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angelofthepage · 1 year ago

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Okay, so lately I've been seeing a lot of mixed feelings (namely on Twitter) about the announcement of Bendy: Dreams Come to Life getting a graphic novel iteration. There is a LOT to talk about when it comes to this thing, and maybe I'll discuss it more another time, but today I wanna talk about the thing I've been hearing the most: strong feelings about having canonical designs for the human versions of some of our favorite characters.

In Dreams Come to Life, we have physical appearances from the following BATIM characters (that I can remember off the top of my head, I may be missing some):

Joey Drew

Sammy Lawrence

Norman Polk

Thomas Connor

Allison Pendle

Bertrum Piedmont

Wally Franks (this one I'm unsure on, it's been a hot minute)

This means that for the first time, we're gonna know what all of them look like as humans in the minds of the game developers, since, let's be real, if they're doing this thoughtfully, there is likely a lot of communication with the artist they got for this book. Making sure these characters fit their vision is a very probable priority.

In this fandom, we have had the freedom to design whatever the heck we want for the human versions of these characters. And that has been so much fun. You've had all sorts of takes, from characters mirroring their voice actors to completely original things that you never would have expected. Some things would pop up consistently in fan designs, and others would be an occasional pleasant surprise. We've seen a lot of things tweaked over the years, sometimes because we latch onto designs we like from artists we've met in the fandom and incorporate them into our own. Sometimes it's because we get new information in the canon, like Sammy confirmed to be blonde in The Illusion of Living (EDIT: I was extremely wrong on this, he is not confirmed blonde in this book, but he does have long and floppy hair that Joey thought should be slicked back more, and also Jack had some wild fashion), Allison is platinum blonde in DCTL, Wally having a hat as of his YouTube audiolog, Shawn and Tom wearing belts as of Boris and the Dark Survival, Tom being a wall of a man, Bertrum being a bear of a guy, etc. But even before Wally was confirmed to have a hat, a lot of us gave him a hat anyway, because the idea of him with a hat is fun! Bertrum being large, Tom being really tough! Heck, I saw a number of blonde Susies and Allisons before we got that bit on Allison, because it's fun to contrast their looks with that of Alice. That's the spirit of all of this, we make these designs because it's fun! You have characters all across the board in terms of race, sexuality, gender identity, age, body types, etc, because it's fun to imagine the possibilities for all of them with this cast that we love (and sometimes connect with them on a personal level), regardless of what's "canon" or not.

One of the things I'm hearing a lot is that some people don't want canon designs, and it sounds like it stems from a fear that they can't make their own designs anymore. And for those people, I'd like to ask, when has that ever stopped us? I mean that as a genuine question, I'm not here to mock anyone. Like, my first big fandom experience was over with Sonic as a teenager, and I never dreamed of deviating from the canon because I just, did not have any experience with that at the time. Bendy was really good for showing me that there's a LOT of ways the fandom experience can go, especially on this front. When Bendy and the Dark Revival came out, and we got two really major reveals for character designs: Memory Joey and Henry Stein. Henry, a character fans have been designing for YEARS, a character shrouded in mystery, finally got a confirmed design, and you know what happened? We started drawing this new design, but we didn't stop drawing our fan designs just because we got this new one. BATDR Henry has kind of been adopted into the fandom the same way we do designs for AUs, he's just another AU guy that happens to be canon to the sequel game. Heck, I love seeing art where fandom takes on Henry are interacting with BATDR Henry, it's really sweet honestly.

And that's exactly the attitude I have towards this graphic novel. It does not matter how these characters are designed, we are still valid and allowed to make whatever the heck we want. And if people really try to gatekeep it and scream that you're only allowed to draw the canon, I think that says more about them than it does anything else. Go draw what makes you happy (so long as it's not hurting anyone, obviously there is some nuance here but that is a whole other can of worms)! The only thing that this actually changes (or at least, what I'm guessing will change) is what's gonna fly when it comes to stuff like the fan art contests and challenges/what the devs might choose to retweet in terms of fan art. But that's only one part of the fan art scene. Otherwise, go fandom your way! No one is stopping you, draw what makes YOU happy. I am still going to draw a pointy blonde disaster of a music director however I please, even after we see Sammy in canon. Because darn it I like my Sammy, he is my strawberry blonde (depending on the world, sometimes it's more ashy) buffoon, and one new version of a book doesn't change my love for that.

That said, I am really curious how the teams behind this series imagine these characters. I feel the same way about it that I do my fellow fan artists. To me this really is just another AU, the DCTL AU. I think I'm less curious about the game characters and more about the characters native to this book, and that's got more to do with, well, I don't see a lot of people designing them! There's some, but they're not flooding my timeline like the game characters do. Like, I've designed the DCTL art department before for a Sims game, but I haven't gone much farther than that. I wanna know what Abby looks like, give me her fashion! I wanna see Buddy, Dot, and Jacob! I'm still keeping my Jacob design regardless, I love playing with him, but gosh do I wanna know what Jacob looks like in canon. Same with Dot. I have a lot of hopes for both of them, and I'm trying to lower my expectations so as not to be disappointed if it doesn't turn out that way. Like Dot has potential to be our first plus sized Bendy character given how she's described (also the first to wear glasses), of COURSE I want to see that! She's my writer girl that's super sus and incredibly interesting to me personally, I love her! And then I have more information to consider when I go to design my dolls (because believe you me, dolls based on the books have been on my list for a LONG time). I'm curious how much input Adrienne Kress will have here as the author, like I would love to know what's going on in her mind with these characters!

Whatever happens next, the most important thing to remember is that you're free to create whatever you like. Go make things that make you happy. That's all the devs are doing in the end, and if it's good enough for them, it's more than good enough for us. Bendy is made the way it is (hopefully) because that's what they wanted to make. Like why make an indie project that makes you miserable, you know? I don't know what to think of this new graphic novel, but whatever happens, I'm gonna take it with a grain of salt and keep doing what I always do: make my own fun out of what we're given. That's what fandom is, a place to enjoy a piece of media. And everyone enjoys this sort of thing differently. Find what works for you.

#batdr #bendy dctl #dctl graphic novel #bendy headcanons #I don't usually put my stronger thoughts out there #but I've seen so many people stressing over this #and the book is still a year away!#I hope that maybe this can give someone else some comfort #things change in the fandom and in Bendy as a whole for sure #but that doesn't mean that everything has to change #encuentra tu felicidad #find your happiness

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crystallizedday · 2 years ago

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*Kicks down door as it evaporates into the 7th plane of existence*

Hi.

I’m back.

So since the Ink Demon content here’s a lil slow, I decided to do what I do best…

& ramble on about my favorite freaky boy with daddy issues again!! Yaaaaaayyy!!

But this isn’t just ANY ramble, no, cause my twisted & frankly evil imagination gifted me something interesting today (as it usually does).

So there I was, dozing off to some music, when my brain crafted a scene…

of the Ink Demon’s very beginning…

which is kind of headcanony, I’m honestly just doing this for fun.

He was the first, the first success when it came to creating life with the ink, even if it was hard to tell how “alive” he was at first.

The quaking & shivering of the ink-soaked being was the only immediately clear indication, his frantic breathing gradually slowing as he took in the world around him.

All the fancy thingamajigs he couldn’t possibly understand were fascinating to look at, sure, but what REALLY caught his attention were the many faces staring back at him, some with horror, some with excitement, & some who were too dumbfounded to pick an emotion to stick with. They were all looking at him. Who were they? Did they… make him?

He tried to stand, his boney legs struggling to support himself as he kept falling to his knees. He kept at it, making quiet whimpering noises out of frustration. He wanted to stand like the rest of them, but couldn’t. He tried grasping onto the nearest elevated object near him to raise himself, legs shaking even further.

To his observers, it was such a sad sight. Even if the creature was unnerving to most of them, seeing it struggle was depressing to watch. One of them got an idea.

Thomas Connor, the man who engineered the machine that created the being in the first place, was the first one to step up & aid the newborn entity in getting a better grasp on its surroundings, even if using a nearby wheelchair to do so felt a little… odd, but it was the best solution he could think of in that instance, so he wasn’t complaining. He planned to help the thing learn how to properly walk in a more convenient environment, but for now, Tom thought it was appropriate to show the creature what would be known as its new home.

The ink creature gazed down at his dangling legs, finding mild amusement in how he was moving while sitting down. He eventually got into the brief habit of twiddling his thumbs when he wasn’t looking around at his environment.

He was curious about himself, about his rather large white hand & the crooked white thing on his chest. They stood out to him, especially in comparison to the rest of his skinny stature. That’s when he saw one of the Bendy cutouts.

Thomas told it that this was Bendy the Dancing Demon, the mascot of this studio & well… it, for the most part.

It was Bendy.

HE was Bendy.

Which… immediately was off-putting.

The character in front of him was so… small with such a plump stomach & a big head. “Bendy” put a hand to his own chest while looking at the cutout, feeling each line of his ribcage.

Tom could tell the poor thing was already judging itself in comparison to its cartoony counterpart. He tried to ease it by telling it they’d work on THAT later as they finally arrived at his office.

There was enough stuff around the decently sized room for the thing to hold itself up with, so this seemed like a good place to teach it how to properly walk.

Tom disliked getting ink on himself like this, but these first few steps would require some direct assistance for him, so he did what he could. He held the creature by the hands as he guided it around the office, keeping a slow pace so it could properly find its footing.

While he walked, “Bendy” took in all the things around him that he could, still trying to wrap his head around this strange place. Over & over, he kept thinking about his name. “Bendy”, “Bennnnndyyy”… What about THIS person’s name? Who was the man that was helping him? What was HIS name? Did he even have a name? This was all very confusing to him. He didn’t even know who created him yet. He began getting curious, perhaps a little too curious.

Once Tom was satisfied with the progress the ink creature had made, he ordered it to stay put in his office until he had returned to report the news to “Joey”, who he explained was the man who presumably “created” the character of Bendy.

To “Bendy”, this confirmed at least ONE of his questions: his creator was this “Joey” person. He wanted to meet him. He tried following the kind man who helped him, but the man was having none of it, raising his voice at “Bendy” to stay put no matter what.

Tom, wanting to report to Joey as quickly as possible, rushed off, leaving the ink creature briefly poking it’s head out of the door & watching him leave.

Although he was well aware he was disobeying the kind man’s orders, “Bendy” was just too curious about what else was out there, all the places the man neglected to show him, all the other funny fleshy faces the creature wanted to see…

He carefully made his way out of the room, deciding to roam the halls to see who or what he could find on his own.

So far, the halls were rather vacant of life, but they at least had a variety of different quirky posters sprawled about. He found himself curious about the posters featuring other cartoon characters, such as the one with the big snout & the one with the halo. Who were they? He was not exactly the best at reading at this point, so it was difficult to find that out for himself. Did this mean there were others like him? Or was he the only one?

He continued forward, slowly making his way down the halls until he came face to face with another person. They didn’t notice him at first, but the second they did, they practically fell over in terror, scooting away from the creature before eventually running off. “Bendy” reached out with his gloved hand to try & reassure them, but it was too late for that.

What was wrong? Wasn’t he the mascot of this place? Shouldn’t that person be excited to see him alive & moving?

“Bendy” explored the area further & quickly found a nearby wall of glass where he could just barely see his reflection in it. He walked closer to it.

Oh.

The simplistic & adorable eyes of his counterpart were nowhere to be seen. Just ink. He tried swiping the ink away, but there was nothing underneath. His toothy smile matched the cutouts and posters, but his mouth could not emote any further than that, no matter how much he pulled & tugged at the ends of it.

This… this couldn’t have been HIM, right?

He was supposed to be Bendy, the cute little dancing demon!

But he was neither cute nor little, & he doubted he could dance with such a limited grasp on walking as it is.

This didn’t feel right, HE didn’t feel right, he felt like…

He heard footsteps echoing through the halls.

He panicked, wobbling his way back to the office he escaped from, fearing the man from before would be upset with him if he found him wandering about.

He closed the door behind him, wandering the office as if he never left, waiting for the nice man’s arrival.

Except it wasn’t the nice man that opened the door to greet him.

It was another man.

A man who, for a SPLIT second, looked upon “Bendy” with the brightest smile on his face…

Before it immediately vanished, replaced with nothing but horror & disgust.

So much had happened.

So much agitated yelling, so much horrified screaming…

It was all a blur to “Bendy”.

All he could remember was struggling to break free from someone’s grasp as he was thrown into this small room, hearing a click from the other side.

The door wouldn’t open, no matter how much he pushed or pulled or twisted the knob.

He was trapped.

The room was so dark. He could barely see anything around him. He kept knocking things over & making a mess anytime he tried to stand up & move.

This often left him on his knees, inches apart from the door.

Some days, he wouldn’t bother with it, just curling towards the nearest large object & letting himself rest, maybe even toying with some of the various smaller objects to occupy himself.

But on other days, he banged at the door for hours, begging for someone, ANYONE, to find him & let him out.

He put all of his energy into every slam, trying to make as much noise as possible.

He didn’t know why this was happening to him.

Sure, he didn’t look like the mascot he was supposed to be, but the nice man said they were gonna fix him.

So why did they do this?

Was this a part of the process?

Did the man lie?

Did he… deserve this?

Days on end, he felt the ink from his face leak to the ground as he whimpered & cried, the permanent smile never wavering.

He just wanted to get out. He wanted to see the bright rooms again. He wanted to see the posters again. He wanted to see the cutouts again.

He wanted to see his face again, his PERFECT face…

His perfect face…

Curse his perfect face.

He wouldn’t even be here if he had just come out right.

But then again… what if he somehow got WORSE treatment if he was “perfect”?

What if they made him do things he didn’t want to do?

What if he got hurt & wasn’t perfect anymore?

What if…

What if there was no way to not be hurt?

He wondered as he continued to bang on the door, each slam turning more & more aggressive & frantic…

…

Mhm, so uh

You ever just accidentally write a lil writing snippet without thinking?

For like 2-3 hours straight?

Damn bro, WHDIWNCOWOD

Anyway, uh, yeah.

Thanks, YT! For providing the music that inspired this!

Cry.

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cadybear420 · 10 months ago

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Masterlist of all my important Choices MCs (and their LIs). (NOTE: List is subject to frequent updates) OLD POST. The proper MC masterlist is here.

Unlinked and uncolored MCs do not have a sprite made for them yet.

You're welcome to ask me questions about any of these MCs! Yes, even the ones that I haven't fleshed out as much yet, it will help me build their characters better.

Anthology Profiles: AKA Singular Profile Braindump Posts for the Series that go through different MCs (eg. HSS, ILS, Untameable, RWB)

HSS: Jordan Price (Prime f!MC), Evie Ayana (OG f!MC), Cher Lee (HSS:CA f!MC)

ILS: Jo Hunter (Woods f!MC), Harper Addison Vance-Fisher (Beneath demigirl!MC), Cedric Zhao (Within m!MC)

MCs with Completed and Thorough Profiles

OG HSS f!MC: Evie Ayana (LI: Aiden Zhou)

MCs with Basic Simple Profiles

ILW m!MC: Cedric Zhao (LI: Jocelyn Wu, but also likes Amalia De Leon)

MCs for stories where I've completed playthroughs with their "official" story routes (links go to images of the MC sprite, profiles still pending)

ILITW f!MC: Jo Hunter (LI: Lucas Thomas, but also likes Andy Kang and Connor Green)

ILB genderfluid demigirl MC: Harper Addison Vance-Fisher (LI: either Tom Sato or Parker Shaw, most likely Tom)

BP f!MC: Cady Asshunter (LI: has trysts with all of them)

TNA f!MC: Eh IDC (LI: White Samuel Dalton)

MCs for stories where their specific story routes are in progress or need a replay (links go to images of the MC sprite, profiles still pending)

HSS Prime f!MC: Jordan Price (LI: ends up with Julian Castillo in OG HSS's prom)

HSS:CA f!MC: Cher Lee (LI: Ajay Bhandari) and her trans m!Twin Bear Lee

ES f!MC: Emilia Harris (LI: undecided)

TRR f!MC: Lew Asshunter (LI: East Asian Liam "Sexy Thicc Man" Rys)

BB trans f!MC Jasmine Yin (LI: White Adrian Raines, Kamilah Sayeed, and Jax Matsuo; can't decide which of them she becomes closest with though)

PM m!MC: [Name Still Pending] (LI: Black f!Hayden Young and Sloane Washington)

AME m!MC: [Name Still Pending] (LI: Probably MacKenzie Harris)

TH:M f!MC: Otto (LI: none, she's had and still somewhat has the hots for Ansel Crane and they have at least one hatefuck hookup)

MAH f!MC: Peggy Stone (LI: White Tyler Woods)

TPA f!MC: Jane Bond (LI: Agent Callum "Booty Galore" Grey, undecided which version)

DLS m!MC: Dick Ryder (LI: Hispanic Charlotte King, or rather "Peg" King)

MCs for stories where I haven't even started their "official" playthrough yet (links go to images of the MC sprite, profiles still pending)

OG HSS m!MC: Alan Parke (LI: either Emma Hawkins, Maria Flores, or both)

OG HSS f!MC: Violet Jones (LI: Michael Harrison)

ES m!MC: BJ Kingsley (LI: Estela Montoya)

PM f!MC: Penny (LI: Probably m!Hayden Young but I'm not sure)

AME f!MC: Jamie MacLeod (LI: Marries Jen Espinoza on the show, but her true love is Carson Stewart and she ends in a threeway poly relationship with them)

ROD f!MC: Adelaide Zhou (LI: Most probably Colt Kaneko)

TH:M m!MC: Bill (LI: Eris Huang)

LOA f!MC: Anjali Bhandari (LI: East Asian!Gabe Ricci, Aislinn Tanaka, and Joaquin Morales)

COP f!MC: Roslyn Rose (LI: m!Trystan Thorne, not sure which version)

MCs I have planned for stories I haven't even touched yet (links go to images of the MC sprite, profiles still pending)

TE f!MC: [Name Still Pending] (LI: Either Beckett Harrington or Griffin Langley)

Alpha m!MC: [Name Still Pending] (LI: East Asian f!Channing Lowe)

Alpha f!MC: Luna (LI: None, she is not interested in Channing and prefers to clap the cheeks of Asher and Markus)

#i'm not tagging all of these books or mcs #choices stories you play #choices #choices game #choices stories we play #choices stories we play fandom #choices mcs #cadybear's mcs #meet my mc #meet my mcs #cadybear's masterlists

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sugdenlovesdingle · 1 year ago

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I was inspired by your last anon answer and the bit of «hire me Emmerdale». So I want to ask how do you envision the future ? What will you do to get the show right back on track ? Personally, I would get rid of multiple characters, there are currently 80+ characters and it’s just too much, although I will reintroduce or introduce my own characters. I will bring back the Windsors (Scott and Kelly), Daz Eden (Half brother of Andy and surrogate son of the Sugden), I will bring Adult Jean Tate ( Scott’s and Zoe daughter, unfortunately with Leah Bracknell passing, I would have to kill off Zoe) and also Adult TJ Woods (Terry and Dawn son who is also the grandson of Bob). I am torn about bringing back Jamie Tate. As my new characters, I will bring a new family with no attach to any Dales resident or secret. I want a regular and mundane British family, with middle aged parents and kids who are in the late teens to their early twenties to give company to Belle, Tom, Samson, Amelia, Noah, Gabby and Jacob. I was also inspired with how you brought up the necessity of the depiction of Matty’s identity as a trans man in today England who have more backlash against queer people by the day. The same with gay couple. Honestly I don’t hate Arthur and Marshall; I think there are cute however if it would have been up to me, I would have waited two years before putting them together, I think the actors age is restricting them too much, they are even below the age of consent. I would have wrote Arthur as having a crush on Marshall but M turning him down and then it would have been two years of unrequited love and will they/won’t they and then Marshall reciprocated Arthur feelings but it’s too late because Arthur met someone else at school and when Marshall confess his feelings, Arthur respond with anger saying he has been in love with him for the past two years, but now it’s too late. In the end, they do get together after Arthur realise his feelings are still very strong…

An absolute fantasy scenario of mine, where obviously I would write realistic storyline and bring back the community in Dales, with characters everyday life interaction and a diversity in jobs (too many vets). I will stop putting everyone together and create meaningful pairing. I will also bring back the cattiness and camp vibe of the late 90’s and 2000’s (Watch Dawn and Kelly fight in 2005 for context)

What about you ?

Ooh you've got interesting ideas anon! First of all - bring back robron (i don't care if Ryan and Danny would actually want to, in this scenario they do) and bring Liv back from the dead (what, stranger things have happened on this show) Let robron raise seb and their football team of other kids, let Liv and Vinny be happy with Chip and maybe discuss kids and how they would want to go about that. If Liv would want to carry a child or not, have sex to get pregnant or not - just a story of a couple figuring out if/how asexuality and having kids go together. I do like Arthur and Marshall together, they're cute. And even if they're underage that doesn't mean you can't tell a cutesy teen romance story with them (I mean look at the heartstopper boys or further back Jude and Connor (I think) on The Fosters. Arthur became an LGBT+ activist overnight but has 0 interaction with the other queer characters in the village. Even if his coming out was good/happy/his family and friends were supportive, it would be nice for him to talk to other people about it. With robron and Liv in the village he could talk to him, there's Ethan and Mack (I know the writers have forgotten about his flirting with Jamie and Aaron but no take backs - he's bi). He could (help) organise a proper village pride festival that actually focuses on the queer characters - and they could raise money for a charity that helps trans people. I would bring Jamie Tate back and have him be in Thomas' life - and Gabby having to deal with that. And him having to deal with his 2.0 version (Tom) working at the vets. I'd have him back at the vets too and have the awkwardness of working with Dawn - who has well and truly moved on but he still kind of has feelings for her. I don't know who he'd possibly date though - maybe revisit the flirting between him and Mack from Mack's early days.

If we're bringing in/back long lost relatives, I'd like some Sharmas to rock up in the village (maybe Jai has some long lost cousins out there) and bring back Andy and some Sugdens (doesn't Robert have a niece/cousin out there of around his age?) And I'd bring back Ellis and put him and Vic back together.

I'd get rid of WENDY, Paddy, Chas, Meatloaf, Mandy, Dan, Will, and Zak.

Definitely bring in some new characters - Ryan's brother maybe? Maybe he'll have a family to bring with him. and there's so many empty houses in the village, a completely new family would be good too.

I like Caleb and Nicky, they can stay, but I'd bring in Nicky's mother - and maybe her partner and his other siblings. Ally can stay too and he and Nicky get together properly and we get some insight in how/when they met and how long they've been in each other's lives

Moira gets to keep her farm and Kim keeps HF for now and hires Robert as her second in command.

Cain takes Nicky under his wing like he did with Aaron back in the day.

Amy and Matty get a HUGE wedding - only robron's was better - that's just the event of the year and we meet some of Matty's friends from when he lived in Manchester.

Charity and Vanessa back together - out of all the partners she's had, she works best with vanessa (and no unexpected pregnancies!)

Chloe and Sarah move to scotland to live with Debbie and only occasionally visit so Mack can spend time with Reuben - after a while they tell him they're together and are living their best lesbian lives up in scotland.

I like Bob and Bernice in the B&B - they can stay. Without wendy in the mix they'll be easier to deal with.

Liam and Leyla back together - their break up still makes no sense.

that's all i can think of for now but i'm sure just watching the show will make me yell more at my computer screen lol

#Anonymous #emmerdale

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tomwambsmilk · 2 years ago

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before i stumbled upon your blog just now, i had seen zero (0) imagery of succession.

i did not care about succession. i thought it seemed like not my type of show, boring even (i apologize, my mistake).

i still have no idea what it's about.

i know not anything about your scrimblos more than the first 5 mins of looking at your blog has told me.

but you've intrigued me. I still won't probably see this show (no offense - i haven't even watched through good omens and i Loved that show and follow fanfics of it)

but damn it if i won't follow this blog.

keep up the good fight. milk your men. you keep a high supply of fresh juicy content; and i am a patron of the arts.

You have NO idea how absolutely delightful this ask was to get. We here at Tommy Milk Inc ALWAYS welcome additional patrons, regardless of existing knowledge of succession, affection for Tom, or position on the undefined but definitely very real Succession Political Compass. And I am personally deeply flattered by your enjoyment of my fresh juicy content, which I work so hard (with the help of my compatriots) to keep flowing from the tits of a certain Thomas Wambsgans day and night.

In fact, your ask has inspired me to attempt a bit of a Tommy milk renaissance (or milkaissance, if you will), so if milkposting is a topic which interests you, I'll be reblogging some key posts in the history of this phenomenon in short order.

All that said, while I don't think you need any prior knowledge of succession to appreciate the magical milk flowing from his substantial tits, I thought it might be helpful, for the sake of better enjoying the content, to get a Crash Course in the various Scrimblos of Succession:

Logan Roy - literally the worst. Rolling with lgbt but also deeply homophobic, but also might be falling in love with his son-in-law (source: asked for his help peeing). Obsessed with milk and piss. Got a UTI and almost destroyed his own company over it. Once made several of his execs wrestle each other for sausages on a corporate retreat. Will hopefully die in season 4

Kendall Roy - defender of women. Wants to be Oedipus but is bad at it. Used to do coke off his kids iPads but is now interested in becoming a meth-head (character growth!). Clinically depressed, probably. Technically killed a guy once. Wants to be Jesus sooo bad he almost strapped himself to a cross at his birthday party while performing Billy Joel's "Honesty". Definitely invested in crypto off-screen

Roman Roy - meow meow supreme. Big proponent of sexual harassment. "Scared of pussy" but does like ejaculating onto windows. Thinks "fascism is cool, but also, not really". Tried to send a picture of his dick to the company's general legal counsel and sent it to his father instead. Major daddy's boy but does not know how much milk costs (sad!). Only person on this entire show who's ever been to management training

Shiv Fucking Roy - 1/2 of the show's resident failmarriage. Used to work for Bernie Sanders (succession edition). Asked for an open marriage on her wedding night. Tries to be a #girlboss but is ultimately more of cringefail loser (affectionate). Called her husband manipulative because he tried to talk about his feelings. Representation for women who are their father's daughters (derogatory). Was almost suspiciously excited about the prospect of having sex with another woman in a threesome before Tom had to go and ruin it. Will likely murder him in season 4 (for unrelated reasons)

Connor Roy - running for president and polling VERY close to 1%. Sugar daddy, patron of the arts, and big Napoleon fan. Man of the people (the people who work on his ranch). Occupations: "safeguarding" thousands of acres of New Mexico wilderness, and being on the verge of setting up a podcast about Napoleonic history with significant investment interest. A lack of real-world experience has sometimes been levelled at him. Owns Napoleon's penis. Everyone else keeps forgetting he exists

Tom Wambsgans - babygirl!!!! Other half of the resident failmarriage. Lactates (they haven't addressed this in canon but that doesn't mean it isn't true). Has a Nero kink. Spends a lot of time saying suspiciously sexual things about his father-in-law. Sent his wife's cousin Greg 67 emails with the subject line "You can't make a Tomlette without breaking some Greggs" on the first night of his honeymoon. White collar criminal but bad at it. Once started secretly tracking his wife's menstrual cycle so he could pretend to be horny when she was ovulating in the hopes this would convince her to have a baby. Official boar on the floor loser (Karl stole his sausage). Pushed Shiv down the stairs and castrated and married Cousin Greg in the season 3 finale. Has a dick the size of a red sequoia and fucks like a bullet train

Cousin Greg - slick little fuck (affectionate). Tom's executive assistant and corporate sugar baby. Also a white collar criminal but even worse at it. Suing Greenpeace for his inheritance. Has a gay homewrecking dad. Absolutely should go to HR about Tom but won't. Not here for a long time, but also not really having a good time. Generally doesn't know what's going on. Probably entering his villain era in Season 4 (what is he going to do with a soul anyways??). Once asked Tom to prove that he has a dick the size of a red sequoia and fucks like a bullet train

#succession #asks

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rainbowspinch · 2 years ago

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Thomas Connor and Scott

For your ask post

Oh sweet Tommy!

1.Sexuality HC - very gay

2. OTP- Tom and Wally!

3. Brotp- Tom and Allison, they’ve been best pals for ages I’m telling ya

4. Notp- Tom and Sam probably

5. First headcanon that comes to my head- he loves engineering, cars, and superheroes. He has so much info he wants to talk about

6. Favourite line from this character- “what happens when a man makes a machine that makes a monster? The man loses everything.”

7. One way I relate to this character- peer review says I’m very susceptible to just Doing As I’m Told

8. Thing that gives me second hand embarrassment about this character - the DRAMATICS in The Lost Ones, man you’ve got no chill lmfao

9. Cinnamon roll or problematic fave- problematic fave no doubt but I love him the way he is

SCOTT, THE MADMAN <3

1.Sexuality HC - queer in some way or another

2.OTP- don’t have one!

3.Brotp- Scott and Tom, he’s his right hand man!

4. Notp- again, don’t have one!

5.First headcanon that pops into my head- he’s a single dad to his mentioned baby, and he loves her with all his heart

6. Favourite line from this character- his rambles about how no one escapes, go off girl!

7. One way I relate to this character- his god awful driving. I hit my dads car trying to go up our driveway

8. Thing that gives me second hand embarrassment about this character- NOTHING I love Scott for all he is

9. Cinnamon roll or problematic fave- ciiiiinnamon roll?

#batim #scott the lost ones #ask game

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bookofkatherine · 1 month ago

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"Victory!" Send-Off | Feat. Supreme Thor, Bucky, Aragorn, Superman and More

Saying goodbye is as sexy as it is hard.

Monday | October 7, 2024 | 3:48 p.m.

Dear Journal,

It was hard today, dear journal- so so hard. I didn't want to say goodbye. But I did. I chose to. I said, "yes." For to say no to any man leaving for war against the Enemy is to aid the Enemy.

And I want all of Satan the Deceiver's servants dead.

The saints have suffered enough. The innocents gave cried and wailed for too long.

But I could not let Nick go out the door without kissing him or my Knights. If I don't I begin to shudder and shake.

I don't always kiss all of them, though sometimes I do. I kissed them all on Friday and on Saturday too. But today I was only allowed to kiss a few. I am sick with a terrible infection, so I am weaker than usual. I have to take it easy.

But let's be honest; kissing superheroes like Superman and Thor will never be a low-level activity. They all raise my heartrate.

Hell. We just began listening to The Book of Scandal about Henry Cavill and I when he was the Nathan Grey, the Earl of Lindsey in 1806. Just remembering his waltz makes me dizzy.

Today the Lord had me kiss a handful of Knights goodbye:

Nick (John Connor)

John Krasinski (Jack Ryan)

Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn)

Thomas (Thomas Sharpe, Supreme Loki)

Tom Hiddleston (Loki)

Sebastian Stan (Abraham)

John (Faerie Prince, Final Prophet)

Bucky (Abraham, Supreme Winter Soldier)

Thor (Supreme Thor/Chris Hemsworth)

That's 9 of my Knights, which sounds like a lot until you realize I have 33 Knights total (a holy number that represents Christ).

But I am thankful nonetheless. All of the Knights except Nick are staying here with me as guardians. Satan has begun attacking my land. They are needed here.

Nick is off using his lightning fingers to help Gustaf kill a big ugly nephilim. The rest will be with me, invisible but felt.

And Bucky said he's sending me his real dog tags from World War 2 to help heal and protect me. I can't wait.

In the meantime I will try to rest and heal from this damn infection. It's a wicked pisser. Argh.

Love,

Katherine

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ao3feed-brucewayne · 9 months ago

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Mamma Mia!

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/lOQ5dKB by TheForthDadInMammaMia Peter Parker feels lost in Gotham so when he finds out he has three possible dads in this universe. Of course he invites them all to his graduation Words: 1139, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English Fandoms: Batman - All Media Types, Spider-Man - All Media Types, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), DCU (Comics) Rating: Not Rated Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Categories: F/F, F/M, M/M Characters: Peter Parker, Dick Grayson, Oliver Queen, Wally West, Jason Todd, Bruce Wayne, Duke Thomas, Stephanie Brown, Tim Drake, Connor Hawke, Cassandra Cain, Mary Parker (Marvel) Relationships: Peter Parker & Alfred Pennyworth, Batfamily Members & Peter Parker, Dick Grayson & Peter Parker, Peter Parker & Oliver Queen, Peter Parker & Wally West, Peter Parker & Jason Todd, Peter Parker & Bruce Wayne, Peter Parker & Duke Thomas, Stephanie Brown & Peter Parker, Tim Drake & Peter Parker, Mary Parker & Peter Parker Additional Tags: Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker Whump, Peter Parker is a Mess, Identity Porn, Inspired by Mamma Mia! (Movies), Mamma Mia! References, I wasnt hugged enough as a child, Peter Parker is Trying His Best, Peter Parker is a Ray of Sunshine, Daddy Issues, Good Sibling Jason Todd, Peter Parker Gets a Hug, i wish i had a functional dad, i didn´t realize that mamma mia plot happens in like one day, Slut Shaming, I did this instead of my homework, you better thank me, will add more tags as i go on read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/lOQ5dKB

#IFTTT #bruce wayne #batman #the caped crusader #the dark knight #dcu #ao3 #ao3feed

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bigrafia · 1 year ago

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TOM CRUISE

He was born in Syracuse, New York,11 on July 3, 1962, he is the son of the electronic engineer Thomas Cruise Mapother III (1934-1984) and his wife, Mary Lee Pfeiffer (1936-2017), a professor and theater fan; and brother of Lee Anne, Marian and Cass. Tom Cruise is of English, German and Irish descent.1213 The family lived in many cities due to his father's job instability, but they finally settled in Ottawa, Canada.14 His studies were a problem for Tom since He went from one city to another and also suffered from dyslexia (difficulty reading and writing). Tom attended 14 different schools in just 15 years. After his parents' divorce, Cruise leaves Canada and settles with his mother and sisters in Kentucky. For a time he considered entering a Franciscan monastery,15 but in the end he decided to be an actor. Cruise grew up in near poverty and had a Catholic upbringing. The family was dominated by his abusive father, whom the actor has described as "a merchant of chaos." Cruise has said he was beaten by his father, whom he called "a bully and a coward." He has stated that "My father was the kind of person who, if something went wrong, he would kick you. It was a great lesson in my life, how he would lull you and make you feel safe and then, boom! For me it was like «There is something wrong with this guy.

After graduating from high school, Tom moved to New York16 where he attended some castings while working as a waiter. At 19 years old he decided to go to Los Angeles to try his luck in Hollywood. In 1981, after a brief role in the film Endless Love, he would be chosen to act in the film Taps alongside another young promise: Sean Penn. In his early years, Tom participated mostly in films for adolescent audiences: comedies such as Losin' It (1983) and Risky Business (1983).17 But from very early on he added prestigious titles to his record, such as The Outsiders (1983) by Francis Ford Coppola, along with other future stars such as Patrick Swayze and Matt Dillon, and The Color of Money (1986) by Martin Scorsese, with the illustrious Paul Newman, who with this film won the Oscar for Best Actor that had eluded him so much. Since Endless Love, the figure of Tom Cruise began to be known, but in 1985 with Legend18 by Ridley Scott and in 1986 with the blockbuster Top Gun19 by Tony Scott, he forged his fame as an actor in romantic and action stories, which They are loved by their female fans and male fans alike. In 1987 Cruise gave his fans a little disappointment by marrying an actress older than him, Mimi Rogers. She was the one who introduced Tom to Scientology. The blockbuster film Cocktail (1988) in which he acted alongside Elisabeth Shue, despite its discreet quality, establishes him as the star of American cinema of the moment. In 1988, Cruise made a qualitative leap in his career with Rain Man, a film by Barry Levinson that swept the Oscars, winning four statuettes, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor (Dustin Hoffman). Cruise is not awarded an award for it, but the following year he is nominated for the Oscar for best actor for Oliver Stone's Born on the Fourth of July, where he plays a wheelchair-bound Vietnam War veteran, a role in which he had a great success and won his first Golden Globe.

In the 1980s Cruise had several partners, among which the actress Rebecca De Mornay and the singer Cher stood out. He was married twice before his last marriage to Katie Holmes. The first time in 1987 with the actress Mimi Rogers, from whom he separated in 1990, and then with the actress Nicole Kidman, whom he met during the filming of Days of Thunder, and with whom he also divorced in a very public way at the end. 2001. His marriage to Kidman lasted almost eleven years and they were one of the most popular couples in Hollywood. They had no biological children but adopted two: Isabella Jane (born 1992) and Anthony Connor (born 1995). After starring together in Stanley Kubrick's film, Eyes Wide Shut, Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman irreconcilably separated. In the June 2006 issue of Ladies' Home Journal, Kidman said she still loved Cruise: "He was huge; he still is. To me, he was just Tom, but to everyone else, he's huge. He was always lovely to me." and I loved him. I still love him." Additionally, the actress has expressed how shocked she was by her divorce.46 After two stable relationships, Cruise had an affair with the Spanish actress Penélope Cruz, with whom he starred in the film Vanilla Sky. This film is a version of a Spanish title called Abre los Ojos, directed by Alejandro Amenábar. He met Katie Holmes while searching for a co-star for his film Mission Impossible 3. His first public appearance was on April 29, 2005, in Rome, at the David di Donatello Awards, the Italian equivalent of the Oscars.

A few months later they got engaged. Cruise, in what was a shrewd and histrionic performance to please the excited female audience of host Oprah Winfrey's talk show The Oprah Winfrey Show, declared that he had fallen madly in love with Katie Holmes during the show's broadcast on television, starring in a scene as excessive as it was funny. climbing on a sofa and proclaiming his love.4849 Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes in 2009 Shortly after, Cruise proposed to Holmes on the morning of July 17, 2005, at the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris; she accepted.50 At the press conference, attended by Holmes's mother, Cruise announced to the news: Today is a great day for me. I am engaged to a magnificent woman. The couple announced that Holmes was pregnant. On April 18, 2006, Cruise's first biological daughter was born, whom they named Suri. On November 18 of that year he married Katie Holmes, generating great excitement in Italy, the place chosen for the ceremony.

The ceremony, attended by many Hollywood stars, was celebrated by the rite of the Church of Scientology, at the Odescalchi castle in Bracciano, 35 kilometers from Rome. In June 2012, Katie Holmes filed for divorce from Cruise, citing irreconcilable differences and custody of Suri. According to TMZ, the main reason that led the actress to take the step was her husband's excessive obsession with Scientology.51 To separate from Tom Cruise, Holmes carried out the entire process in absolute secrecy, thanks to the help she received from Nicole Kidman, Cruise's ex-wife, who advised and supported her throughout the tough lawsuit.

NAME: Geordy Saul Alvear Blacio

COURSE: 2do "D"

DATE: 24 de Septiembre del 2023

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reclusive-pessimist · 3 years ago

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Bradley Will Simpson and Thomas Stanley Holland are the same guy in two different fonts. try and change my mind.

it's not even embarrassing how much i love them. like- look at them, how can you not?

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ezlebe · 2 years ago

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Tomgreg prison era?

4-11

Dear Thomas Wambsgans –

Tom blinks at the flowy script and formal address, then reaches out and grabs the envelope… Yeah, it says it’s from Greg. He unfolds out the rest of the paper and it says Sincerely, Gregory Hirsch too.

He furrows his brow, wondering if this is something weird spear phishing scam by letter. It’s really bizarre, if so, but clearly it is working.

Dear Thomas Wambsgans,

The food here is dreadful. I finally understand your concerns, and have now had them realized, from our visit to the diner in Washington DC. It is worse than –

Okay, so it’s probably Greg, but is he… roleplaying? Did he dictate this aloud for some crook secretary to apply pen to paper, too?

– when we went, I fear, as it seems to be entirely processed and I had forgotten the odd rubber texture to powder egg. It is even worse than the MREs that I once found on my grandfather’s ranch and sustained myself with for a week. Is the food for you also of subpar quality? I have been curious to know if mine is worse due to being in the state of Florida, where it is very hot and damp.

The other occupants here are surprisingly cordial, though there have been some friendly joshes toward my height, but it is no worse than any of the family. I do think I may have to learn Spanish. I have found a single fellow inmate who speaks French, but it is in an incomprehensible dialect called Cajun, which I previously believed only to be a type of food. I have struck up something of an acquaintanceship with this man, if only to irk those around us.

Sincerely, Gregory Hirsch

“Oh, buddy,” Tom mutters, covering a smile with a tight palm and exhaling a broken laugh into it. He drops the letter to cover his eyes with that hand, mortified at the burn behind them. It’s a nothing letter – it’s just… Greg sounding sort of like Greg, complaining about eggs, and third languages, and… and very deliberately reaching out to him.

Fuck. He’s so fucking happy thatit’s really just disgusting.

Tom reaches out and grabs the envelope, again, scanning his eyes across the address. He has no idea what he’s going to write back, except maybe to tell Greg that his French is fake, too.

Greg,

We’re not in a period drama. You’re okay to write to me like a real person.

The food here sucks, too. I would’ve taken you out to more dives, but let’s be real your affection for crappy chain food prepared you better than I ever could for it. If you repeat this, I’ll kill you, but I actually don’t mind powder eggs. They remind me of camping with the scouts.

My only real stumble here so far is this guy in for corporate fraud talking to me like he knows Connor. It’s bonkers. He doesn’t actually know him, right, because he thinks knowing him makes him more respectable in here. It does not. You would think him seeing me in here would make it plain as day that being in the Roy circle is meaningless, and yet.

How you doing, otherwise? I know you need a precise measure of water and shade like a delicate, fussy flower.

–Tom

It takes about a week and a half to get a reply to a letter, which is maybe quick for moving a physical object a thousand or so miles, but is just horrific on Tom’s anxiety. He feels like a wartime widow, attending the mail drop and regularly disappointed, wondering if the last letter was the last. It’s just about the time he starts thinking he’s said something wrong, too, Greg has finally realized he shouldn’t be writing Tom, a new one shows up, easing his worries in a way almost like its own clockwork.

6-05

Dear Thomas,

I do not believe I was ever meant to take residence in Florida. It is very hot and humid, which is very manageable for visits, but I recall believing New York was too much, and this is far, far worse. I am beginning to feel like a slug. It is not allowed to simply stay in bed, but I fear that I will one day wake stuck to it.

I’ve been trying to do exercise since I arrived, but I dislike it, especially now that my body seems to be attempting to melt, so I’ve moved on to other pursuits. A good number of other inmates do not hold any regard for the less physical activities available to us –

Tom nearly covers his face, but settles for pinching the bridge of his nose; good lord, Greg is really playing at being such a dandy. Is it a psychological thing? He’s claimed it isn’t, but Tom really has no way to know, a whole country away.

– at all. I enjoy them, though. It is much better to be assigned an indoor detail, as well, than to be stuck outside toiling with a bunch of rude oafs who think height equals shares of physical labor.

Tom gives up and breaks into a laugh, dropping the letter to cover his mouth with both hands in attempt to muffle it.

A clear of a throat, which Tom had been avoiding, comes from behind him. “You good, Tom?”

“I think…” Tom sighs, dragging his hands down his face with a forceful swallow. “My only friend in the world has been driven insane by coke withdrawal.”

“…That can happen?”

“I don’t fucking know,” Tom says, as he picks the letter back up with a careful straightening of the paper. “But he’s weirder than ever.”

I have been unable to get any concrete answers about disease prevention to answer your question about the mosquitos. I was, however, informed that only twenty percent of people show outward symptoms of West Nile, so I may, in fact, have already had it?

How are your call out duties and activities among other inmates? I know that was something you were exceedingly worried about, and my experience so far in that is the warning was some measure exaggerated. It is not an amazing experience, nor one I would ever welcome, but now approaching my third month I have suffered the most of boredom. Your letters have bolstered me greatly, in that respect, as I keep them to reread when the impulse strikes me, which is often.

I also hope you’re doing well.

Sincerely, Gregory Hirsch

Tom furrows his brow, as a flush streaks across his nose. He presses his thumb against the word reread, covering and uncovering it, and tries not to think too much about the small, if growing stack of letters now well memorized on his own time.

Greg,

I hate to say it buddy but I’m not surprised you’re an indoors activity guy. I can actually see you running around with a little moleskine and a pen, though if it’s for secrets or pictures, who’s really to know?

I’ve been running and working out a lot, actually, so maybe it’s better we were separated by a spiteful, nasty old man of your blood relation. I’d have made you tag along to my free time whenever I get too cooped up and antsy, which is all the time, Greg. It is literally every day. I wish the unit staff here would assign me go out and do something awful and back-breaking outside, but I think they think I’m too soft and old, which is obviously its own insult.

I’m saving your letters for my tell-all book, so I hope you don’t expect anything to be forgotten. The world is going to know about the oatmeal thing and how you don’t know the capital of any US states, as well as the fact that you write to me like a lunatic in immaculate cursive. You’re going to get nothing but fountain pens and calligraphy sets, as gifts, from now on.

They better have bug spray in that commissary. I do not want you getting a brain disease and croaking out there on me. I would hate to have the entire state of Florida ruined for me by a mosquito.

– Tom

“You got two from your lovely lady friend.”

Tom eyes Carter shuffling the letters like cards. “I know it says Greg.”

Carter demonstratively sniffing at the edges, pretending to look inside, generally just fondling Greg’s fucking letter, which is a bold move for a forger built like Roger Rabbit. “Don’t smell any perfume on it…”

“I know it also says FPC Pensacola,” Tom says, injecting every ounce of deliberate pleasantness that he can spare.

Carter pulls back and looks at the front of the envelope. He grunts and throws both at Tom. “Shit, so it does. I didn’t think that was allowed?”

Tom narrows his eyes, then glances down to the letters, as Carter fucks off to the next person in line. He turns them over in his hands by the corners, waiting until the unit is let loose, and decides forcefully not to ask. He doesn’t want to know if he’s got strings pulled without him knowing, until it matters; ignorance, at this point, is bliss.

Tom pulls out the first postmarked with a tense tug. He’s not sure why Greg would send two so close – he usually waits for a reply.

Tom! I saw an alligator!! It was like both bigger and smaller than assumed!

Tom raises an eyebrow, then flips over the page to a blank back.

Alright.

He reaches out for the next envelope, more careful at the twice over sealed seam.

8-16

Dear Thomas,

Okay, that’s more familiar. Evidently, the alligator was just exciting enough Greg forgot he’s pretending to be a Victorian.

It’s been a day and I have seen to send a formal letter.

I have weathered a small actual hurricane, but I just believed it a bad storm at the time. The water level rose high, but, thankfully, it did not outright flood. It was less intimidating an experience than I had assumed it would be after watching films on the subject. The hurricanes, evidently, do not get quite so bad in general and are most often a lot of rain and wind.

The alligator was roughly two meters in length and hissed quite loudly when it was woken, but did not make any other move. My fellow inmate Lou told me that the creature was simply sunning itself after the storm. He also informed me that they are cocodrie in his French and they can get much larger, but that they’re lazy. In return, I told him about orignal and that I would not have approached one so closely to the fence.

Are you still well? I do not know what August is like in Minnesota.

I have recently been considering the end of my stay here. I know you are sentenced for nearly twice as long, but do you think that I might see you before then? Our lawyer has said that it may be easiest to find out by trying to put my name on the list after my release in November.

Yours, Gregory Hirsch

Tom reads the last paragraph twice before he believes his eyes, sure he’s misreading something in Greg’s flowy, perfect cursive script. He curls against his dinky desk, into his elbow, and folds the letter up while swallowing thickly against emotion balling up at the base of his throat. He sets both letters with the others, then closes the drawer, ignoring impulse to take it back out to read a third time.

He wants to see Greg so much that it sits behind his sternum with all the comfort of the head of a morning star, but… it’s hard to believe that the sentiment might be returned, let alone enough to ask about it. He might just be being polite – it’s far more likely that their lawyer floated the idea out of bias.

Greg,

I can’t believe you saw a dinosaur when I haven’t even seen a deer. I’m relieved you were okay during the hurricane, though, and every other storm. It sounds like a lot of water to be dealing with and I don’t envy it. Stay safe. You can probably survive any flooding by standing up, but I don’t think we want to test it.

The worst August weather up here is just a little rain. I haven’t even had to deal with it much. The winter is in a couple months and that’s going to really suck the energy out of everything. I can’t wait to feel like I’m in fifth grade and forced to go outside for recess again. I bet you’re familiar with the feeling, though I’ve never thought to ask where you went to school? The one I went to was private and still made us do it, but maybe Canada doesn’t allow that shit.

It’s no problem to try to get you on the list, but check in before you actually make any detour on your welcome home tour. I’d really love to see you, but you’ll have spent enough time in a prison, Greg, to ever walk willingly into another one.

What the flying fuck is an orignal?

– Tom

10-23

My Dearest Thomas,

Tom flips the upper third of the letter down and sets a flat look out the window. It doesn’t seem to matter how many times that he tells Greg to write like he was born in 1988, not 1788, he just won’t because he thinks it’s fun, the nut, and now it is just getting ridiculous.

All Hallows’ Eve approaches! I am most excited. I don’t believe that the camp will do anything monumental for the holiday, but I have sketched some decorations for the letter. The seasons are most odd in Florida, as well; I have been put on a garden detail and, because they do not have winter, they are still growing food. I enjoy it! It is a much better experience doing this under the direction of the faculty here than my grandfather, who had much patience for plants and little to spare elsewhere.

Tom didn’t actually need any confirmation that Ewan was basically a warden, but good to know he’s worse. He wonders, as well, if Greg is predisposed to entire conversations with plants; he seems the type. The little thinking pumpkins in the letter margins just sort of support the idea.

I have also sketched out one of the blossoms on the back from a zucchini. I find they are quite pretty. I was informed by a CO that they can be stuffed with ricotta and fried to be eaten, and I told him that sounded like something you might enjoy more than me. He said then that I must make them, but I believe that would be better left to you, as well.

I only have a month left, as of today! I cannot wait for the opportunity to see you. The letters are sustaining, but hardly satisfying enough compared to actual company.

Our lawyer has urged me that I should prepare for the cold and I was forced to remind her that I am from Canada; however, she then informed me that Toronto is, in all fact, south of both Twin Cities and Duluth. I never thought to look. I doubt still that it is all that bad.

Ever Yours, Gregory Hirsch

Tom stares at the closing for a beat, a reluctant grin twisting his mouth while he huffs through his nose. He flips the page over and studies the drawn flower, wilted and certainly somewhat lifelike, featuring faint lines and shading, and realizes Greg must be practicing a lot. He probably won’t be sending many more letters, tripping back into real life, but Tom hopes that Greg continues the artsy hobby. He’s not half bad at it. He’s like a little amateur naturist; a burgeoning, trapped Monet.

Greg,

Your cartoon pumpkins are very dark, thinking about being carved into pieces. I’m surprised the administration let the letter through at all, hah. Duluth isn’t doing Halloween, either, but there is a CO who started wearing cat eye contact lenses and it just comes off as a painfully dorky rebellion. It reminds me of Tyler the assistant with the Felix clock on his cubicle.

It’s now getting a bit colder and the leaves are turning, too. I expect meals are only going to get worse, from here, so I’m happy someone is going to be getting vitamin c even if it isn’t me. I hear a lot of rumor about hydroponics around here, but I don’t believe anyone is relating it to food. If you like the gardening, though, you should keep it up, so you’ll be prepared for when the world ends and we’re reduced to agrarian pursuits. I’ll do the hunting part.

I’ve noticed you’re collecting hobbies. A quick learner with a curse. What I’m saying is the flower is really well drawn, buddy, as in actually lifelike. I didn’t know you were such an artist.

I have heard of frying them, some Italian thing, but never tried it. It’s probably really crispy and greasy, so I wouldn’t dismiss to so quick for yourself. In a similar weird Italian thing, they do their own songbird, but from what I’ve seen, it is a bit too much even for me.

I miss you, too. I admit I asked about you and our lawyer said to my face she only uses you as an excuse to visit Florida. She doesn’t even It’s just rude.

– Tom

++++

“Wambsgans, visitor,” the CO says, jerking his head toward the visitor building with a flat expression. “Greg Hirsch.”

“What – Really?” Tom says, shocked that – well, Greg is even in the state so soon, since he was scheduled to be released only something like three days ago, but also that he got through the visitor screening process. It seems whoever is signing off on those is either a moron, letting in his accomplice, or the opposite of one, and knows Greg and he can’t exactly duplicate or plan any other version of their crime. …Or, more likely, his lawyer pulled strings. “Oh, I – ” he looks down at his rumpled uniform, suddenly feeling almost naked in it. “Okay.”

He enters the visitors room at the behest of another, more familiar, CO called Maria, and promptly forgets her and the rest of the bland room at the sight of Greg hovering near one of the bolted, tacky tables. His hair is longer, maybe having gone entirely uncut since the day they got stuck in their respective camps, and he’s hunched as ever, big round eyes staring back at Tom.

It’s tempting to do the crazy thing and piledrive Greg into the ground and never let him go, but Tom takes the sensible and sane choice to simply speedwalk to the table. He gets close enough and Greg jumps him, anyway, squeezing the life from him while Tom clumsily, hurriedly grabs back.

“Tom,” Greg murmurs in his ear.

“Hey, buddy,” Tom answers, softly, bracing his hands on Greg’s back with a hard swallow. He closes his eyes for a brief pair of moments, holding his breath and pretending they’re anywhere else. “Long time no see.”

Greg hums a vague response, a petulant grumble escaping his lips when Tom gently pulls away before a CO can come peel him off. It’s a whiny, spoiled little noise that Tom missed so much.

“You were really that eager to get back into another prison, huh?” Tom asks, settling across the table from Greg and ignoring another plain stupid idea to reach out for Greg’s hands to make themselves a summoning circle of two. It’s not like a hug; he’s never held Greg’s hand.

Greg sweeps some overlong hair behind his ear, leaning into the table with a shrug.

Tom is just struck dumb by the fact Greg is sitting in front of him. He’s solid and real and here, and Tom needs to do more than just stare at him. “Florida for eight months and not even a tan?”

Greg grins and stretches out his arms to look at the pale backs of them. “I guess not?”

“You doing okay?” Tom asks, glancing over Greg from his bulky sweater to his obviously new jeans, ankles exposed to the air with a shock of white socks underneath. “No yawning distress, or whatever? I assume you got the benefits coming in.”

“Yeah, your, uh – your mom is really nice? Like still. She said she would help me find a place.”

“A place? Oh.” Tom swallows hard in shock, because it almost sounds like Greg plans to… to stay in Minnesota? “Huh… You might want to watch that. Her taste leans toward art deco – Oh no, wait… that’s you.”

Greg breaks into a laugh, shaking his head and suddenly ducking it into his chest. His long-fingered hands flex against each other on the table, making it more tempting than ever to reach out and take them.

“There’s this… Frank Lloyd Wright service station, not far from here,” Tom says, unsure where he’s really pointing when he flicks his fingers toward the wall across from them, but it could be close to Cloquet. “It’s based on that sort of thing. You should go gawk.”

“Or, maybe, we do that when you get out?” Greg says, quietly, looking up under his brows with a small shrug. “It’ll like�� you know, be better. You could tell me about it.”

“Yeah?” Tom swallows hard against a swell in his throat, heat blazing across the back of his neck. “I haven’t actually been there.”

“I bet it’s pretty cool,” Greg says, smiling back, flicking his fingers in a similar direction. “For like a – a gas station.”

“A service station, Greg, which goes the extra mile,” Tom says, raising his brows while leaning across the table with a hum. “Full service.”

“No, yeah,” Greg laughs, again, smiling wide, as he nods his head. “Sure.”

Tom takes another few seconds to stare, rudely indulging himself and prepared to blame his circumstances. It’s the prison that’s doing it – he’s just lost all his social graces. “So is… Mommy’s just dragging you around the Twin Cities?”

“Kind of?” Greg says, narrowing his eyes a bit with a wincing sort of smile. “She had me help do some shredding at her office yesterday, after we flew up? I think as, like, a joke?”

“Oh my god,” Tom mutters, rolling his eyes toward the windows and more than a bit exasperated, but not that all that surprised. “Don’t tell me that.”

“She said she’d pay me, actually,” Greg says, outright overeager, as he relays this baffling bit of news. “If I wanted a job? But I couldn’t tell if she was serious. She reminds me sort of, uh, of you, when she’s not like being my lawyer.”

“Embarrassing, right,” Tom says, scoffing through his nose with a weak laugh. “I’m glad you’re getting along.”

Greg sweeps his hair out of his face, again, smiling somewhat under his fingers. “Yeah, like… I’m glad, too.”

The conversation drifts, almost awkwardly, but not uncomfortably, like neither of them know what to say, but don’t want to leave. It goes on like that, anyway, until a CO breaks in with an announcement and Greg does straighten with a glance at the clock. It suddenly feels like it hasn’t been any time at all.

“So, I was looking – um, at the rules?” Greg says, lifting his head with a nod at the station behind Tom, though there isn’t any sign to that effect behind him. “And you get like unlimited time but only like eight total, right? Per month. So like I could split it with your family, or whatever, but that could be, like… two visits a week?”

“That is math, buddy,” Tom says, forcing himself to look up into Greg’s eyes while he raises his brows high up his forehead with forced levity. “You want to stick it out here that long?”

“Yeah, I – I mean if that’s okay?”

“Of course, Greg, I would love it, if you stayed, it’s just – ” Tom lowers his voice, making sure to put a taunting pull at his lips. “This is Minnesota. It’s dead boring.”

“I like lived in New Brunswick as a kid in the summers, you know?” Greg says, though Tom had certainly not known, but that’ll be an explanation asked for later. “It’s like way more boring.”

“But…” Tom rises out of his chair slower than Greg; no matter what Greg thinks he’s going to do, there’s a chance this is the last time Tom sees him. “…No hard feelings if you run back to New York, alright?”

“You totally would have a lot of them, Tom,” Greg disagrees, as a grin pulls somewhat mocking at his lips. “But I’m, like – I’m not going to. That’s why I’m here.”

“Sure,” Tom says, offering a shrug that he’s sure would look less stiff on a Buckingham Palace guard. “If you say so.”

“Like, it’s like… like how you wrote you’d have to go down to Florida?” Greg says, while his hands swing to briefly tap at either edge of his now-vacant chair. “If I ended up doing something that got me stuck down there longer. Remember? When I stole oatmeal. It was something like… you’d go down to Pensacola to give me a reason to keep on-target?”

Tom feels his eyes go wide, startled at the baldfaced mention of a, until now, gone unmentioned lack of subtlety on Tom’s part that should’ve been left that way out of politeness. “So what, Greg? You know that’s not just…” He reaches up and scratches at the heat bursting across his jaw, heart thumping heavily in his chest. “It’s not the same. That coming from me.”

“Or, uh…” Greg shrugs smally into a shoulder with another nod. “Maybe it is.”

Tom only barely manages a punched out breath: “Oh.”

“Uh… uh… anyway, I’ll be back Saturday,” Greg says, taking a hasty backward step and nodding, then looking down with a hitch when he nearly flattens someone’s kid. “With y-your mom, maybe?”

“Okay, buddy,” Tom says, lifting a hand to wave by rote. He drops it slowly back to his side, as Greg slips out the door behind some group of other visitors. He sighs hard through his nose, biting at the inside of his lip and muttering against it. “Fuck.”

“Hey, man,” Neal says, stage whispering from two tables over. He’s an insider trader with a rumored few hundred mil stashed away somewhere that everyone knows about, because he won’t shut up about it. “Was that rumor true about you two bumping uglies the whole damned time?”

“No,” Tom says, annoyed to hear his voice lift, as he keeps staring at the door and shoving down hard on the impulse to do something really stupid, like try to follow. “I was married.”

“Huh. You think I don’t hear that ‘was’?” Neal says, with a hum that leads into a quiet click of his tongue. “I will say this, man? He did not look that tall on the TV.”

“No?” Tom says, looking over with a sneer building across his lips.

“You two make each other look normal size,” Neal says, offering an unkind gesture with a back and forth sweep of his hand at two evident levels. “You have my endorsement. You got to be with someone who makes you look less like a freak.”

“Golly gee, thank you,” Tom says, flatly, rolling his eyes back to the door. “That’s all I’ve ever wanted.”

A sharp clear of the throat comes from behind Tom. “Are we conspiring, gentleman?”

“With this guy? Our resumes don’t line up,” Neal scoffs, which is… insulting but sort of true, since he actually made money off trade schemes, while Tom fell on a sword and jammed another person on top of himself and it for good measure. “But did you see his boy? He could play for the Knicks.”

“I did see that,” Maria says, tilting her head in the same direction. “He didn’t look that tall on PGN.”

Neal raises his brows. “That’s what I’m saying.”

Tom folds the Funyuns bag, half and half over again, empty now after Greg offered it as the standard fare. “So you really like the work – are you looking into becoming the worlds largest paralegal?”

“The whole job is, you know, interesting, seeing it from the other side, but –” Greg leans forward, as his eyes go wide with a marked sparkle of excitement. “The – like, the best part is reading all the horrible things people did.”

Tom rolls his eyes. “Oh god, your insatiable snoop monster is finally being sated.”

“I guess?” Greg says, sweeping his ever-growing hair behind both his ears with his hands. “The worst so far is this guy who admitted to your mom he totally burned up a company car, but she had to convince everyone it got stolen.”

“Wow,” Tom says, lowering his voice with a glance toward the observing CO utterly ignoring them. “Burned it?”

“I guess he was super unhappy at his job?” Greg says, with a small shrug of a single shoulder up against his ear. “I never would’ve done that – I like having stuff too much.”

Tom snorts hard, as he leans back away, grudgingly putting some space between them for his next question. “I know you do. Speaking of… How was your New Years thing? Aside for your scheduling issues.”

It probably didn’t go great, because no Roy function ever does, but there has to be some reason Greg came back to Minnesota, afterward, rather than sending Tom some Dear John about sticking it with them a second time. In fact, Tom had thought that was exactly what he was going to get until he got called up today, since Greg missed Saturday, so he’s just… more curious than ever.

“Oh, uh…” Greg sighs hard through his nose, slumping back in his seat. “It was… bad. I’ve never really seen my mom with them all, as like an adult? It – like, it was really uncomfortable. But Grandpa Ewan at one point, uh – He actually yelled at Uncle Logan for calling her a pill head, so that was, like. It was nice of him? But my mom still kind of cried.”

Tom presses his mouth together in a grimace; that sounds par for the course. “That sucks, bud.”

“I got some champagne, though, and brought it home,” Greg says, eyes flicking back to make contact with Tom, then a laugh breaks through his lips. “Your dad is funny – he thought like I’d get in trouble? But it wasn’t even like the most expensive stuff.”

Tom stares back for a beat, then slowly cocks his brows. “…You got my parents champagne?”

“I-I can get you some later,” Greg says, eager, wiggling forward on his seat and leaning into his elbows on the table with a wide look. “It’s like not until September. Or like, you can pick it out – I just took this off the table.”

“You’re such a delinquent, Greg,” Tom says, then swallows hard, as he realizes for the nth time, in a way that still feels just absolutely impossible, Greg seems to really be in Minnesota just for him. “What am I going to do with you?”

“Like, the same as usual? Hey, like,” Greg says, scratching up against the side of his nose with a thumb. “Do you think the champagne is like a heavier offense than the papers?”

Tom drops his head in a deep nod. “I think it would be to your family,” he says, affectedly flat and joyless.

“My mom like brought this extra big purse with a bunch of plastic baggies,” Greg says, waving down at his side with a gesture like he’s brought his own bag. “And she took like a bunch of food. She said it was for her book club.”

Tom tilts his head to a wide angle, then scoffs hard through his nose while lifting it back up. “I’ve never met your mother, but I like her, Greg.”

“The book club is more like a wine club,” Greg adds, looking up when the CO starts to make the announcement for the end of visiting hours. He rises from his chair with a stretch, back cracking like a broken zipper. “I used to have to pick her up? But now she uses like Uber and sometimes her friend, Brian.”

“That’s so funny,” Tom says, wrapping a hand around Greg’s nape, as he leans down for his now-customary hug. “You have a good week, okay?”

“I’m sorry I missed Saturday,” Greg says, his pout unambiguous against Tom’s neck while he speaks into it. “The stupid plane –”

Tom hums loud to interrupt, squeezing one last time before reluctantly letting go. “Hey, you were here today.”

Tom isn’t sure if he’s more anxious or less with Greg around, as his release date approaches with the quick passing of summer. He feels weight against his back, excited but crawling with uncertainty, as easily hundreds of good, bad, or ugly ways it could go build in the back of his head and he… He wants to know where he stands with Greg, but also he doesn’t want to know; the thing that makes him nearly lean up at every perfectly appropriate hug, sitting as it’s been so long under his ribs, almost scarier than any of the rest of it.

He never expected Greg to do more than uncomfortably put up with it, let alone start to… regularly imply some similar sentiment. The ambiguity of zero privacy spares him any real denial or confession. He can pretend forever that Greg really forgives him, or at least the actions, and will stand with him at the gate at the end of all this, if he never, ever asks.

“Yeah, but it’s like… we made it?” Greg says, sweeping his hand through his hair, then he offers the other to make a jazzy gesture. “Or, I did. You’ve got two months? It was – it sucked, a lot, and everything, but the, like… I think the working yourself up before it the first time was actually the worst part? To me. When you thought you’d end up in, like… Alcatraz.”

“Alcatraz is closed, first off, Gregory, and second, I’ve read it was mostly the island part that sucked. Whatever, yes, it’s done. …But I wish you’d had something to run off with, anyway,” Tom says, rolling his voice around the word with a low grumble. He gestures toward the decidedly denominational symbol hanging around the curtain rod at the window, smuggled in by some past visitor. “I’m not a Catholic, but there’s still some part of me that feels like I should have taken all this guilt upon myself like I promised to.”

“If it helps, I – I maybe did?” Greg says, wetting his lips, then dropping his shoulders with a shrug. “Have… something. But I decided not to use it.”

Tom stares for a few beats, mouth twisting downward, and when Greg doesn’t crack and admit to some terrible joke, he feels his hands curl into fists across the top of the table. “…You what?”

“Yeah, uh,” Greg shrugs, again, blinking rapidly and looking down, plainly not having expected to get this sort of response for his confession of heinous idiocy. “Um. You remember when we – We were at your like house – penthouse…? I… I recorded it on my phone.”

“Greg,” Tom says, hearing his voice bark, then forcing it back down into something lower like a hiss. “Why the fuck wouldn’t you use that?”

“Your mom said it probably wouldn’t matter? She might’ve – probably was lying, but –” Greg suddenly reaches across the table and sets his hand on top of Tom’s wound fist. “Now it – I think… I don’t know. I’d rather just be happy that I’m here like this an-and with you now, than… wonder if I had used it? If I wouldn’t be.”

Tom stares for a few beats, suffering a brief, horrible wash of anger at his mother. “Greg –”

Greg shakes his head, fingertips scrambling at the edge of Tom’s turned-down hand. “I dunno, Tom, shit sorta happens?” He continues, his voice lowering, almost breaking, “Like… like how none of this would’ve happened, at all, if I hadn’t told Gerri ab-about your press conference plan an-and then lied to you about it.”

Tom stares and feels his eyes narrow, then widen, as his whole expression threatens to collapse; he’s angry, so angry, but it wanes almost all at once when he sees Greg is… trying so hard to blame himself for some reason. He shakes his head and looks down, pulling his hand from underneath Greg’s by widely spreading his fingers.

Greg makes a tight, pained noise, almost soundless.

Tom finishes the action to wind their fingers together, palm to palm, to put himself in a more active grip. He’s… upset, yeah, but he’s suspected this for a while; he suspected Greg telling a lot of people about a lot of things that were just too convenient, but he was just as bad. “Okay, Greg, don’t… get so worked up. You’re not that big of a snake. That’s why I’m so mad you didn’t slither out of this – you’re usually smarter.”

Greg takes a wet breath. “But I –”

Tom tightens both his hands around Greg’s one, squeezing around the knuckles. “Don’t start. You’d been working in the corporate environment not even a month, baby, and I can’t remember giving you a single reason to trust me.”

Greg takes a sharp breath, lifting his eyes and mouth dropping open, but he still doesn’t speak until seconds later: “Ne-neither did Gerri.”

“She was the closest thing you knew to a lawyer,” Tom says, tilting his head with a flat, sarcastic smile. “Too bad she’s probably even more biased and self-serving than the rest of us.”

“Maybe… yeah. Like, with Roman, she – ” Greg looks up with a start, as a shadow falls somehow indifferently over their table.

“I want to preface this by saying none of the comments by Officer Carlos were homophobic,” Maria says, pointing over her shoulder at the markedly ducking CO that’s been shadowing her for a few weeks. “He had me concerned because you look like you’re fighting, but now I’m here and it’s more a crying situation. Are we having a problem, gentlemen?”

“No, ma’am,” Greg says, ducking his head with evident mortification. “No-not at all. I can’t really cry with witnesses, actually.”

Tom flattens his lips with a shake of his head at Greg, then up at Maria, who’s now giving Greg the hairy eyeball. He squeezes Greg’s hand one last time before letting it go. “We’re just praying for our sins.”

“Inmate Wambsgans,” Maria says, turning her condescending look toward toward him with a bizarrely uncanny rock of her head. “Do you even know where chapel is?”

Tom stares Maria down for a solid beat, then lifts his hand with a point and a crooked smirk. “It’s the same place where I meet my counselor.”

Maria raises an unamused brow. “You got me there.” She nods down at the table. “The time ends in twenty minutes. You better apologize quick, eh?”

“Ten-four,” Tom says, sunnily, dropping his arm to smack at the table with an exaggerated gesture and very light tap.

Later, once the announcement officially goes out to part ways that afternoon, Tom presses his lips lightly across Greg’s jaw, hiding it inside the hug; it earns him a tight squeeze almost to the point of asphyxia.

====

Greg cranes his head up at the station, leaning against the hood of the car behind him. He looks like he’s actually judging it, which is pretty funny, since his amateur interest began with a Parducci documentary he watched on a flight to Scotland. He’d gotten Minneapolis and Detroit confused, then been irked when Tom didn’t know about all the buildings in this city that he’d visited once on a hockey trip.

“You don’t have to write an essay on it,” Tom says, flatly, keeping one eye on Greg and the other on the mechanic in the open bay. It would be just his luck to get a trespassing call an hour after his release. “You’re not going to be graded on if you like a tacky gas station in a town that’s only other claim to fame is Jessica Lange.”

“It’s got a – ” Greg takes a breath, gesturing back and forth with flailing, turning palms. “A lot of angles.” He looks over at Tom, raising his brows with a short lean inward. “Did you know they built this – uh, fake one sort of the same in Buffalo, recently?”

Tom stares for a beat, taking in Greg’s eager, bright face, then leans up and kisses him across the mouth. He figures if Greg shoves him, he can just blame the surprise that way, in his own head, rather than the much slimmer, but very present, chance of disgust. He ends up being the one surprised, when Greg hums deeply, all of a sudden weighing heavy on Tom’s shoulder with an arm wrapping around his neck. It even makes him forget the mechanic, who’s hopefully not a total dick.

“I, um – ” Greg stutters, moments later, a smile cutting across his face while he goes on to shake his head. “It’s maybe not that great, Tom? The one in – uh, in the museum is all copper.”

Tom yanks at Greg gently by the coat lapels, listening to a resulting sputtered laugh, and tightens his voice up somewhat more cartoonish, maybe like how he’d scold a baby. “You just prove over and over you can’t appreciate these nice things I give you.”

#tomgreg #this is probably one of the longest of these ive done lol #long distance prison era

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inkdemonapologist · 2 years ago

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I was wondering, what are your thoughts and opinions on Thomas Connor? And Scott if you've read TLO?

Oh man. THATS PRETTY BROAD, THIS WILL BE, UH, A LONG ANSWER!! Thomas Connor is REALLY POTENTIALLY INTERESTING in TLO, too… like, he’s being affected by the Ink, right? That’s what’s happening? That’s why he’s still working on this dang machine and can’t seem to articulate the “why” to his girlfriend? ANYWAY,

I’ll start with Scott because: I don’t have a lot of thoughts about Scott! He’s fine. Neat that there’s more GENT folks than just Thomas. I like his horrible driving. He lost his mind pretty generically so that wasn’t really compelling to me. THATS IT, THATS ALL I HAVE FOR SCOTT.

Thomas Connor as a human is the more intriguing version of him to me, though his portrayal is, uh, sort of all over the place? A lot of BatIM interpretation involves taking the things that the different characters say about each other and sort of adding up a cobbled-together picture of what they might’ve been like and how they might’ve interacted with each other, but if you try to add Thomas up this way it’s even more of a mess than Sammy is imo.

There’s a pretty solid characterisation for a bunch of it – he has this great, tired, Tech Support Guy Trying To Explain For The Fifth Time Why An Email Can’t Physically Deliver Cash energy that I love, grumbling about how corners are being cut and Mr. Drew is asking the impossible, but he’s also regretfully complicit as the person who understands best what they’ve done, getting a bad feeling about it all in the BatDR tape, haunted by what he’s created in DCTL, and flipping back and forth between desperately justifying his work on the machine and growling that he really, REALLY ought to destroy it in TLO. I genuinely like his characterisation in the novels; I ran into a comment on tiktok once describing him as “the only valid man” in DCTL and I think about that CONSTANTLY LMAO. Rough and intimidating and demanding but with a sense of… responsibility and duty that few characters in BatIM have, smothered into inaction by his conflicted feelings.

Also, like, Thomas has PTSD, right, from serving in the war? That’s why he gets so tense every time anyone touches him unexpectedly? It never explicitly says this but it was the way I immediately read that detail.

But then when you try to put everything together, it doesn’t add up. The ink seems way more out of control for his BatIM audiologs than it is in DCTL, yet he just grumbles about doing jobs for Joey like he’s casually annoyed at his boss, and his report about creating Bendy doesn’t have any of the recognition or horror of what he’s done, just a sort of a “huh, that’s kinda spooky” vibe, which is strange held up against how much turmoil he’s obviously feeling in DCTL. And then what’s going on with the BatDS audiologs? Are we meant to see Thomas as the toolbelt thief in Shawn’s, because that sure doesn’t match, uh, ANYTHING else we know about him??? Thinking you can just wear the thing you stole to the place you stole it from is either stupidly self-centered or deliberate bullying, and both are so hard to reconcile with what we know of Thomas that “some other Gent employee we’ve never seen did that” honestly makes more sense. Thomas comandeering the coat closet and claiming it’s a “laboratory” is less wildly outlandish but like, still weird to try to mash into everything else we know about him?

It just feels like, while there’s the broad strokes of an interesting character here, the creators have never really nailed down who he is behind the scenes, so with every new piece of information he just becomes whoever they want him to be in that moment, rather than new pieces of info revealing this person’s character.

Thomas Connor as a toon is… I don’t care for him.

On the surface, it seems like he should appeal – gruff guy who knows more than the others but, frustratingly, can’t communicate it? THATS MY KINDA TROPE! But Tom makes so little sense and has so little reason to be here that it’s hard for me to really get invested.

There’s no reason, narratively, for Tom to even be Thomas Connor instead of a random badass Boris. Him remembering his name is potentially interesting, but doesn’t go anywhere; he’s just defined by being Aggressive and Tough and overprotective of Allison in a way that would raise red flags in any human relationship. We don’t know what it is he knows, or what he wants, or what he thinks Henry is. There’s no personal connection to his human self – his knowledge of the Machine or the Demon or any of the things he really should have strong opinions about – but there’s not a strong contrast with him, either; still just grumpy and irritable, but now he’s met with an unfortunate fate. I’m not convinced that there was ever any mystery or motive intended behind the Connors – it seems more like they were added to the last chapter just to make sure we still had a Boris and an Alice in the game after the other ones were killed off, and their main distinguishing quality was “they’re sooooo badass, isn’t that cool and ironic for toons to be?”

Anyway, I've seen fan stuff (New Soul AU, La Vie En Noir) that takes them at face value and makes it compelling, but my favourite take on them is that they’re kind of putting on an act. Both Allison and Tom read as being so, like, tropey in a generic way – the things they say and the way they behave is very shallow, defaulting to cliche, and doesn’t make a lot of sense when examined – and so the idea that Allison and Tom are doing an intentional good cop/bad cop routine with Henry, not telling him the whole truth, playing up what they think he’ll expect them to be, appeals to me a lot more, and feels like it has more connection to their human selves.

DCTL added a lot of humanity to these characters that just didn’t seem to be there – Thomas’ overwhelming guilt and Allison’s flippant charm finally raise the question of… what happened? What did you lose? What are you two up to, really? …And then it also added something more complicated:

Is Thomas Connor black???

I don’t think this is as conclusive in the text as it’s sometimes made out to be. The line that started this whole thing can be read a couple of ways: “I wonder if Sammy just does this, or if it’s only when he’s talking to women (Abby) and black people (Thomas)” or “Sammy did this to a white person (Thomas) so maybe he just does this, but… I wonder if this is the kind of discrimination my friends told me about.” Technically, the second one makes more sense and is a less troubling reading – we already know Sammy calls Mr. Drew “Joey”, but this reading would imply that even if it’s a habit, that doesn’t make THIS instance okay. Based on the rest of DCTL, a book that seems to be genuinely trying to inject humanity and diversity into a franchise that lacks it, I don’t think the author would’ve shied away from having Thomas obliquely imply being black in his final conversation with Buddy if that had been intended – I think there's a good chance the clumsiness here may have been simply leaving “Thomas is white” assumed.

But, I, like a lot of fan creators, still portray him as black, which… was a choice I thought a lot about. The thing is, in the context of the novels, Thomas being black is kind of great – he’s a complex character with a lot of depth, and he’s not just a big angry guy; as much as he’s gruff and prickly, he’s deliberate and thoughtful with his actions and words, and his personality honestly comes across as a bit of a nerd despite the fact that people keep being intimidated by his being physically buff. He’s the genius behind the machine, who’s realised what that means and struggles to know what to do with the unexpected horrible responsibility it brings. His whole backstory – someone who served in the war, presumably was well-regarded for his skill, but then came home to find no one willing to treat him as the brilliant engineer he was until he met Joey Drew, a man who canonically hires quite progressively – fits really nicely with his demand to be respected as a professional. It would be a shame to dump all of that just because it makes Sammy messier. Thomas Connor is INTERESTING, in a way that fits into history but doesn’t slot into stereotypes… until you get to the games, where he’s transformed into a cartoon dog that’s almost exclusively defined by being physically violent, threatening, and possessive of his girl, which ISNT GREAT. And if Shawn’s line in his BatDS audiolog is meant to refer to a black man… it becomes a slur.

That’s way beyond troubling if it’s intended – and if Thomas IS black, canonically, that’s something that the creators really do need to address. This sort of thing is why a content creator can’t just leave it up to fans to headcanon characters however they want and call that diversity – because the creator has to think about the choices they’re making and the consequences they’ll have in context. But for me, person making fan content who didn’t create the character… in the end, I favoured the novel over the game. The game is already steeped in a lot of iffy tropes, and Allison and Tom’s part in it is so uninteresting to me that I much prefer the idea that they were both putting on an act. Ultimately, bending over backwards to headcanon the Shawn audiolog as being about Wally is a small price to pay for keeping this version of Thomas from the novel that I got a lot more attached to.

I share all this because TLO does something… interesting.

Scott specifically mentioning they’ll be meeting Thomas in Northside (which my quick googling identifies as having, historically, a largely African American population), and then calling attention to it by asking Bill if that would make him uncomfortable, creates a weird little arrow pointing at this detail that’s hard to ignore. There’s no other narrative reason for this aside, it never goes anywhere and Bill never puts together what Scott meant. It seems like the sort of thing we’re usually supposed to read into in these novels, but it’s also… hidden.

It’s still absolutely worth critiquing the problems with making Thomas Connor a black man. And it’s impossible to truly know the author’s motives from the text. But after the company has steadfastly refused to give any explicit diversity, hidden behind the claim that they’re just staying neutral about their characters’ race/gender/orientation!! while making plenty of characters explicitly white and implied straight… I have to respect what feels like an attempt to hang onto this, because it accidentally made it through. Maybe it was originally unintentional, maybe not, but a bunch of fans now think of Thomas Connor, a major character of this franchise and "the only valid man" in DCTL, as black – something that JDS, Inc. will probably never allow again – and, unable to address it directly, Adrienne Kress seems to have responded by actually giving the idea more evidence (though still nothing concrete) and giving Thomas more screen time. I can’t know that’s the intention, so this is, just my little conspiracy theory I guess. And it’s still problematic. But at the same time, we’re all just working with what we’ve got. Like….. Norman isn’t a LESS problematic choice…

—-------------

Anyway, TL;DR, I find Thomas surprisingly compelling, to be honest! He’s an interesting character with a lot of conflict and I’m grateful for the depth the novels gave him, even if the content as a whole struggles to add up cohesively. His toon self feels contrived and random, and I don’t really care for him. Scott is fine.

#i know you have questions you always do #we all write on the walls #thomas connor #'do u have any opinions about thomas connor' jafar unrolling the scroll dot gif

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