinch when alone with him above Dogwarts, because even with him being suspicious he was still their ally and they are loyal as heck!!! Sure there was Impulse’s demise but like. That was endgame, everyone was looking for a reason to kill someone, and the Desert was told that Impulse was sus af and his own allies didn’t trust him so it was an easy pick. Bdubs coulda said no. And yeah Scar betrayed Bdubs in the end but like. Once again, endgame, and also it was “kill the person who stuck with you since the beginning” or “kill the person who is only on your side cuz you gave him a clock a while ago and lied to you about liking watches”. What do you expect? Plus the ending showed how loyal Scar was to Grian, the guy who owed him his first life and stuck with him till the end. Beautiful.

ANYWAYS EVEN MEMBERS OF DOGWARTS WERE LIKE “I have a hard time killing Scar because he hasn’t really wronged me personally in any way, he’s fairly reliable as well” LIKE… bro they were ENEMIES. Scar also didn’t really want to hurt them!!! Also can I just say that the only reason Scar was as bad as he was was because he was the first person to go red? Red lifers are supposed to be like the villains, so I don’t disagree with people saying that at FIRST Scar was a villain cuz he was red (although wtf were some of these guys up to using excuses to kill people while green (not talking about Grian)) but he wasn’t even that bad while he was red. He was just the worst by default since he was red lol. Which was entirely not his fault, and he only wanted to kill Ren pretty much lol. So I guess Scar being the villain depends on if you consider Ren to be the main character of the entire server.

Which is another thing I don’t get… why people see Dogwarts as the good guys. There was a CLEAR corruption arc people. Dogwarts had loyalty, but it was very ride or die, as in “if you don’t ride with us you will die”. You watch these guys call everyone (not just the desert people) “filthy peasants” and not realize they are acting like villains??? Plus the ominous “red winter is coming” like what. Not saying they weren’t good at the start, nor that they were completely and totally bad, just that if you were to frame ANYONE in this MORALLY GREY SERVER as “The Bad Guys” why not the ones that made it their entire thing????? YES they were good at first, they had regrets and cared so much about their people (just not anyone else lololol). It’s a tragic story, and you’re gonna write it off like “no even when they started doing bad things to people who never hurt them it was justified” even when they regret those things towards the end or after death so clearly it was wrong??? Guys.

I don’t want to call anyone the Bad Guys in 3rd life tho. They all did bad things, they all had valid reasons, they all had people they cared about. I just don’t get why people pick the Desert when they try to pick villains. They weren’t totally innocent but I never saw them as THE villains. For me, even while watching Martyn, that was always Dogwarts, and even then I don’t consider them Total Villains because the server is so grey! I loved them I just think that if anyone is the bad guys maybe it’s the self-imposed king that threatens to take ALL of your lives if you don’t show complete and total loyalty to them and wave their banner above your house to show it. Even if that king started out innocent and only went red to protect his friends. Once again tho I don’t like picking Bad Guys for this server. It was a very good story without having a clear right or wrong.

Just wanted to confess that, don’t really feel like arguing about it cuz I see enough people calling the Desert the Villains just scrolling thru the main tag lmao.

#3rd life smp #third life smp #3rd life spoilers #dsmp WISHES it could achieve the moral greyness 3rd life has #long post #I had more I wanted to say but I didn’t know how to fit it in I’m bad at writing rants

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postmodernmulticoloredcloak · 3 years

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So I watched 10.09 recently, and it has that part where Dean tells a story about him basically being almost roofied as a teen, but somehow it ends up framed as the funny joke and yet another proof that John "did what he could", and I kind of hate this? And it's the same episode in which MoC!Dean killed guys that kidnapped and tried to rape Claire, and you'd think writers would've addressed the parallels and acknowledge that Dean could've been triggered by this situation. 1/2

2/2 But in the end, it's never addressed, and the whole situation is framed as the proof that Dean is evil now. And I'm not even sure what I am trying to say, but with that being the show's approach back in s10, I'm not surprised about the finale anymore. Guess we should've known?

That’s an excellent angle to look at the issue because the Mark of Cain arc is a clear example of how people with different experiences will see the same thing in wildly different ways. There’s this phase of season 10 where everyone is like “oh no Dean is Getting Worse” and when you look at what Dean is doing... you actually go “...good for him”.

Let’s give Caesar what belongs to Caesar. It’s not “the writers” in this case, it’s Dabb. Plenty of other writers don’t fall into this John apologism thing. Just look at how the episode before Lebanon, written by Buckner and Ross Leming, says that sometimes John would temporarily kick Dean out because he was “pissed at him” despite Dean always taking his side to mantain the peace. It almost seems like a statement to sprinkle some salt given what Dabb does in Lebanon, you know? Maybe not, but there is a tension between “John was shitty” writers and “John did his best” writers.

In hindsight, we gave Dabb too much of the benefit of the doubt. We were like, weeell, that’s supposed to be way the characters perceive the truth, which is distorted by the trauma... But now it’s obvious that he truly believed in the John-did-his-best version. He brought him back and got Mary back with him. No matter what happened to the finale, the network didn’t print those pictures of John and Mary to hang on Sam’s wall. He never took Dean’s abuse seriously and it shows.

The “anedocte” of Dean getting drugged and “saved” by John from being raped is obviously there to parallel him with Claire. Which works! It’s so weird because it’s like. You are soooo close to getting the point. Younger Dean was assaulted just like this teenage girl is assaulted and Dean saves her... but apparently John yelling at those people is a good way of dealing with the issue, while murdering child traffickers is an overraction thus bad.

That’s the problem, isn’t it? That Dean’s murder spree is framed as an overreaction. Sam is like “tell me you had to do this! tell me it was you or them!” - the answer to which (by the narrative) is obviously no, it wasn’t self defense, he just killed them because he could. He just murdered those men for no reason except he felt like being murdery. And the audience is supposed to be like “oh no! Dean is murdery for no reason except for murderiness! That’s bad!”.

But it’s a power fantasy, isn’t it? Going on a murder spree on rapists and traffickers. I bet any people who’s been violated like that has fantasized of doing the exact thing Dean does here. Killing them all.

Dean had the physical strength and skill to kill them all, why shouldn’t he kill them? (I mean, in real life I’m against private justice because I’m a fan of the state of law, but the Supernatural universe obviously works on different principles than the state of law. Again, it’s a fictional narrative that plays out as a fantasy for the audience, so.)

So what was Dabb’s intention? I’m afraid it’s the worst one. “John Winchester’s not going to win any Number One Dad awards, you know? But, you know, damn if he wasn’t there when we needed him”. What the fuck, Dabb? It’s been established since season 1 that John WASN’T there when they needed him. Which... I’m afraid... leads us to the Cas-Claire plot in the episode. Cas has fucked off with Jimmy’s body leaving Claire on her own. Parallels how John wasn’t going to win wny Number One Dad awards. But! Cas is there when Claire Really Needs Him i.e. when she’s about to be raped by older men. Parallels how John was there when Dean Really Needed Him i.e. when he was about to be raped by older men.

I think the point is to say, Cas kinda sucked because he took Claire’s dad away but hey! He’s actually a good figure for Claire because he gets there in time to prevent her from being raped. Just like (ew) John kinda sucked as a father because hunting and stuff, but hey! He’s actually a good figure for Dean because he got there in time to prevent him from being raped.

It’s pretty yucky. Literally NOBODY wanted a parallel between Cas and John. But he made one. And he made one to absolve Cas from the guilt he carried for what he did to Claire (Claire’s mother is a mother so who fucking cares about her. She’s basically a Blurry Wife(TM), she’s only a tool for Claire’s arc, Cas apparently only cares about the harm he did the child, not the wife, for some reason.) and to absolve Cas from his guilt it absolves John too. Don’t worry, being a parent is hard. You often screw up. But you can *looks at smudged writing on hand* prevent the kid from being raped by predatory adults and everything’s fine now.

It’s not really important if the child suffered hunger or whatever, the only important thing is that they don’t get raped, because that’s bad, everything else is just a little detail.

All Dabb got with that scene was to paint Sam as extremely unsympathetic because he’s no longer a child, he’s a full adult now and still thinks of that episode at the CBGB as a funny story. That’s not a good look. It almost makes you think that the writer himself saw it as a funny story. Lol teenage boy biting more than he can chew. But then why the Claire parallel? The Claire scene onviously is not supposed to be anything but horrific. I'll give Dabb the benefit of the doubt on this specific thing.

It’s weird, yes, because Dabb wrote Dark Side of the Moon where he establishes that John was a bad husband/father even before tragedy hit the family. But apparently that’s the “not going to win any Number One Dad awards” part, I suppose? I guess he intended to write John as this flawed, ~complex~ figure who was imperfect but still brave and whatever blah blah did his best blah blah. I’m all for flawed complicated characters but a horrible father is a horrible father. A rose by any other name... parental abuse is still parental abuse even if the poor guy was complicated and traumatized and did what he thought he had to do to prepare his sons for a violent world.

Also, the story frames Dean’s escapade as a teenager being stupid. “You know what he got for that? Me whining about how much he embarrassed me. Me telling him that I hated him. But then he stopped and turned around looked at me and said, Son, you don’t like me? That’s fine. It’s not my job to be liked.” “It’s my job to raise you right.” This seems straight from a novel about teenagers doing something stupid that they’re too young to realize that their parents are right to be against them doing. But this isn’t just... a parent walking into a bar to stop their child to drink alcohol. Dean literally describes feeling sick from something that was inside the alcohol.

Sure, it makes sense that he’d lash out to John because of the shame and shock. But the scene is... off. Are we supposed to see this as a typical teenage mistake? Are we supposed to read it as something as horrific as what happened to Claire, literally sold into rape? Or, worse, are we supposed to see what happened to Claire as a teenage mistake, ah silly teenager, blindly trusting shady people, no wonder you end up in a situation where you’d get raped if a father figure didn’t sweep in and save you. I hope that wasn’t the intent.

To get back to Dean’s Mark-of-Cain violence, the writers clearly didn’t intend it to come from the Darkness up to a certain point. It was supposed to an arc about your own inner darkness (consider the Charlie episode, a couple episodes later). Then they came up with the idea of The(TM) Darkness, the suppressed cosmic feminine. While it caused a bit of dissonance in the subtext, it doesn’t really change Dean’s narrative, because his inner darkness is the trauma, and his trauma is inherebtly tied to the “feminine” i.e. the parts of him that don’t fit seamlessly into the scheme of toxic masculinity values. That the violence that comes from the Mark of Cain comes from Dean himself and that’s it, or is connected to the Darkness, it doesn’t change what it means for Dean. Dean and Amara have parallel histories, the feminine principle locked away, the trauma the anger stems from.

In 10x09 we’re still in the Before The (TM) Darkness era, before the suppressed cosmic feminine. The Mark of Cain arc is still about... well, Cain. But the shift is the signal that someone looked at Dean’s arc and said... you know what? “Lucifer gave me this curse so now I’m demonic and murdery” is meh. “Toxic masculinity suppresses the feminine and it creates trauma which rage and violence comes from” is more interesting. I don’t know whose idea it was, but it was a good idea, and surely the idea came from seeing how Dean’s MoC narrative was unfolding.

Dean’s MoC narrative was unfolding in a certain way, in fact, because of a pretty simple reason. There’s a fundamental tension in Dean’s MoC arc. We want him to go murdery, but it’s also our main character, so we don’t want him to do really horrible things because he still needs to be relatable. The audience cannot hate him, so he must NOT do something entirely unforgivable. He still needs to be somewhat relatable, even when demonic or demonic-adjacent.

So he goes on a murder spree... but it’s rapists and child traffickers. He’s demon, but he kills a misogynistic dude that wanted his wife dead for cheating on him. He’s a demon, but beats up dudes that harass women. He does a slaughter, but they’re nazi. He’s off the deep end, but works a case of kidnapped and abused young women...

Speaking of which. 10x23, written by Jeremy Carver. Dean works a case where a girl was killed while dressed scantily and Dean makes some slut-shaming remarks, and we’re supposed to think “whoa Dean, that’s bad”. But later he confronts the girl’s father and what does he say?

I’m just doing my job, Mr. McKinley.

By suggesting my daughter was a slut?

I’ll admit that thought crossed my mind. Then I came here, and I smelled the deceit and the beatings and the shame that pervade this home.

You shut your face right now.

And you know what? I don’t blame Rose anymore. No wonder she put on that skank outfit and went out there looking for validation, right into the arms of the monster that killed her.

Back then the episode was super controversial and everyone hated the case because of the apparent slut-shaming but I loved it! Because it’s not about the girl. It’s about Dean. Dean doesn’t think that a girl gets killed because she dresses in a miniskirt so it’s her fault. Dean is projecting on himself and he’s not actually victim blaming the girl, he’s victim blaming himself. And when he absolves the girl by putting the blame on the father... well, subtextually he’s absolving himself by putting the blame on his father. On the deceit and the beatings and the shame that pervaded his own home. He’s textually not ready to absolve himself, of course, he summons Death to ask him to kill him later, but subtextually he’s on the right path.

Rose McKinley basically did the same mistake Dean did at the CBGB when he trusted some older people who offered him drinks and the same mistake Claire did when she trusted a man who sold her for money because he offered him a place and stability. She trusted the wrong people (in this case, vampires, which adds the whole subtext of vampires and sexuality) who took advantage of her. Except Rose had no one to save her. (Her friend, Crystal, gets rescued by Dean, even if he causes the other hunter Rudy to die in the process.)

Carver’s writing is pretty brutal. The girl made that mistake because was abused at home, so she was desperate for validation and that desperation drove her into the wrong hands. (Rose even has a brother who blames himself for bringing her sister to her future murderers, destructive sibling relationship check.) It doesn’t actually even matter if Dean guessed right about Rose’s family situation, because what matters is what it tells us about Dean. He basically relates to a dead abused girl. Actually all through the season Dean is paralleled to “skanks” “sluts” and sex workers. Obviously this happens kinda all through the show, the whole “the business is based on absent fathers” thing happened much earlier in the story, so it’s not new. But s10 draws a picture of female suffering - abuse, manipulation and death. Season 10 was difficult to go through. In hindsight, it was probably on purpose because it was supposed to be darkest hour of the feminine. Summed with some good old fashioned misogyny, but hey.

The Carver era was wonky but Carver wanted to free the feminine. (I believe that Mary’s comeback, while written by Dabb because of the showrunner shift, was planned before the showrunner shift.) We thought the Dabb era wanted the same, with Mary choosing life and Amara being independent and so on, but it evidently wasn’t the case. Not a single woman arrives at end of the story. It’s hardly ~Bucklemming or ~the network or ~covid because it starts before the very end.

I’m not saying that dead sluts are more feminist than living women, but if the women die or disappear anyway (and they did) I’d rather have an exploration of trauma than nothing. And I definitely prefer a dead slut narrative that calls out parental abuse than a narrative where women live but abuse gets the you-did-your-best treatment.

Whoops! I digressed! But feel free to ask for any clarification or send me any observation or thought.

#anon #my spn thoughts #season 10 #spn 10x09 #spn 10x23 #dean and john #parental abuse #john winchester's a+ parenting #mark of cain #demon dean #spn #i love talking about season 10 uh

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book-o-scams · 3 years

Text

'Sorry Wrong Ed' Alternate Ending Storyboard Sequence

Check out Al Kang's Ed, Edd n Eddy portfolio!

Al Kang worked on the show during seasons 3-4 and had roles on the storyboard and prop teams apparently. (IMDb says he was credited as Al Choi at the time, but it also says he worked on season 1 episodes, which doesn't line up with the timeline he mentioned.. anyway.)

I discovered his portfolio a few months ago after seeing fandom discussion of the alternate 'Sorry Wrong Ed' ending. I was pleasantly surprised to find a few other treats as well! But yes, I even sorta liked what I learned about 'Sorry Wrong Ed' in the process... (I threw in a little analysis comparing the two endings at the bottom)

I noticed Al seemed to mix up the order on these, so I thought I'd try my best to figure out the right order. This was the most confusing one for me to try and figure out the order of since almost all 8 pages were out of order. I think I finally figured out what's going on in the original ending.

So this alternate ending starts at an unknown point with Eddy flat on the ground, presumably injured, picking himself back up. At this point in the final cut of the episode, Eddy has just been squashed by a tree, but this seems more like a different injury, and he's not even retaining his injuries from the truck scene... The scenes with Jonny and Plank from the final cut of the episode seem to not exist at all here, Jonny and Plank don't appear in this sequence.

Anyway, Eddy picks himself up in the middle of an on-going scene, sees Jimmy drop a coin in a jar for Ed, who has inexplicably turned the cursed phone into a scam on his own. Edd is glaring at the off-screen kids, who have somehow learned about this phone and are excited to kill Eddy with it.

Eddy: "Jimmy! No!"

Jimmy answers the phone: "Hello?"

Ed: "HA HA HA"

Edd: "You people don't seriously believe--"

Then we sync up with gags that did happen in the ending of Sorry Wrong Ed, with context that makes its tone a little more sadistic than random. Jimmy's paid phonecall drops the sandbox on Eddy.

This page has the most skeletal dialogue...

Kev: "Yes." (I think he's meant to be fist pumping because Eddy got hurt, more of a "Yes!")

Jimmy: "BAD LUCK EDDY PHONE." (this dialogue must have been a placeholder)

Edd: "HA HA" (sarcastic ha-ha or did Al mean to write "Ed" for this?)

Jimmy seems to offer the phone to Edd.

We sync up again with Edd's denial from the final cut of this episode, except now it actually makes sense that he's so one-track-minded, because there are people actively arguing with him and keeping him disengaged from the victim.

Edd: "There must be a cargo plane overfilled with playground supplies..."

Sarah interrupts him.

RING RING

Sarah: "Oh, that's for me."

Eddy at this point holds Ed responsible, as he should, and starts running to stop Ed or Sarah. Ed offers no explanation for his betrayal.

Eddy: "Ed! What are you doing!?"

Sarah: "Hello?"

Sarah's paid phonecall summons the hippos, the most random moment in the final cut of the episode. Note how both of these slapstick gags were storyboarded on the same generic background, seems like the lane or an empty lot, but clearly a different location than Eddy's front yard from the aired ending.

And that's all we have to go off of!

I'll put my updated opinions below the cut, but suffice it to say, I like the episode a little better now! Knowing what the ending was going to be and trying to figure out the choices that led to the ending we got, I feel more appreciative that it didn't end up a lost episode or something and less annoyed that it was 11 minutes of one joke.

I know I have a reputation for not finding slapstick funny and disliking this episode, but violence was never my only issue. Lots of episodes have lackluster slapstick that I just let wash over me. My point that never gets as much focus is that this episode never felt FINISHED to begin with. It's just a slapstick vacuum with no ending and no point, and it used to be frustrating to me not knowing for sure if my hunch was right or not that it felt like the episode just wasn't working and they had to cobble it together from the scenes that almost worked.

I am surprised to say I like the episode more now that I know that is pretty close to the truth. Judging from this peek into the episode's development, this episode seems to have reached Danny Antonucci's and/or Wootie's (the episode's lead board artist) limit for being mean-spirited with the characters without a reason. I'll still probably avoid rewatching it, but knowing the episode has no ending specifically because it's been trimmed to bare bones is somehow reassuring.

The most obvious flaw to this original ending is the lack of motivation for Ed's or the kids' actions. The kids presumably still weren't in the rest of the episode, so there's really no reason for them to be here other than reiterating the same idea from 'Your Ed Here' and 'The Good Ole Ed' that the neighborhood kids are always looking for a reason to gang up on Eddy, something that isn't really true of those characters in earlier seasons.

I think I can imagine how, on paper (in the writers' outline), this episode sounded funnier. Trying to imagine this ending as part of the whole episode, I think the script's idea of the final joke is that Ed is not satisfied with ending the tests at the point where they tried to return the phone to Rolf. I think Ed converts the curse-testing process to a scam at that point, building off of how Ed already wasn't processing Eddy's safety in anything so far, and is probably more focused on proving to Edd that curses are real (as Ed was previously in league with Evil Tim). The addition of Ed running his own tests and the kids arguing Eddy's point against Edd's while Eddy's busy, does sound more like a complete manic cartoon boiling point than the way the finished episode just petered out with Edd as the sole antagonist. But unfortunately, in visual execution, suddenly piling in so many aggressive characters and so much random violence at once, would only really result in it petering out at a higher volume.

Meanwhile Edd's characterization is made much more structurally sound in the original ending. He's annoyed FOR Eddy's sake, and the only reason he's not actively helping Eddy is because like 3 other characters were supposed to be arguing with him while this was happening. It seems extremely apparent to me that the cuts made to this ending were for the sake of mitigating Ed's reputation in the fandom, as well as the kids', and I think it's really unfortunate that Edd's characterization was the cost for salvaging everyone else's. I'm glad I already considered his behavior in 'Sorry Wrong Ed' non-canon, because now it feels like the reason the aired ending is so out-of-character is just because Edd is basically arguing with the ghost of the original scene. I formally forgive 'Sorry Wrong Ed'. Production turnarounds are tough and AKA did their best to not turn this into another forgotten 'Special Ed' episode that simply wasn't working.

I think ditching the original ending was ultimately the right call. It was not an exemplary episode, but I can admit it's less out of place to have a pure "vacuum of violence" story than it would've been to essentially give the kids a supernatural revenge plot like this. That would've been really weird to have to accept-- Eddy definitely wouldn't want to be friends with anyone at the end of the movie if THIS was their past. Changing it to an unaware Jonny and a questionably aware Plank being responsible, indeed, was a vibe that landed much more like standard EEnE fare. It was weird enough that the kids all saw Santa in JJJ, can you imagine if they all knew curses were real AND participated in attacking a neighbor with one??

If there was a silver lining for me the first time I saw this episode, it was that none of the kids were directly involved in Eddy's suffering. It made the questionable reality of the cursed device slightly more acceptable that only the Eds and Rolf know about the curse. If this ending had happened, I would've reacted the same, but I would've rejected its continuity even more than I do now, because it would just feel like they animated one of the DC Comics (where the kids can blow the Eds up with fireworks at the end or the Eds can randomly be crushed under an avalanche of anvils)-- the art could end up gorgeous but the characterizations don't exactly land as real human beings, the balance this show strives for typically.

And I think that's all I wanted to say! In the end, I found myself liking 'Sorry Wrong Ed' slightly more than I used to, all thanks to this glimpse into how the animation production system morphs the outcome of a cartoon. Thanks so much to Al Kang, for sharing your art and this insight into the industry! I don't know whether he did both the gesture drawings and the revised art, but judging from his other boards I think the cleaned up art is his, and I liked seeing the poses that almost were!

#ed edd n eddy #sorry wrong ed #al kang #storyboard #concept art #alternate ending #deleted ending #alternate sequence #analysis

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marshmallow-xphile · 3 years

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My thoughts on the sexuality of some of my favorite X-files characters.

I posted this in my X-files amino back in June as part of a LGBTQ pride challenge and for some reason I only just thought to post it here as well.

Fox Mulder: openly bisexual

Mulder is so open sexually that I really don't think gender matters all that much to him. He does seem to prefer females but I wouldn't be even remotely surprised if he had a boyfriend or two in the past. I don't think he's flamboyant about his sexuality but I don't think he'd hide it at all either

My evidence:

In the season one episode "Ghost in the Machine" we meet an Mulder's ex-partner, Jerry, and I absolutely feel like there is an ex-lovers vibe to the both of them. They hug upon first seeing each other, Mulder looks incredibly happy to see him, when Mulder says they worked together Jerry corrects him to say they were partners at which point Mulder looks over at Scully as if to see her reaction. Mulder has this real guilty look to him. When Jerry acts a little self conscious Mulder is real quick to jump in and reassure him. They get in each other's personal space. It just really leaves me with the impression that they care deeply for one another and broke up for other reasons, perhaps the different career goals as Mulder tells Scully.

We also have Mulder with Krycek. From the very beginning of Krycek's involvement with the X-files I feel like the writers went out of their way to make a correlation between the change in partnership and a new partner in a relationship. There is a scene in Sleepless where Mulder and Scully are on the phone and Mulder tells Krycek he'll be right there, the rest of the conversation feels reminiscent of two exes chatting about the change brought about by the new relationship. Scully even brings up that it must be nice having a partner who doesn't question his every theory.

There were many scenes in Sleepless, Duane Barry, and Ascension in which Mulder and Krycek were alone but that we never got to see who knows for example what the two of them got to talking about while they were stuck in traffic during the drive to New York in Sleepless. Or how often they hung out between Sleepless and Duane Barry.

During Mulder and Scully's partnership Mulder only called her 'Dana' on a few emotional occasions. He started casually calling Krycek 'Alex' almost immediately.

Let us not forget the infamous speedo scene. While yes it definitely showed more of a Krycek attraction to Mulder than the opposite. It does make one wonder what led him to wear such a revealing bathing suit. How many straight men do you know who wear speedos? My guess is few. How many straight men wear speedos when they can reasonably assume their male partner will show up looking for them? Not many would be guess.

And then there is their relationship after Krycek is revealed to be a traitor. They both tend to act more like scorned lovers than enemies and notice that it's Mulder, not Krycek, who cannot seem to keep his hands off the other. Seriously it's like every time Krycek shows up, Mulder immediately grabs him.

Now here's a couple quotes from Mulder,

Krycek tells Mulder he most be losing it because Krycek beat him with one hand. Mulder's immediate reaction: "isn't that how you like to beat yourself?"

When the little man in Humbug is lined up pretty much exactly with Mulder's crotch he says that Mulder would be surprised how many women find his size alluring. Mulder's immediate reaction: "you'd be surprised how many men do as well"

How many straight guys do you know comfortable enough with their sexuality to make a gay innuendo? I personally cannot think of any.

Dana Scully: bicurious

I believe that Scully is sometimes attracted to women. It definitely is not as blatant as with Mulder and I really don't think she's had any past girlfriends but I definitely think that there is an attraction.

My evidence:

In the episode "Ice" I really felt like there are a few tender moments between her and Felicity Huffman's character especially while they were examining one another for the worms. That examination had a sort of sexual energy to it I thought.

In the episode "kill switch" theres a moment where the Invisagoth asked if she could have her handcuffs removed or if she should type with her tongue. Mulder mentions that she doesn't want a vote there and the look on Scully's face and the way she licks her lips, I definitely get the impression that she would have been perfectly happy to see what Invisagoth could get up to with that tongue.

Some people point to Scully's relationship with Reyes as evidence of her bisexuality, I personally don't see any attraction there on Scully's side but I don't think its outside the realm of possibility.

Monica Reyes: Closeted lesbian

This one's probably a surprise I know there was something between here and Brad as well as a flirtation with Doggett so you would probably think she was Bisexual but honestly was either one of those even remotely convincing? To me they weren't. I believe that Reyes is a lesbian.

I kind of go back and forth on whether she's open about it. Reyes is very spiritual and open so it seems strange that she would be in the closet but maybe she has a reason, fear of it affecting her career in the FBI perhaps? It just seems strange that she keeps pursuing these heterosexual relationships she has no passion for unless she is trying to hide her true passion.

My evidence:

I admit I really have very little evidence but look at the relationship between Reyes and Brad Follmer. It had all the chemistry of two people who got really drunk once and cannot remember sleeping together. I don't for a second believe she was ever in love with Brad nor he in love with her.

Then you've got the same thing between her and Doggett. Yes the writers were obviously trying for a romantic angle with the two of them but to me it never came across as convincing. It seemed more like she thought of him as a good friend and figured she might as well date him, I saw no evidence of love or attraction.

On the other hand look at her and Scully. While I feel like the attraction there was one sided I definitely feel like Reyes was into Scully or Dana as she would call her. Reyes was willing to risk her life for Scully and yes that is her job after all but Reyes seems to take that above and beyond and it's not just Scully herself but also William. Look at how protective Reyes is of William in The Truth and of the sacrifice Scully made in giving him up. She seems to care even more than Mulder on that.

Cigarette-Smoking-Man: Asexual

CSM has probably had sex at some point, he is of course the father of at least three children but I do not think that he was ever in love with any of these women or even attracted to them. I believe they were all just a means to an end.

I believe that CSM's only love was for his cigarettes

Evidence:

There is a little bit of evidence that he might have actually felt something for Teena Mulder but I don't buy it. He freely admits that he felt nothing for Cassandra Spender but he must've been convincing if he got her to marry him and we have seen him fake emotions more than once. He also seemed to show an attraction to Scully in En Ami but that too was just a means to an end. Perhaps he does feel something towards all the women he has impregnated but I wouldn't call it love. I don't see any real attraction there either. My bet is that CSM needed some "help" in order to produce his offspring.

Alex Krycek: Gay

While Krycek did have an obviously sexual relationship with Marita Covarrubias he definitely didn't have any real feelings for her and I don't buy attraction either. No I'd say they were both just trying to use sex to get what they wanted. His anger at finding the Russian boy gone wasn't because he was heartbroken at her betrayal. Merely mad that she'd managed to get the upper hand.

Whether Krycek is open or in the closet I'm not sure, I'm thinking it probably depends on the mission hes on at the time.

Evidence:

Of everyone on this list I'd say Krycek is the one I'm the most sure of. There is no doubt in my mind that Krycek was attracted to, perhaps even in love with, Fox Mulder. From the very beginning there appeared to be a bit of longing in his eyes.

There was the speedo scene wherein Krycek was definitely checking Mulder out. There were several scenes where Krycek could've killed Mulder but chose to help him instead.

As I've seen pointed out before, Krycek's crazy motivational choices don't make any sense at all unless it's all in an effort to be around Mulder more.

Look at his sense of style and his obvious love for lip gloss. I am not saying that straight men cannot love lip gloss and dress themselves in Krycek's fashion but it is uncommon and it was especially so back in the 90s

The infamous kiss in The Red and the Black could certainly be explained away as some kind of Russian custom but it isn't one that I am aware of and he hasn't really shown any other signs of his Russia heritage.

I would say my best evidence of Krycek's sexuality is in Essence and Existence, just look at the look on Krycek's face when Mulder trusts him to protect Scully. Krycek knows what Scully means to Mulder and then look at how seriously Krycek takes the job! I definitely feel like that moment meant a lot to him and he would have protected Scully with his life for Mulder.

There's also the fact that Krycek's unwillingness to kill Mulder lead to his own death.

Of course asking Skinner to shoot Mulder goes against this theory but I do have a couple thoughts on that, the most sensical being that he knew there was no chance Skinner would shoot Mulder and he probably knew there was no chance he would survive anymore. Maybe he made that request in hopes of sparing Mulder any pain he might have otherwise felt at his death (I know it's a bit of a stretch but my other theories require a long explanation of my thoughts on where the series had planned to go next)

The lone gunmen: no one knows....not even them

Three (I don't count Jimmy for this) single adult men who all live together in very cramped quarters and are, at least in Langley's case, perfectly happy to be around each other without thier clothes on certainly makes it seem like there's something between them all but I really don't get a overtly gay impression with any of them, even Langley who as mentioned doesn't like to wear pants and is the only one who hasn't had a love interest. They just have this sort of Vegas-esque thing. "What happens in the bachelor pad/newspaper room stays in the bachelor pad/newspaper room.

I would love to hear other people's thoughts on these and any other X-files characters you think might be somewhere on the LGBTQ spectrum.

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gillian-greenwood · 3 years

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My Episode 7 Predictions!

Mother of God! How have these weeks passed by so fast?! I've decided to share what I think will be answered tomorrow night and some of the fates of our beloved characters! The series has gotten off to an even bigger success than it's predecessor and EVERYONE'S talking about it! Without further ado, let's see what I'm predicting!

Who's H/fourth man (or woman) and will we find out?

The question that's on the nation's minds. That has been boggling us since 2017... My personal prediction still stands as CC Philip Osborne, however... I think he's purely sitting on his arse and pulling the strings, whilst others are doing his dirty work. Those people are Patricia Carmichael: who in all honesty I'm manifesting isn't actually bent but is so career driven and a bit of a lick arse that she's just taking orders and not questioning anything, plus she doesn't think much of Ted either... I have joked that she's been shagging Osborne on the side which would be quite funny. I also believe Buckells has been Osborne's true scape goat for years. Someone as laid-back and unpassionate as Buckells is easily manipulated - I mean how the hell has he become a super? As Steve rightfully says, he couldn't order a piss up in a brewery. Seeing the connections go well back into the early noughties whilst Buckells was part of an oasis tribute band, it's an easy conclusion to make. Lastly I will mention Thurwell, now I think Thurwell may have been more involved on his own doing anyway but I think he'd still been pretty busy doing things on behalf of Osborne up until his alleged death in sunny Spain (Belfast but shh). I know a lot of people still think Buckells, some reckon pas-agg Pat is the top woman... and a few still think our beloved Kate is 'H'.

Now the other part of my point is actually finding out... I think us as viewers will certainly know the identity of this mysterious individual. But, I think we'll find out in the very last few seconds and poor AC12 won't be any the wiser which will open up the foundations for a possible series 7. I think a lot of things will be answered for us viewers but not everything for the characters. I know that if they had a series 7 there would be an other primary focus but I just think it would be clever. Just like how we found out as viewers at the end of series 1 that Dot was a wrong'un.

Is Thurwell really dead?

I'm still very amazed by the whole induction of Jimmy Nesbitt as a series of photos. I know we were supposed to have a secretive guest actor appearance and I believe it was Robert Carlyle's name floating about which would have been insane! But that moment we saw Jimmy, I yelled at the screen. So, this answers the question of seeing a character that had only been mentioned previously - which has been very much hiding in plain sight. Even with a rewatch, I had forgotten about Thurwell and therefore hadn't even considered him. But, I did mention the list from series 3 which did loosely tie in. Anyway, when we learned that Thurwell and his Mrs were now dead and clearly had been for a while - it was cleverly shot so we didn't see who it was, only the Spanish Police's word. You know, I think if we were to get a series 7, Thurwell could appear and he's in fact not dead. It's very rare you get a very well known actor in for something so small without it leading to bigger things. Although, they got Andi Osho, a very much loved comedian in purely for archival photos and videos... I do feel that Thurwell could have easily been on the other end of the fake MSN, and doing Osborne's dirty work - especially with the Spanish connection. In a BTS photo we have seen a clue to a piece of paperwork regarding a time share (Spain mentioned) in front of Kate which will likely have a connection to Thurwell and Spain. I think he's possibly still alive but we'll see...

Joanne Davidson

Kelly Macdonald has been welcomed with a very warm reception. Wow, her connection to Tommy Hunter (albeit disturbing, homozygous DNA... nasty business) was not something I ever expected although I guessed very much so when we learned of the DNA match with a nominal. Would I define her as bent? I mean in layman's terms, yes she is. However each guest star has had a very complicated relationship with the definition - all have done dodgy things and usually for good reason... But I do sympathise with her because of her background, born into trouble, it was very hard to escape - even if her mum took her to Scotland for a life away from it all. From the very start of her career she was doing the OCG's bidding and it transpires she was in the police on Tommy's orders - so very much another caddy. I do feel Jo had always wanted to be a good person and do right and in some ways she did - however she's in too deep. Next I'll mention her relationship with Kate and it's something I'd never have predicted. A lot of suggestive and sapphic behaviour from the off. Now, I do think Jo cares deeply for Kate and has developed strong feelings - and I think Kate deep down has also but I don't think anything will happen sadly. And that's more for the fact that they had run out of track before they could even get going as so much has happened. Kate's gonna save Jo when her transport gets ambushed, that's a given... but I don't think we'll see anything happen that we want to happen. I hope I'm very wrong and we get something but with the hour we've got I don't think it'll be the case. And as for her fate? I think she'll survive. Guest leads usually die, eventually... with the exception of Roz who's serving time with one arm in Brentiss. Giving how unfortunate her life has been from her conception, I think it'll do her justice to escape with her life. Witness protection? Hmm perhaps... Although I think she's done enough dodgy stuff to warrant a prison stretch. Will she be instrumental in revealing who the fourth dot is? Well yeah actually, I think she grew up thinking Thurwell was her dad... and of course having connections to both Osborne and Buckells. Jo joined the force just before the turn of the millennium so would have been a copper when the Lawrence Christopher case occurred in 2003. Even though not directly working with them, I'm sure she knew what was going on and would have come across Osborne and Buckells at that time. I have a strong inkling that she knows exactly who she's been talking to and has been under their wing since the start. If she dies I will be gutted.

Kate

Where are we going with Kate? Well she's just killed Ryan (lawfully) and has gotten away with it. But Carmichael isn't thick... and nor is Steve and Ted. They all know but I think that'll be that for now. For ages I thought she was gonna D word but I think she's gonna be alright now. I hope that somehow she gets back into anti-corruption permanently because that's where she's best suited. I'm shocked that she hasn't had a glass box spectacular - my predictions for her to be accused of being bent and all that were way off the mark... and not a single mention of the two dying declarations... With only an hour tomorrow and so much to deal with, I guess that's not going to be mentioned. And Kate ain't gonna be sanctioned either. But, there's always opportunity with a series 7... She'll definitely be back in AC12, interviewing... I can't see all the BTS photos being Jed Herrings. But we'll see tomorrow!

Steve

Poor Steve eh? He's not had an easy time of it. Addicted to painkillers as I rightfully predicted, unable to trust his gaffer, torn on a transfer and a up and down friendship with his 'mate'. Oh and the car, actually let's not talk about the Mazda... Anyhow I believe that Steve will talk about his back and recent struggles with meds after a lot of emails from occupational health. Will he get pulled off the job at the last second because he didn't book an appointment... yeah I think that might happen and Kate takes his place or something. But there is a counsellor or something credited so I'm pretty certain on that. Will he lose his long overdue promotion? It's possible! I don't think the test was going to come back as a fail but more of a cause for concern - just that the levels of codeine etc in his system was higher than it should and it would be best advised to talk to someone. We haven't seen much pill taking going on since the drugs test so has Steve been going cold turkey? Or have they just veered away from that part of the story? In all fairness he's appeared fine with his back since the Windermere convoy - he ran across an industrial estate... I mean. I hope Steve gets a glimmer of hope and happiness because he rightfully deserves it. Ever since the start he's had his fair sharing of aggro and he deserves a break. I do think however he may be partly responsible for nailing the final nails into Ted's coffin - especially after he discovered the 50K up Merseyside and the truth from Lee Banks. I think he could be potentially happy with Steph, it would be nice for something to happen with them but we'll see. Steve needs a big hug.

Ted

This is going to pain me saying it. But, I don't think Ted is going to make it to the end. His retirement is inevitable. I can see the argument of the retirement being rescinded if they unmask the fourth dot etc and solve stuff but realistically, he's past retirement age. He's so focused on getting to the end of this marathon that I don't think he will see it through and know who it is - because he'll... yeah I don't need to say it. How? I've been saying his heart is gonna pack in. He's going to be in deep trouble over that 50k because Steve and Kate know the truth. But why would the likes of Carmichael find out... Well we've seen a clue of 'definate' on some paperwork - I reckon Ted by coincidence also makes this spelling mistake often as it is one of the most commonly misspelt words and therefore will be in the 'H' running again - he wont be 'H' as I reckon Osborne makes the same mistake... He alleges he misspelt it cos he studied the texts carefully but I think he spelt it how he usually would. They'll all go down the wrong path and accuse him which will lead to his ultimate downfall. Another little teaser is Steve appearing to listen to Ted's 2019 glass box spectacular however notably Carmichael says AC12 interview and not AC3... so mixing two different interviews to tease us? Maybe Ted might feel he has no choice but to sacrifice his career for the truth. However it all gets too much. Lies cost lives... I can't see Ted going on from beyond here and Ted was always supposed to be a minor character until he was very well received by the audience and he was made a main character. Realistically, his story is told and he's at his endgame. I hope he survives, by god I do... He's one of the most loved fictional characters at present. But I have a really bad feeling and I'm worried! It seems a total Jed thing to do for Ted to meet his end without ever finding the truth... seeing that's what his heart has been set on for about four years... I'm sorry to even be going there but it's what I think will happen. And I want to be wrong.

Miscellaneous Predictions

I want to round this all off with other little points. Carmichael won't be bent, maybe still involved with anti-corruption, you love to hate her, there's so much more they could do with her character. I don't think Steph's dodgy at all, she's just a widow whose been helped out by Ted in an unlawful way. I think her and Steve would be well suited. I hope Chloe will get to the end and continue on in anti-corruption, she's got a lot of potential. If Osborne isn't sussed, I reckon he'll still be CC. DCC Wise isn't bent either, just getting on with her job. But if Osborne does get caught and I'm wrong, there will be a lot of chaos for both him and Wise. Farida gets out of jail and starts afresh. Buckells I reckon will get out but won't be apart of the police force anymore. Lomax isn't bent, just a regular cop trying to get the work done. The rest of Jackie's remains will be found under the workshop floor, maybe with someone else? God knows who. Or maybe with some evidence that helps lead AC12 on the right track. Steve will still be an officer and Kate will be back where she belongs. There's probably more but my head hurts.

Will there be a series 7?

Yes.

Thank you all for reading my jumbled thoughts all packed into a text post. I'm nervous but excited for tomorrow night's finale. Let's see if I get anything right... probably not...

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peacensafety · 3 years

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This is everything about WandaVision up to Episode 5, with most of it concentrating on Episode 5. I have seen Episode 6 at this point, but I will respect the one week spoilers rule that is part of Nerd Culture.

:read more:

First of all, some basics about this series. This is an homage to different American sitcoms. Why American sitcoms when the main character is Sokovian? No one knows.

In the comic books, Wanda Maximoff is a mutant, not a science experiment like in the MCU. She and Pietro are the twin children of a Mutant named Magneto and a human named Magda (who is sometimes a Romini, and originally from Transia). Magneto is referred to as an Omega level mutant. Wanda is born with mutations, able to control Hex Powers, which is whatever the comic book writer needed to move the plot along. Sometimes her original powers have to do with probability, but like, 30 years ago, they started calling it chaos magic, and then she had extra reception to magical powers, and basically, it’s all very vague and ill-defined. She’s like the only one immune to Phoenix powers, and that’s a huge deal. She is not considered an Omega Level Mutant because she does not have completely mastery over her powers, not because she isn’t powerful enough. In the comic book series House of M, she is powerful enough to rewrite the entire universe, that was retconned in The Children’s Crusade, but then her powers are called Mutant Magic in A vs X and she’s got cosmic chaos magic. She’s supposed to serve The High Evolutionary at this point, which has made her more powerful. In the MCU, she was genetically altered by the Mind Stone, one of the six Infinity Stones. So when Wanda, AKA The Scarlet Witch, is in a story you can expect it to be about ridiculous amounts of power.

The assumption that you can make pretty quickly in the series is that Wanda Maximoff is in charge of this alternate reality, and quite possibly created it. Knowing what we know about Wanda, we assume it’s because she broke after the death of Vision and couldn’t deal with that death after the death of her parents (because of the Sokovian civil war) and Pietro, her twin brother, who was killed by Ultron. It’s stated pretty early on that Wanda could have defeated Thanos by herself (this is most likely true, one time in the comic books she decided to remove every mutant power in the known universe and she did for a couple of years. Is she more powerful than Jean Gray? Sit down with some nerds and listen to them argue, because that call will never be settled in a peaceful manner). Wanda has brought back Vision (who was killed by Thanos before he made his wish on the Stones, making him dead dead instead of mostly dead like half of the population of the universe) and in the MCU, this makes almost sense as her powers were given to her by the Mind Stone which brought Vision to life in the first place, with some interference from Tony Stark (Iron Man). In the first couple of episodes, they bring in Billy and Tommy (Speed and Wiccan) and the twins make themselves grow up pretty quickly.

Other characters that come in and play a part are Monica Rambeau (from the Marvel Comic Book Universe and the movie Captain Marvel, who is also the future Captain Marvel), Darcy Lewis (MCU character last seen hanging out with Thor), and Jimmy Woo (another MCU character, an FBI agent in charge of Scott Lang’s house arrest from Ant-Man and the Wasp).

Let’s also talk about some background about where Disney plans to go in the next 5 years. First of all, they have already acquired rights to do an X-Men series. If you have DisneyPlus (which you do unless you’re pirating this series), you know that the X-Men movies have mostly been added to the Marvel Channel rather quietly and unobtrusively. Also, there are rumors that all three movie Spidermen have signed on to the next Spider-Man movie (Toby McGuire, James Garfield, and Tom Holland). Also also, Disney has made a statement that Deadpool will be in the universe pretty soon. So we know that the endgame for Disney is a combination of all of the Marvel Comic book universe.

Things that I have noticed that are fun about this series: all of the commercials are nerd shout outs. The commercials all have something to do with time, with two being blatantly about clocks or innovation. The commercials for the most part have the same two actors in it (are they SWORD agents?). The first is a Stark toaster, which is weird, but okay, and it is the first time we see color (red, maybe an Iron Man shout out?) used in the series. The second is the Strucker watch, a blatant time reference, and Strucker if you recall from the movies is that dude who was experimenting on Wanda and Pietro when they were in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. In the comic books he’s Wolfgang von Strucker, or Baron Strucker, a former Nazi officer and agent of Hydra, and he never ages, and he shows up to try and do a genocide in the books all the time. The third commercial is about taking a break? HydraSoak bath powder. We all get the willies anytime Hydra is mentioned, so relaxing with Hydra is something we don’t want to do. This is also the first time that I think maybe this isn’t all Wanda? Also, this isn’t time appropriate (and this might be an influence from my real world job, and not some intentional message from Marvel) but mixed-race kids on a commercial in the 70s? That would have never happened. Are things starting to unravel, because this would have been super weird at that time and Marvel has been strict about time appropriateness so far, even so far as including gender roles. The last commercial is Lagos, the paper towel commercial. Paper towels are about cleaning up, right? Because these folks in the commercial spill everything. Also, we see the first incident of gender roles not being respected in WandaVision, because we see a dude wipe up his own spill. Anyway, Lagos is that Nigerian city where Wanda killed a bunch of people, including the King of Wakanda, on accident in Captain America: Civil War.

So in episode 2, SWORD is teased with the little logo on the beekeeper’s outfit at the end of the episode when he comes out of the sewer. The group outside Westview is verified to be SWORD in episode 4. Let’s talk about them a bit. These dudes in the comic books were all about space and going into space and doing space things, but then Thanos does a snappy thing. After the snappy thing (and this series is set 5 years after the Snap) they start doing nanotech and AI. In the comics Maria Rambeau is in charge, and after she dies, dude named Tyler Hayward takes over. Watch Tyler Hayward. I personally do not think he is actually Tyler Hayward, and if someone is acting and looking like someone else, we know which villain has probably just inserted himself into the show (if you’ve been watching the interviews, Tom Hiddleston shows up as a call-in fan of the show and demands to know why he didn’t have a series because he’s been dead a couple of times and Vision is stealing his Schtick). I don’t know that for sure, it could be sloppy writing? Maybe they ran out of character archetypes?

At the end of episode 5, this is when the next five years of the MCU comes into play. Wanda is missing her twin, probably because of her sons, and the doorbell rings. Standing there is Pietro Maximoff. Now the crazy part of this is that he is the wrong Pietro Maximoff (the better one, not the one that has been in the MCU movies, the X-Man Quicksilver). He’s standing there and does the weird Uncle Jesse thing from Full House, (which, if you’re paying attention to the real world, Wanda Maximoff is played by the younger sister of the Olsen twins who played Michelle on Full House in the 80s), but Wanda recognizes that he is the wrong Pietro. Darcy, who is watching the broadcast from outside the Hex, states that Wanda has recast Pietro. But has she? This woman is incredibly powerful, why would she bring back the wrong Pietro? What if she is not in charge? Wanda is really freaked out by this, and that is when I realized I needed to write everything down.

Here are my lingering questions: We have all seen Into The Spiderverse a dozen or so times. Is this how Disney is going to handle the Multi-Verse? Is Pietro the wrong Pietro because of Miles Morales and his rag-tag group of Spidermen? Does this mean that Nicholas Cage is going to be in the MCU? Is Wanda as in charge as we think she is? Can we expect to see Magneto (Wanda’s and Pietro’s dad in the comics) show up to either support his children in the Hex or fight on the side of SWORD? Maybe Professor X will come and get Wanda, Pietro, Timmy, and Billy? Will we finally see if Jean Gray is more powerful than Scarlet Witch (she’s not). Is Hayward a problem of inconsistent writing or is he Loki? Is a multi-verse a way to address Chadwick Bosemen’s death for a proper replacement of Black Panther? Hurry up and watch Episode 6 so we can talk about this stuff!

#WandaVision #WandaMaximoff #Vision #Wiccan #Speed #quicksilver #marvel #CaptainMarvel #MonicaRambeau #DarcyLewis #JimmyWoo #MCU #Marvel Comic Books #Snap

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soysaucecas · 3 years

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oooh for the ask game 24, 30, and 44!

MAGPIE MY BELOVED HELLO

24. What are your favorite episodes?

The only episodes I've really watched are TMWWBK (which is my favorite episode and I'm certain would still be my favorite if I watched every single one because it has the only SPN character and the only SPN line), The French Mistake (which was funny enough but honestly in the Just Okay category for me, which makes me pretty sure I wouldn't enjoy actually watching SPN if this is one of the funniest/highest-rated eps), and Reading Is Fundamental (my best friend was watching it and asked me if I wanted to hop on Discord, I thought it might be fun to see Kevin's first introduction but instead this ep found the two of us taking like 90 minutes to get through it bc we kept pausing and screaming (derogatory) as the model minority stereotype jokes piled up and up and up... Unfortunately not a favorite even if we got Meg AND the "pull my finger" joke AND the "Sorry" shot). Other than TMWWBK, from clipping and transcript-reading, I like Wayward Sisters (who doesn't?), The Things We Left Behind (Claire!!!! Cas trying to be a dad! The diner scene aka my favorite destiel scene of all time bc being in love just looks so good on Cas! Also the parallels between Claire and Randy and teen Dean and the adults at that club in his story... woof.), Golden Time (Eileen gets to be HERE and be sad and loved and fight people with ghost powers and Cas gets to do a cool speech and a stabbing and do the Asian community a favor), and Lucifer Rising (just immensely sexy on all counts for Ruby, Sam, Cas, and myself). Also I am SO fond of Steve!Cas so I'll add Heaven Can't Wait even if I barely know anything about it.

30. What is an unpopular opinion or headcanon you have about the show?

Ooh okay hm I think. So I adore confession scene, but I don't think the "I cared about the whole world because of you" is like. The Objective Truth the way that most bloggers seem to take it. Cas was lobotomized tons of times before he met Dean, he was described as coming off the line with a crack in his chassis, he's always been the weird little angel who likes humanity too much! I don't think Dean came first, and although gay love was part of what helped Cas invent free will, he *Ruby voice* didn't need the feather to fly, Dumbo! I do think Cas believes what he says in the moment, but I also think he sorta... made himself believe it? This is probably just me deciding that cas-coding should go both ways, but like. I very much crush as a coping mechanism and I very much overascribe my actions to love because it simply seems more noble/poetic to do so. Being miserable because school is hard is cringefail but being miserable because of unrequited love is Good Shit. And I have been in unrequited love with my best friend for at least 7 years (probably 9 but I didn't realize it earlier) and if you asked I would 100% say that she taught me love and defined love for me and that she will be my first and last, but I also know that that is not entirely true; it's just the narrative that I like for myself. And I think that being in an Empty deal contingent on whether or not he LETS himself feel happy would lead Cas to do plenty of mental maneuvering, which I think involved intentional self-poor-little-meow-meow-ification via overascribing his choices and happiness to Dean (and I also think he'd already been doing that for a while just because of personal self-worth issues and because it's a nice narrative). I know as Cas's last Moment on the show it was probably written to be The Objective Truth, but I am perceiving him and I say no.

44. If you could write an episode of Supernatural, what would happen?

Oh scream okay! This is a fun one! I am going to start out with two ideas from other people:

1. Months ago Nate from the pocnatural discord had the idea of an episode from the "monster"'s perspective where the Winchesters are just clearly the antagonists while not doing anything different than they usually do. I think the idea was that all these supernatural beings live in a self-regulating community together and we have one Very Likable pov character who's a member of this community, but one of the newer members messes up one day and kills someone and the Winchesters come on a case and wreak havoc on this Very Much Functioning (there was going to be a whole rehab and reparations thing for the new member who messed up!) system and kill pov character and in the end you just HATE Sam and Dean for it.

2. It's hard to adapt anything from bad moon rising (aka my favorite spn fic) very well because the point of an Arab Winchesters season 1 rewrite is that it doesn't really work with the white characters we have now, but I think I could see a version of chapter 2 adapted as long as Haley (an Ojibwe hunter who lives in the area affected by what Sam and Dean are hunting) takes the lead. I'd especially like to see this section:

Dean laughs, a little disbelievingly. The question has never crossed his mind. “Do you like it?”

This gives Haley no pause at all. “Yeah,” she says. “I mean, it’s not really about killing monsters, though, for me. Or, it’s not always about killing monsters. It’s about community. Not violence. It’s a spiritual thing to build a home, you know?”

“Oh,” Dean says. He can’t think of anything else to say. It has never crossed his mind before that hunting could be compatible with a community.

I don't have any original episode ideas to add to the hunting discourse, so we're on to my ideas about character-driven eps. I think I would like to see a version of my sastiel possession fic (ty again for beta-ing that! you're a real one) as an ep around the time of 9.11 because Sam deserves to work through their trauma, but idk what the Dean plot should be for that. Another thing I would like very much is TFW drunk history storytime (so like. Tall Tales bass boosted), where for some reason they all need to go over what they were doing during Stanford era but each of them is telling someone else's story. It's gonna be either Sam->Dean->Cas->Sam or Dean->Sam->Cas->Dean. It starts out very funny (they all have terrible wigs and makeup in the flashbacks. Cas is Jimmy wearing a giant mask with googly eyes on it.) but as it goes on it gets increasingly sad how much these three don't really know each other.

In the Sam->Dean->Cas->Sam episode, Sam's telling of Dean's past veers wildly between "crushing pussy and killing things" and "feels like absolute shit all the time" and it's funny but Not Right and afterwards Dean goes "I didn't know you thought of me that way" and Sam says "... I am basically reading off the voicemails you left me back then" and Dean has to sit there and contend with the mythology he himself wrote for Sam to believe in. Dean->Cas provides the comedic beats for the episode as Dean awkwardly narrates Cas's Life As A Weird Little Guy who watches trees grow and heals babies and in the end Dean goes "so how did I do" and Cas is like "well actually I was either getting lobotomized or murdering people so like 3/10?" The moral of this plot line is that Dean is bi. Cas gives a fairly faithful retelling of Sam living her trans little life at Stanford and veering between trying to be Normal and being a total weirdgirl and feeling guilty and angry and happy and free. It becomes clear that Cas admires Sam a lot (but also feels like. guilt and some self-recrimination for not being that) for rebelling from their dad and exploring their queerness during a time Cas was still to his knowledge in total soldier mode, and Sam is having an a_good_soldier's Thesis 5 moment about how she failed the kid she used to be and how very sorry they are about all the things that happened to them, and Dean hates that this is the first he's hearing about so much of this but is also quite emo about the parts where Sam is struggling. The ep ends with them all in the same room not looking at each other and not knowing if they want to group hug or never talk again.

Dean->Sam->Cas episode is similar but the storytelling dissolves a lot faster as it becomes clearer way faster how much their own emotions are getting in the way. Dean is upset that Sam could leave their family so easily and probably swing a normal life, Sam keeps wondering what it would be like to live millennia just KNOWING that you were right and good and clean, and Cas is gay and veering between fitting Dean's life into a larger Righteous Man narrative and just being very tender (and sad and angry) about Dean's pain. Episode ends in a rather cathartic shouting match where they all end up apologizing to each other for many things.

Oh also I would like to see Cassie again but I don't have an episode in mind there. Also would love to see Kaia adjusting to life in Sioux Falls and befriending the others and dealing with Bad Place trauma.

tysm for the questions sorry for taking so long!

(ask game)

#ask #long post

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meggie-stardust · 3 years

Text

GUNDAM WING - 2020 REWATCH - 19 - 20

What stands out now:

19. Assault on Barge

Think we are in for some 1x2 shenanigans (and as an old school 1x2 shipper, I AM READY)

HOWARD just strikes me as a guy who only listens to Jimmy Buffett. Like, he might help repair Tallgeese, but he’s just counting down to 5:00 so he can get his margaritaville on

“That’s an interesting looking machine… oh, it’s Tallgeese, I made it btw.”

“This isn’t what we meant” is totally a Gundam Wing song. Fight me. (actually I’m gonna make a whole post about this later, because I need to elaborate)

Colonel Une is nutbar: Her order is let him live if he’s ugly?? I have no memory of this?

OZ is like “OMG IT’S A GUNDAM!? On the thing that’s holding a Gundam?! HOW COULD WE HAVE BEEN PREPARED FOR THIS?!”

Duo’s cheery “You’re gonna die” is great. Duo is like the looks like a cinnamon roll but will kill you meme, and I love it.

“Tag along on my journey into hell” is such a fierce line

Trowa is the unexpected voice of reason

“What’s this?” Cabbage, dumb-dumb. Don’t you have salad in space??

Come on Heero, you managed to hide a gun in spandex, you can’t hide it in your jeans better. Why are you so bad at this?

That hero shot for Heero. Chefs kiss. It’s so good.

Duo: You can kill me if you want; Heero: Oh no. You asked me to kill you? Now I have feelings for you.

Describing the Mobile Dolls as “Annihilation machines” seems like a bad thing, tbh. But would be a badass name for a metal band.

How is Lady Une is magically sending out her peace talk? Does she have the same magic powers as Quatre?

Oh no. Are the mobile dolls attacking our own Leos?? What could possibly go wrong here?

Oh no, they are annihilation machines. How could we possibly have seen this coming.

Getting the Mobile Dolls to attack the Leos and the space suits is the best executed plan that Heero’s been a part of so far. We don’t see how it happens, and we know he didn’t have an escape plan, so I’m going to assume this was Duo’s idea.

20. The Lunar Base Infiltration

Duo: You can’t tell me not to come; Heero: You’re injured, you’ll get in the way; Duo: You know what?! I didn’t want to go anyway, so I’ll just stay here; Heero: Fine; Duo: FINE.

The moon is just one shitty mall. Figures

There’s something haunting about hanging a half built mech with all it’s wires hanging out. Eva really leaned into it, but we get it a lot in this episode with Vayeate and Sandrock.

Oh hey, it’s Sally Po

Oh hey, it’s the Maganac Corps

Oh hey, we can talk to each other without any sort of radio. Crazy!

Look, I don’t want Duo to cut his hair, but what an idiot. At least tuck it into your hat, man. The braid is pretty obvious, especially when you have wanted posters hanging around.

Trowa Barton. You really are just going to use the name you stole from someone else? And just tell OZ about it? Why are all the pilots so bad about their aliases.

That being said, Trowa is so cool. I am super into Trowa this time around.

NOOOOOOOOO. Come on Duo. This is not keeping a low profile.

Trowa’s tears. So iconic. So sad, he hasn’t cried in over a decade.

Lutenient Nichol is the only smart guy in Oz.

Oh man, Mercurius and the Vayeate. I remembered the names of these suits for 20 years, but I don’t know basic math. Go figure.

Lady Une/Colonel Une is so fascinating. Is she really unaware of her two sides? Did Trowa just break her? Does she not realize she’s part of OZ?

A-game from Trowa and Doctor S to totally ignore each other

Heero continues to be the worst at everything. What was his plan there? Why attack in Vayeate when everyone was there? When it’s not even fully bult? When you KNOW that Mercurius can just block it. WHY ARE YOU SO BAD AT THIS HEERO?

Why do I ship the pilots as soon as they point a gun at each other? 1x2 in the last episode; 1x3 here. I’m pretty sure Noin pulls a gun on Duo soon, too...

Thoughts:

Heero is set up to the best character in this show, and he’s pretty awesome, but all he wants to do is go to school and just hang out. At least, that seems to be the thing he’s good at because he’s not good at carrying out any mission plan. I mean, he looks good while doing it, but it never ends well... I remember back in the day there was this yahoo mailing list I was on SDDI: Society for the Defence of Duo’s Intelligence. IDK why people thought Duo wasn’t smart (I was on the list because it was good discussion and lots of fic, if I recall, also mailing lists were great). Anyway, so far none of them have been super successful with their plans, but Trowa and Wufei have been slightly more?

Also, we’ve been watching the Dub because that’s what @mpanighetti and I both watched on Toonami back in the day and we wanted the same experience... and having seen some of the sub, I think they do a pretty good job with a lot of the voices and the translations... that being said, Howard’s info dump at Zechs in 19 is just awful. I’m eager to go back and watch that scene subbed and see the differences.

What I think I remember for the next episode(s):

Heero and Trowa get to pilot Mercurius and the Vayeate against Tallgeese. I think we get a few more pilot pairups as well? We get a glimpse of Quatre’s home.

ALSO: We know that it was shortsighted to start this in early December 2020 and call this Rewatch 2020. I’m gonna continue to use the “Gundam wing rewatch 2020″ tag to track all this (and if you want to follow the tag, too), and I might just take the date off the titles going forward.

#gundam wing rewatch 2020 #gundam wing #gundam meme #mpanighetti #assault on barge #the lunar base infiltration

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katehuntington · 4 years

Text

Title: Changes - part eleven Word count: ±3000 words Summary “Changes”: Huntress Zoë Sullivan (OFC) crosses paths and swords with the Winchesters, when the brothers stumble on a case she’s already working. When complications arise, they are forced to work together. Summary part eleven: The case is closed and the hunters go their separate ways, but not before having to deal with a few loose ends. Episode warnings: Dark! NSFW, 18+ only! Angst, gore, violence, character death. Description of blood, injury and medical procedures. Demon possession, supernatural creatures/entities. Smut, swearing, alcohol use/addiction. Kidnapping, mentions of torture and murder, illegal/criminal practices. Mentions of nightmares and flashbacks. Music: Purple Haze - Jimmi Hendrix, Highway To Hell - AC/DC. Author’s note: I’m super excited to share Supernatural: The Sullivan Series. There are quite a few people I want to thank: @coffee-obsessed-writer, @soupornatural & @mrswhozeewhatsis, who edited the early drafts, and my girls @girl-with-a-fandom-fettish and @winchest09 who are deciphering the recent version. Everyone who encouraged me to go for it, you are awesome!

Supernatural: The Sullivan Series Masterlist 01x01 “Changes” Masterlist

Flashing lights shimmer bright blue and red on the surroundings of the three hunters. They’re out in the open again, the moon and stars above them, the night air chilly. Dean leans against his Impala, while Zoë has made herself comfortable on the saddle of her bike, overlooking the scene. Police officers are clearing the area, some take notes of what the victims have to say. Before the authorities arrived, the hunters talked to the victims about what to tell the police. Their best advice was to keep quiet. People who start their statement with the word ‘shapeshifter’ usually end up in a psych ward. If they ever need to talk about what happened, they can call the brothers.

All the people have been pulled out of the septic tank by the fire department. An ambulance with Cole in the back is the first to leave the driveway, sirens blaring, while others are treated and prepared for their ride to hospital. Sam walks up to the other hunters and halts, watching the ambulance take off. “Cole is in critical condition, but the paramedic was hopeful. She said if we hadn’t found him, he wouldn’t have survived the night. The others are okay, besides from minor injuries and malnutrition,” he informs. “Good,” Dean says, satisfied. “And Terry Cliffer?” Zoë wonders. “Yeah, about Terry...” Sam shakes his head. “They found him, too.” “Dead?” she assumes. Sam nods and leans against the hood. The paramedics took care of the wound on his head, the injury is barely visible, covered by his long brown hair. “They found his body in the back of the tank.” Zoë sighs. “Damnit.” She glances over to the ambulance where Michelle Cliffer is sitting on a gurney, wrapped in a thermal blanket. She has her daughter and son by her side, comforting her children. Zoë wonders if she knows. The boys catch her gaze at the broken family. “You can’t save them all.”

It's Dean who reminds her of that, to Zoë’s surprise. She expected words of consolation from the younger Winchester, who’s shown her a lot more sympathy than his arrogant brother, until now, that is. She nods at the hunter, hearing his message, but unable to accept tonight’s outcome. Every time an innocent is killed by something she hunts, she feels like she failed. Even though they saved the others, not to mention the many victims that would have followed if they hadn't ended the shifter, Zoë cannot shake that feeling.

When she looks up at Michelle again, she sees that the woman is on her way over. It’s not hard to miss the widow’s grief. “Michelle...” Sam stammers, not sure what to say. She forces a polite smile and gives him a nod, but it's obvious she's torn up. Through the tears, she looks them in the eye one by one. “What you did… you have no idea what this means to me,” she says, her voice breaking. “Just doing our job, ma’am,” Dean responds, as if it’s no big deal.

“It’s so strange...” The poor woman shakes her head, still unable to grasp what happened. “I noticed that Terry was behaving differently about a month ago. I had no idea that--" “- it wasn’t your husband?” Sam fills in. She looks up at him, sniffles and nods. “He looked just like him. A few days ago, I started asking questions and… well, you know the rest.” She looks down, as if she’s trying to find her strength in the soil underneath her feet. Her bottom lip begins to quiver. “They just informed me about Terry.” “We're very sorry,” Sam returns, compassionately.

Michelle looks up, her piercing blue eyes seeking Dean, the man who rescued her and her children. “Thank you,” she says, soft but genuine. “Don’t thank me. Thank her,” he nods at Zoë. “She did most of the work.” Zoë looks up, stunned, not expecting the sudden attention. Her gaze shifts to the mother, who turns towards her, her eyes showing more gratitude than a thousand words could describe. “Thank you for rescuing our children.” she voices, gratefully, and turns to the boys as well. “You saved my family.”

With nothing left to say, she heads back for the ambulance, her little boy walking with her by the hand, but Lizzy lingers, still looking up at the female hunter. After pondering a little longer, the six year old runs towards the huntress and folds her little arms around Zoë’s leg, giving her a hug before heading back to her mother. A small smile pulls at the corner of her mouth as Zoë watches the little girl go. Lizzy waves at her until the doors of the ambulance close, answered by a final salute from the company of three. A breath floats from her lips, the weight on her shoulders made lighter by the young girl, who made it all worthwhile.

“Dude, you smell like a toilet,” Dean comments out of nowhere. He sniffs while making a face, eying his brother, who is still standing next to him. “You wanna tell me you smell like roses?” Sam returns. Dean stares back, puzzled. “What are you--“ Sam grabs Dean’s leather coat and pulls it up, showing the dirt and feces stuck to it. “Ah, shit,” Dean curses. Zoë grins. “Indeed.” Sam can’t help but smirk when Dean pulls himself loose, annoyed. Then he glares at Zoë. “You totally fucked up my favorite jacket,” he gripes, pissed off. “Gonna cry about it?” she pouts at him. He gives her a dirty look and narrows his eyes, but Zoë doesn’t let him off the hook just yet. “You’re lucky you didn’t fuck up my Dave,” she warns. “Next time you have the nerve to get on my bike, I’ll kill you.” “You have such a warm and loving personality, know that?” Dean snarls, sarcastically.

“Talking about warm and loving, you said something about ‘me being all over you’?” she brings up, curious. “You jumped me, and not in a violent kind of way,” he reveals, scratching the back of his head, a little embarrassed. “How did you find out it wasn’t me?” Zoë wonders. “Simple; there was no trace of that bullet wound,” he explains, nodding at her abdomen. “Ah, so clothes were off; you did play ball.” She grins, crossing her arms and leaning back a little. “How far did you make it, exactly? First base? Second base?”

Sam snorts, watching the interaction between the two hunters. He didn’t expect a blush to turn the tips of Dean’s ears pink, however. “Oh, whoa!” she realizes. “You got to third base.” “Dude, you had sex with a shapeshifter?” Sam smirks. “Dude, no! C’mon!” Dean defends. Zoë grins, amused. His denial was a little too fast and too loud. For a ‘professional’ con artist, he’s a pretty bad liar. “Did shifter-me give you a hand or was it the other way around?” “I - that’s not…” Dean stutters, only digging himself deeper. “You know what? I don’t have to answer to you.” She huffs. “Well, since you thought you were having sex with me, I think you kinda do.” “I didn’t have sex with you, or fake-you,” he makes clear, correcting himself while looking confused. “Look, I know what I was doing. I shot the fucker and saved your ass, so I think I deserve some credit.”

But Zoë doesn’t plan to stop. “You’re into me,” she provokes. “You’re so full of shit,” Dean scoffs. “You might come in a pretty package, sweetheart, but you are as sour as they come.” She laughs at the insult and slides her helmet over her head, securing the chinstrap. “I have zero intention to become your friend, Dean, and that was your first clue. When that shifter came on so strong, you should’ve known you were either having a wet dream, or the ‘pretty package’ wasn’t actually this sour bitch.”

The huntress starts the engine of her Harley before the guy she’s been butting heads with can counter. She doesn’t take off however; she’s not done yet. “Oh, by the way, did you know that shapeshifters aren’t sexless?” “Of course I knew that,” Dean utters. “So?” “Well, Sammy there saw the shifter shed and he was pretty sure it wasn’t female. So whatever you did, you didn’t do it with the opposite sex.” Zoë leaves the rest for the older Winchester brother to figure out, and to her amusement, it doesn’t take long before it settles in what she’s implying. When she sees the horror and bewilderment in his eyes, she has to pull every string to not break character. “Bye, boys!”

She turns the throttle and steers her bike towards the road. Sam has the feeling he’s experiencing déjà vu. Last night, they were standing in the exact same spot, Zoë driving off on her Harley Davidson, Dean staring at her in awe. The younger Winchester tries his best not to burst into laughter, but has difficulty keeping a straight face. He decides to play along with Zoë’s little mind game. “Is she actually saying that I...?” Dean stammers, eyeing his brother, unsettled. Sam nods. “Did you really see…?” Sam nods. Nauseated Dean looks away, realizing what this means. “I’m gonna throw up.”

Disoriented, he circles the car and slips into his seat a moment later. In shock he stares at the emblem in the center of the steering wheel; his whole life has been a lie. Purple Haze by Jimi Hendrix starts playing when the driver turns the key in the ignition. As if he didn’t feel dirty enough, the thought of the shapeshifter driving his beloved Impala only adds to his discomfort. Oh well, at least the bastard didn’t screw with his mixtape.

Beams of yellow glide through the car rhythmically, fading in and out every time they pass a street light. The V8 under the hood roars steady, already radiating warmth into the cabin as they are about to drive into the city of Rochester. Dean has turned the heat on, aware that Sam had been stuck underground for hours; he figured his little brother might be cold. The gash on his head didn’t look too bad, looks like he got away with nothing but a scratch. “So, what’s our plan for the rest of the night?” Dean asks him, actually checking if Sam wants to hit the road or call it a night. Sam chuckles, assuming he has other intentions with that question. “Considering you have a date with Vicodin girl?” For the second time this evening, Dean experiences a sudden and overwhelming pressure on his chest as he hits the brakes, almost causing the car behind him to crash into his bumper. The driver honks madly and swerves around when the Chevrolet pulls over. “Dude!” Sam exclaims, startled. He doesn’t answer. When they have come to a full stop, Dean glances at his watch instead; it’s 9:15. Frustrated he slams the steering wheel. “Fuck!” “What’s your problem?” Sam returns, stunned. “That’s my problem.” He nods at his rear view mirror.

It’s just now that Sam notices the sirens behind them. He quickly looks over his shoulder and curses, but is surprised to see the police cars pass them. “It’s not even for us, Dean. Would you relax?” Sam doesn’t understand all the fuss. “Oh, it’s for us, alright,” Dean mutters, nodding at the first responders, who make a sharp right to 6th St Southwest, joined by another vehicle from the other direction. “That’s - that’s where our hotel is,” the younger of the two realizes. The driver rubs his face. “I didn’t bolt the door.” With eyes wide open, Sam stares at his brother. “What?!” “I was in a bit of a hurry,” Dean excuses. “I think Vicodin girl walked in on a dead shapeshifter.” “Please tell me you covered our tracks,” his brother pleads. “I didn’t have time for that, Sam! For all I knew I could have been working on a fucking time schedule here! I didn’t know where you were, if you were alive!” he explains, frantically. “Okay, just chill out. You did take our stuff with you, right?” Sam supposes. “Let me think. Who had the car again!?” Dean returns. “You left my laptop in the room?!” Sam exclaims, freaking out. “All our documents, our records, everything is on that computer!” “I wasn’t thinking straight, okay?! I thought you were dead!” Dean shouts back. “At least tell me you brought Dad’s journal,” Sam asserts. He doesn’t need an answer; when he watches Dean’s expression go blank, he knows enough. “Dean, you didn’t,” Sam sighs and runs his hands through his hair frustrated. “We need to get back in there,” Dean states, determined. “Are you nuts? There are cops all over that place!” Sam reminds him. “Everything we know, everything Dad knows, is in that journal. Names, addresses, phone numbers, you have any idea how many people are gonna get in trouble if that book falls into the wrong hands?!” Sam sums up, his voice raised.

Before Sam can continue the argument, Dean’s Rock N’ Roll ringtone cuts through the tension. Irritated, he rummages around in his pocket and takes out his phone. He checks the display before he picks up; he doesn’t know the number. “Hello?” “Hey, Birdbrain.” He recognizes that voice, even though the sounds in the background are so loud that he has difficulty understanding her. He rolls his eyes skyward. “Zo, not now. I have a little bit of a situation here.” “You mean that you left everything you own except for that damn car of yours in the Deep Purple Inn, which just got stormed by the cops?”

Dean stares at the road ahead, flabbergasted. “How the fuck do you know that?” “Because I was just there.” “You were there?” he repeats stunned. Frowning, Sam looks over at his brother, trying to make out what Zoë is saying. “That lizard took my Macbook and my phone up to your room, I had to get it back. Nice job tidying up the place, by the way.” “I was a little busy saving everyone’s ass!” Dean returns. “I went through a hell of a lot of trouble to get your things, but I’ll be happy to dump them alongside the road somewhere if you don’t drop that attitude. Do you want your shit back or not?”

Silence. Dean curses under his breath, turning the speaker away from his mouth so that the huntress doesn’t pick up on it. He absolutely despises it when he’s forced to take a knee. “Yes,” he growls, grinding his teeth while pronouncing the simple three letter word. “I’m gonna make sure I’m out of the state before I pull over, considering shapeshifter-me shot up an entire bar and I just entered the crime scene of my own murder. I advise you to do the same thing.” “Copy that,” Dean agrees. “And our stuff?” “You’ve got my number. Give me a call in a few days.” “Can’t we just meet up somewhere in Iowa?” he proposes. “No can do, I’m heading to Arkansas for a haunting. Not sure how long that’s gonna take. Leave the state, lay low and call me in a few days, got that?” Dean sighs, rolling his eyes. Seems like he doesn’t have a choice. “Got it.” “Oh, and for the sake of public health, when you cross the state border, take a shower at the first truck stop.” With those words, she disconnects. Dean looks down at the phone and scoffs. Un-fucking-believable. “She has our stuff?” Sam has been staring at him all this time, it’s just now that Dean looks him in the eye. “Unfortunately,” Dean confirms and looks in the rear view mirror, before he turns back on the road and hits the gas.

They pass 6th Street Southwest, which is swarming with police. Sam straightens his back, glad that they don’t have to deal with it. He just hopes this isn’t going to come back and bite Dean in the ass later. “That’s murder number two on your police record,” Sam comments. “You sound like Dad,” the older brother mutters. “No, I don’t,” Sam argues. The corner of Dean’s mouth pulls up. “You’d be surprised how much you’re like the old man,” he remarks. Sam changes the subject. “So, what’s our plan?” Dean shrugs, his right hand on the wheel, his left hand in his lap, unburdening his hurting shoulder. He doesn’t take his eyes from the road as he drives south, down highway 63. “According to Sullivan, we should lay low for a few days.” “Sounds fine to me,” Sam agrees. “Where are we going next?” “Arkansas,” Dean announces. The younger Winchester glances aside at his brother. “Why Arkansas?” Dean returns a smug grin. Sam knows that look, he has seen it way too many times. “You’re gonna follow her, aren’t you?” he presumes. “You actually think I’m gonna wait until she has some spare time in her agenda?” Dean chuckles.

It’s not often, but Sam actually agrees with him. They have better things to do, like finding Dad and hunting down the bastard that killed Mom and his girlfriend; he’s going to need the journal and his laptop for that. “Arkansas it is then.” Dean turns up the volume when the first tunes from Cliff Williams’ guitar comes through the speakers. Putting the pedal to the metal, he joins in with the drums and he can’t help but nod his head slightly on the beat. Bon Scott’s peculiar scratchy voice belts out the first verse and the driver gladly joins him. He doesn’t care that his brother shakes his head disapprovingly. There’s just no way he can let AC/DC’s Highway To Hell go by without singing along.

No stop signs, speed limit Nobody's gonna slow me down Like a wheel, gonna spin it Nobody's gonna mess me 'round

Hey Satan, payin' my dues Playin' in a rockin' band Hey momma, look at me I'm on my way to the Promised Land

I'm on the highway to hell Highway to hell I'm on the highway to hell Highway to hell

Thank you for reading. I appreciate every single one of you, but if you do want to give me some extra love, you are free to like or reblog my work, shoot me a message or buy me coffee (Link to Kofi in bio at the top of the page).

Start on episode two here

The Sullivan Series tags: @a-gir1-has-n0-name @destielhoneybee @fookinghelljensensthighs @laphirablack @magssteenkamp

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tonysziva · 4 years

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Second hardest 180 of my life

Thanks @talisbirthdaychallenge for prompting me to write again, it was a long time since I wrote a bit of fanfic and I had a great time. Besides, this is such a cute way to celebrate Tali and to bring together creative and talented people in this fandom.❤️I incorporated the birthday cake, the zoom call, the head-slap™, an old inside joke, a blood relative on Ziva’s side, a pie to the face (actually cake if it counts), a song that makes me think of Tiva, an airport, a new dress and someone laughing until they cry.

English is not my native language so maybe I may have left some accidental mistakes or wrong idioms lol.

“Imaa, where is my brush? I told you I would pack my own toiletries and..” How agitated Tali was. Being and 18 year old headed to college was not and easy task. She sat down on the bed, Tony watching from the doorframe.

“Slow down Tee, we have still plenty of time to figure out what you will put in your college boxes, besides, today we celebrate your birthday with grandpa Gibbs isn’t that exciting?”

He received death stare from his daughter. He did not expect parenting a teenager would have been this hard. Yes, Tali sure has always been a very sweet and kind child but since she wasn’t a child anymore, her character changed, her true colors started to show. Sometimes she reminded him of himself when he was her age but she most definitely inherited her mum’s sassiness along with the bravery and kindness.

Tony watched her as she slowly began to soften her expression. Although she was soon off to college, she would forever be his little girl, the same one that he watched sleeping every night in their tiny Parisian loft. Things changed since they moved back to DC when Ziva joined them again many years ago but he couldn’t help but keep on seeing that little girl in her.

“Yeah, I guess” she smiled. “dad?”

“mhh?”

“will you and Ima miss me when I go away?”

In that exact same moment Ziva reached her husband. She took his hand.

“Of course Tali, nothing will change and you know you will always be welcome back home”

“Besides” Tony interrupted “I’ll miss having someone around who actually gets my jokes and has the same taste for movies” he said teasingly. They all hugged as Tony begun tickling his girls. He knew they both had that week spot and he loved hearing their giggles. He always knew his wife had a soft side to her and seeing her grow through the years as a mother made it clear to him that he wouldn’t have wanted anyone else by his side.

It was tradition like every year that the whole family reunited to celebrate Tali’s birthday. Of course it would have been at Gibbses place. Oh how much he spoiled that little girl of his. He cherished every moment with his grandchildren, Victoria, Tali and the twins but somehow Tali was the special one, also given the delicate situation she had been through.

Also like every year it was a tradition that Senior would gift Tali a dress for her birthday and that year would be no different. He had a good taste and always sent the best fabrics for his favorite granddaughter. Her light blue knee length long sleeved dress matched perfectly with her light olive skin, and the dark blue dots were absolutely delightful, matching her bubbly personality.

Tony and Ziva decided back then that it would have been better for Tali and for them settle down definitely in DC, since a little help from their friends would always be nice. But through the years it was clear they made the perfect choice seeing how much Tali and Gibbs had bonded. She spent many afternoons after school with him since he retired from NCIS, and came to swear to know the secret to how Grandpa Gibbs got the boats out from his basement, to which Tony tried to get it out from her in every way.

“Happy birthday Kid” Gibbs hugged her as they arrived at his home. He hugged his two former agents, who he considered his kids all the way. Not always had there to be blood to connect people as family, especially at NCIS. Unfortunately a difficult case at work kept the rest of the fam from coming but there was another surprise for Tali. On a pc Mcgee managed to instruct Gibbs on how it functions there was an Incoming Zoom video call.

Tali could not believe her eyes : “happy 18th birthday dear Tali” Uncle Tim, Uncle Jimmy, Jack, Ellie and her husband Nick the wuss, as Ima still jokingly called him, were all there. She was soooo happy gosh that was a nice surprise. They excused themselves for not being there and Tali understood because she knew what being a very special agent meant.

They opened presents, ate and laughed, even more so as Gibbs presented his homemade cake. And since it revealed itself to taste horribly, Tali and Ziva could not resist but smash some cake into Tony’s face. It was such an hilarious scene for everybody except for Tony who desperately tried to remove it from his hair. It was a long time since Gibbs had seen such an hilarious episode and what was even more rare was seeing tears forming in Gibbses and Tali’s eyes, they could not stop laughing at Tony. It was one of those moments which Tali would have cherished for the years to come.

Late night arrived. The evening at Gibbses place had been great but back at home Tali started to become more and more agitated. Her parents immediately noticed.

“What’s wrong mon coeur? Is everything alright?” Ziva’s mom senses jumped in.

“yeah it’s just… I was wondering- her light brown curls now shaking with her head- i was just wondering what if I wanted to become and agent like you and Dad and Gibbs and everyone else?” Tali knew it was a very hard topic to touch since she heard her parents argue several times over which path would have been best for her. She was now old enough and really wished her parents knew what she longed for after college, the fact that that world has always called for her.

Tony and Ziva looked at each other knowing that maybe that moment would have come.

“well Tali you must know that when I was introduced to the team I was still very young and it all happened when”

“yeah i know when uncle Ari was sent here to kill Gibbs I know the story Ima”

“yes. When we talked about you taking this path we were afraid, you know it’s a work full of threats and”

“and full of pretty coworkers” Tony added smirking.

Ziva smiled to his husband annoyed. “that’s not the point, but you get it Tali. We don’t want you to get hurt but…if that would make you happy then we’ll support you and of course, you would learn from the very best.”

“like your mother said I was once Very special agent Anthony DiNozzo and…” he was shushed by his wife throwing a big pillow at him and everyone bursted into a laugh.

“my Tali remember, you will be everything you are meant to be” Ziva caressed her daughter’s cheek.

“thanks Abba, Thank you Ima” how grateful they were for their not anymore little girl.

The day arrived when they had to accompany Tali to the airport. It took Tony all of his power not to cry at the breakfast table as he hummed “slipping through my fingers” from Mamma Mia in his head. Ziva on the other hand was better at hiding it, even though she always hated goodbyes. Well it wasn’t technically a forever goodbye but knowing that the nest would be empty from that moment on left a bittersweet feeling In her.

“i can’t wait to meet my roommates” was all Tali could say as they were about to say goodbye, her eyes now watery but full of resolution.“i will miss you but I’ll promise I’ll call as soon as I land.”.

“And if any boy tries to break your heart you’re still going to tell your old dad aren’t you Tee?” Tali promptly head-slapped her dad just like Gibbs did for many years. it was actually the very first time she did it and it felt oddly satisfying. they could’t help but laugh.

The family hugged one more time before parting. As they were walking away Tony had to intervene:

“Funny how this is the second time I leave from an airport without Tali” a nod to that evening at the tarmac. And again “guess this is the second hardest 180 of my life”.

His wife stared lovingly at him. “she will be fine, let’s go home Tony”. She rubbed his back ant took his hand. Everything was okay.

#happybirthdaytali #tiva #tivali #tony dinozzo #ziva david #tali david dinozzo #ncis #how long it has been since i wrote a tiva fanfic #my oh my they melt my heart #they have the cutest realtionship #grandpa gibbs I can't #tali and gibbs best pals #tali is such a sweetheart

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edharrisdaily · 4 years

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'Westworld' Star Ed Harris on His Twist-Filled Season 3 Storyline: "It Was Hard to Enjoy"

The Hollywood Reporter picks the occasional Man in Black's brain about why he wasn't always thrilled with his character's direction in the HBO drama: "I wasn't the happiest camper."

What is the nature of the Man in Black's reality? It's a question at the heart of HBO's Westworld, and one that Ed Harris' William does not have the clearest answer for — a fact that frustrates the dark-hearted gunslinger, just as it does the man tasked with bringing the character to life.

In "Decoherence," season three's sixth installment, Harris' host-hunting antihero stands front and center — both for the audience, as well as for himself, as he embarks on a virtual therapy-induced internal battle against various versions of his own reflection: Jimmi Simpson's young William, an even younger version of the character played by Zayd Kiszonak, as well as returning James Delos actor Peter Mullan playing the role of veritable group therapy leader. Along for the ride: three different "Men in Black," all played by Harris: William in a tuxedo, meant to embody the version of the man who presents himself to the world at large; William in Western attire, meant to embody the ruthless killer who stalked the park for so many years; and William now, all in white, a psychiatric patient forced to reckon with his own past.

How does William choose to reckon with it? The exact same way he usually does: with violence, and a whole lot of it. The Man in White kills all versions of himself, Man in Black included, and wakes up to Jeffrey Wright's Bernard and Luke Hemsworth's Stubbs standing overhead. The newly woke William returns to reality with an epiphany about himself: he's "the good guy."

What does that mean, exactly? The revelation will bear out in the episodes ahead, with some further light shed in the following conversation between The Hollywood Reporter and the man behind the Man in Black himself: Ed Harris, speaking candidly about his frustrations over his character's arc in season three, and how he allowed his own personal feelings to fuel his work as the character.

What kinds of conversations did you have with Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy about what was in store for the Man in Black this year?

I just was kind of curious as to what was going to happen and what was going on. And I really didn't get much input. It was pretty much revealed episode by episode what was going on with him, and I certainly didn't know how the season ended. I wish I had a better answer. First of all, I really enjoyed playing the Man in Black, right? Then all of the sudden, he's the Man in White. So I wasn't the happiest camper to tell you the truth, because I really enjoyed the part I was playing, and I was hoping that he, the Man in Black, would continue to somehow be prevalent in the story. And when I realized that was no longer the case, I had to just readjust my whole head and get into what was going on with William in this place that he has found himself, trapped in this facility, being tested, and whatever is going on with him.

You get to play the Man in Black again, but in this limited virtual reality capacity — as well as the "philanthropist" version of William, too.

Right. I'd had the experience of A, playing the corporate guy in his tuxedo in a number of scenes, where now he's the man. And obviously the Man in Black, I'd been used to playing him. Young William, obviously, I wasn't playing, and then there's [the Man in White], who is under the control of the facility. The costume [helped]. Once you put the tuxedo on, you're that guy. Once you have your Man in Black suit, you're in that guy. When you're the guy in the white, then you're in a whole other situation. You're shooting one of these guys at a time, and you're just focused on that particular aspect of his character. So I mean, it took a little while and a lot of costume changes… but it was pretty interesting, I got to say.

What did you discover about William, as you started digging into this new take on the character?

I mean, he's been so deprived of any sense of freedom, that I think he's really just trying to survive. I mean, when they put that ... whatever it is they do, put him in a straight jacket, they strap him in his chair, I mean, what choice does he have other than to let him stay in place? And once they do, he's trying to evaluate what the hell is going on with him and who's doing what to who, et cetera, and who's in control, and what's happening at Delos, and all that kind of thing. And so, it's just a lot of questions that he has more than anything. You know? His state of mind is like… he's all over the place. He's going crazy. He's wondering if he's still who he is. He doesn't know if he's a host or not. He's totally at the whim of the powers that be at the moment.

It's jarring to see him so powerless. Not that he wasn't powerless at points in season two, but this is a different level. It must have been jarring to play, too.

Yeah, it was. It was jarring. To tell you the truth, it was hard to enjoy.

I'm sure.

In other words, I didn't like it. I still don't. But that's my problem.

What you're going through as an actor playing the character, it's emotionally similar to what's happening with the character.

Definitely. I definitely allowed my own feelings about it to influence what I was doing. (Laughs.) I mean, I still enjoyed working on it! I still enjoyed working on the show. It was just a whole different way of enjoying it, you know? I got to say, it was a little bit aggravating.

What do you think it means when William says he's "the good guy" now?

I think what he means and what he's feeling is, if he ever gets out of here, if he ever can assume control of his own destiny on some level, then what he's after is to rectify this whole situation. In other words, he understands what has happened, and he faults himself for most of it. I mean, it's his fault, this whole world that he helped create is now blown up, and who knows where it's going? He's not sure quite what's happening outside in the world, but I think he feels determined and has set his mind on trying to do some justice here. In that sense, I think he feels he's the good guy.

#ed harris #interview #television #hollywood reporter #interview: westworld

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