#also also i think of a lot of this in terms of mess brian and i make vs them and it's crazy how much more laundry/dishes/etc they go..

[bitchc0ck]

bro i do not get ppl who take on all the tasks bc they think no one else cares or will do it, when the reality is that if you'd chill out for two seconds you could a) see that others will get to it in (their) time or b) ask them to do it for you

[preciouscity]

Fast and the Phantom

I also feel I should preface this whole thing by saying I don't know shit about shit relating to cars and I don't care to learn either. Whatever terms I know will be used regardless of how well they fit. Tee hee

Part 2 of ?

Still grieving the the loss of her father, Christine decides to take a drive and mess around in a parking lot (think similar to that first scene in F&F1 with Brian driving around in the lot but more for fun).

Christine is currently driving her fathers car, which is a relatively nice car, but perhaps not the best for high speed and crazy stunting. It isn't as nice as it could be due to low funds, but she worked on the car with her father so it holds a lot of memories.

Anyway, Christine is drifting and doing some sick donuts and shit and really getting into the zone with the car.

But who's this lurking around the same parking lot watching her from a distance? A mysterious figure with a tinted helmet sitting on a motorcycle? (us the audience can see him but not Christine)

Surprise surprise! It's the Phantom.

He's watching her technique and sees that Christine is still a little sloppy, but has great potential.

Cut back to Christine: she decides to drive to the beach. Unbeknownst to her, that same figure follows her car, sees her get out and head towards the water before speeding off.

Here, Christine takes time to walk on the beach for a while before perching herself on a rock. She reminisces on playing here with her dad and a young boy. Just taking a moment to remember happier times and grieve.

[cannibal-nightmares]

!!! yes, please do (talk shop about it)!!

My internet crashed while writing this last night waahh!!! OK OK a preface: I am not always well-versed in who a musical artist is beyond their art (this has come up quite a bit recently hahaha), so if I miss something in that specific regard, that's most likely why: I don't know much about Clarence Clarity, himself.

Second preface: "NO NOW" is tied for my favourite album of all time. Now that that's out of the way…

I almost hate to consider using "NO NOW" as a basis of expectation, but it really is something unfathomably unique. "VANISHING ACT II: ULTIMATE REALITY" was a satiating in-between of "VANISHING ACT I: NO NOUNS" and his demo stuff on Bandcamp (such as "YOUR WRONG," "YOUR WRONG TO," and "YOUR3 WRONG"). "Vanishing Act I" has a similar (in comparison) taste of sound collage to that of "THINK: PEACE;" I could talk all day about Clarence's inclinations for obvious preferences in basslines, instrumentation*, etc… oooor I could simplify it down to an uncountable amount of layers, micro transitions, and hard entrances/exits. In the grand scheme of Clarity, "Vanishing Act II" and his demos are… Minimal! (shhh, we're going to pretend for a moment he doesn't quite literally have an ambient record hahaha).

So let's talk about avant garde. What he did with "NO NOW" is, to me, Beach Boys status. I'm talking The Wrecking Crew on "Pet Sounds," Brian Wilson doing "The Smile Sessions." (If anyone has not seen his producing livestreams... You will not believe what this guy hodge-podges together and how. I don't remember what video it is where he just manipulates the utter mess out of a collection of random public sound effects and samples) To my preferences, sadly, "Vanishing Act II" is not that, BUT, I do like that it has that familiar soul feel throughout it that Clarence loves to lean on, and it can allow newer listeners to get their feet wet in. (Cause let's be real. "NO NOW" is A LOT.) Too, if Spotify-seasoned fans have never heard his extra stuff spread around, it's a good segue between them (with the exception of "Once in the Styx…" which. heh. is my fav CC song. this is beside the point.).

I do like the little flavorings sprinkled throughout II that tie it together with I, but, unfortunately, listening to them back-to-back questions the relevance. Lyrically, they mesh together with a little imagination, stylistically…? For a second it made me think about Crywolf's "widow [OBLIVION Pt. I]" and "exuvium [OBLIVION Pt. II]" in terms of concept sequel and narrative, but then comes the discussion on what happened to the musical execution. Honestly honestly, I think I am just very much well-adjusted to the absolute chaotic calamity that is "NO NOW," to the point that the new record is a jalapeno pepper to the Carolina Reaper I am used to, heh.

It's a catchy album-that-feels-like-an-EP; I have yet to explore some of the lyrics in-depth, though the skewed sort of resentment throughout it didn't escape me: While his emotionality (fictional narrative or not) throughout his songs is often like a dagger pointed at something hyper-specific beyond the listener, this time it felt like there was veil intentionally blurring the message, like he spoke through tongues to snarl an anecdote he feels he can't say outright. ...This could be my own magic brain, though. This is all to say that some of the lyrics felt like that of Everything Everything's "Raw Data Feel" in which the prose was quite literally AI-generated to spit out what sounds like nonsense and might be just that.

If you liked it, listen to or review YOUR WRONG 1-3, if you felt it lacked luster, step back into Vanishing Act I or even "THINK: PEACE." If you think it's a lot as it is… Heh. Listen again until it grows on you. I don't have a favourite track yet, but the opener, "What Year Is This?!?! JFC" has everything I love about the demo tapes plus more; it's punchy just like that of Vanishing Act I's "False Positive," also to include the delayed vocals which I'm a suuucker for. Spooky. In that realm of unreality Clarence is so good at wielding, the ending of "Guinevere" starts to be subtly-"Tathāgatagarbha"-esque, like gently waking up from a nightmare... GOSH WAIT I HAVEN'T EVEN CONSIDERED THE ARG ANGLES.. WAIT. Damn! Maybe I need to get a Twitter account, I'm sure there's lore I'm missing... (//silly) "The Greatest Living Musician, Found Dead" reminded me of that sort of blade in Nolan Potter's "Music is Dead," I keep coming back to "juliano so cute lowkey" as an earworm, "Playing Our Parts" continues off of songs with a sort of "fuck it, just fake it" theme especially seen in Vanishing I. It's all still uniquely Clarence Clarity.

…You know. I wrote all this. And I'm listening to this record for what might be the 4th or 5th time. And all of a sudden I'm realizing it might partly be the mix. Is it a bit low? Anyways, If "NO NOW" is "Skiptracing," "VANISHING ACT II: ULTIMATE REALITY" is "Going Going Gone." Verstehst? Ultimately, I could say I am a bit underwhelmed, but what Clarence Clarity does in terms of music currently goes beyond the definition of hyper pop and PC, and has created his very own realm of avant garde sound collage. No one does it like Clarity, he's setting his own bar of expectation. I'm excited for the life of this album, I'm excited for what's next. :)

Thank you so much for the ask WAHHHH I love yammering about music and getting people into new stuff (shout out to my co-worker who let me play a bit of No Now after we discussed hyper pop and noise, only to then tell me that Arca was a bit much for his tastes LOL I'M SORRY) Since we're on the topic, I will conclude with an interjection: the poem on my pinned post is from "Vanishing Act I," "It's Happening Again"

Thank you, thank you, anon, this was fun :)

[corporatefallout]

My ideas so far on who the managers are in the AU!! (Notes left on some btw)

[OUTDATED]

Prester Virgil

Long time Minutemen soldier. Paranoid, aggressive, self centered, and stubborn. He's generally both a helpful hand and also terrifying at times.

Brian

An Institute scientist in the Robotics division. Egotistical and heavily book smart which has him acting on statistical means than emotional. But not street smart in the slightest. One step into the wasteland and he's probably dead in a week.

Misty Monsoon

A loner that lives on the island of Far Harbor. Besides the wild life, Mary is her only friend around here. Since most had either died or succumbed to the fog. She's somewhat in hiding too...

Mary Anna

Exploring the island, Mary studies the biology that was made from the environment and radiation. With the help of Misty as well. She's not one to head into violence and would rather act more emotionally or thoughtfully.

Cosmo Kuiper

One of the dangerous gangs and richest you never want to mess with. Having people running for their lives or for their caps. Most of their money comes from Chem sales, mercenary assistance, and of course... loans.

Holly Graylle

A knight of the Brotherhood of Steel! (Cause she's a...) Stationed in the Capital Wasteland. Within the groups sent out for missions, she is the one to be leading and directing. No one is doing anything without her word and say.

Chip Revvington and Spruce Campbell

(I'm having troubles with them, slightly. Help)

A duo mercenary team who works on their own terms. If the caps pay well and if they're up to the task, they'll do it. Morality ranges really, since sometimes old habits die hard. Close as brothers and will defend each other.

Tawney C. Esta

(Saw the perk "Sandman" and got the idea...)

The sandman of the wasteland. Assassinations in the night and it's only done if the money is right. The kills done aren't aligned by good or bad only, it's just business. Asleep in the day and awake in the night.

Belle Dama

(I'll be honest, the term "long distance relationships" got me thinking sniper rifles and she is a phone... so-)

A professional in the Regulators! Working by the uses of a trusty sniper rifle. Despite how... uhhh, dangerous she may sound, she's quite the opposite. Looking after the younger ones and caring towards others. Staying firm on her morals of course.

Benjamin Biggs

A medic in the wasteland and looking for hire. Certainly good at his work and well experienced than most doctors you'll meet out here! Although he enjoys the latest talk going around when stopping in town of course.

Buck Ruffler

The luckiest gambler you'll meet and has probably been kicked out of a lot of casinos by now. He's lucky to be alive. Honestly. Also high on jet-

Graham Ness Payser

The hotshot of the Strip in New Vegas! Bragging, unbearable, and his own number one fan. Picking up quite the fame and yearns for more excitement in his life. His aim is bad but he's a fast shooter!

Flint Bonpyre

A nervous explosives and incinerary expert who is also not afraid talk his mind. (Sometimes.)

Dave Brubot

The star of the stage! Able to charm his way into your heart. With his charisma, he could easily make his way anywhere and have the ability to persuade. (I'm kinda having trouble with him, help)

Cathal

Okay I'll be honest, 100% inspired by the pictures of people's game having him show up everywhere. That's him now. No matter which bar or place you stop at, Cathal is there and knows what you did. No matter what. Like the Gman except not interfering with events. Just a joke character.

And that's it!! They will be edited and changed in the future, of course. So nothing here is permanent! Some characters I'm having trouble regarding what I want for them or on who/what they are. I accept ideas regarding them, yes yes.

Also- some of them definitely won't fw each other at all. On the lines if faction, beliefs, and morality. Or pre-established beef, lol.

[talenlee]

Veganism In Pokemon

Veganism In Pokemon

There’s so little interesting stuff you can say about food in the Pokemon universe.

Not that you can’t say stuff about it, but rather that talking about food in the Pokemon universe is a well-worn and kinda boring topic. It was so boring, to me, that when I saw the the final Unravelled over on Polygon was about Brian David Gilbert tackling that idea, it wasn’t until uh… twenty minutes ago that I finally watched it. It’s boring. It’s someting a lot of people have looked into, and it’s been written about for twenty-five years. The second game had a plot point about people eating Slowpokes, after all.

The idea that ‘people eat Pokemon’ isn’t really controversial in the game, and it also tends to bring with it a deliberately muted understanding of what it means to eat meat, or what it means to exist in the world of Pokemon in the first place.

First things first, the Pokedex is not a reasonable source of information on anything. My personal theory is that the Pokedex is the product of Pokemon trainers that are meant to represent the target audience, and upvoted by those, with only the most basic forms of moderation from some adults. Magcargo is 18,000 degrees, for example, which makes it twice as hot as the sun, which means it bores its way through the planet the second it exists. Ponyta’s Pokedex entry mentions the Eiffel tower. Igglybuff is a perpetual motion machine. Gardevoir creates black holes. Larvitar eats mountains. Regice’s ambient temperature is cold enough to instantly kill you. Exploud is so loud that it kills you if you’re near it. Bewear kills its trainer accidentally. So many things about ghost types that are messed up, and the ghost types and Kadabra imply that Pokemon are a form of humans.

The Pokedex is nonsense.

It’s not a reliable source of information! Pokedexes are presented to you in terms of ‘discovering’ Pokemon, but every Pokemon you catch, someone else already knows about because you don’t name them and you don’t weigh them and they know things about the Pokemon you could not know before that point. So based on this, I am of the opinion that Pokedexes represent not facts, but generalised vibes and stories that kids tell one another about Pokemon and then, like a sort of child-oriented Reddit, the stories that the kids and their moderators see as the most appropriate. Like, a parent moderating the Pokedex group posts would block someone posting a bunch of dick jokes, but they would probably not care if kids think that Pyroar can breathe fire hotter than the sun.

Anything specific in the Pokedex is, therefore, to me, suspect. And it’s not a reach to say the Pokedex is unreliable, because the Pokedex has contradictions in it! Anything in there that represents really specific events? Probably not true. Anything that’s a general trend? Probably based on something?

In that case, we have some evidence that yeah, Pokemon eat Pokemon. People eat Pokemon. Pokemon eat people. And uh, Pokemon might be people, if you listen to the Pokedex.

And you fucking shouldn’t.

Of course, what we see of people obtaining food in the Pokemon universe doesn’t indicate the presence of industrial farming techniques. There’s definitely some kind of sliding scale about the social acceptability of Pokemon as food — I doubt Mr Mime flanks are available anywhere — but we do see farmers who keep Pokemon like Miltank and fishermen catching Pokemon like Magikarp and Seaking.

What complicates this is that in the Pokemon universe, the normal, default, non-carnivore foodstuffs are more complex than they are in our real world. In Pokemon, there are sapient fungus (though I mean, we haven’t got good proof we don’t have those), and trees and seeds and fruit. What’s more, there’s a complication when it comes to the renewability of these things and the consent of the operators.

See, right now, we eat apples and consider that ethically unharmful because the trees that give them up aren’t in any way expressing pain, and don’t seem to have the ability to care about their apples one way or another. And there are complications when it comes to obtaining animal products in the same way, where some people believe that the fact that an animal doesn’t have a humanlike sapience means that they literally can never be involved in a consent exchange, meaning that even things like sheep wool and honey are ethically unobtainable. I’m not here to argue for or against that position in the real world, they’re just examples of where some people stand on food and animal products.

But in Pokemon, we have proof there are non-sapient edible foodstuffs, but the presence of sapient vegetables, funguses and seeds begs the askance of how confident you can be the non-sapient ones. They’re not a safe category they way they are the way in the real world. This complicates things, but it also introduces a new space for consensual consumption.

Which is also weird.

I promise this isn’t about a Creepy Forum Style agreeing to eat someone after they die or killing them consensually. I don’t mean that, that’s its own thing, and I don’t care. What I care about is how the Pokemon universe is a place where vegan eggs and milk are available. Not vegetarian, but vegan, where the animals in question can approach you, and offer to you the eggs and milk they made, and invite you to eat them.

And that’s interesting but also odd. It’s odd because at this point you have to approach the whole question of food and consumption in terms of this kind of cyclical ecology. When you look at food in our world, food is ultimately a competition for resources. You may not see it the same way, but your can of chickpeas and a gazelle escaping a leopard are both doing the same thing of trying to find ways to put calories into yourself in a way you can operate on them. There are some things in our ecosystem that can turn something we can’t eat (say, dirt and sunlight) into something we can (kumquats).

And this is where we get to an interesting position of the fundamental framework of Pokemon as it relates to food. It’s easy to not notice it, but in Pokemon, you never need to buy food, and you never need to pay for medical expenses, which imply that this is a world where there’s some kind of universally available, convenient way for people to have their needs met. Like how for example, there are sapient creatures that can create food for you and willingly give it up. Like how there are some things that seem to have no actual relationship to the laws of thermodynamics.

(If the Pokedex is reliable.)

(Which it really isn’t.)

Anyway, point is, Miltank gives Vegan milk, if it gives it to you and Exeggcute is an almond that can disagree with you eating it.

Check it out on PRESS.exe to see it with images and links!

#Games #Pokemon

[the-good-bad-truth]

They had the chance to make an appearance during Christmas; they could’ve gone to Nobu like they do every other year. As celebrities in the midst of a scandal and loyal customers who attract a lot of attention, I'm sure they could’ve easily secured a last-minute reservation. Nobu, like Erewhon, is a hotspot for paparazzi. I don’t think they could’ve patched things up in the last six days, and even if they did, I don’t believe either of them is ready to face the media yet. As someone pointed out, it’s a shame they can’t even manage a staged outing together right now. They could’ve easily shut down Brian, denied the rumors, and waited to announce things on their own terms. It seems they can’t stand each other more than they care about the damage to their image. Megan’s caught up in this too. People are bashing him, but most are also saying she looks foolish. And how could you blame them? It’s hard to feel sympathy for her, especially considering how long she’s been entertaining this mess.

Honestly, they probably aren't together.

Or another theory is that this mess was created to just let M go off the grid and focus on her pregnancy. I mean she is what almost 40 and is it not riskier for her to pregnant at that age, so her team thought it was best to keep her name in the limelight with this drama.

But then again, it's stupid because people are calling her stupid for even getting pregnant by him. Which if I'm being honest, I understand them calling her that, because it is stupid for her to have a baby with a man, she can't even be civil with for a week.

Like why u are having a baby, risking ur life to give birth all for what publicity, so u can continue to act in shitty movies, so u can pump ur lips with more fillers, to bring a babe into the world, in a country where it seems to be going to the shitter and with parents that don't even know if they want to be together. U can't just drop this kid off with Sharna and Brian, babe.

[the-firebird69]

We are going to go ahead and start working and we are going to try and catch up with our son and daughter and what they're doing and we have to they're doing it so we will do stuff we have a lot of things going on and it's time for us to move

--he's more like our pain in the neck and what they're doing is distraction and they're distracting us the Empire has to devote sometime to it but not a ton and it's a pain in the ass however the big picture overrules and they are going to begin their approaches on attempting to infiltrate the empire wherever they might be they have outposts and bases and scientific research everywhere and they're going ahead and they're approaching those places and Star wars has a whole bunch of them in it and it is just a wonderful movie series cartoon series animated lifelike series and Legos and just about anything you can think of has been made into Star wars it is intensity to the maximum our son and daughter are an integral component to the whole show they even came up with the uniforms and people followed it and it is rather disgusting but it worked and you would not believe the attitude that you get from people especially at Mac proper regarding things like that it is insanity how awesome it really is we are going to take action when you're going to take action now we want to head off what's going on it is getting to be seen here all the time and we can't really afford it and our son is having a lot of problems you seems to be losing his footing and he has got a hip problem and he's malnourished a little bit he's trying to adjust for it but it is costing a lot of money and that's what they want to do here is drain him of any extra money he got from the storm fund and he's got to replenish his whole apartment and buy new equipment and he won't get ahead at all these people are ridiculous and it goes to say that the whole world is having this problem with these people and we are going to get very tough with them shortly we are sick and tired of these dumb poor assholes insisting on us living poor like them so they can live more poor I mean it is stupid as hell I'm tired of seeing this dumbass face and he's wrong about what he's doing right now and it's Brian he's a huge douchebag and they're sitting there with Mac proper telling them exactly what they're doing all the time because they're just flat out stupid I don't really want to go into it but the commanders that they're working with most of the time are like mac proper and we have to treat these people as if their traders and the Asians are finally coming in and they know what our son is up to and they see these people cohorting with the empire and they know it's wrong and they know that the Empire wants to kill them all and is trying and they're trying to tell them and it just does not work okay and people like Trump they know about it and they're trying to do things and facts to have them and stuff like that and everybody else keeps talking about it like they're wrong or they'll take the hit and it does not work one of the major offenders the supposed Good Guy Brian is being a big a****** all day long to our son and other people and he says I'm not the greatest rebel there's ever been and things like that and my our son says we don't respect that at all because it's like you're stupid and you don't know what their plan is for you if you knew you'd be a rebel so he starts blabbing and then he says I'm for my own Empire I said there's another word for that it's called rebels or there's a few different terms imperial or I think or separatist but not Empire and he looks around he says that's probably right I said yeah you're confused already why confused everybody else. So he is thinking about it and he says that guy has hit so many that we have to and he said that could you should use that as motivation to stop digging around with each other I've also messed around with these Mac proper and you people are giving me s*** cuz you're insulin swine at this time and your babies who are going to go off to slaughter like in world war II and he looked around and he said wow that's awful so he's trying to reach people.

We're watching this and her son has to do hard things everyday and I'll tell you there are some people that are just stupid about it and they need to look at the empire and these ships that followed the pseudo Empire are helping they are gigantic and it's a small fraction of the empire's fleets they have 35 fleets and this is probably one third of one fleet and the whole thing and you're only seeing probably 1/20th of the 1/3 or less don't forget with each fleet comes of contingent of death stars and these death stars have come in and they are very powerful by comparison to the pseudo Empire they are about 2.5 times more powerful and we have a fight on our hands and that's complain to you guys but please when you're working with them you have to learn to say only a little and you have to stop them from doing things and our son and daughter say that they've been making you into super soldiers for a long time putting boiling water in your skull and things like that

Thor Freya

Olympus

[rosecentaur1916]

Warning! Lots of word vomit! It was because I found it fun to go down the rabbit hole!

There could be an argument that Cecil is in his late twenties if you go 5 years either way, but Oscar was 33 at the time the movie came out, which means he was 32 during filming. I usually (as a rule of thumb) go by actor age unless explicitly stated or shown like in Moon Knight:

Or stated in media surrounding something he's been in like most of the Star Wars books for Poe:

So, Cecil could be at the youngest 28 and eldest 38. That's a span of 10 years give or take. So yes, soft-girl-musings could be correct, but I argue (argue meant in a friendly debate type way) that he is older. I've seen the movie and those in that age range can also be a mess because of mental health disorders (Hi! Hello! To quote Obi-Wan Kenobi "Of course I know him, he's me.") especially since Harry describes him as:

"Cecil is a good guy too. He's got his issues like anyone else. He was just in the hospital again. Sometimes things get really hard for him and his head doesn't work the way its supposed to and shuts down. He just shrinks away." That (to me) sounds like bi-polar disorder. The whole movie could be seen as a manic episode spurned on by his cousin. Anyway, I bring up this because (some) people (like myself) with mental health issues are messes in their late 20s to 30s (and sometimes older). I've always read Cecil to be in his early to mid 30s. Without going into spoilers there are several reasons I think this that all are explained by, speech pattern, slang terms, actions and mannerisms that scream this to me as someone in her mid 30s. There are so many things that depend on the movie itself to illustrate my point. For instance, there's a scene where somethings happen and the line of reasoning (Yes, the man does use his brain sometimes) seems more mature than it would be for a man in his twenties. There are references that Harry, Cecil and the people they run into through out the film use that betray that Harry and Cecil aren't only around the same age, but grew up at the same time and consumed the same media, so thus born probably in the late 70s or early 80s. The biggest indicator for me is their hobbies outside of their "work" and the events of the movie itself. Neither of them are shown to own anything more advanced than a CRT television. Neither own a cellphone and smartphones were a thing in 2012. They play Candy Land, talk, drink beer, do drugs, eat (they love food) and Harry even does puzzles in his down time. Its touched on once and never again, it doesn't have to do with the plot, so I figure its a a small spoiler that won't ruin anything plot wise. Anyway, that speaks to me that their older. Heck, they maybe be older than even I speculate, touching into that older 30s range. Heck the way they dress could harked back to Gen X's punk and grunge aesthetic reflecting that they just didn't care what people thought of them. Most Gen X teens that grew up in the 90s dressed like Cecil and Harry do:

Heck some millennials (Hi! Hello, again! In the words of Obi-Wan Kenobi "Of course I know him. He's me." again.) dress like that too, which does lend to the argument that they could be in their late twenties as I was actually in my mid twenties (24 to be precise) at the time when this movie came out. I'm a mid-range millennial as the generation started in 1981, so that lends to both arguments. The encyclopedia Britannica describes millennials as:

I was going to reference Brian Petsos' birthday too, but I can only find the day and not the year. I found one answer that isn't there or verified anymore that said it was November 30, 1999 and his IMDB says October 16 with no year. I'm not sure which is correct. Though if he was born in 1999 that makes no sense. His earliest acting job is in 2007's "This Town" and from what I could find he looks like he's in his 20s, so he clearly wasn't born in 1999! So, I'd think from that he and Oscar are more than likely around the same age, which, because Brian Petsos wrote "Revenge for Jolly!" That more than likely means he wrote Harry and Cecil to be around his own age. If Brian is at least a year or two younger than Oscar that would have made him 30 to 31 years of age.

So I think this lends to the idea not only that Oscar and Brian are around the same age, but Cecil and Harry are too. I also think that lends to the idea that Cecil and Harry are in their early 30s rather than their late 20s. Yes, there is a difference, even if its only a few years. I know, I know I've over thought this... I tend to do that a lot, but its fun for me to go on these little journeys. Plus showing evidence of why I think what it is is kind of fun too. I don't mean to try to "intimidate" anyone with words. I just like writing essays. I hate when people accuse me of that. I run away with it and get into the nitty gritty which is fun for me. Anyway... after a ton of crap you didn't ask for... I still think Cecil is in his thirties. If you wanna watch Revenge for Jolly! Its up on Pluto TV and Roku Channel for free.

How old is Cecil? I haven't see the movie yet but I can't find any info about his age

@soft-girl-musings says "late 20s bc he's a Mess™️"

so imma trust her bc i also haven't seen the movie yet 😭

[ophie-writes]

Cuddle Headcanons

Me? Posting twice in like a day?? Woah.

I said I'd post some cuddle HCs, and here are what came to mind for J.D., Mark, and Brian! I had sm fun thinking these out!!

Warnings: nsfw mention, otherwise nothing else!

Words: 758

Jason Dean

We know this boy is HANDSY

He already had an arm around you at pretty much all times.

His abandonment issues manifest in a million different ways, but one of them is holding you tight. Even when it’s clear to you that you’re not going anywhere, there’s a part of him that thinks you’re gonna leave, so he’s holding you as snug as possible.

It’s not uncomfortable per se, but you feel safe wrapped up in his arms.

You’re gonna get a lot of hugs from behind, sometimes when you least expect them.

Which by default means J.D. is the big spoon of course. Expect plenty of neck kisses and soft words of praise mumbled in your ear while his arms are around your waist.

Once he feels more confident in the idea that you’re sticking with him long term, he’s a bit more soft around you.

Sure, he’s still as dominating as ever, and is still pulling you aside for sloppy makeouts (and quickies) wherever and whenever.

But J.D. starts feeling more comfortable being on the receiving end of cuddles.

His back facing your chest in bed, with one hand on his chest under his arm, and the other running your fingers through his hair.

J.D. has never really been much of a sleeper, but he can find some much needed rest knowing that he’s the one who’s safe in your arms.

Mark Hunter

Being on top of this boy however you can is your favorite thing to do.

Mark shares in the sentiment.

He doesn't ever have a problem with holding your weight either. every time you brought it up he'd say you were like a cuddly weighted blanket.

It doesn’t matter where you’re sitting or laying down, he’s basically your pillow.

How are you not supposed to lie on his chest when he has such soft sweaters and flannels? His worn jeans are the perfect place to rest your head when he’s broadcasting on the couch.

Once when your head was in his lap, he plopped a small pile of letters on your stomach and started reading from them. It took everything in your power not to laugh and make them topple over.

Another instance of head to lap contact was being driven back from dinner after one of Nora’s art shows. Your social battery was dead, and you all had stuck around at the diner for a couple of hours.

Nora and Janie took the front while you and Mark were in the back. You were exhausted, but found the strength to play twister with your seatbelt, and move it about so that you could lay horizontally across the back seats, head on Mark’s lap.

He took the opportunity to trace your features. Index finger running along the bridge of your nose, your jawline, and making circles around your cheeks,

Next thing you knew, you were back home, and falling asleep on his chest again.

Brian Kelly

Brian is also the kind of guy who’d kinda always wanna be touching you in some way.

He’s not possessive like J.D.

Just,,,, fidgety???

And you’re right there, so expect near constant hand holding, and things of the like.

Cuddling with Brian is unconventional as all hell, but it’s adorable.

It’s always a mess of different limbs, but you make it work.

Someone’s leg always happens to find a way over someone else’s, hands are usually locked tight, and heads are resting wherever there’s space.

There are some cuddle positions that just stick though.

Like don’t get me wrong, you two can get comfy anywhere but one of your favorite positions is lying with your head on his abdomen, the rest of your body between his legs, with one of your own legs casually draped over one of his.

You utilize this position whenever possible. Whether it’s chilling at your place watching a movie, or capping the day off at the skate park at sunset watching the others have their fun.

It also gives Brian free hands to mess with you.

Man’s hands are in your hair, holding your hands, booping your nose over and over, or cupping your face and squishing it around until you both just collapse into a pile of giggles and a tickle fight ensues.

When you’re sleeping, it's kind of an equally chaotic experience. Brian is absolutely the type to splay out on the whole bed. And you know what? Fine. So will you!

Once again, another tangled mess of arms and legs and kisses.

[lipstickchainsaw]

Since there was some discussion about Brian and Taylor’s relationship going around, I want to give my own two cents.

Taylor and Brian were a much better fit when they met than they were when they actually got together.

Brian is a young man who’s really struggling with his masculinity. He doesn’t want to be his dad, a man who’s lost all the warmth in his heart and doesn’t really know how to engage with people, and Aisha has already warned him that he’s starting to act like the abusive asshat that terrorised them both and got Brian to trigger. He’s tried to conceptualise his masculinity into his leadership of the Undersiders to some degree, but, well, that’s not really working.

Alec is a little shit who has to be dragged kicking and screaming into taking any kind of responsibility, and he’s perfected a social strategy where he makes every one of these interactions too tedious to bother with. Lisa is obviously not a follower type either, and I don’t think Brian’s ever under any illusion that he can really tell her what to do. Hell, she’s the only one in contact with their boss, which obviously influences their dynamic regardless. They’re partners at best.

Rachel is even worse. To get her to even listen to him he feels like he has to become the exact kind of asshole he hates and he’s actively trying to get away from, but he doesn’t see any other options for dealing with her, because he doesn’t understand her and doesn’t know where to start. This inability to understand someone else’s point-of-view also plays a part in his attempt at getting custody over Aisha, simply because he doesn’t seem to have taken her wants into account when putting together their living space.

Then in comes this competent, thoughtful newbie, and by god she looks up to him. She treats him like the leader he wants to be, she actually listens to him when he’s sharing his insights and perspective. She basically validates the fuck out of him and the image of positive masculinity he wants to project. She might not be very attractive, really, but by god she feels a deep need inside him.

On Taylor’s part, she’s been horribly isolated and her self-esteem has been beaten into a million pieces. She’s still trying very hard to take seriously everything she gets involved with, but it’s leading to nothing but frustration every time because her bullies find some way to ruin things for her. Her cape life is her last ditch attempt to have something that actually works out for her.

And in steps this professional, capable, engaged (and also very handsome) guy who instantly praises her for her foresight in taking a first aid class, who works with her, and, on their third meeting, tells her he wants her on the team over one of his current teammates. It’s like crack to her socially isolated mind, so naturally she’s absolutely smitten with him.

Now, would this relationship have worked out long-term? Probably not, they’re teenagers in their first relationship, meeting a very basic need in each other that they would eventually grow out of. But who knows! Maybe they’d find a way to have their relationship grow along with them!

Of course, Taylor then messes this up by forcing a kiss on him, and Brian kind of messes it up by not quite understanding his own feelings on the matter, because, in part, he doesn’t know what liking someone is, and he also kind of wishes Aisha would look to him the way Taylor does, so naturally he puts Taylor in the sister zone.

By the time they get together, though, things have changed a lot for both of them.

Brian has obviously gone through something horribly traumatic, and he’s even less able to be the man he wants to be. Other people are now needing to take care of him, and he’s not sure how to behave in that kind of situation. He feels helpless and useless, and this isn’t helped by Taylor going so deep into the cape life that he simply can’t keep up anymore.

He tries to advise her to slow down, to take her time, but he’s constantly ignored (if there’s one issue I have with @incorrect-wormquotes it’s that those quotes often give the ‘common sense’ lines to Lisa - the enabler in chief who criticises Taylor exactly once at the start of arc 30 - instead of Brian, who’s canonically the always-ignored straight man), and simply isn’t really taken seriously anymore.

He clings to Taylor because she’s there, and willing to help him out, but it’s far removed from what he wanted.

And on Taylor’s part, well, her priorities have shifted. She’s fully committed to the cape life, and she’s dealing with both her territory and her big Dinah rescue mission. Her boyfriend doesn’t end up even close to the top of the list. Brian needs serious psychological help and she just... doesn’t really get to it, which is a shame, especially when contrasted with the help she gave to Rachel before, helping her turn from basically feral into the core of a marginalised community that lasts all the way through Ward.

And Taylor just... doesn’t respect him anymore. She blows off all his advise and criticism, and whenever she needs emotional help, Brian literally only beats Alec on the list of people she’d go to for help. She trusts Rachel and Lisa more with this than she trusts Brian (there’s a reason those ships are so popular!) Brian ends up by the wayside, almost more of a trophy than an actual boyfriend to her girlboss lifestyle.

Thankfully they actually break up before she abandons them to go save the world or whatever.

[no-reply95]

The Power Of Framing: John and Paul

Over the last few days I've been posting some quotes of interest that I'd bookmarked from Mark Lewisohn's Tune In book.

Tune In's reputation preceded it, every Beatles podcast I listened to mentioned it, Lewisohn's name either came up in conversation or the man himself would turn up for an interview so it got to the point that Tune In was so ubiquitous that I had to read the book and form an opinion for myself.

There are a lot of opinions I have on Tune In, both good and bad, but I'm not going touch on all of that here, at least not in this post.

The aspect of Lewisohn's narrative style that I want to get into is the way he frames the "bad" behaviour displayed by John and Paul.

There are two quotes from the book that I want to analyse, I'll start with John first:

John

“George was second only to John in the swallowing of Prellies and knew better than most the sum effect of taking too many for too long, how the combination of pills plus booze plus several sleepless days caused hallucinations and extreme conduct. He’d describe one occasion when he, Paul and Pete were lying in their bunk beds, trying to sleep, only for John to barge into the room in a wild state. ‘One night John came in and some chick was in bed with Paul and he cut all her clothes up with a pair of scissors, and was stabbing the wardrobe. Everybody was lying in bed thinking, “Oh fuck, I hope he doesn’t kill me.” [He was] a frothing mad person - he knew how to have “fun”.

Handling John was something his friends were well used to doing. If he didn’t murder them in their beds there was no greater buddy. They might fear for their lives but they loved him still. No way would they walk out and join another group. John was just John, and Paul and George’s hero-worship stayed fully intact.”

The above passage comes from the stint in Hamburg directly after Stu's death. John had always been the one to take the most prellies, as Lewisohn highlights, but he relays the fact that John was even more messed up than before subsequent to Stu's sudden death. I've highlighted a couple of lines from the extract to highlight how John's behaviour is framed by Lewisohn:

"the combination of pills plus booze plus several sleepless days caused hallucinations and extreme conduct"

From the outset Lewisohn is careful to outline the fact that John is under the influence of both bills and booze as well as being exhausted as a result of "several sleepless days" which has the sum impact of causing hallucinations and "extreme conduct" so in short, Lewisohn suggests that this behaviour from John is atypical and directly related to the substances and conditions he is under, the subsequent behaviour he displays, therefore, isn't a function of his innate personality, just a reaction to the chemicals and circumstances he currently finds himself beholden to.

"he, Paul and Pete were lying in their bunk beds, trying to sleep"

In terms of those impacted by John's actions, it isn't one individual that Lewisohn highlights, it's George, Paul and Pete, which to me suggests that anyone could have been on the receiving end of John's outburst. When describing the bedroom scene prior to John's entrance, Lewisohn describes the three guys as "trying to sleep", so a picture is painted of a quiet room where there's a lack of activity as everyone is tired and, either on their way to or currently, asleep.

"some chick was in bed with Paul and he cut all her clothes up with a pair of scissors, and was stabbing the wardrobe"

Firstly, the story that George relates (source Anthology, 2000), unlike the scene Lewisohn sets, makes it clear that there was only one target for John's outburst, not George, Pete or even Paul but an unnamed woman whose only crime was to be "in bed with Paul" so, far from trying to get to sleep, Paul was in fact having sex with this woman when John barged into the room. John, in the altered state that he's in, zeroes in on this woman by cutting up her clothes and stabbing at the wardrobe - it's a scary scene that George describes, so what is the lasting impression Lewisohn leaves us with?

"John was just John, and Paul and George’s hero-worship stayed fully intact.”

Despite the shock of the scene that George describes, ultimately John's behaviour has no lasting impact on his relationships with the others or on the future of the band. Lewisohn confirms that "Paul and George's hero-worship stayed fully intact" so not only was their view of John unharmed but they continued to hold him in the highest possible esteem, but how did they rationalise the unpredictability of John's behaviour? Well, "John was just John" the others knew that this was how John got from time to time, this was nothing new for them and their hero worship continued on, the core relationships were unaffected and the operation of the band was unscathed because there was no way that George and Paul would ever leave and join another band so, all in all, no harm done.

Paul

“Brian, John and George went to the Beehive and John used a public box to call Paul, returning with the message ‘He says he’s not coming.’ Brian must have been apoplectic: they’d be unable to play the booking, letting down the university and their paying audience, embarrassing him, ruining their chance of a rebooking, and undoing his repair work to the Beatles’ old bad reputation. He went back to his office to phone Paul, but Paul refused to speak. Jim informed Brian that Paul said he wouldn’t be turning up, and that was that.

Recalling the night five years later, Paul told of how, having discovered Brian and the others hadn’t waited outside his house for him, he decided ‘Fuck them - if they can’t be arsed waiting for me, I can’t be arsed going after them. So I sat down and watched telly.’ Jim was unable to persuade Paul to change his mind. Paul said he’d felt he’d always been ‘the keen one’, so now he’d go sharp the other way and make no effort at all.

John saw a bigger picture, and it would be surprising if it wasn’t equally obvious, or made obvious to Brian and George. He likened Paul’s enduring snag with Brian to his other long-standing difficulty: ‘[Brian] and Paul didn’t get along - it was a bit like [Stuart and Paul] between the two of them’.”

The above passage comes from a time in the Beatles' career, not long after they've agreed to take Brian on as their manager. Brian's hard work on their behalf is starting to pay off and they're getting the opportunity to do loads of gigs for good money. Lewisohn discusses an instance where Brian goes to 20 Forthlin Road to pick up Paul for the night's gig only to be told that he's running late and won't be able to get going for a while. As with the first passage, I've highlighted a couple of lines to highlight how Paul's behaviour is framed:

"Brian must have been apoplectic"

In this passage Lewisohn provides his interpretation of how Brian must have felt to turn up at Paul's house only to find that he'd defied his instructions to be on time. Right from the beginning of this story we are able to empathise with Brian, as the principle victim of Paul's actions.

"letting down the university and their paying audience, embarrassing him, ruining their chance of a rebooking, and undoing his repair work to the Beatles’ old bad reputation."

For the avoidance of doubt, Lewisohn details the wide reaching impact of Paul's behaviour and the list of the aggrieved is long: the university, the paying audience and ultimately the band, all the hard work that they and Brian have put in has been undone by Paul's actions and the tarnished reputation of old is back with a vengeance.

"John saw a bigger picture, and it would be surprising if it wasn’t equally obvious, or made obvious to Brian and George. He likened Paul’s enduring snag with Brian to his other long-standing difficulty: ‘[Brian] and Paul didn’t get along - it was a bit like [Stuart and Paul] between the two of them’.”

If the reader was left wondering if this was a one-off incident or if Paul was just having a bad day that he'd taken out on Brian, Lewisohn suggests that this was, in fact, part of a pattern of behaviour as "John saw a bigger picture" and Lewisohn remarks that "it would be surprising" if both Brian and George weren't equally aware of the bigger forces at play here. To reinforce the lasting implications of Paul's actions, Lewisohn talks about "Paul's enduring snag with Brian" and then likens it to Paul's other "long-standing difficulty" with Stu, which triggers the readers' knowledge of Paul's jealousy of Stu's closeness to John and invites the reader to also view Paul's relationship with Brian through that lens. The extract is then capped up by a quote from John (source, McCabe and Schonfled interview, 1971), seemingly, supporting Lewisohn's premise by linking the clash between Paul and Brian to the clash, that Lewisohn has already expertly laid out in his book, between Paul and Stu.

How the framing differs

In both excerpts I've pulled Lewisohn uses direct quotes from the principles as well as his own interpretation, both to varying impacts.

In the first excerpt, Lewisohn provides a context for John's behaviour, it's not long after Stu has died, John is under the influence of a cocktail of drugs and substances, so we're led to feel sympathy for the state that he's in and to excuse the frightening behaviour that subsequently follows. Lewisohn doesn't offer any context for Paul's behaviour, we assume that Paul is sober and of sound mind so there's no confusion as to the fact that Paul is in full control of his actions so we're less likely to excuse or able to rationalise his actions.

The preamble that Lewisohn writes prior to George's recounting of John barging into the room, mentions George, Pete and Paul being present, so Lewisohn gives us the impression that John's later actions are almost random, maybe it could have been Pete, or George, it just happened to be the woman in bed with Paul who triggered John's anger. We never hear about how the woman reacted to having her clothes torn to shreds just because she slept with Paul, Lewisohn doesn't offer any thoughts to Paul's reaction to having John barging into the room and raising hell while he was sharing an intimate moment with this woman. In stark contract, we're told precisely by Lewisohn about how he presumes Brian felt in the face of Paul's obstinance and the seriousness isn't lost on the reader because every possible group of people negatively impacted is called out with evocative language (i.e. embarrassing, ruining).

Lewisohn frames the Hamburg scissors incident in such a way that it's clear that this was just a blip on the band's radar, the "hero-worship" of George and Paul is undimmed and we're given the framework, either by accident or design, by which to view any similar outburst in the future, it's just John, he may overdo it from time to time but his negative actions will never be consequential because the love and worship the others have for him will never be overcome "no way would they walk out and join another group" because no matter what John did, Paul and George would condone it, stick by him and love him regardless, so why shouldn't we?

However, Lewisohn couldn't be clearer that Paul's disobedience of Brian was part of a larger pattern of behaviour that was detrimental to the band, John could see the bigger picture, the same bigger picture that was "obvious" to Brian and George. Rather than startling an unnamed German woman (Lewisohn leaves this to our imagination) Lewisohn carefully plots out how Paul's actions directly hurt the band and the good work they'd been doing with Brian's help. Far from a moment of chemically induced madness, Paul's behaviour is familiar, we've seen it before with Stu, now we're seeing it with Brian - Lewisohn is clear that the seeds of the break up are sewn in Tune In so is he suggesting that the behaviour Paul displays here can also be traced to 1969?

Was this difference in framing called for?

These two stories outlining John and Paul's behaviour aren't identical, one takes place in Hamburg in the privacy of a bedroom and directly impacts two people while the other takes place in Liverpool and directly impacts several people as well as the band, it could be argued that on this basis these situations Lewisohn was justified in framing these two incidents differently.

However, there are several similarities that I can spot between the behaviour John and Paul displayed:

Pattern of behaviour - Lewisohn appears to be making the case that John's outburst was purely circumstantial while Paul's clash with Brian was part of a longstanding jealousy issue Paul had of anyone close to John. I do think that jealousy may have been a factor in the clashes Paul had initially with Brian (as referenced briefly in my Jealous Guys post) but in my opinion there are complexities that exist with Paul's relationship with Brian (namely around Paul's dislike of authority figures and need for control) that don't exist in Paul's relationship with Stu or, further down the road, Yoko as neither Stu nor Yoko were ever in a position of authority over Paul, John didn't bring them into the band as a manager or producer so I think the more natural comparison is Stu and Yoko not Stu and Brian. Further, despite Lewisohn's descriptions to the contrary and lack of relation to a bigger picture, John's behaviour here was in fact part of a pattern of behaviour, this woman wasn't the first and would not be the last of Paul's love interests that John reacted negatively to; Jane Asher, Peggy Lipton and ultimately Linda would feel the brunt of John's negative attention throughout the Beatles and post-Beatles years, this was an opportunity for Lewisohn to lay the groundwork of that but unfortunately he didn't want to connect these particular dots.

Impact on the band - Lewisohn is at pains to outline how George and Paul weren't going anywhere and there's no suggestion that John's actions would have any impact on the band or its future but, with the hindsight we have, is that correct? Even before Hamburg, John is abusing alcohol, largely to numb the effects of the sudden death of his mother, then in Hamburg, he's now abusing drugs too which negatively impacts his behaviour. For the rest of the Beatle years John's substance abuse issues appear again and again (Bob Wooler incident at Paul's 21st birthday, destruction of ego and fall in productivity due to prolonged LSD use, increase in the communication issues in the band in the wake of John and Yoko's heroin addiction). If Lewisohn was really interested in giving us the bigger picture, why didn't he outline the detrimental impact that John's substance abuse issues were having on the band, all it would have taken was for him to help the reader to understand how the woman and Paul felt as a result of John's actions but instead he uses this story as another opportunity to reinforce the idea that Paul and George hero-worshipped John.

Links to the break up: In many of his podcast interviews (Nothing Is Real and Fabcast spring to mind) Lewisohn is clear that, although the events of the break-up are years away from being committed to paper, the roots are laid out in Tune In. Paul's clash with Brian is framed in such a way to underscore how it fostered long difficulties between Paul and the band's manager in a way that was obvious to the others, does that sound familiar? If we sub Klein in for Brian, we've suddenly been transported to the summer of '69, I believe this is intentional and given the pretty uncharitable way Paul's actions are described (Paul should have been on time but leaving without him so that he had to take several buses instead only made everyone later and poured gasoline on an already open flame, neither Paul, Brian or the band won in this situation which I think all parties came to realise at a later stage) we're already being conditioned to believe that by the time it's 1969 this reckoning for Paul has been a long time coming and we should be glad that John, George, Ringo and Klein are finally stand up to Paul's immature power plays. However, can the break up also be traced to John's actions. As already discussed, the first excerpt outlines one of the first instances of John's substance abuse negatively impacting the band, in 1961 he's destroying a woman's clothing, cock-blocking Paul and terrorising everyone, in 1969 he's in a heroin haze with Yoko which hinders the already frayed communication links with the rest of the band and fosters an environment where, to John, only "JohnandYoko" matter ("I mean, I’m not going to lie, you know. I would sacrifice you all for her [Ono]", Get Back Sessions, 1969) to the extent that they're able to be wooed by Allen Klein who knows exactly what John and Yoko want so they allow him to give it to them, irrespective of what the rest of band need or want.

In the end, I have no problem with either story being included in Tune In, neither John or Paul were saints and in these instances we can see aspects of their personality that will feature, for better and for worse, over the course of the rest of the Beatles' career and, in John's case, his life. However, it is a shame that time and time again, when given the opportunity to frame John and Paul's actions Lewisohn opts to minimise John's misdeeds via his emphasis on Paul and George's love and patience for him, while for Paul almost no context is provided for his negative actions and Lewisohn subtlety begins to plot the lines that will eventually lead to the 3 to 1 split and the lawsuit that, not only breaks up the band but ensures they never reform again. The part Paul plays in the break-up does have roots in his personality, which we see glimpses of in his interactions with Brian in 1961 (he won't be pushed around and his reaction to being pushed is to fight back not fall in line) but we also see John's role start to take shape too (the unpredictability of his actions under the influence of substances and the chain of events that would occur as a result i.e. LSD - loss of ego - jealousy of Paul's output and his loss of dominance - openness to Klein who identifies John as the leader and reinforces his belief in his supremacy in the Lennon-McCartney partnership as well as filling John with misinformation like reminding him he wrote most of Eleanor Rigby). It's a problem that only Paul's negative reactions and missteps are framed in the wider context of the band because this skews the story and fails to accurately plot the role John also played in the band's demise. If Lewisohn's aim is to provide us with a balanced, definitive take on the band's story then, based on this evidence, he's falling short.

[whaleofatjme1920]

Seeing Him Smile and Kiss Someone Else (Hoodie X F!Reader)

[Hoodie/Brian Thomas X F!Reader]

[Warnings: none]

[AN: Howdy! I cross post these on quotev under ‘Elsie I Guess’ and on AO3 under ‘Whaletales1920′ under the title ‘The Places You Shouldn’t Be’. Just thought I’d start uploading them here too.]

Part 2

Proxies aren’t supposed to do a lot of things: speak back to their master, challenge hierarchical roles, have relationships with each other of that caliber, and never, never ever absolutely never have romantic relationships with humans. 

Why? It’s a losing game. Everyone knows that. Should proxies seek any kind of attachment, platonic, romantic, even sexual, their best bet is to stay within their own kind: other proxies. It’s the polite thing to do. It’s the right thing to do. 

When you first came in, you bonded almost immediately to your group of four other individuals. There’s Masky, your group leader. He’s really sweet when he wants to be and seems to care the most about you - it’s probably because you’re new. Toby is akin to the middle child. He’s always buzzing around you a lot like a bumblebee. While he has his jerk moments, he’s got an eye out for you. So too does Kate, once the group’s newbie/runt. She’s the one you replaced. She’s relatively quiet and sticks to herself, but she’s never a stranger to helping you out and immersing you in the culture and world you’ve found yourself entangled in. 

And then there’s Masky’s right hand, a proxy named Hoodie, but you know him as Brian. Out of all your group members, Brian was the hardest to warm up to. He hardly acknowledged you when you were first placed in his group and was amongst the hardest in the hazing process (you’re still technically going through). But, after some time and getting to know each other, the two of you became the closest of friends, even going so far as to rival Masky’s friendship with him. It’s safe to say you got a bit of a crush on him, in simplest terms. 

Three times. Three times you felt you liked him.

The first time was when you were about to head out of your safe house on a grocery run. Proxies don’t have any leads, so cards are absolutely off the table. You walked out of the safe house, yawning slightly, and barely made it down the driveway when Brian had popped back out of the house. 

“Reader,” he called out, slowly moving to lean in the doorway of the empty house the five of you were squatting in. 

“Yeah?” You asked sleepily. 

“Forgetting something?” He holds up his hand - it’s the wallet. 

You feel heat rush to your cheeks as you speed walked back to the front door to retrieve it. “Guess I’m still kinda tired,” you admittedly awkwardly with a small chuckle. 

Brian shrugged slightly and threw you a smirk as he met you halfway, “Think I’ll accompany you this morning,” he said with a wink. 

The two of you began to walk as you mentally mulled over the man walking beside you - his hands in his pockets. You’d never really thought of him like that before, but the way he smiled and that wink… It planted a seed. You weren’t quite sure you were going to acknowledge it or if it was just a fluke, but the thought stayed, and then it remained. 

As the two of you traversed the grocery store for various things your comrades had asked for, you and Brian traded conversation about everything that popped into mind. 

“Oh, like you knew any better in high school,” you wheezed before tossing in a box of brownies. You’d just been discussing how terrible and how gods awful high school relationships can be and how at one low point, you got into one. Brian had said he knew better than to mess around in high school, but you had retorted that ‘we’re all young and dumb once.’ 

Brian raised a brow at the box but allowed it anyway. “I most certainly did and I knew how things were gonna play out before they even happened.” 

“On what basis? It’s not like you have future vision,” You snorted. You watched as he pushed the cart forward as you plucked items you needed from the shelves. 

He shot you a look. “I’m a guy, it’s practically flowing through our veins,,” he said as his eyes raked over the list. “I’d most likely be the reason those things are happening to begin with and knowing that is like it’s own future vision..” He flashed his smile at you. “Come to think of it, I don’t think I ever grew out of the dumb part,” he chuckled. 

Your heart skipped. 

The second time you thought you liked him was when you were in the car with him, heading back to your safe house (in an entirely different part of the country). The two of you were more than exhausted after clearing a house whose occupants the Operator wanted dead for one reason or another and Brian decided to steal a car. So, there you sat in the passenger seat. 

“Something on your mind?” He hummed, arm resting on the console. His hazel colored eyes flicked over to you with interest. 

You shrugged, “just thinking.”

“Dangerous for people like us,” Brian chuckled. “Care to get specific?” 

You sighed slightly and turned your eyes to the passing street lights overhead as the car pulled onto the late night expressway. “Thinking about all the things I’ll miss,” you admit. 

Brian nodded from the corner of your eye. “I think about that stuff too,” he said, a small frown pulling onto his face. “You were finishing up college?” 

“Yeah,” you said. “I mean, I guess I’m getting out of the college loan debt but… Y’know,” you trailed off slightly, your posture changing slightly. “Maybe I would’ve been normal. Get a cool job, live a non murderous life, have a family and a loving partner. I don’t know, like, whatever the American dream says we should have. Anything but this.” 

Brian laughed slightly, “sorry. It’s not - it’s not you,” he explained. “It’s just awfully similar to what I wanted.” 

You turned your attention from the passing lights over to Brian. “White picket fence is your thing?” 

“More or less,” he hummed. “Wanted to live the rest of my life like a normal person.

Certainly died like one, more or less,” he finished. 

You mentally hummed, already knowing what he was referring to. Died and got resurrected. “Don’t think falling from a floor up counts as normal.” 

“Hey, it worked out for…. Something nice,” he quickly chirped. “Fell and met an angel.” 

He briefly turned his head to look at you and flashed a grin. 

“Oh that’s so bad.” 

“You love it.” 

You really do.  

The third time was when the two of you were on the rooftop of some house you’d been spending a lot of time at. It was kind of nice to be able to settle down in one place for more than a month - it’d been going on close to a  year. It was your roof, the one you shared with Brian. Late in the night, when the crickets sang and the stars danced, the two of you snuck up against Masky’s best wishes to talk about the world and life before. 

When summer was giving way to autumn and sending cool breezes throughout the night, you and Brian had been up there once again. 

“You think EJ will be around?” You asked, looking up at the stars you barely knew the names to. “BEN did say he was in the area.” 

“Gonna say yes,” Brian hummed back, momentarily pausing to point out Altair. “He’s always had a soft spot for our group,” he noted. “Why? You looking forward to seeing him?” He chuckled, hand reaching out to ruffle your hair. 

You laugh as quietly as you can and shake your head, “we’ve hardly ever spoken!” You giggled. “I just think he’s cool.”

Brian snorted in response and nodded, “yeah, I think so too. Though, where’d you get the opportunity to talk with BEN?” 

“There’s a little computer cafe in town,” you said, eyes flicking towards the direction of said cafe. “I’ve been spending a lot of time there. Mostly to use the internet,” you admitted, a slight heat coming to your cheeks. Proxies really aren’t supposed to use the internet. “Toby also sometimes tags along.” 

“So that’s where he’s been getting those weird references from,” Brian said with a tone of understanding. “Next time you go, let me know. I’d love to see what you children are up to online,” he teased. 

You laughed again and nodded, “sure thing.” 

The two of you continued to talk before a particularly hard gust of wind came in. On instinct, you shivered - though you weren’t really cold. 

Upon seeing you shiver, Brian took no hesitation in taking off his hoodie, much to your chagrin. 

“Oh, you don’t have to-” you began as you attempted to push it towards him. 

“I insist,” he had said, already popping the thing over you. 

You relented and allowed the giant hoodie to envelop your form like a warm hug. It smelled just like him - something woodsy, smoke, and the faintest of graphite. When you looked back at Brian, he was staring up at the stars, a small smile on his face. His eyes did not leave the inky blueish-black, not even when your hand came within millimeters of holding his. 

All it took was three times. Three times to know you liked him, and once to know you’d lost him. 

As stated before, it is absolutely a losing game to get involved with humans. Humans are frail and prone to panic. They can’t understand the world the way you do, nor are they suited for life the way you are in their current form. In your society, humans are the lowest of the low, akin to cattle - albeit, sentient cattle. Only when they are lifted from their human status are they finally given the time of day. 

He never would have known about her if you never brought up that computer cafe. Truly, it was a mistake on your part. You didn’t mean to, but it had happened anyway. 

“Cute place, right?” You smiled, eyes traveling up and down the rows of tables. 

“The cutest,” Brian agreed with a small chuckle. “Do we go up to a counter and order or..?” He trailed off slightly as he inspected the place and took in all the minor details. 

“Just take a seat, a waiter will be around shortly,” you said, immediately pulling him to your preferred spot by the windows and tucked away into the corner. 

Brian followed your lead and took a seat next to you where he immediately powered on the computer. “It’s kinda weird that they let us have food this close to the electronics, no?” 

“Oh no, it’s super weird,” you nodded as you began flicking open tabs to get to the things you wanted - maybe say hi to BEN. “But, it works. So like, c’est la vie?” You giggled, fingers moving quickly across the keyboard. 

A few moments later, a waitress stopped by. You had already managed to pull up a chat with BEN and were so engrossed in catching up with him that you failed to notice her. You hadn’t even recognized she was there until you heard her giggling at something Brian had said. 

“Never thought I’d be that star struck,” Brian had finished the small anecdote with eyes that practically sparkled. 

Her smile only widened. “You? The star struck kind?” She teased lightly. “Have to see it to believe it.” 

Brian looked up at her, his lips now pulled up into a smile. “You’re looking at it right now.” 

It pulled you so hard out of your conversation with BEN that you’d accidentally sent him a half-baked thought. “Wait what?” 

Your sound of confusion had snapped the two back into reality. “Oh! I’m sorry, sugar,” the waitress apologized with a slight blush rising to her cheeks. “Was there something I could get you?” 

You blinked a few times, your eyes darting between the two before finally managing to stammer out your drink and pastry of choice. You watched as Brian’s eyes followed her out and when she came back in. 

Long after the two of you had finished, the two of you decided to head back. 

“That was fun,” you said. 

“It was,” Brian replied, thoughts drifting elsewhere. 

Ever since that moment, he’d been going to the café with and without you. Sometimes you’d find yourself heading there only to see him entranced in conversation with the waitress, and when that happened, you turned right back around. At first it was to give them space, and then it was to give yourself space. 

You wished you could allow yourself to weather through this one with grace and that it didn’t bother you, that it didn’t get on your nerves, but it did. Slowly but surely, it had chipped away at some odd part of you that you didn’t even know existed prior to. 

Masky was the first to bring it up. 

“Reader,” he began. “Can you wrangle Hood from that café? Operator wants us to do something - I just need him,” he said, barely looking up from his newspaper. 

“I can go if you want,” you suggested before poking your head back out from the refrigerator. 

“Hm?” That got Masky’s attention. “Are you sure?” He raised his eyebrow, giving you an inquisitorial look. 

“It’s no big deal,” you said with a small smile as you plucked your drink out from the fridge. “Besides, I think Hoodie’s busy.” You had to fight the unpleasant feeling that bubbled up in your chest after you said that. 

“Oh,” Masky gave a hum of recognition. “Toby did mention he was getting a little close to someone there,” he said in passing. 

You shot Masky a look. 

He shot one back. 

Internally, you both know that’s not the best thing - but Masky’s not going to stop his best friend. And you know you won’t either. 

Kate mentioned it next, though she seemed to be telling you that you’d get  over it. It came relatively out of the blue. See, the two of you were standing in the living room of a house painted in blood just chatting, waiting for the Operator to give you direction on what he wanted for the man he wanted alive when Kate got weirdly serious. She sat down on the sofa and invited you to sit down next to her. 

“You can’t keep avoiding him like that,” she hummed, her shoe digging into the man’s chest as he wriggled beneath her step. “I know it’s awkward, but he’s your comrade first.” 

You rolled your eyes and lightly pushed at her. “Come on, it’s not that serious,” you said, attempting to play off your feelings that were so gods damn obvious throughout the time you’ve been spending in this area. 

“Are you kidding me?” Kate chuckled. “Look,” her hand is on your shoulder as she digs her heel into the man’s chest, cracking his ribs slightly. “It’s uncomfortable. I get that. It’s why we don’t… Do that kind of thing.” She rubbed her thumb in little circles on your shoulder as she grounded you. “It’s probably for the best, even though you can’t see it right now.” 

You sighed and gave her a look of slight pain. “You’re probably right.” 

“I know I’m right.”

It’s not that Toby is bad at reading a room, but it’s that he’s really bad at reading a room. When the two of you went to the computer café for your outing, he was excited to see the girl Brian was ‘seeing,’ as he somehow managed to miss her from every other precious visit. It was so obvious that they had been - her perfume was practically embedded into his skin now - and his smile was brighter than the sun after seeing her. 

And here you were, not even wanting to know her name. 

It’s Fiona. 

“Toby!” She greeted as she bounded up to your table. “Reader! What a nice surprise!” There was no malice in her tone. She was genuinely happy to see you. “What can I get you two today?” 

“C-Chocolate croissant and some h-h-hot chocolate please,” Toby said. He then turned to you, and as if he read your mind, gave her your order as well. “H-How have t-things been?” He asked. 

“Really good,” Fiona replied. “He’s such a sweetie, got me this necklace.” 

Your eyes immediately left the screen and travelled to her neck. There it was. Beautiful necklace. Silver chain with a hunk of rose quartz at the bottom in the shape of a bullet.You remembered seeing that pendant. It hung on his mirror for such a long time. You once overheard him saying to Kate how it was your possible birthday gift. 

“It’s so pretty,” you smiled, eyes not quite following. 

You were damn certain if you were suffering from hanahaki you would’ve choked on flowers by now and died. The last nail in the coffin? 

Now. Right now. You came back to the safe house just wanting to relax, maybe star gaze for a bit and fall asleep outside - anything and everything sounded better than just being alone in your thoughts after the Operator had some harsh words to say to you on account of your performance slipping ever so slightly from his golden standards. You fix yourself a warm mug of tea and start making yourway to the rooftop. It’s the same path you’ve always taken: head up the stairs to the upper floor, last room on the left side of the hall, go in and open the study windows there and hang out on the roof. 

You make sure to take careful steps as you ascend, not wanting to spill any of your carefully made tea as you seek to unwind. With a deep breath, you start making it through the hallway, thankful no one else is here. Masky is away on business, Kate is doing something with Jeff and Toby left a few hours ago to meet with someone he deems important. Come to think of it, you haven’t had the house free in a while. 

But, as you step closer and closer to the last room on the left, you hear it. Giggling, whispers, conversation that’s so innocent and intimate at the same time. You notice the study door is closed. It’s never closer. You step closer. 

“You’re so sweet,” That’s Fiona’s voice. “You don’t have to get me all these things - I don’t even know where I’m gonna wear all of them.” She giggles. 

“Wear a different one every time I come to see you.” That’s Brian. “Gonna be burning through those things like crazy.” You hear the sound of a kiss. 

“You got a deal,” Fiona chuckled. Another kiss. 

You hear the roof shingles move slightly as they move closer together. Against your better judgment, you push open the study door slightly. Must you be so nosy?

There, sitting on the roof outside the window is Fiona and Brian. She’s wearing his sweater (it’s just polyester) and giggling as he peppers her face in kisses. When she’s decided he’s covered her in enough kisses for an entire year, she presses her lips to his. 

He smiles before kissing her back just as fervently. 

Without a sound, you begin to head back to your room. 

Perhaps tea in your room would be better. 

[riverrunscold]

MH is legit good, a bit campy sure, but it's really solid and people don't talk about Jay or Alex enough

I feel you! I enjoy it as well, it's got such a homey charm to it. It's probably because of the time period it started in being nostalgic to me, but I also just enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. It's a solid series and while I initially found the ending underwhelming I now appreciate it more and the tragedy that underlines the series.

Also you're so right nobody talks about Jay or Alex honestly. I mean I kinda get it, Alex being an antag technically speaking, and Jay being very dumb but I actually find that charming. I love antags (especially antags with glasses cough) and dumb in-over-their-head protags. I also think most of the humor from MH comes from Jay and Alex, with Jay being very confused and it leading to hijinks and Alex reacting sarcastically to said hijinks. I just wish we got more of all of them or some of them together before the events of MH. Like maybe more tapes had Alex, Tim, Brian and Jay just messing around and being friends because I would've loved to see that.

And I'm currently watching through EverymanHybrid and I must say, with live streams being included, it really does a much better job of endearing you to the characters. It gives you more time to see their dynamics and get more emotionally invested. I'm not saying one is better just that I think one has an edge over the other in terms of character endearment. Don't worry, I still enjoy all the MH characters, some of the emotional moments just didn't hit for me because we saw very little of their dynamics before the series. It would've really made me cry I'm sure if we had more time with everyone together.

[sophsun1]

Agree with you and the other anon that season 5 was a mess and they had very little time to tie up all the loose ends. Also they focused so much on Ben and Michael the last 2 seasons they sort of pushed Brian and Justin as a couple and Justin as a character to the side. I wanted to see more of Justin’s life outside of his relationship with Brian and I really wanted him to go back to college. Also I think that if we had another season we’d probably get Brian and Justin settled down it’s their own way. Definitely better that what we got that was just not it for the IT couple of the show. I’m sure Brian would have had a change of heart on the wedding stuff when it came to Justin if we have a little more time to on the show. You can even see at the end that Brian realizes he’s not gonna be like that forever and how everyone moves on and he was even starting to come to terms with it. Ugh I would have given everything for a 6th season bc I know it would have left things to a much better place. (If Lindsay and Melanie could have patched things up and gotten a happy ending at the very end Brian and Justin definitely deserved better)

Hey anon!

I do agree about Justin's character a lot of his time on the show revolved around his love life. After breaking up with Brian we saw him go straight into relationship drama with Ethan and then baby crazy into season five wanting a settled family life at 22!

He went through so much stuff, he moved house so many times and was never really settled into one place long enough to call his home. They never went into depth over his trauma over the bashing they instead made it worse or his disability he was left with in regards to his art.

Talking of his art we start out with him doing pencil sketches and drawing portraits, and of course post the bashing we see him having to adapt his style with more graphic pop art with the aid of the computer Brian got him. By season 4 he's more focused on the Rage movie and back to drawing comic panels and dreams of a Hollywood career. When that falls apart he's suddenly moved into painting now and that's his forte. I wish they had shown more of him at college, talking about what kind if career he wanted instead of just switching it up just to suit the plot. We got to see how much Brian's career meant to him, his dream of moving to New York, we saw him several times doing pitches with clients etc at the office.

If we got a season six I would've liked to see more of Justin's art career, focusing on his passions and dreams outside of Brian (instead of running to New York after ONE article saying he was talented 🙄)

Seeing Britin actually settled into a relationship, navigating their everyday life and what that would be - open with rules or monogamous whatever. Giving me that relationship talk we never got but needed! They could've even just stayed engaged with a look to the future of getting married one day if they wanted. My ideal full circle ending was always both of them being on the same page finally and moving to New York together.

[transmutationisms]

Completely agree with your piss post. But also - do you realize Logan pissing on the 5th Avenue carpet is literally the first scene of Succession? He wakes up alone, desoriented, in the dark, and proceeds to piss on the floor. The show is stating its theme: deteoration and decay of this family, this class, this way of thinking about life. And yet - a power move. And a fallen mask. Always, in all instances named by you - power's fallen mask.

yes!!!! the first ep is wonky in a lot of ways (background actors who mysteriously disappear, the sibs not having their actual personalities yet) but starting out on the piss scene was an extremely good move. like you say, it's more or less a thesis statement, and sets the whole tone for the show. gross and embarrassing to exist physically. literally, there's smelly wet piss seeping all over everything shiny and nice and luxurious.

it also gets a lot of info across about the particular character's relationship to the world. logan has more money than god, but it's not really doing much for him in terms of avoiding the inconveniences of having a full bladder. (if anything, marcia's line about how they're in "the new place" might suggest that wealth has already, literally, contributed to logan's disorientation and confusion). he can avoid the consequences of the mess he makes in the world—he has staff, after all—but he still has to live through the experience of realising he's just pissed himself.

also, the first time i watched the show, i didn't really know anything about who was in it except jeremy strong, so seeing brian cox's face meant nothing to me until a few more minutes in. i kinda liked that viewing experience lmao. the way the scripts are written, characters rarely say what they actually mean, and they'll often throw out, like, three or four different metaphors for the same thing. it takes until the end of a monologue or conversation for all of those different frameworks to cohere into a more complete picture, so i always feel like i'm reevaluating whatever came earlier as more information is given. the piss scene was like that: it opens the show, so i obviously knew it was important, but it changed in meaning as i went along, figuring out logan and the family and so on.

most importantly, given that the episode's drama ends up hinging on logan's health issues, i think it's appropriate and even necessary to use the phrase "chekhov's piss" here. don't have anything to add about that, just needed to say it. chekhov's piss.

[peigslayers]

The article is paywalled 😭 what's it say

oh i just copied it into an incognito tab and then turned off my wifi before the paywall loaded lol. here are the specific bits i was talking about

Irish people are very open about the fact that we like it when we’re noticed. We’re a very small country who punch far above our weight in terms of world recognition. It doesn’t make any sense. We’re the size of Costa Rica and we have a lot of notable people, but sometimes we do feel like we get forgotten, that people haven’t spoken about us enough in the last two weeks. I wrote a little piece in the Guardian about the sense that whenever Irish American politicians show their support, it clings them to our breasts. [When American politicians visit Ireland] there’ll be parties in the streets. Outside, this is interpreted as being purely about tribalism. But it’s mostly just injecting a little bit of interest in world events by seeing it through Ireland. Bill Clinton, for example, has negligible Irish ancestry and had no proof of any of it, and we were like, “Ah, no worries. It’s fine"

and

It’s not done with any seriousness. Ireland has one of the world’s longest running chat shows, The Late Late Show. They’ll have Tom Hanks or they’ll have Julia Roberts, and you only need to watch for literally three minutes before they ask something about, “Do you like Ireland? Have you ever been to Ireland? I hear your great-grandmother is from Ireland.” It’s this kind of playing to the gallery thing, which is sycophantic and desperate — but also undeniably really popular. People like the idea that these rich and famous people are thinking about Ireland. For the most part it’s harmless. If you can get the accents right, we’ll buy it up. So that’s what makes the failures so mystifying, because that is an absolute open goal. But then, we’re not the market.

this last bit isn't really related to the point but i do think it's funny

When John Patrick Shanley’s Outside Mullingar opened on Broadway in 2014, reviews were mostly warm. Charles Isherwood in the New York Times called the romance between neighboring Irish farmers — one played by stage veteran Brian F. O’Byrne, the other by Debra Messing — “wholly diverting,” praising Shanley’s “lyrical writing” for giving “such consistent pleasure.” The Hollywood Reporter’s David Rooney hailed it as “a tender paean to rural life, to the Irish spirit, and to the enduring belief that love will find a way.” Tony voters enjoyed Outside Mullingar so much that they nominated it for Best Play, though it lost to the Bryan Cranston as LBJ drama All the Way — an act of AMC on NBC violence.

Then there was Fintan O’Toole’s review in the Irish Times, which began, “When plays are bad, their badness is usually easy to explain. Occasionally, though, there is a play whose woefulness demands a whole new theory,” and went on to call Outside Mullingar both “mystifyingly awful” and “unfathomably bad.”

a lot of the rest of the article is about depictions of the irish in hollywood more generally. it's quite a good read tbh. the author is interviewing the guy who did the viral thread about meeting the president of ireland while on ket