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mitchipedia · 6 months

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"You've got me? Who's got you!" Rewatching the 1978 "Superman" movie starring Christopher Reeve

The 1978 “Superman,” starring Christopher Reeve, launched the superhero film genre as it exists today. We rewatched it recently, enjoyed it, and I recommend it.

However, the movie takes a painfully long time to get going.

”Superman” starts with pages turning on the 1938 Action Comics issue that launched the Superman character, narrated by a child’s voice-over. We did not remember this from seeing the movie previously. We wondered whether we had accidentally rented the wrong version of “Superman.” We had not. Onward.

Then we go to Krypton, where the movie creeps forward. We see Marlon Brando as Superman’s father, Jor-El, wearing white stunt hair and a turtleneck with the Superman logo in it.

I wish the phrase “phoning it in” was not a cliche so I could use to to describe Brando’s performance. He drones on and on, making one speech after another.

He’s concluding the prosecutor’s statement in the trial of three insurrectionists (ripped from the 2020s headlines!), who end up being sentenced to the Phantom Zone. I’m sure we won’t see these insurrectionists again—they won’t be any trouble and will not turn up in “Superman II.”

General Zod, played by Terence Stamp, is the leader of the trio, and his scenery-chewing is the only good part of this scene.

I saw “Superman” with friends in the theater during its first run in 1978, and I was very excited to tell them after the movie all about the Phantom Zone. I even guessed that the three villains would feature in the movie sequel. I was very proud of myself for this. Possibly related: It took me a long time to lose my virginity.

Jor-El warns the leadership council of Krypton that the whole planet is about to explode within a month. The leaders say this is fake news because they did their own research on YouTube. The council nopes out on evacuating the planet and tells Jor-El he can’t tell anybody about his beliefs or else he’ll be an insurrectionist (that word again). A sensible person would have told the council to fuck right off because the council was not going to have any clout after the ENTIRE FUCKING PLANET EXPLODES. But Jor-El just goes along with it.

Brando goes back home, where he and his wife (if her name is spoken, I didn’t hear it) put on matching glowy silver lamé jumpsuits. They put their baby in a spaceship. Before sending the baby off to Earth, Marlon Brando makes a very long speech, while his wife looks at him with an expression like she wants him to shut up because she needs to pee.

Then we’re off to Earth, to whip through young Clark Kent’s childhood. The costumes and cars and brilliant. The scenery from the Kent farm is beautiful, but there is way too much of it. Can we get this movie moving already?

Clark challenges his father to run from the end of their driveway to the barn. Pa Kent has a heart attack and dies. Clark never mentions his own role in Pa’s death. That seems odd.

Next stop: the North Pole, where young Clark spends 12 years being lectured by the holographic Marlon Brando, and we, in the audience watching the movie, get to experience every painful second of those 12 years.

All this time, Clark is played by an actor who is not Christopher Reeve and doesn’t even look much like Christopher Reeve. This guy:

But after 12 years at the North Pole, demonstrating powers of super-boredom-resistance, Clark becomes Christopher Reeve and emerges in his spiffy super-suit, which makes all the girls swoon. He is a hunka hunka burnin love. The suit is very flattering, but he really should be wearing something modest below the waist and above the knee to better cover his prominent super-johnson. Maybe bermuda shorts with a festive luau pattern?

And we’re off to Metropolis and the movie takes off and keeps going. Finally! Lois Lane is fast-talking and smart; Christopher Reeve transforms from a nebbishy Clark into a charismatic Supe through the power of acting. Gene Hackman, Ned Beatty, and Valerie Perrine are the villains, and they chew the scenery delightfully. The sets are gorgeous, particularly Lex Luthor’s lair in the underground lobby of Grand Central Station. Why is Grand Central Station abandoned and apparently nearly forgotten in this movie? Does it even matter? No, it does not.

Lois’s costumes are the height of 70s couture. The first thing we see her in is a nice skirt and blouse. And the skirt has pockets. And they look like BIG pockets. In some ways, technology has gone backward since 1978.

The Daily Planet newspaper takes up an entire skyscraper and has a helicopter to shuttle reporters around. I started work at a daily newspaper not long after “Superman” came out—we didn’t even have a budget to buy coffee for the staff. Employees had to pay for their own.

Lois arranges an interview with Superman, which turns into a date. He flies her around the skies above Metropolis. She recites a love poem in her mind. The poem is painfully bad. It is like watching someone you like embarrass themselves in a talent competition.

We see a very neatly dressed and well-groomed mugger. Nice blazer, turtleneck sweater. He needs a closer shave, but we’re otherwise good.

It’s part of a whole sequence of Superman’s day’s work, as he stops a cat burglar heist, rescues Air Force One after it loses an engine, and rescues a little girl’s cat from a tree.

The ending of the movie, where Lois Lane dies (spoiler for a 45-year-old super-popular movie—don’t DM me!) is surprisingly dark. She’s smothered after being buried in an earthquake and we see all of it happening. But Superman quickly brings her back from the dead with his superpowers.

Superman’s flying SFX are every bit as good and dazzling now as they were in 1978. Oh, some of the matte shots with the New York City skyline in the background are a little fake, but Superman’s movements are brilliant. A one-second bit where Superman changes from his Clark street clothes into his superhero costume while in flight is just wonderful—nothing much today but brilliant in the pre-CGI era that this movie was made in. Some of the other special effects, like Hoover Dam disintegrating and a downstream town flooding, are a little obviously done with miniatures but they still look fine.

(Why do the sfx look fake now but not in 1978? I have a theory. In 1978, we saw these sfx on the big screen, where they looked great. They might still look great today on a big screen. Soon after, we saw the movie on smaller TVs, with lower quality screens than today, and the sfx still looked great. But today’s high-quality TVs make the sfx look fake—the screens aren’t big enough to compensate for the flaws revealed by the high definition.)

The movie can’t decide if it’s a camp superhero parody, or a serious superhero movie. It would have been better if it toned down the broad comedy and made Lex Luthor more scary.

Reeve’s acting carries the movie. There’s a scene that’s famous among fans where Lois Lane and Clark Kent are in the living room of her apartment. She leaves the room, and he decides to tell her he’s Superman. Until that moment, he’s a shlub, round-shouldered and with a goofy expression on his face. He stands up straight, squares his shoulders and jaw and takes off his glasses—and now he’s Superman. He starts to tell her. His voice as Clark is querulous and shaky, but Superman has a firm baritone. And he changes his mind, slumps his shoulders, puts on his glasses and now he’s Clark the shlemiel again. It all goes by in a few seconds, but it’s striking.

Even the special effects are carried by Reeve’s acting. “You will believe a man can fly,” was the marketing slogan for the movie when it was released. You believe it in large part because Reeve was hanging from wires, moving like a person flying. Acting. )

I don’t have anything to say about John Williams’ musical score for the movie, except that it’s brilliant. I’m going to carry a Bluetooth speaker with me and play that score every time I enter a room.

Overall, well worth a watch. Maybe skip the first 48 minutes though. You don’t need to see it. You already know Superman’s original story.

Superman is my favorite superhero. He is optimistic and hopeful. He knows there is great evil in the world, but he knows that there is also great good, and he serves that good—“truth, justice and the American way." He knows some of what he says is corny and he says it anyway because he believes it. He is nearly all-powerful and invulnerable, but he is in awe of human beings because we are neither of those things, and yet we are capable of great kindness, nobility, and courage.

Sloppy Internet research

Four-year-old Clark Kent is played by an actor named Aaron Smolinski, who went on to a bit role in the 2013 Superman movie “Man of Steel” and also as Lex Luthor in a movie called “Superman: Solar,” which seems to be either an indy or fan-made Superman movie that got terrible reviews.

Larry Hagman has a cameo as an Army Major, making a joke that doesn’t age well.

John Ratzenberger plays an air traffic controller. He went on to play Cliff from “Cheers,” and do a lot of voice-overs for Pixar movies.

Kirk Allyn, who played Superman in 1940s Superman movies, has a cameo as Lois Lane’s father. When Clark is a boy in Smallville, little girl Lois sees Clark while passing through on a train, and Allyn appears in that scene. via

Noel Neill, who played Lois Lane in 1940s movies and the 1950s Superman TV series, also has a cameo. She’s Lois Lane’s mother in the same scene. via

“According to Sir Roger Moore’s autobiography, he witnessed Christopher Reeve walking through the canteen at Pinewood Studios in full Superman costume, oblivious to the swooning female admirers he left in his wake. When he did the same thing dressed as Clark Kent, no one paid any attention.” via

The Incomparable Mothership podcast did an episode about their “Superman” rewatch. They hated it. I don’t disagree with their criticisms, but for me, the virtues of the movie made up for its flaws. I enjoyed listening to the episode.

What happened to the actors

Marlon Brando continued working until his death in 2004. “Apocalypse Now” came out soon after “Superman.” His work in later life included two movies I quite enjoyed: “The Freshman” and “Don Juan DeMarco,” both of which are about charismatic rogues (though he only played the rogue in one of those movies). Brando also features in a delightful 2009 novel, “Chronic City,” by Jonathan Lethem, which explores the theme of whether we can believe anything or truly perceive reality. Brando isn’t a character in the novel. The characters can’t agree whether Brando is alive or dead, and the Internet is no help.

Margot Kidder struggled with mental health in later life. Her 2018 death was ruled a suicide. via

As of April 2023, Valerie Perrine, age 79, was suffering from advanced Parkinson’s and needed a hydraulic lift to get into and out of bed. The Hollywood Reporter did an excellent profile—recommended reading: Ailing ‘Superman’ Star Valerie Perrine Finally Finds Her Hero: “The Guy Should Be Sainted”:

Perrine insists she wants no pity and regrets nothing about her Technicolor life: not one affair (she’s been romantically linked to everyone from Jeff Bridges to Elliott Gould to Dodi Fayed); not one hit of acid (she’s taken LSD more than 400 times, by her estimation); not one career move (well, she probably should have said yes to 1981’s Body Heat and no to 1980’s Can’t Stop the Music, the Village People-starring megaflop she says killed her career, but you can’t win them all).

She sounds fantastic.

Gene Hackman has been retired for about 20 years. As of March, he was fit and healthy at age 93, spotted doing yardwork, buying and eating fast food, and pumping his own gas.

Christopher Reeve died in 2004, after being paralyzed in 1995 in a horse-riding accident.

Terence “General Zod” Stamp was one of the stars of “Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.” He played a drag queen named Bernadette.

Sarah Douglas, who played Ursa, one of General Zod’s cronies, appeared in a lot of B science fiction movies and TV shows, including one called “Strippers vs. Werewolves.”

Which Superman II?

We want to watch Superman II, which I remember as being even better than the first Superman, which was itself great. But which version?

Richard Donner directed the original movie and started directing on Superman II, but was fired, and Richard Lester was hired as a replacement. Donner had already done a lot of work, and Lester reshot many scenes and shot more. The Lester version was the original theatrical release, which I saw in theaters. We saw a fan cut of the Donner version in the early 2000s and did not care for it. It was unfinished. Some of the scenes were audition scenes; I remember some other scenes had cheap SFX that looked like they’d been done on 1990s home PCs.

Soon after we saw the fan cut of the Donner version, an official—and presumably more polished—version was released. We haven’t seen that.

I think when we do a rewatch, we’ll go with the original, theatrical version, directed by Lester. According to Internet discussion—for example, here—the official Donner version, while more polished than the fan cut we watched, is still unpolished and unfinished. And the theatrical version is lighter than the Donner version, while still having some serious moments. Generally, I like my superhero movies light; when they get dramatic and heavy I start having difficulty suspending disbelief.

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old-lorarri · 9 months

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─ paper rings . . . ❨ send me a description of yourself + a fandom and gender preference, and i’ll ship you with a character. ❩

Congrats on 3K! I remember when you were just setting up this account 🥲 I’m super happy for you.

So I’m an F1 girlie.

I’m 160cm, blonde, from Texas. I’m also autistic/adhd and speak very monotone, so my sarcasm gets lost on a lot of people because my voice doesn’t change much to indicate anything.

I like cars. A lot. I’ve got a list of cars that I want, all project cars, all 80s. Very much a respect *most* builds type. And I like driving. I get lost super easy, so I’ve learned to enjoy the driving part cause if I don’t it’ll stress me out. I’ve gotten myself turned around in a square room with three doors. It was embarrassing.

I can and will eat anything once. I have texture preferences, but if someone hands me food I’ll try it. However if I’m the one ordering or making my own food, I’ll eat the same thing every day. There’s also just a lot that I want to try but yknow. I’m in a podunk middle of nowhere town that has nothing but Tex-mex, barbecue, and one really good sushi place.

I only ever watch movies and TV shows that I’ve seen before. On my like, third rewatch of Lord of The Rings, I’ve seen Avatar the Last Airbender multiple times, it’s a whole thing. I’m a very routine person. Even if I’m ridiculously unorganized and forgetful. Patterns are my whole thing.

DANIEL RICCARIDO

loves that your from texas

gumpy and sunshine!!!

you balance each other out so so well

loves building project cars with you

loves your openness to try things even if you might not like it

loves rewatching all of your fav films with you

write sticky notes to reminds you of things that you may forget

#꒰ ִ ֺ ⊹ 3k celly ⊹ ֺ ִ ꒱

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love-byers · 2 years

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will/el/mike s2 parallel

i think everyone knows about the parallel of both el and will screaming for mike in the upside down, but i want to make a post about it because the scenes are parallels in more ways than just that

at the start of the upside down sequence in both scenes, will and el are both on the ground and the shot is aerial. i find it interesting that el’s is upside down while will’s isn’t. idk if that means something, maybe that el was actually in the real upside down while will was only having a vision.

they both stand up and look around, and the shots are very similar. i recommend going on netflix or youtube and watching these scenes back to back. they are VERY similar and it’s easier to see when you’re actually watching it. (i’m 99% sure they happen in the same episode---s2e2)

it’s also cool how we’ve been seeing parallels between will and el since season 2, and now they’re the supernatural wonder twins of the show. (who are the only 2 characters with a connection to 001 and the ud)

anyways, el and will both start running and calling out for mike. very cute and sad tbh :(

but the parallel ends here.

el finds her own way out of the upside down. she uses her powers and climbs out. mike wasn’t there to help her, and she got out on her own.

meanwhile, with will...

mike breaks will out of his vision. will didn’t save himself like el, mike did.

the mindflayer was coming after will in this scene. right before mike shows up, you can see the mindflayer coming down the stairs and getting very close to will. i can’t say for sure, but it seems like if mike hadn’t been there, the mindflayer would’ve gotten to will and carried out his plan to possess will like he did on the field. mike saved will.

it’s not clear if it was specifically mike who snapped will out of it or if it was just external interference, but either way it doesn’t matter. the times we see will snapped out of a vision, it’s mike who breaks through to him (like at the arcade in ep 1). but im willing to bet it was mike’s voice that was enough to break through to will, since he is in love with mike. and when will is possessed and joyce, jonathan, and mike are trying to get through to him, it’s mike who gives will enough control to tap out morse code. it’s a pattern, and it’s on purpose.

so what’s the moral of the story? el doesn’t need mike, but will does.

i refuse to believe this doesn’t mean anything when the entire point of s4 was establishing that el doesn’t need mike anymore, but will will always need mike. we also establish that mike needs to be needed.

so you mean to tell me mike is going to end up with the person who does not need him, when he needs to be needed, and not the person who bared their life to him and said they will always need him and are lost without him? absolutely no fucking way

also, i want to establish once again that my point doesn’t lie with who the characters are as people, it’s with the writing. repeated visual representation of el not needing mike vs mike saving will, as well as narrative representation is meant to send the audience a message. it’s called subtext, and it’s a very real thing. that’s why jonathan saved nancy from the upside down, not steve. yes i know steve wasn’t there and couldn’t save her, but we got that plot-point & visual with jonathan, not steve. therefore making the watcher root for jancy, not stancy.

the writers are essentially training the audience for byler becoming canon. its going to be a season 5 surprise, but it won’t be out of nowhere. cause you can rewatch the show and find things like this, and it all makes sense.

i have a lot more to say about the writers constantly showing you how el does not need mike, but i’m gonna have to make one big master post about it because there is a LOT.

anyways, byler endgame <3

#byler #byler analysis #byler endgame #mike wheeler #will byers #el hopper #stranger things #stranger things analysis #byler parallel #byler mileven parallel #parallels #mileven is bones

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emerystellar · 10 months

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OKAY @bubblingacid TAGGED ME IN A TAG GAME THINGY BUT I FORGOT TO DO IT TILL NOW and the og post was really long so here’s a fresh print of bel air. Just for easy :) ANYWAY HETE

— 3 ships. ooough idk.. azicrow bc crying always consistently, sportarobbie REPRESENT ⛹️, and and uhhh petrigrof :3 even though i don’t know a ton abt betty yet the whole madokacore thing she’s seemed to do Has my fucking Attention/pos

— first ship??? i have No idea bro. idk. if selfshipping counts i wanted to marry special agent oso when i was 4 and then lightning mcqueen when i was 5. wrote letters proposing to them both times. and then i wanted to be in a polycule with the angry birds (don’t ask i have no fucking idea why) if selfshipping doesn’t count then mario and peach if we wanna go way way back

— last song- the fool on the hill by the beatles (from my simon petrikov playlist) WHIHC i can give the link if you waaaaant bc i like it . it’s so cherry-picked but i like it ok.. hahaa send Porfessional Halp

— last movie?? ooh. idk i mainly watch movies w my partner on sundays but we haven’t done it the past couple weeks due to personal reasons? so? i don’t Actually remember .. that’s eerie ANYWAY i’m gonna say i WANT to rewatch rudolph’s shiny new year i’ve been thinking abt it and it’s my birthday movie (i’m a new year’s eve baby)

— currently reading OH SHIT MY LIBRARY BOOKS ARE DUEEEEE FUCK (i was gonna read ana so boys but i kept not having a chance to read it and now i FORGOT ABOUT IT can you tell i’m really fucking forgetful lol)

— currently watching: fionna and cake bc fuck. and then also the cherry-picked adventure time episodes that have to do with simon’s lore <333333 i’m. there’s a pattern here

— currently consuming. i need to get a glass of water but i’m procrastinating. i did just have some steak flavored chips n raisin bread tho which were very good

— currently craving?? anything honestly i’m a hongy little sasquatch but taco bell exists as like a constant underlying craving in me always so. that lol. otherwise i really want mochi i haven’t had it in ages

ANYWAY IMM DONE OVERSHARING LOLOL i’m just gonna tag a million of my mutuals

@clockw0rkvaudeville gets special cuz they’re my baby7 forever smile

@stuffronisays I HAVENT HEARD FROM YOU IN AGES WHATRE YOU UP TO

@wholesome-cryptid and @zombearzy just cuz i know y’all enjoy ask games

@corvids-corner @formerlyfandy @whyismangososour hi guys y’all r my go to for stuff like this also cuz i see ur names in my notifs consistently

and @implacabledino @spiritterrarium we are freshly mutuals n i wanna know more abt you !! SO BOOM

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dojae-huh · 6 months

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https://x.com/sijakz_archive/status/1740693531050836257?s=46&t=rTl1nDzicm9BJ7P539UIhw

Mark grabbing Jae’s pc from Doyoung’s hand and it flying back into Doyoung is one of the funniest and most fated things I’ve ever seen lol.

Before I discovered your blog and even now I think I always felt this way also about DoTae; it’s simple things like Doyoung picking the gift that was Tae’s, them ending up as trip mates to Japan I think? Like you know that feeling when two people are meant to be either way or another in each other’s life,sort of destined/fated?

Anyways,since I found your blog (about one month ago maybe?) and I’ve began reading,I’ve also seen this little patterns in JaeDo and it’s so lovely. At first I was like well maybe there was a crush but I don’t know about dating; but since knowing this blog I’ve began rewatching content,especially DJJ content to be more specific (keep in mind I’m a new nctzen,my first 127 comeback was fact check lol) and watching from this POV is just wow,there’s really things that are inexplicable unless they’re dating,if it makes sense? I don’t know how I didn’t notice before but they only make sense or make you begin to question if you go in with this mindset,even if it seems far-fetched at first.

You start to notice their little reactions to e/o,the looks,EVERYTHING. It kinda hits you like a truck lol.

So yeah,I’ve been meaning to send this message for a while now,thank you for your dedication to our JaeDo! (For what it’s worth I was the anon that asked a while back about the JonhDo fight and assumed Dy was going to be relying on Jn during Ty enlistment)

Link

Fans follow the group for years and still don't see JaeDo or TaeDo as even close friends, and with the shipping culture in fandoms and fanservice in k-pop it's natural to be apprehensive of the claims of dating. That's why I always say don't believe me as a stranger on the internet, read what I write and check where I'm pointing at for yourself. Some take years to start to see, you took just a few weeks. Although DJJ was a breath of fresh air after several years.

Individual moments are confusing, it's when you start to see the patterns, how it really is becomes clear.

First impressions are often wrong because we make them having limited information (and because people wear masks). Like with JohnDo, you came in at the time when they finally patched their friendship and was fed the fandom's overly favourable opinion about them.

Both Jaehyun and Doyoung are into soulmates and meeting by destiny.

Jaehyun wanted to act in a re-make of a movie about soulmates. He was casted, but the project was cancelled. He was supposed to play the reincarnation (high school student) of the protagonist's (male, teacher) true love (female, arts college student). The student retained his past-life memories and fell in love with the teacher despite being same-sex. They eloped.

And Doyoung always says how 127 meeting each other was a destiny.

JaeDo story is worthy of ecranisation. When Jae was a child his family moved to US for work, but cameback to Korea. Jae didn't plan to become an idol, but was street casted. Do was going to send his audition tape to multiple idol agencies when he got a confirmation call from SM. They were chosen among all trainess for ShowChamp. Then they were chosen for Tende, despite Jae initially practicing rapping, and t7s unit. Do was supposed to be a part of another unit (not confirmed, but highly speculated), so he didn't debut with 127 at fisrt. Circumstances changed, he was added to 127. There happened to be no homophobes in 127, so JaeDo could start dating without damaging their group. Both are popular members, got BA deals, acting roles, etc. ahead of others, can match each others' success. SM is not a homophobic company, let them even debut in DJJ together.

These pictures were cherry-picked, of course, but enough of them exist to highlight the pattern of third-wheeling. JaeDo tend to stand closer to each other, Jungwoo often does a different gesture, looks in a different direction (he is on his own, not in the bubble), more often than not Woo doesn't put his hand on Jae.

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slayerkitty · 10 months

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helloo!! sending you the ask as promised :)) firstly, how are you? how’s your health? hope you’re feeling better now!!

so here’s what i was thinking, completely entertaining the thought that ep1 & 4 of OF were in fact referencing SKAM. the reason i even thought of this comparison between OF & SKAM was because of the title cards in ep1 & 4. as i was researching, i also found that texting between characters which was used as a motif in SKAM, also shows up in in OF ep4 between nick & top (i’ve attached screenshots for all of this). however, for reasons such as the fact that the narrative frameworks used in OF don’t repeat in a linear pattern and that there definitely has to be a reason behind why a particular narrative framework was chosen for a particular ep, i think the reference runs deeper than just the title cards and text trails. given your post on narrative frameworks in OF & the super tiny discussion we’ve had in its comments, i thought i’d ask you for your opinion on this :))

title cards part 1:

SKAM:

ONLY FRIENDS:

text trails:

SKAM:

ONLY FRIENDS:

title cards part 2:

SKAM: i’m not sure if we saw title cards of the name/actual title variety in SKAM and i couldn’t find any in my brief YT rewatches also but pls do lmk if u find any!!

ONLY FRIENDS:

lil disclaimer here, i watched the dutch remake of SKAM till mid of s3 (which is the queer season) when it was airing, so sometime in late 2019/early 2020. the original SKAM was also polish so there might be a few discrepancies between the two shows (none that i came across tho) and some gaps in my memory but anyway, coming back to the point.

so for context, the most important thing about SKAM that remained consistent across all of its remakes (i think) was that it told the story of a group of teenagers within a high school in whichever city the show took place and while each season had a new protagonist/core characters etc. they were all connected and were friends w each other (for example the protagonist of s3 was classmates w the protagonist of s1 (and as far as i remember friends w her boyfriend?) so more like everyone was a friend of a friend/classmates etc.). this meant that while each season dealt w a different couple/core group of characters, these characters and their plot was still impacted by the side characters, the side plot lines, the past, the present etc. and vice versa.

now, one thing that i noticed in both ep1 & 4 of OF was that we seem to move away from the typical couples and get a larger peek into the relationships of all the characters, their dynamics w each other, different past storylines etc. more than in the other 3 eps. ep1 was obviously more of an intro/context-setting episode where we were introduced to each character, the different relationships we’re to get etc. but ep4 specifically went more into the past of the friend group, top & sand’s past, explored vulnerability in nick & sand’s friendship, the whole ordeal with ray & mew. it essentially explored relationships between characters from different couples (in both the past & the present), that we otherwise haven’t seen much of at all. do you see the similarity i see?

now where am i going with this? idk either, this is the point where i get stuck. now while all of this could easily be chalked off as part of building the plot in OF and have no connection to SKAM, i am just not able to ignore these similarities. i also didn’t go too deep into my own research/exploration of this similarity so there might be stuff that i missed (pls pls tell me if u think i have) but i think a deep dive is extremely worthy here. further, i think that as more eps air, and we get to some new narrative frameworks/old ones repeating, we’ll probably be able to identify patterns better and get more insight into this similarity and arrive at the purpose/rationale behind the other narrative frameworks.

what are your thoughts @slayerkitty? do you see what i see or am i trying to connect dots that are worlds apart? cant wait to hear your thoughts on this!!

also also, so i have been reading the ephemerality squads posts on voyeurism and how OF explores this motif and i found some really cool connections to SKAM in this regard. i’ll not go into too much detail here because this ask is already miles long but apparently SKAM poland played a lot with the use of social media in its show and the characters had real, live instagram accounts that fans could access between airs. additionally, when SKAM poland was airing, the official SKAM website would apparently drop 5-minute clips of the show at the same time as when the scene occurred within the show’s universe (as in if two characters had a chat at 9.30am on tuesday morn, the scene would drop at the same time) throughout the week at random intervals and then these would be compiled into the final, weekly episodes. i’m not sure if the show intended to incorporate these in the context of voyeurism, but do you see the controlled voyeurism similarities?

Aww, thank you for asking. I'm doing a bit better, not quite 100%, but getting there.

Oooooo you gave me some stuff to chew on.

I'm not sure if the days are an homage to SKAM or not, but that is a very iconic shade of yellow, so I can't rule it out. P'Jojo did say there was more to the whole day's of the week thing because it was a way to show how structured Mew was (apparently it got cut). I think I'm gonna add this to my narrative frameworks post as a visual moment for episode one.

Text trails are harder because it's very common for shows to do this. I don't know if we can correlate this back to anything specific because I think it's just a sign of the times with phones. Having said that, you could be right and combined with the yellow text cards...

So I have watched all the queer seasons of all the SKAMs, lol (except newer seasons of SKAM France cause that show is on like season 10 omg), and pieces of other seasons. I do not recall if the titles ever appeared on screen, I will have to look into that. If they did, that could possibly lean us toward more certainty.

Now I've seen people mention that OF is more along the lines of Queer as Folk, which P'Jojo has referenced, but I wouldn't necessarily shoot down the core friend group being a kind of homage to SKAM either. It's not a perfect parallel either way. (And yes, Isak and Jonas are BFF, and Jonas dates the main from season one, though they break up later, and omg, I forgot her name).

YES!!!!! The way that SKAM airs to this day (I think France, Germany, and maybe Italy are the only ones still on air, but apparently Korea is gonna try their hand at it next year??) is that clips drop during the week at the time they take place. So if the characters are doing shit at 1am, a clip is dropping at 1am. Then, at the end of the week, the network airs all the clips together as the epiosde on tv. SKAM was revolutionary and wild. They did social media, too, and the nature of its release combined with that does have a very voyeuristic vibe as well.

Season three of original SKAM (Norway) was also an homage to the late 90s film William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, so it could fit in with the late 90s aesthetic we've picked up on in OF.

I think you are definitely not wrong to have made these correlations - I see them, too! I think we might need a few more episodes before I wanna weigh in with any certainty, but I am like this right now: 👀👀👀👀👀

#only friends the series #only friends meta #thai bl #ephemerality squad #anyone familiar with SKAM have any thoughts on this?#SKAM Norway

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mojsvijet · 1 year

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The Tragedy Of Wie Is De Mol 2023

Spoilers below the cut for seasons 23 and 13 of Wie Is De Mol?

Look, I didn’t want to be disappointed by this year’s season of Wie Is De Mol. It just sort of happened organically. I didn’t want to get spoiled on who the mol was, either, but RTL Boulevard did it for me, so here we are.

In hindsight, it all started when South Africa was announced as the location. A repeat location hadn’t been done since 2005, and even then, it was for only half the season. And season 13, the original South African season? It’s got some of the best opdrachten of all time and one of the best mols. Kees, you’re a real one. I watch the train opdracht when I’m in need of a pick-me-up a lot. Needless to say…the bar was high.

And then came season 23. Someone (can’t remember who) speculated that South Africa wasn’t the planned location initially and was a backup, and honestly? I believe it. Everything felt half-assed. From the weird executions to only three episodes having the traditional three opdrachten to the one episode where there was really only one opdracht composed of several small ones on a road trip…yeah, it was a mess. I tried to find out if there were, indeed, budget cuts at Avrotros, but it seemed their proposed budget had actually increased in 2022, so there’s that.

When it came to the mol, though? Jurre was a suspect of mine from the start, and not just because of my ‘Mols during the time Rik’s hosted pattern’ theory. Was production even trying to keep the cameras away from him? I’m starting to think that I suspected Soy for so long solely because he and Jurre were around each other a lot of the time.

Another thing? I didn’t care about spoilers a lot of the time. I'd just go 'eh' when I heard who got executed. As @mikolasjosef said while we were talking about this season, “I used to cancel everything to watch it live, and now I’m like ‘yeah I’ll watch it on Monday or something’.” It just felt boring. I stopped playing this one video game I’d played for six years because it felt like a chore to log in and do tasks, and honestly? Watching Wie Is De Mol 2023 felt like that, too. If this is Rik’s final season like I’ve been suspecting it is, I hate to say it, but it’s not a proper send-off. Now, season 18? That was a proper send-off for a host.

All I’m saying is, Avrotros needs to do better. This is the worst season I’ve watched since season 16, which I’ve never even attempted a rewatch of because it was just so boring. If we get another repeat location next year…I will be leery at best.

To conclude, this is me manifesting a better season next year:

#era rants #era muses #widm #widm 23 #wie is de mol #wie is de mol 23 #widmblr

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eclipsedfalse · 2 years

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So what is your guys option on me sending False to Pokémon, basically I isekai’d her to a mix of the games/anime without any/most of her memories and see what crazy stuff would happen if she and Ash are within 5 feet of each other. (This idea literally happened because I’m hyperfixing on Pokémon and False)

(Inspiration for this idea comes from False’s own Videos with Empires season 2)

The plot changes quite a lot, one thing is that Team Rocket (Jessie, James, Moewth) become semi good, aka become what their motto says ‘protect the world from devastation, to unite all people in our nation’, they try to steal False’s and Ash’s Pokémon until Kalos where they realize they kinda like helping save the world a whole lot more because of the praise they get when they do.

Ash would still get Pikachu + he’ll be a minor psychic, he would be able to understand Pokémon with practice.

False would be an Aura adapter, because I headcanon her with having magic. Her starter would be a female Eevee

The Eevee would be extremely shy and she would flee at any moment.

Absolutely no romance, False would be 15 in this and Ash is 10, they also won’t age throughout the entire thing because Palkia and Dialga had messed some things up when False had gotten send over.

They will probably have a sibling like bond later on, and they’ll be over powered at some point

Ash will have different Pokémon then what in the anime because I’m not rewatching every season, and there will be way more Legendaries then what we know Ash sees. (I wanna say there will be at least a 100+ because of regional overlap and how one legendary can’t be everywhere at once, and because of how shiny hunting works in the games)

And we won’t be following the same pattern of moves, basically if I think a Pokémon can learn a move they will, I don’t really care out the set Pokémon move sets and they’ll be able to use more then four moves (unlike the games)

We’ll see a more scientific view of the Pokémon world while keeping some of the light hearted stuff.

The time line is Kanto, Orange Islands, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova (my favorite), Kalos, Alola, Galar, and whatever is the 9th region.

-Small Excerpt-

The ground was scratchy and her body felt sore, her eyes closed as her face lays resting on the digging and itchy ground, her chest heaves with each breath, her mouth dry. She cracks her eyes open see the glare of the sun reflect off of the aqua blue water, shadows of fish skirting across the bitten on the water. She rolls her shoulder and she forces her body to move upwards to a sitting position.

Eyes focus on the water as she struggles to think, before glancing down at her own body, a simple white and red striped tee and a pair of battered, dirt covered shorts, and a pair of military black boots, her skin scarred, some thin and smooth and and others think and puffy pink scars warp of milky pale skin.

A frown comes across her face as she runs a finger over the worst of the scars, she can’t remember how she had gotten it or any of them.

A moment of Panic rushes through her head and she searches for a name, any sort of name, coming up blank every time.

She closes her eyes, focusing on the waves and breathing in time with how each wave crashes on the beach inches from her stretched out legs.

‘False’

Yeah, False

That’s her name.

A bubbled laugh leaves her throat, tilting her head to the sun, she lets hysteria run freely from her lips.

Her name is False, and she will survive to find out what else she is missing.

#falsesymmetry #false symmetry #ash ketchum #pokemon x hermitcraft #pkmn x hc #pokemon Au #hermitcraft au #Legendarily Screwed #<- Au name

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lori0018 · 1 year

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Tag game

I was tagged by @staykimchay 😘 thanks lovely. I did this one a couple of months ago but let's see what has changed.

Three ships

KimChay (KPTS) the grip they have on me is not loosening 😅 it's been a year, send help 😂

(I listed Andrea/Cloud (FF7) & John/Rodney (SGA) the 1st time. I'm adding 2 more since I'm doing it again.)

Malec (Shadowhunters) 1st ship that was actually canon 🎉

WangXian (The Untamed) the ship/show that started my slow descent into Asian BL.

First ever ship

Still Squall/Seifer (FF8) my truest OTP.

Last song

Dum Dum by Jeff Satur (both versions) it's been on loop since it came out (the one before that was Steal The Show, which I also looped from the moment it came out... Jeff, what are you doing to me?)

Last movie

I did a rewatch of The Mummy series recently when I was having a no brain day (I've seen it so many times I don't have to pay attention to follow along)

Currently reading

KinnPorsche the series fanfiction 😆

Currently watching

Boba Fett (so I can watch The Mandalorian season 3) bit it's slow going because I spend all my free time reading and (trying to) write fanfic and playing old games I used to play 15/20 years ago and that I found on Steam.

Currently consuming

Nothing because I’m doing this still in bed at too early o'clock on a Sunday Friday morning. (There might be a pattern 😂)

Currently craving

More sleep but I need to get up and start the day 🍵

I'm tagging @coleslaww but anyone who wants to do it feel free to and say I tagged you 😜

#tag game #lori does shit

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sweetsbfreex · 3 years

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a father’s duty

Summary: brought to u by the wholesome picture of Cevans sewing up dodger’s stuffed lion 🤧

Warnings: Talk of trauma (nothing too in depth) and talk of sex

Pairings: Dad, Husband!Ransom x reader

You and Ransom were cuddled up together on the couch, some random movie he had chosen that you weren’t paying attention to. You wanted to cuddle, but he insisted on watching this movie so a compromise had to be made. And the feeling of his hand going up and down, inside your shirt, against your arm; Could only make you purr in contentment.

And you were meant to doze off if it wasn’t for the dramatic, high pitched scream of pure agony. You both shot up from your seats, looking at each other wide eyed before dashing up the stairs (Ransom ahead).

Until you were in the doorway of an overly purple room.

“Mommy! Daddy!”

Ransom let a small, stunned gasp at the feel of a teary eyed four year old, Celeste bolting to his legs. Her small arms had tried to wrap around his legs as she sobbed into his jeans, fists tight as she clutching the denim.

Confused you had leant down adjacent to her, Ransom peering down from his stance, lifting her arms to softly run circles over her back.

“What’s wrong baby?” a fake pout on your lips.

“She’s dead!” she had sobbed, her puffy cheek making contact with his expensive jeans to make eye contact with you.

“What? Who’s dead babe?” Ransom asked, tilting his head downward, eye brows stitched together.

She propped her chin up against his leg, “Daffy” she blubbered, extending her arm behind her to point at the limp stuffed bunny a few feet away.

“Fucking––” He couldn’t finish his sentence a hearty laugh emitted into the otherwise somber air, still laughing (some tears streaking his face) he had picked up the once blubbering girl so she saddled on his hip.

“Ransom! It’s not funny and language, god”

“C'mon” he dragged the n, “You gotta admit this is hilarious, she’s so dramatic...I wonder who she gets it from” he smirked, looking at you knowingly.

“You” you appointed, holding back your smile.

“As if” he scoffs rolling his eyes.

“Daffy!” Celeste exclaimed, snapping the two from their loving trance.

“Right!” you snapped yourself back into mom mode, making way to Daffy and your way back to the two, watching Ransom wipe the tears from Celeste’s face, calming her down in a hushed voice.

You sidle up next to Ransom lifting the stuffed animal, so the both of you could evaluate the state of her favorite buddy. You looked up to him, watching his face scrunch up, almost like disgust, but you knew he was just very confused.

“Jeez leste, what’d you do?”

The light yellow bunny up front was perfectly fine, but once you had turned it around a tear in the fabric of the it’s “spine” was parted, the thread poking out along the hem.

“I–– I was just spinning her around”

“Is that really what you did” you prompted.

“No..” she set forward shyly, resting her temple against her father’s shoulder. “There was a string and then I pulled it by accident”

“By accident?” Ransom asked, eyebrows raised.

“On purpose” she mumbled, eyes tearing up slowly.

Celeste is probably the biggest liar the two of you know. You both have been working on that habit, reassuring her that it was fine and being honest is better most times (minus surprises, safety, etc). You both had even resorted to acting out examples for her. She was getting better, but ever the fibber she still found a way to slip into the habit. And when you had asked her why exactly she loved lying, she only replied with a quib “It’s fun!” giggling to herself.

“Hey it’s okay, you were curious” he cooed, “Mommy will fix it don’t worry”

You looked up at him mesmerized, not so surprised at the father he was becoming. Remembering all those nights he had kept the two of you up, even the day you were in labor, he had been worried. How was he ever supposed to love a kid properly–– let alone his–– when he never had that benefit. All these what ifs running through his head in a cycle.

He had even taken it upon himself to sign you both up for those parenting classes. The ones with the fake dolls. Dolls that he held gently as if they were alive.

“I will. You’ve had a long day, love, you wanna go to bed now?” you asked her, smiling.

She nods silently, reaching her hands out to you. Ready for the familiar night routine to begin.

––––

After Celeste had been put to bed, it was not you and Ransom being the only two up. You were both in your shared bathroom, getting ready for bed.

You groaned, catching the attention of Ransom. “Sewing that thing is gonna be some work” watching yourself in the mirror as you rub in your lotion.

“You’re tying that thing together, how hard can that be?”

“I’m sewing it together”

“Tomato, Tomahto” he responded.

“Fine, since you think it’s so easy why don’t you fix it for her?”

“Deal. I’ll take another night of anal as my end” he says this confindently, not expecting another word for you, as he saunters past you briskly but not before placing a kiss to your check and a rough smack to the ass.

Ransom.

–––––

And god did he take this seriously. Making sure you were up this entire time as he achieved his new level of domesticity.

And you did, sitting up against the headboard as you watched him sit shirtless across the sized room.

He sits in the barrel chair. the stuffed animal in his lap, a spool of light pink thread to match the bunny in between his legs, and a packet of needles in his hand.

“Babe you have to––”

He holds up a hand, stopping you from saying whatever you were about to say.

“I got this babe” he tells you, looking at you wearily as he pulls up a video (‘how to sew stuffed bunny animal together’) on his phone.

You watch him watch the video,switching the show you were watching to make it seem as if you weren’t watching him too carefully.

He squints, focused as he listens to the lady in the video.

“You look so cute”

“Thanks” he grumbles, placing a thimble on his pointer finger.

He was like a cute grandmother. His eyebrows brought together and tongue poking through his cheek, which you teased him endlessly about. There was just something about watching a brawly, grumpy man like him knit. So you pulled your phone out wanting to take a quick picture.

“Put. it. down.” he tells you, not even looking away from his task.

“Wha–– You’re really creepy, you know that. Smile” you demand of him. “It’d be so cute for the album”

He of course doesn’t smile instead raising the stuffed animal to cover his face from the camera, but you were quick enough to get something before that. Smiling fondly at the adorable photo of his concentrated face. Once you had your fill of serotonin, you closed the device and reached over to set it on your nightstand.

“You gonna give me a kiss goodnight before you go?” he asks you stoically, head still looking down at his task.

“Yes Ransom. Just give me a minute’ you respond, shimmying yourself from the soft sheets. You make your way besides Ransom–– naturally he wraps one arm around your waist to bring you–– leaning down and placing a kiss to his cheek (which he smiles at) then his lips. He pulls back first only to return again for a deeper one. Sending you off, finally, with a pinch to your ass.

“Goodnight, Baby” you tell him over your shoulder on your way back to the bed.

“Night y/n/n.”

–––––

“y/n” is whispered in your ear and the shaking of your shoulder is what causes you to wake up. You turn your head over your shoulder to see Ransom standing over you gleefully.

“Ransom?” you rasp, turning your whole body over to face him, looking at the clock on your night stand. “It’s two in the morning!”

“Thanks captain obvious” he mutters, rolling his eyes. Yet, he lifts up the stuffed animal. Both hands on either paws, holding it up to show you. “I finished!”

You instantly noticed the band-aid wrapped around his thumb and the brightest smile on his face. Through it you could see how proud of himself he really was. He really was getting a hand of this dad thing he was still figuring it out.

Ransom, however, could only think about how tired he was and how strained his eyes felt––probably rimmed red. With the amount of times he had to rewatch the video because he missed or didn’t understand a step. But, for his little girl it was definitely worth it.

“Well, look at you. You did so good bub” you extend your arm up lazily to then loop it around his neck, bringing him down for a kiss.

If only his conceited friends could see him now. Thinking about how Danver, one of the many friends he had dropped, would berate him passively. Calling it a women’s role most likely.

“Thank you” he settles one more kiss, “Let’s go”

“Go where?” you chuckle

“Leste’s room...where else? She’ll need him to sleep the rest of the night comfortably” he explains, removing your arm from his neck. To gently tug your hand.

“You sure?” you ask hesitantly.

“Hundred percent, let’s go”

––––

You open the door slowly, the creaking sound it emitted making you cringe. And when you’re hushed by Ransom, you twist around instantly sending him a stink eye.

And you both stand against the side of her bed, you crouch down. Raising your hand to her shoulder.

“Lesty” you whisper, your thumb running circles over her shoulder.

She wakes up slowly, as always. The clear indication that she is awake being when she raises her hand to rub at her eyes.

“Mommy? She stops and gasps, “Are we going to Disney?” asking the question with glee, she sits up, her hands placed over her book patterned pajama pants.

You and Ransom share a short laugh. Remembering how you surprised her just like this months ago. The frown that overtakes her face makes you both want to laugh.

“I’m going back to sleep” she tells you both, already reaching for her blanket.

“Wait” you laugh, holding her hand. “There's a surprise for you”

At your announcement, Ransom steps up holding out the sewed up stuffy. Her tiny hands covered the gasp she let out, muffling it.

“She’s fixed!” she’s astonished, running her fingers along the stitches.

Celeste felt like a jumping bean with all this happiness filling her body and she wasn’t sure how to express how happy she felt. So, she jumped onto her mother, arms latched onto her neck. Kissing her cheek incessantly.

“Thank you thank you thank you-”

“Actually––” you start.

“Woah! Woah! Woah!” ever the dramatic, “Momma didn’t do this. I did babe” he tells her, a gobsmacked, playful expression on his face.

Ransom’s replica quickly unlatched herself from y/n, rocketing herself into his arms. He held onto her tightly. Falling in love with the toothy smile–– albeit it was missing a front one–– she gave him. He was rolling around in her appreciation towards his gesture. This was all he wanted. To be a better man for you to marry and be a better father for his daughter.

He brought her into him a little bit, placing a kiss to her forehead.

“Anything for you Leste” he tells her in a hush.

You rise slowly from your crouch, knees a bit sore from how long you were down there. Just in awe of the love they both exerted towards each other. Ransom’s hand lightly flying over the back of her head and Her tiny palm coddling his cheek.

“Time for bed?” you ask the two of them, your hand naturally going to Ransom and Celeste’s shoulder.

“Yeah. I’m tired” she tells you, dragging out the h. Setting her cheek to her dad’s muscled shoulder. Nuzzling her cheek against it lazily.

“Yeah? Well let’s put you in bed first” Ransom responds.

You walk behind the two, as Ransom sets her down gently on her bed.

He sets a kiss to her cheek then he pulls back, watching the way her arms tighten around the stuffed animal.

“You love it?” he asks, a proud smile etched on his face.

“Yes” she whispers, “Thank you, daddy” her palm caressing the top of it’s head.

“Anything for you Leste” he reaffirmed. He needed her to know that he’d do anything. Anything. To keep a smile that bright on her precious face. He didn’t want her to doubt if he ever loved her or if she could ever come to him about anything. He especially didn’t want her to think that she’d be second to his work.

He loved her too much and decided, right when you told him the news, he’d learn from his parents’ mistakes and trauma he had to deal with.

“Goodnight, honey”

He gets up from his spot watching you lean over placing a kiss to her cheek, tugging the crocheted blanket to Celeste’s chin.

“Night baby” you tell her sweetly.

“Night” she replies to the both of you before snuggling into the duck more.

––––

RIght when you shut the door, you expect to face Ransom’s back walking towards your bedroom. But try not to scream, startled, when your head meets with his chest.

You look up, probably not the smartest thing to do. “You ready for bed?” you ask nervously, each hand landing on his broad shoulders.

With the way he was looking at you, you would assume you were the last stash of biscoff cookies he always keeps fully stored in the house. Especially, with the other Drysdale in the house, the cookies went by faster when they used to.

“Don’t think so..We made a bet. Remember?” he smiles

“RIght now?!” you hiss lowly. He must have lost his mind. “You woke me up at like three in the morning”

“It was actually two” you whack his arm at his smart mouth, of course he doesn’t react. “Anyway. A bets a bet. Let’s go baby” he crouches down, lifting you up swiftly into a bride-groom like position.

“Ransom!” you whisper, taken by surprise.

“A quickie and then we’ll drop her off at your parents tomorrow to get to the real stuff tomorrow” he asserts.

With that, he picks up his speed. Taking you both down the hallway. Once he’s arrived at his destination–– the bedroom–– he throws you on the bed. Laughing to himself with how stricken you look. You should be used to this by now, he tells himself.

“Ransom!” is the last of his name he hears with a tone of scolding mixed with shock, before he gets to work. When he climbs on top of you quickly––like a lion to prey––biting your neck.

if you enjoyed pls don’t forget to reblog or give feedback if ur up to it <3

#ransom drysdale #ransom drysdale fanfiction #ransom drysdale x reader #ransom drysdale x you #knives out fanfiction #dad!ransom #dad!ransom drysdale #ransom drysdale drabble #ransom drysdale one shot #ransom drysdale fluff #chris evans x reader #chris evans fanfiction #ransom drysdale x female reader #ransom drysdale x fem!reader #husband!ransom #dad ransom drysdale

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pyroclastic727 · 3 years

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Calamity Box before the Humans: a theory

There’s an ask that this post answers, but the formatting is a nightmare so it links to this post.

Today I present to you a theory that is a little wild, but may find some purchase in Hop Pop’s explanation tomorrow. This is my theory about what happened to the Calamity Box before Anne, Sasha, and Marcy.

First, I take you to a Monday night in March, when I was rewatching the Season 2b trailer and pondering it.

I came to find this photo.

I found it a bit curious that the third temple was adorned with toads. The Third Temple is a timeless testament to toughness and trepidation, a quality that anyone can have. Heck, beings from outside Amphibia can have that trait and activate the Third Temple’s powers. Which begs the question: why, of all things, would the sacred Third Temple be decorated only with toads?

Now look at the other two temples.

The second temple has a giant frog mural on it--the same frog that shows up on the front of the box, and on the coin at Valeriana’s shop in Bizarre Bazaar. The first temple is adorned with newts (and some frogs? That’s the main hole I can find in my theory).

And then you look at the girls and their adoptive families and see the same story. Witty Marcy ends up in a society that praises intellect. Belligerent Sasha ends up in a society that praises warcraft. And genuine Anne ends up in a society most strongly supportive of the bonds of emotion.

But you knew that, we all know that’s the synopsis of it. Of course you did. But when you keep asking why, the answers don’t add up. Why did Anne land in Wartwood? Because she has heart. Why do the Wartwood people have heart? Why did the Heart Gem bind itself to Anne specifically, and what mechanism made it know that Wartwood is the place of heart?

Let’s back up a bit.

Amphibia is a strange mix of advanced technology and dormant magic. The hills are dotted with mysterious robot factories. Some eyes glow when provoked, other eyes seem like they have an LED in them (see Anne, Grime). There is a literal robot following the Plantars. And there’s a literal magical music box that got sent to another dimension.

It’s clear that something happened.

Maybe this is a bit of a reach. But I look at the clear cultural boundaries of each type of amphibian, the sharp divides between their values, and how their values seem to perfectly align with a gem, and I think there’s no way this is a coincidence.

I think that in the past, Calamity Box powers were shared with the people. But there wasn’t enough to go around, of course there wasn’t. Each gem could only be charged once, only be deployed once. The Box was a teleportation device that enhanced your natural talents, so you could better survive in a different world. One charge for the way there, in the box, and one charge for the way back, in the Amphibians.

Which Amphibians got the charge? That’s the question that led to such great divisions. You see, someone with the type of power that comes from a gem charge, that’s a powerful person. That’s someone capable of calling upon superhuman--or, superamphibian--power to protect people. Every species would want one.

And every species got one. A Newt was given the wit. A Frog was given the heart. A Toad was given the strength. They already had those innate qualities, why not nurture them?

The temples then became a hazing ritual. Send ten newts to charge the gem and only one would also be charged. The most worthy of each breed would come back as the champion, until they fell and the championship was passed on to the next one.

For years, that is how it was. One of each breed was given a third of the gem power, and they had to work together to properly wield it. Amphibians were united, with a common goal and common purpose.

But the amphibians were changing. Each species of amphibians became more specialized. If Newts were good for wit, then they would create universities and a strict intellectual culture. If Frogs were good for heart, then they would stay in small isolated communities and become close with one another. If Toads were good for strength, then they would practice the art of warfare and become a militant society.

They were primed to shatter. Amphibians had more in common with their own species than with others.

Everything changed when three amphibians were the champions chosen to wield the gem power. You’re probably well acquainted with them: one of each breed, a horned toad, a giant salamander, and a pink frog with orange hair.

Unless I’m mistaken, those three were: Barrel (who owned a warhammer), King Andrias (as a youth), and someone related to Hop Pop (a sister, a mother, or his dead daughter if we’re feeling ambitious). Andrias, of course, is still alive; giant salamanders have impressively long lifespans (on average 70 years but up to 200).

During this time, one person sought ultimate power. Maybe it was one of the three. Maybe it was someone on the outside. Either way, that person became the Night that the prophesied Three Stars Burning Bright must expel.

That person had ultimate power, the power of the music box, and was encroaching on the three gems. The gem holders had to do something, quick.

So one of them gathered up all three remaining charges in the box and teleported to Earth. It destroyed the Night, saving Amphibia.

There was just one caveat. The person who activated the destruction never came back. (Well, either that or just The Night was sent to Earth...)

From there, relative peace came to Amphibia. Each amphibian species lived separate from each other, and prejudice soon followed. Newts condemned the dirty fieldwork of the frogs. Frogs resented the militant rule of the toads. Toads started conspiring to overthrow the Newts. But without the Calamity Box, they were stuck with their own physical abilities. Weakened, the Amphibians found themselves in an era of tension and slow enroachment. Generations went by, until the only people who remembered the Age of Calamity were elders like Hop Pop, Andrias, and Valeriana.

Of course, then three stupid human girls went and opened the box.

Here’s one last thing. I don’t think anyone else could have activated the box. I mean, they didn’t wind it up, so I’m hesitant to believe that the windup mechanism was even in the box when it was put in the store. Furthermore, someone has to have opened it up in its time on Earth.

The thing is, the box needs three, one of each discipline. That’s why it is so important that all three girls opened it together. What were the chances of a wit, a heart, and a strength coming together to open that antique box? Not very high, since it took them over 5 decades since the box arrived to find it. But somehow the three girls did it, and they’re the only ones who can activate it.

The box knew they were a wit/heart/strength trio because it is made--even programmed--to detect this. It has been recognizing this pattern since the newt/frog/toad trios and temple trials.

Now the question is: how much of this story will Hop Pop verify in After the Rain?

#also!!! the other question is what do you think? do you agree or do you have even cooler theories/additions?#amphibia #amphibia analysis #amphibia s2b #amphibia after the rain #after the rain #anne boonchuy #captain grime #hop pop plantar #king andrias #calamity box #calamity box theories #calamity box analysis #amphibia theories #.pyro #pyro.txt

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felikatze · 3 years

Note

give me the a brainworms i am deeply invested in this man

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okay first of all you asked for this. second of all if i am a little off track from the game that is explained by me just building thoughts like building blocks without looking back. third i was supposed to be studying for an exam but this counts as practice right? it's character analysis anyway lmao.

buckle the fuck up, my dearest anon, because I have sub headings.

1. A as the Player Character

Let me begin with why I am obsessed with this horrid little guy in the first place: he's a silent protagonist. I am always obsessed with protagonists. It's a law of nature. I love taking hollow characters and dissecting them for scraps. It's a long standing practice of mine.

Being a silent protagonist, A, as X, does not have a set personality. However, there are patterns. Firstly, as any semi-silent protagonist, A is a reactive character. He does not start incidents, he only responds to situations, presented by the Sephirah, as they arise. He does not actively seek out new information, merely going about the routine of expanding departments, but expresses curiosity when information is presented to him.

I'm aware fandom likes to characterize X and A differently, likely because they are initially presented as different characters. I, on the other hand, would like to pose the theory that they are more similar than expected.

I believe that A is also a reactive character, rather than active. Despite the fandom wiki describing him as stubborn, the goal A pursues with such fervor, the completion of the Seed of Light, is not actually a goal he set for himself. Carmen is the one who set this goal for him by leaving him her legacy.

Throughout the backstory we get relating to the Cogito Project, A is Carmen's assistant, whereas Carmen is the driving researcher. This is how many of the City's inhabitants seem to be; going with the flow of goals set for them by superiors. Yes I will get into his attachment to Carmen later.

The above is not to say A isn't stubborn. Once he has accepted a goal as his own, he will pursue it at all costs, as is obvious from any and all flashbacks leading to horrible deaths. But the point isn't his pursuit of the goal, but where that goal comes from. Even Lobcorp itself supports this, despite what Hokma may say; A as X follows the "simple" task of managing the Corp's day to day activities, and executes any mission given to him by the Sephirah. He outranks them, and doesn't actually need to do their missions, but does so anyway. Players are driven by the reward offered by those missions, of course, and A might be the same in that regard. Nonetheless, at no point in gameplay do you do anything somebody else hasn't told you to.

The overarching narrative of the Script would be the most obvious example. Every single person in the game follows the script, whether they know it or not.

Lastly on this note, a phrase we hear attributed to A, "Machines must behave as machines." Now, Angela may be attached to this phrase because it bears significance to herself as a machine, and informs most of A's unjust treatmeant of her. However, what if it doesn't just apply to machines? The phrase reads as such, "Everyone must act according to their own role."

2. A, Carmen, and the disease of the mind

So, A will at any cost pursue goals Carmen set for him. Question is, why? The obvious answer would be saying he's in love with her, which like, true. But also, how did Carmen come to be so precious to him?

Let us return to the comparison, "This is how many of the City's inhabitants seem to be." We don't really know why exactly most characters joined Carmen, excluding mainly Daniel and Benjamin. But this does not mean we can't have theories.

Carmen's ideal was curing the "disease of the mind." What is the disease? Complete hopelessness. The inability to form aspirations and dreams, to think of a better future. A is a very reactive character who does not set goals for himself. Therefore, I personally conclude, that initially, Carmen's ideology resonated with him because he could identify with the disease.

This is the point where I start rewatching Lobcorp story clips. Dear god.

So, by briefly binging day 27 onward, I've come up with lines that very much support this lil theory of mine:

First, from Carmen, a description of the disease, "People lock away their own potential."

Second, a line from Angela, after the memory synchronization, "You've locked yourself in this prison without bars."

Carmen describes A as humble, and Benjamin thinks he is warm. If I suppose A was one of the diseased initially, Carmen would be the catalyst for this change. Carmen was someone with big aspirations, with plans to heal what is wrong with the City, and it gave him hope. He was one of the diseased, but through time with Carmen, with that relentless optimistic spirit, he may have been cured, for a time. It's not a stretch to say that she was his light.

But lor shows us what happens when the seed of light sprouts wrong, doesn't it? It distorts. A grasped hope for the first time and then it is ruthlessly crushed. Carmen was everything. Yes, A is described as a jack-of-all-trades, as a genius in all pursuits he puts his mind to, but what does that matter in the face of someone who can unite people? Who can give them hope of a better world? Who can inspire them to actually use the talents they have?

And what kind of pressure is it to put the legacy of a messiah in the hands of the diseased?

3. A and the Perception Filter: A is weak to White damage

No, I am serious about that. He's extremely weak mentally. Obviously death of a loved one is a changing experience for absolutely anybody, but Carmen's death destroyed him.

Not only did he refuse to confide this grief to anyone and bottled it up, now everybody looked to him to lead the project, but he just isn't Carmen. He isn't an ambitious person, he doesn't have the same optimism, he can't bring people together, but people expected him to, and he failed. Hard.

While he was without a doubt talented in science, he was also just an average guy.

After her death, A grew to hate humans. He lost trust in them. He refused to confide in anyone, and be confided in by anyone. Thus, the team fell apart.

In both lobcorp and lor, we get interesting tidbits about precations taken to protect the manager.

Firstly, Lobcorp's perception filter. The cartoony art-style of the game is a result of the game being in first person. Through the eyes of the manager, everything is cartoony!

This is a measure undertaken to specifically protect the manager's psyche. Angela tells us that, before it was deployed, the manager would frequently go insane, one notable incident including the manager trying to hang himself. When we first hear this, the previous managers and X are still separate in our minds. However, they're all A! A went insane multiple times without it.

This is understandable, considering that employees also frequently go insane and try to kill both themselves and others. But they're there in action, confronting the Abnormalities directly. Just watching them made the manager go mad. They could not handle the responsibility for the employees' deaths.

In lor, Angela explains why she picked the Rabbit Team from R Corp as their main contractor instead of any other team. One team was simply too big for L Corp's narrow hallways, and the other team... dealt in psychic damage. It was simply too big of a risk for the manager. But the manager is always secure behind the cameras. Would that teams methods just be that brutal visually, or would their attacks have reached the manager?

Combined with his immense grief at all of his friends and coworkers dying in part because of him, A cannot bear to look at death.

4. A's greatest flaw: Avoidance

A common thread during Core Meltdown flashbacks: A refuses to look at suffering. He just can't. Whether it be looking away from Elijah writhing on the floor or hanging up on Daniel's panicked report of death.

This is actually the thing Angela takes the biggest issue with, and what hurt her most. A would never look at her, acknowledge her, and she did not understand why. But I think A did not refuse to look at her out of maliciousness. Rather, it was out of grief over Carmen. He could not look at her without being reminded of what he lost.

Angela's creation came about because A wanted someone to guide him, someone like Carmen. He threw himself into the project to the point it made Benjamin happy that A was passionate about anything again. But as soon as the project he distracted himself with is complete, he is filled with regret. Carmen cannot be replicated, and he breaks again.

Furthermore, tying this back to my first point about A being a reactive person, we see Angela take charge over A. She's the one recruiting employees and leading the business. It was likely a relief for him to be able to step down from the leading position.

But avoiding it made everything worse. He did not act when he saw Elijah's unchecked ambition, he did not act beyond a simple check at Gabriel's decay, he gave Giovanni the same hope he clung to to no avail, et cetera et cetera.

Avoiding his problems is making them worse and sending everything down the drain (including his psyche), so he deals with it the only way he knows how, avoiding them more!

Biggest example of A's big avoidance problem as his psyche crumbles: the memory wipe. A, in perhaps his one singular moment of acknowledging his emotions, recognizes that he is incapable of fulfilling the Script in his current state. His grief is just too much.

By erasing his own memory, he could start fresh without his grief, because he might've really killed himself otherwise. His suffering became bigger and bigger, and he coped by avoiding it.

The memory wipe allowed him to distangle his problems. Through his interactions with the Sephirah (which I will not individually detail for the sake of my sanity and because I dumped all this on a friend on discord already), he can deal with and actually process his issues one at a time.

As the motto describes, only by facing the fear can he build the future. Only by finally facing his grief and acknowleding it, seeing that the past cannot be changed and he has no choice to move forward, can he actually do so.

5. The Sephirah as ghosts

Lobotomy Corporation feels like a ghost story. I've touched upon this in my previous A post.

As you reach the Corp's lower levels, there are less Sephirah. First there are four. They act like normal employees, and do not breach into the story's underbelly until you reach their core supressions and the facade breaks. Second, counting Tiphereth as one, there are three. They still go about their duties, but they know what they are. Third, there are two, and the facade is gone. They know what they are, and they will tell you about the sins of the past.

And finally, you reach Keter, and there is only one.

This gradual decay of the facade is what really gets to me. I said that by interacting with the Sephirah, A deals with his issues one by one, but that's what the Sephirah are, in this case. Representations.

The people the Sephirah used to be are dead, and the Sephirah are their ghosts. The core supression involve putting these ghosts to rest. Doesn't it match the progression of a typical ghost story? Find the ghost, find what they used to be, and help them move on.

So, if everyone is a ghost, then A is alone.

But, behind the scenes, the Sephirah are still there. They are still people, and they have changed for the better, too. As always, A simply does not look.

(Does he even see the good others see in him? Does he look away from praise, too? Did he even realize Benjamin's admiration for him? Will we ever know?)

6. A's end.

A's progression of moving on would be fine and dandy if it did not end as thus: A does kill himself.

A sees himself beyond the point of no return. Everyone is dead. He is alone. Carmen is never coming back. He can't call it quits now, or else everything has been in vain. (Even if the last days show us a part of him wants to just quit, so badly.)

So, there's only one thing left to do: follow the Script to its ending. Fulfill Carmen's legacy at all costs. Death as the ultimate release.

This is the point where I admit I do not like the death as release trope. But the game does a good enough job as presenting it as the only option A had, or the only option he saw himself as having.

However, I've mentioned it before, I'll mention it again: A was not alone. Death was his release, but he left wreckage. In order to end his own suffering, he inflicted the same pain he went through on others.

Throughout the game, he moves on and pushes through. The ending shows that in reality... he didn't.

At least in lor the characters stick together and help each other heal.

This has been most of my thoughts on A, amounting to my longest analysis post ever, having taken me approximately two and a half hours to complete, and clocking in at 2337 words including up to this paragraph.

Thank you anon for giving me the incentive to verbalize all of this, so I can finally be at ease having inflicted my thoughts on everybody else.

#Feli gets asked #lobotomy corporation #ayin #library of ruina #also i saw apparently another fandom besides lc uses the ayin tag which is just fun to watch honestly #many characters could rival this word vomit probably but as i said i already inflicted most of my thoughts abt netz on my good pal borgor #thank you borgor for dragging me back into projmoon stuff. also curse you terribly #long post #Feli speaks

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ckneal · 3 years

Text

There’s a midam AU idea that’s been living in the back of my mind for months now, but it’s been slow going. Mainly because I suspect that doing the idea justice is going to mean doing more research than I’m used to, and maybe even rewatching the series proper to help me fill in some of the weak spots, and I have so many other story ideas that are frankly just easier to work on, two of which are already slated to be multi-chapter works. . . But I’m in the mood to type up something longwinded, so here we go. Keep reading if you’d like to see a rough outline of the first few chapters of this story I really hope to write out properly sometime.

(Warning, this is a long one.)

So, this story is loosely based on the Hundred Years War that took place between England and France from 1337-1453. But it’s only very loosely inspired. Very, very loosely. As in, I was reading a book, I read about one thing that happened, it germinated in my head, and then suddenly I had a plot developing that featured my current favorite ship. Additional sources of inspiration include one of my favorite fantasy series, and a personally beloved trashy romance novel. Because it’s fanfiction, folks. There are no rules here.

Of course, in this AU, the entire world is going to be made up, with neither side of the war distinctly being assigned the role of England or France—or Flanders or Burgundy, for that matter. I barrowed an inciting incident, and few smaller details from history to help things along here and there, but with no regard for keeping all the French things assigned to one group and the English ones to another.

That said, the inciting incident took its inspiration from the Battle of Poiters, a conflict during which England not only won against the French, but also took their king hostage. King Jean II was later ransomed back to his people, but at a sum that was so high, France could not afford to pay it all at once. England still returned France’s king, but new hostages were provided to serve as collateral during the interim, including the King’s son.

So. . .crown Prince Michael Shurley completely decimates King John Winchester on the battlefield, and sends his demands to John’s queen, Mary Winchester. The two kingdoms have been locked in a territory dispute for several decades, and this is one of the more humiliating events to befall the smaller kingdom yet, especially since they are unable to meet all of Michael’s demands. When the Winchesters begrudgingly admit this to the Shurley representatives, they’re caught off guard when they’re offered a trade: John Winchester will be returned, so long Dean Winchester takes his place as collateral.

Things are less than stable in the Winchester kingdom however, with more than a few factions quietly scheming for power. John and Mary were an arranged marriage that was originally held up like a fairytale when the two seemingly fell madly in love during their mandated courtship, but the years afterward had changed them. Civil unrest sparked by the war had brought out a lot of disagreements between the Winchesters and the Campbells and their approaches to governing.

John’s supporters are the ones to step forward with a plan, and convince Mary that it’s vitally important the people are not alarmed by their king’s capture. Mary initially finds it distasteful, but it’s talked around and adjusted and reframed, as John’s people ferret out more and more information about the vital party involved, until she finally agrees.

Because John Winchester just happened to have a bastard son. The resemblance to Dean might not be particularly remarkable, but no one at the Shurley court has ever seen the Winchester heir before. Plus, Adam Milligan has spent the entirety of his teen years studying to become a physician, of all things. He’s perfect for their purposes.

Ten years prior, the Shurley court had had to deal with its own bout of civil unrest, when King Chuck Shurley’s second eldest son had attempted to overthrow him with the support of several nobles from one the kingdom’s richest providences. Lucifer had allegedly been driven into exile following his defeat, and Chuck had been said to have contracted some sort of mysterious illness. According to rumors, the king had shut himself up in his private chambers and refused to admit anyone apart from his remaining children. Even servants were barred from tending him directly.

They snatch Adam away from his studies and force him into compliance by dusting off an archaic law left over from before the start of the war, when the kingdom relied on a conscription military force rather than a standing army full of career military professionals—this law empowering the crown to call on any of its citizens for a minimum forty days of military service per year. They tell Adam that his mission seems more dangerous than it is—really, all he has to do is pretend to be Dean, and use his medical knowledge to figure out exactly what mysterious illness has bedridden the enemy monarch.

Sam and Dean—the proverbial heir and spare of the kingdom—are not at court to meet their younger brother, when he’s hastily fitted for a royal wardrobe and put through a crash course on court etiquette. Sam is very publicly put on display at a holiday festival in another part of the kingdom, while Dean is sent orders to quietly stay behind at a country estate while his valet, Kevin Tran, is sent on to court. Neither of the princes is told about the plan until after Adam has already been shipped out, with Kevin in toe to help Adam along with the impersonation.

No one involved is in anyway comfortable with the mission. But it was only supposed to be for forty days. Adam was assured that the necessary funds to pay off the ransom would either be raised by the end of the minimum mandated service, or they would make contact to extract him. The Campbells and the Winchesters both allegedly had spies in the Shurley court, and they would make themselves known when the time was right.

Adam is given the impression that the latter had been told to him with the intention of making him feel safer. It did not work.

He’s terrified when he arrives—almost would have preferred being promptly thrown into a dungeon upon arrival, instead of a room full of foreign nobility who one and all give off the impression that if cut they’d bleed straight silver, and look at “Dean,” the hostage prince and purported military genius from the tiny, vicious country across the channel, as a curiosity to be studied. He’s assigned two guards (who I decided will be Anael and Samandriel, based entirely on the tags I threw together at then end of this post, during which I decided that I love these three together), who follow him around relentlessly, but beyond that, he’s. . .pretty much treated like a guest. If a stiflingly monitored one. There are limitations on where he can go and what he can do, but for the most part he’s just sort of. . .there.

Most unnerving of all, however, is the small package that Adam finds in his room when he first settles in. Kevin swears he has no idea who left it. It has the Campbell’s insignia clearly worked into the pattern of the paper it’s wrapped in, and inside he finds a knife small enough to conceal on his person, and a number of different herbs and powders that he recognizes from his studies—though of course, he’s more familiar with remedies to counteract their effects.

In other words, he finds an assassin’s-first-kill-job kit, and instructions on how and when to use it, if opportunity arises. This had not been part of the deal when Adam reluctantly signed on.

Unbeknownst to Adam however—though suspected by some parties in the Winchester court—Adam cannot assassinate Chuck Shurley, because Chuck is not there. Shortly after Lucifer’s insurrection, Chuck had quietly disappeared. Michael had only been a teenager at the time. He invented the story about Chuck being ill on impulse, certain that Chuck would be back sooner than later, and Raphael had gone along with it because, being twelve years old, Raphael was not yet old enough to question Michael’s judgement. It is now an awkward point between them.

Adam soon becomes another.

Michael regularly checks in to see how Adam’s getting on, in a way that Kevin assures Adam is entirely appropriate, since Michael is under the impression that Adam is going to be a fellow monarch someday, and is likely trying to be courteous. Adam inherently feels somewhat flustered around Michael though, which is not helped by the fact that Michael is somehow always present whenever Adam puts his foot in his mouth socially. On more than one occasion, he’s thankful that almost no one has actually been to his homeland, allowing Adam to blame an astonishing number of fuck ups on cultural differences.

Michael and Adam’s early one on one interaction are intensely awkward. Adam will forget to wear gloves, and then Michael will comment that Adam’s hands are oddly devoid of callouses for someone who’d practically been raised with a sword in his hand, leaving Adam to scramble for some flimsy excuse about hand cream. Adam will inquisitively ask questions about what sort of illness would be severe enough to leave someone bedridden for a decade but not kill them in that time (Kevin frantically motioning over Michael’s shoulder to convey that that is NOT the right way to fish for details on such a sensitive subject), and Michael will struggle to find an excuse around the quietly bubbling panic, because he hasn’t had to try to explain anything about his father since that first year, and he is not a particularly gifted liar.

And then there’s Raphael.

Unlike Michael, Raphael is suspicious of “Dean” right from the start, pulling Michael aside to point out things that don’t seem quite right according to what their informants have told them about Dean Winchester.

“Doesn’t he look a bit young?”

“Some people look younger than they are, Raphael.”

“I was told Dean Winchester had dark hair.”

“Dark blond is dark.”

“Aren’t his eyes supposed to be green?”

“They’re obviously blue.”

“That’s exactly my point.”

The forty days come and go with Adam and Kevin nervously waiting for some sort of sign from home. Roughly two weeks later, a messenger arrives with unexpected news for Michael’s court: the Campbells have officially broken ties with the Winchesters in a violent bid for power that has left the kingdom at war with itself.

According to Kevin, the civil war has probably slowed things down a bit, if it’s as bad as the rumors say. . .

Adam and Kevin are stranded.

“Don’t worry though—I know Dean, and he knows our necks are on the line. He’ll keep out of sight until they manage to get us out of here.”

Adam finds it difficult to put faith in the virtues of a brother he’s never met, but doesn’t have it in him to question Kevin’s faith. He worries about his mother, who might have been safe in the countryside, but also might have made the trek to the capitol when it came out that Adam had been abducted for the sake of persevering the royal family's throne. He can’t be sure.

And to top it off, Michael takes to stopping by Adam’s room every couple of days to privately talk about the movements of the various factions—who has been sighted where and in what condition, where they’re rumored to be headed. Adam interprets it as an attempt to shake out inside information. One day, Adam finally tries to set him straight by saying it doesn’t matter how many ugly details Michael throws at him, Adam can’t help him because he doesn’t know anything—and is promptly put to shame when Michael looks at him in surprise and says, “You misunderstand. I assumed that you would want to know these things, because they are your family.”

Michael leaves, and Adam’s guards exchange a look. When asked, Samandriel awkwardly tells Adam that the royal family used to have a fourth child. Gabriel. He was lost during Lucifer’s insurrection. Pirates overtook his ship. They’d never received a ransom. Michael had purportedly offered a standing reward for any news of Gabriel, and put an unwise amount of resources into searching for him until it threatened the war effort.

Adam and Michael start talking more frequently from there, starting with an apology on Adam’s part. It’s tricky at first, because Michael starts out asking questions about Dean Winchester's military exploits—it is the most likely common ground between them, after all—and Adam has to hastily change the subject every time. By the two month mark, they’re talking affably, and rumors start to circulate through the courts as Michael's routine check ins on Adam start getting less formal and more frequent.

On the four month mark, rumors get even worse. Raphael finally sits Michael down and really gets into all of the things about “Dean” that don’t add up, item by item. If he’s trying to pretend he doesn’t know anything about his country’s military exploits, he’s far too convincing given his reported record, and Raphael has it on good authority that more than half of those “cultural differences” in etiquette that keep cropping up are completely unfounded—and look here, three different informants have sent lists of Dean Winchester’s physical characteristics, and the foreign prince DOES NOT MATCH.

“Michael, something is not right here.”

“Fine, I’ll talk to him about it now.”

And Michael storms off to address “Dean,” while Raphael calls after him that he should wait until morning. Because it is the middle of the night.

Adam just happens to be up reading. Michael’s familiar with the book. Michael gets distracted, and they talk all night. The sun’s coming up when Michael finally leaves, and a servant happens to see him slipping out of Adam’s room. Suggestive conjectures promptly follow, and Raphael exasperatedly admits they only have themself to blame.

And this only gets worse, because now Adam and Michael have transitioned into being friends. No more guarded conversations where one is convinced the other is about to catch them in some sort of lie. When Raphael mentions that some of the lesser nobles are starting to think Michael and Adam are courting, Michael’s fidgeting is not at all lost on them, as Michael assures them that of course that isn't the case. He and Dean are merely establishing friendly relations that will serve them well down the road politically—

“After the war is over?”

“Of course, after the war is over.”

Adam’s been stranded in the Shurley court for almost a year by the time that he finally slips into his room and sees a sealed message set out on his bed. Adam doesn’t recognize the insignia as belonging to either the Winchesters or the Campbells, but it’s signed with the initials “SW” at the bottom. It mostly contains a lot of vague phrases that make Adam wonder if he was supposed to be versed in some sort of code. As far as he’s concerned, the only important information comes at the end: Kate Milligan has been safely relocated for the duration of the civil war.

Relieved, Adam goes down to dinner, where some sort of seasonal holiday is being celebrated, and has a bit more wine than he normally would. The Shurley court is one of those stuffy courts where seating is stiffly dictated by tradition. As a foreign prince, Adam’s assigned seat is at the same table as Michael, although, according to Kevin, his placement's much further down due to his being a hostage. After a few drinks, and after most of the nobles have cleared off from the table to talk and celebrate elsewhere in the hall, Adam sees no reason not to get up and relocate down the line of chairs to sit closer to Michael. It was against the rules, but Adam was aware enough not to sit in Raphael’s empty seat, and he’d been seen with Michael so often that Anael and Samandriel barely even blinked, because Adam obviously wasn’t about to attack their prince or anything.

However, it is worth noting that while talking to Adam, Michael consumes a decent amount more wine than he would normally have as well.

Later that night, Michael’s walking Adam back to his room, and he starts to comment that Adam seems happier than usual. But even when sober, Michael would struggle to say something like that—if he’d even attempt it while sober—and Adam winds up biting his lip as he watches Michael’s mounting embarrassment, as a simple compliment inexplicably morphs—words seemingly forcing their way out as Michael tries and utterly fails to stop them—into a compliment about how Adam is beautiful—that is, he’s always beautiful—that is, Michael can’t help noticing Adam most days—that is. . .

. . .Michael is adorable. And in a moment of pure, thoughtless impulse, Adam leans in and kisses Michael right there in the corridor.

Michael is profoundly shocked, and his reaction delayed. Adam had only gone in intending to briefly press his lips against Michael’s, but as he’s pulling away Michael abruptly leans in and reseals the kiss, and Adam in turn takes that as an invitation to pull Michael closer. And a few minutes later, Raphael happens to walk down the hallway and find the two of them enthusiastically kissing against the wall.

And Raphael promptly turns around and goes back the way they came, only stopping at one point to flag down a servant and order them not to let anyone else walk down that particular corridor for at least an hour, hoping that Michael and Adam’s “friendly relations” wouldn’t result in anything too inappropriate.

As it happens, nothing particularly inappropriate happens. Nonetheless, Michael still wakes up the next morning, fully clothed in his own bed, in panic because the first thought to distinctly make its way through the ungodly pain in his head is that he’d taken liberties with a guest the night before. The heir to a foreign power at that, a peer, a hostage! Michael never thought he was capable of something so dishonorable--he’d had Dean pressed up against the wall as if they were a couple of ill-bred urchins, and how does one even go about apologizing for something like that?

(Of course, if Michael were thinking clearly, he might have remembered that Adam had actually been the one to back himself up against the wall, with Michael obligingly following along, quite malleable to whatever positioning Adam wanted so long as Adam kept kissing him.)

Michael’s behavior was beyond unacceptable. If his father hadn’t already abandoned them, he’d likely disown Michael out of pure shame. There was no telling what kind of damage he’d done to the relationship between their kingdoms. At best, Michael’s uncouth actions would be a dirty secret between them in the years to come, after Dean married, and Michael was left barely able to look Dean’s spouse in the eye. If Michael were a lesser noble, his parents might demand he married Dean outright.

And suddenly Michael sat up in bed, realizing he could marry Dean. His mind begins racing, because of course he could marry Dean! It made perfect sense. They enjoyed each other’s company, and with both of them being heir to their respective kingdoms, their union would effectively end the war. It might be complicated—especially given some of the odd customs Dean had introduced to Michael’s court—but marriages had been used to cemented alliances often enough, and the thought of marrying Dean elicited a curiously hot feeling in Michael’s stomach, remembering the way Adam had pulled him close the night before.

(Fun fact, England and France actually did try to do this with the Treaty of Troyes in 1420; it did not go as planned.)

Michael goes through the rest of his day in an uncharacteristically upbeat mindset, because now it all seems to just be a matter of organizing things, and he is good at organizing. He would have to write to either John or Mary Winchester as soon as the situation in their kingdom settled, and formally ask for Dean’s hand, and he and Dean should have a chaperone present at all times moving forward to avoid scandal--though there would be no way to sidestep scandal altogether, of course. Adam was still technically Michael’s prisoner.

More than likely, the Winchesters or Campbells would demand Michael relinquish his claim to at least half of the territories that they’d spent the last few decades fighting over, but that would be fine. It’s traditional in Michael’s country to give gifts to one’s in-laws, and Dean is a future monarch. Anything too little would be insulting, and all would be consolidated eventually when Dean and Michael assumed their respective thrones. . .

Michael is still walking around delightfully living in his own head when Raphael pulls him into an empty room to discuss what they witnessed the night before. While not the most shocking scenario they could have imagined, they were not expecting to hear their brother announce that he and Dean Winchester would be getting married.

“And how are we to explain away our father’s absence during the proceedings, Michael?”

Michael’s good mood promptly withers. Because of course Chuck would be expected to play some part in arranging his son’s wedding. Ill or not, at the very least, he would be expected to make an appearance at the wedding. To have no part in it at all would be suspicious, not to mention rude.

While Raphael intended to snap Michael back to his senses, they had not meant to shake Michael into an immediate depression. They try for a gentler tone.

“You know, Michael. Our father has been gone for over a decade. He left no formal plans, he's sent no word. By any standard, he's abdicated. Perhaps this isn’t the right time to introduce a political marriage. Perhaps we should consider your assuming the kingship, and then come back around to formalizing your relationship with Dean—”

Michael, of course, is against this. Because their father is alive, and he will come back, and it will not be to find that another one of his sons had greedily tried to usurp the throne.

Seeing Michael about to fall back onto a familiar tangent, Raphael chooses the lesser of two evils and takes the conversation back to “Dean.” They ask which out of the two of them proposed to the other.

Michael abruptly realizes that he's forgotten something.

Meanwhile, Adam starts his morning on a much happier note. His headache is less punishing than Michael’s, and while feeling the normal amount of embarrassment that comes with drinking a little too much, the feeling does not extend to kissing Michael. His mother’s safe, he’s nailing his Dean impression, and Michael apparently likes him. Things could not be better. Until Adam remembers how the latter two items on that list are linked.

Michael is not like a classmate back home, who he could chat up, get a drink with, and maybe start seeing regularly if all things went well. Michael is, in fact, the acting ruler of one of the most powerful countries in the world, which just so happens to be at war with Adam’s, and under the explicit impression that Adam is similarly situated in the world.

Adam promptly begins freaking out.

And then Michael finds him.

Adam’s in the library at the time. Michael walks in and quietly dismisses Adam’s guards, and Kevin, leaving the two of them completely alone. Adam doesn’t realize what Michael’s doing right away, though he’s spent enough time with Michael to recognize how nervous he is as he starts talking about a proposal to end the war—selling the idea, as if Michael wouldn’t be enough on his own—and then sheepishly tapering into the idea that both he and Adam seem to have feelings for one another. And if Adam were able to go back in time and strangle his tipsy past self, he would, because then he wouldn’t have to see the look on Michael’s face when he says no.

And no, Michael does not understand.

Adam can hear years of living in the public eye at work in Michael voice, as he just manages to keep his voice level in asking, “Even if it would mean peace?”

"I'm sorry, I just—I can't."

". . .I see."

Michael excuses himself, and Adam collapses onto a couch, assuring himself that no was the only right answer, and he shouldn’t feel terrible—which, of course, since Adam’s spent the last couple of months flirting with Michael while posing as someone else, is not an easy idea to buy into.

Michael and Adam avoid eye contact at dinner, even as Raphael—who has zero doubts as to who initiated what the night before—practically burns holes into Adam’s skin with the looks they shoot down the table.

And then a messenger comes in. One of the wealthiest duchies in the kingdom (the same one that had once supported Lucifer, and of course would be populated with demon characters in the narrative) has declared its independence, having formed an alliance with the Campbells, and has launched an attack not far from the castle. Several villages have already been attacked along the way. Michael accompanies the armed forces he sends out to quash the uprising.

Raphael is left behind to fortify the castle and take in the refugees, who the messenger assured them are not far behind. Unlike Michael, Raphael rarely saw combat. Officially, it was because Raphael had adamantly insisted on training as a healer rather than a warrior, which was true enough. Unofficially though, Michael and Raphael are both fully aware that if anything happened to Michael, Raphael is the only one left to inherent the crown.

Samandirel and Anael escort Adam back to his room. Samandriel assures Adam that no one thinks he had anything to do with the duchy double crossing them, but it would probably just be safer for Adam to stay out of sight until things calm down. Anael is more closed-lipped about the situation.

From his window, Adam watches the first of the villagers come trickling in, and even from his vantage point he can make out burn wounds, makeshift bandages and hastily thrown together tourniquets, and he’s in hell, because it seems the only two options in front of him are to worry about Michael, or feel absolutely sick with guilt because he’s a trained physician and he should be down there helping.

Finally he pokes his head out into the corridor and asks if someone can find Kevin for him. Anael raises an eyebrow that “Dean,” who’s usually inordinately self-suffice for a prince, is suddenly insisting that he needs to see his manservant, but Samandriel is already helpfully heading down the hall. A few minutes later, Kevin is in Adam’s room, confused, as Adam asks him to take off his clothes.

“You can have mine, just switch with me, okay?”

“Uuh. . . Don’t you think mine will be a little tight on you—”

“Less talk! Strip!”

Michael had probably errored in assigning the same two guards to watch over Adam. After a year, the three of them had gotten to be on fairly familiar terms. Adam waited until Samandriel started to get chatty, and slipped quietly out of his room when Anael was distracted—neither of them having had any reason to think Adam would try to escape, because he had been nothing but compliant since the day he arrived.

From there, he goes straight to the infirmary.

Raphael had set up tents in the courtyard to accommodate the high number of people in need of care. Adam was a year out of practice, but the atmosphere was still familiar to him, and he slipped into the chaos unnoticed. Raphael doesn’t notice him until they are well into the thick of things, and Adam’s as covered in grime and gore as anyone else present. Adam had just gone for more bandages and the two of them nearly ran into each other, and for a split second Adam thinks Raphael just might not recognize him until hand closes around his arm like a vice.

“What exactly are YOU doing here?”

Then Raphael notices the stitches Adam had just finished putting in for his latest patient—and Adam’s stitchwork is immaculate, not the clumsy, half-hazard work of a solider who picked up the mechanics of it over the course of their career.

"YOU did that?"

Adam starts to fumble out an answer, but they are interrupted because then Michael is being brought in. The fighting is over. Raphael and Adam promptly drop everything.

Michael has a concussion. He’s also been lightly stabbed. You know, just lightly. Needs stitches though. Raphael is adamant that Adam leave immediately, but Michael, who is delirious, sees Adam and absolutely refuses to let Raphael send him away. Raphael winds up patching Michael together while Adam—annoyingly, to Raphael—is sat next to him, holding Michael’s hand. Adam winds up sitting next to Michael all night, because it’s the only way to keep Michael from getting up and tearing his stitches like a feverish moron.

Initially, Raphael refuses to leave too, not trusting their brother’s suspiciously competent love interest, whose family was purportedly allied with the traitors who’d just attacked their people. There are still more wounded to tend to, however, and Raphael begrudgingly has to step away—making sure to leave orders that a guard be present in the room the entire time that Raphael is gone.

Little does Raphael know, Adam would have lowkey given a limb to have Raphael stay. Michael’s demeanor is a lot less closed off when he’s feverish and concussed. Shortly after Raphael leaves, Michael starts apologizing for proposing earlier, and Adam feels like he’s been stabbed in the gut. And as he’s lying there, looking at Adam’s hand in his, Michael starts saying things he would not normally blurt out—like that ending the war was not the main reason he wanted to marry Adam, because the last year has been the best he can remember, and it is entirely due to spending time with Adam—even if Adam was only there by obligation—and he would do anything to make Adam happy, even if they weren’t together—and Adam is just stuck there, highkey dying on the inside.

Then Michael sees his face.

"I apologize, you’ve already said you do not want to marry me, I should not have brought this up—”

Michael starts to get out of bed completely unconcerned about his stab wounds, and as Adam’s pushing him back down, the words “That’s not true!” just sort of. . .fly out.

Then Michael’s suddenly looking at Adam, and his face is suddenly very sober, and Adam can feel his own face turning red.

"That is, I. . ." Adam realizes, suddenly, that he’s fucked. Telling Michael the truth is somehow both the right and wrong thing to do at the same time, and Michael is definitely in no condition to hear it either way. “How about, if you still want to marry me when all this is over, then I’ll say yes?”

The next morning is a string of stressful events for Adam. Raphael shooed him out of Michael room at dawn, and Adam went straight back to his own. Kevin, Samandriel, and Anael had all been reprimanded for Adam’s escape, with the latter two being replaced as Adam’s guard under Raphael’s orders. His first interaction with Ishim and Maribel does not bode well for them becoming friends.

When Adam tells Kevin that he’s thinking about coming clean to Michael, Kevin panics. News from the Winchesters had dried up weeks ago, even for Michael and Raphael’s sources. Kevin argues that they’d be better off attempting to escape on their own if the charade was getting to be too much for Adam, especially after last night—but even then, they should wait awhile longer. Why take any chances right now? And Adam doesn’t know how to go about explaining the why. . .

And it gets taken out of his hands anyway, when they step out of the room and find that it’s somehow leaked that Adam and Michael—who had completely misunderstood what Adam meant by “when all this is over”—are engaged.

Kevin doesn’t get another moment alone with Adam to discuss how stupidly dangerous this whole situation is, and Adam, no matter how hard he tries—can’t seem to get a moment alone with his fiancé to try to explain that the situation is not what he thinks it is. Everyone had vastly underestimated how far the rumors about Michael and Adam secretly courting had gone, and Adam can barely take three steps without a noble or courtier or someone pulling him aside to offer their congratulations, and as Adam gets closer to Michael’s chambers, there’s Raphael, circling like a shark and Adam does not want to make his confession to Raphael before he sees Michael.

Come dinner time, Adam finds that his seat had been reassigned. He now sits directly to Michael’s left. He keeps trying to convince Michael to step out into the hall with him for a second, while Raphael, seated in their normal place to Michael’s right, continuously circumvents him, firmly believing that Adam has done more than enough in private.

Then there’s a scream. A servant comes running out into the dining hall, carrying a bloody knife. They run up to Michael—up until the guards step forward to stop her, but she’s not attacking. Instead she hands over the knife and says that she found in the corridor outside the king’s chambers. She had been worried, so she broke protocol and went in. The king’s bed was drenched in blood.

Adam looks over and feels a chill when he recognizes the same knife that had been included in the murder kit he found in his room on day one.

If Raphael had looked up, Adam had no doubt that Raphael would have read something in his face, but they didn’t get the chance to. Michael and Raphael are busy staring at each, the only ones in the room who know beyond any doubt that the implication could not be true, because there had not been anyone in that bed to assassinate in over ten years. Neither of them is given the chance to try to spin the knife’s implications in any direction, however. While the court is still reeling in shocked silence, a guard walks in—completely oblivious—and announces that a messenger has arrived with urgent news.

Adam looks up, and finds he has room to panic more, when he sees Anna Milton walk in, a serving maid in the Winchester court, and as she drops a curtsey to Michael, she identifies herself as one of Raphael’s spies. She had held her place in the Winchester court for as long as she could, but when her real identity had been uncovered she’d had no choice but to flee, and she’s come with monumental news. The civil war across the channel has ended, the Campbells having been forced to seek asylum with their allies outside the kingdom, John Winchester deposed, and Dean Winchester installed on the throne in his place. She had witnessed his coronation herself the very day they identified her.

And Adam feels very cold, as if his blood had actually managed to turn into ice, which would have explained why he couldn’t seem to move, as every eye in the room immediately turns to him.

And that would be the end of part one.

#midam #adam milligan #supernatural michael #samandriel #supernatural raphael #anael #kevin tran #my thougths #i'm very tempted to throw jack in a joan-of-arc-inspired role

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