#btmd arg

[triflesandparsnips]

When something is definitely not a game, but most definitely a gift

or, after sufficient thought and also some really very clever meta coming out of Good Omens fandom: What Javid Denkins means to me (and what I probably don't mean to "Javid Denkins")

Recap time!

In December of 2022-- wait, no, I already wrote that post, go read that. To summarize, though:

The (real) show Our Flag Means Death has a showrunner named David Jenkins. He started posting on tumblr in mid-July 2023.

The (fictional) show Blow the Man Down has a showrunner named Javid Denkins. He started posting on tumblr in early December 2022.

There was a period of time where OFMD fandom was uncertain whether these two people were one and the same, which led to a great deal of interest in the "season 2" puzzles, hints, breadcrumbs, and other fascinating bits of interactive, cross-media engagement coming out of the Javid Denkins account.

I was one of those people having A Good Time with the interaction -- I constructed puzzles for whoever was on the other end of the line, with no real belief that they would be engaged with. It was fun to do, though, and-- what if? (Bookmark this, I'm going to come back to it.)

Eventually it shook out that BTMD was a fictional show in an OFMD alternate universe fic, and from there the interactive multimedia elements expanded beyond just tumblr-- and beyond the edges of my first linked essay above.

And then, in June 2023, with the end of the story and a final post to the Javid account, it came to an end.

A brief rundown of the areas of play

There are multiple elements to the Javid Experience (tm) -- so far as I can tell and/or has been recorded by better fans than me (i.e., @eefaevie) [EDIT 9/27/23: twitter has shat the bed entirely, so here's a link to the threadreader collection]:

1. The Javid Denkins tumblr account: starts the experience, introduces the concept of games/puzzles, slowly introduces the show Blow the Man Down

2. The AU fic Blow the Man Down: makes clear the connection between the real Our Flag Means Death with the fictional BTMD, makes clear the use of games/puzzles, introduces the use of social media as an important driver of the plot and the characterization, and introduces the inciting incident for the story: Javid Denkins, showrunner of BTMD, saying that he would start a Twitter account (thus making him not the same as tumblr-Javid -- and also, unlike the other characters in the AU, not a one-to-one alt of the real David Jenkins -- which will become important later)

3. The BTMD fic collection: an open, unmoderated collection of fic that references only BTMD, treating it as a fandom in its own right while providing elements (and themes) for the main AU fic to reference

4. Several twitter accounts and group chats: these comprise, I would say, four groups/entities acting in real time and in concurrence with or directly affecting the plot of the AU. @turq8 put together a spreadsheet with the handles (as well as the assumed BTMD canon), but in short, these groups were:

the main characters of the AU (Ed and Stede, from OFMD, who in this story are fans of BTMD);

"fan" accounts for BTMD, some of whom are tied to fic authorship within the BTMD collection, and who served here as a mirror of fandom dynamics;

real accounts of fans of OFMD who were following the AU and were engaged in the Javid Experience;

Javid Denkins-- not the same Javid as tumblr-Javid or the fic-Javid, but rather one who was sockpuppeted by the Ed character

(For those keeping track, we are now up to... three different Javids: tumblr-Javid, fic-Javid, and Ed-Javid. Bookmark that.)

5. Several ancillary sites and social media accounts to add to the reality/unreality of the alternate universe, including but not limited to:

tumblr-Javid's site and its sub-pages, providing more clues/games than could necessarily be supported in tumblr's interface;

Stede's Pinterest board, providing real-time meta-narrative to support the story and the interactions the Stede twitter account was having with the OFMD fan accounts;

the instagram account and website for an in-universe animal rescue (with an event advertisement that became Relevant);

a fanzine and accompanying Mad Magazine-style fold-in (which led to a mirrored fanzine by the OFMD fans playing along);

a photograph of the alternate-universe's TV Guide with synopses of all 10 episodes of the first season of BTMD

a fake interview with the actors of BTMD ("fake interview" you say, BOOKMARK THAT);

and a youtube account ostensibly owned by one of the Javids that concluded the twitter aspects of the narrative by posting the "trailer" for season 2 of BTMD

These five areas are, I would say, the publicly accessible and still (to a degree) trackable elements of the experience, though their ephemerality is being tested with the changes to twitter and the general nature of digital-heavy works.

Now, with all that... I want to talk about two elements that aren't particularly public, and the one that finishes off the whole thing.

Three is a magic number (to triangulate a Theme)

1. The Letter

In the penultimate chapter of the AU, the author, Javid Denkins (which one?) describes a real life location, with a fictional hidden treasure, but with a real life pair of photos attached at the end.

What isn't clear, and what won't be clear to outside readers, is that there was, in fact, a real life treasure in that real life place.

I know this, because I went there. And I found it.

I describe the whole thing here, along with my Feelings about it, but in short, there was a letter that read:

In looking for the story, you became a part of it. Thank you for playing. Thank you for letting me believe it can be real. Javid

(Which Javid?)

2. The (First) Interview

The next thing that I imagine few outside readers would know about is the results of that Fic Club discord server interview I couldn't attend from the beginning-- but, thank all the little fishes, I was able to crash partway through and back-read.

Here's what you need to know:

There were not one, not two, but three Javids answering questions, demarcated by different colored icons.

Over the course of the hour, it became clear that one of the Javids was Ed-as-Javid (unaware that he exists in an AU, assumes he's dreaming up this interview); another was tumblr-Javid (aware of the AU, aware of the puzzles and games on tumblr, but unaware of The Letter); and then there was a third unknown Javid (who asked questions, cut off questions, and, in the end, was revealed to definitely know about The Letter).

The Javids answered a limited number of pre-defined questions, though there seemed to be some cross-talk and allowances for fan interaction -- thus making this, if it wasn't already obvious, a performance piece. A piece of the whole story.

The questions chosen can be found on the previously linked spreadsheet, under the "Q's for J.A.V.I.D." tab-- they mostly matched up with A3, A2, A4, A7/B2, B7, A7, C2, D4, F8, and C6, for those who want to dive in. (@clairegregoryau, who moderated, is working on releasing the transcript for public consumption, so you could also wait for that ETA: nope, just a summary/analysis -- though with the scripted nature of the Q&A, maybe someday Javid'll release that end of it? Whatever comes, I'll update here when it goes live).

But in the shortest possible sum up: the questions chosen/answered were about audience participation, unreality, and the nature of "Javid(s)" anonymity.

tumblr-Javid gave the most concrete answers to things; Ed-Javid provided a sort of meta-narrative similar to Stede's Pinterest in terms of inner-thoughts and whatnot, providing a "real person's" perspective to the fictional drama of the AU; and mystery-Javid... was a sharp-edged mystery. Until--

3. The (Second) Interview

On June 25th (the date listed on the pet rescue instagram), at 9:30 AM (the time listed within the post itself, making this a "real time" event), the tumblr account made its last post: an interview with Javid Denkins.

It's not the transcript of the first Fic Club interview. Rather, it's more of an essay, written in the style of a GQ or Esquire piece, with a first-person interviewer describing their sit-down with the showrunner of BTMD. It starts with the sentence:

Javid Denkins is not interested in answering questions. 

From there, it's slowly revealed that the second interview is, in itself, just a figment of Javid Denkins's imagination. And so is tumblr-Javid. And so is Ed-Javid. And more than that: This Javid imagined our entire universe -- OFMD, David Jenkins, the creation of the Javid tumblr and character, the BTMD augmented reality game, everything...

...as a thought experiment.

To see if, in some reality, somewhere, it was possible for him to be authentic and open as an artist-- and not be punished for it by an ouroborosing fandom.

It's an astonishing (and complicated to work out, because hooboy, did I need to sit down and diagram some stuff) piece. I have the barest edges of Feelings about it in this reblog, but as I say there: this second interview is about art, and celebrity, and fear, and humanity.

...but it is also about audience participation, unreality, and the nature of anonymity, as in the first interview. Because that's who this ultimate-Javid is -- he's the third Javid from Fic Club, still testing. He's the Javid from the AU (the one that doesn't match up with our universe's David Jenkins), self-inserting to try and explain again and again, to an audience that can't seem to hear him, why he's so angry.

Why he's so afraid.

(Anger, they say, is a secondary emotion.)

This second interview explains why this entire Javid Experience exists-- but even then, it's not entirely truthful, because it's still a story. It's a story that tells the truth through fiction. It tells the truth without revealing the magic behind it.

And it also makes me... look into the mirror, perhaps. Look deeper than I have until now, and question what I see.

Who am I (to Javid Denkins)

Here's the thing: Javid has never, ever spoken to me.

There was, for a long time, a pleasant fuzzy feeling when there appeared to be coincidences (such as the use of book codes, when I had referenced them earlier, etc). In my heart, though, and in my Very Reasonable brain, I knew that that's what they were: coincidences.

And then, when the chapters for the AU started to drop, I started noticing... more coincidences. More things that seemed to line up with someone, on the other side of the enclosure, talking back to me. I talk about this a little (a lot) in my original summary post. But it still wasn't anything direct, not really. I could play with the idea of being referenced, of being connected to, but that's all it could really be unless I was contacted directly: just a playful notion, a fun idea. Positive parasociality, I suppose.

Then, The Letter happened. And I was the one to find it. Things I knew to be coincidence -- because it literally could have been anyone! I didn't really have the time that day to go, but got swept up in the adventure! -- took on the weight of Significance. It felt real, in ways I can't even describe without going into personal details beyond the reach of a silly tumblr post.

Who was I to Javid Denkins? What did he want from me? It was exciting. It was thrilling. It was frightening, in a way, but to be perceived-- to be known by someone I admired-- felt like a kind of vindication.

Every good intention I had ever had regarding keeping a cool head and a distant interest: gone. I was all-in. I reveled in what I felt was attention.

...and then I read the first interview. I read the second interview.

I looked in the mirror. And what I saw:

1. There was someone on the other side of it. (There always had been.)

2. And that person was so angry (so afraid) of people finding meaning where none existed. Of people tearing down the walls of the enclosure, fists raised, to get that meaning whether it was freely given or not.

Here's the thing (again): There were things said in the essay that could apply to me. There are things that could apply to @eefaevie, and @turq8, and @clairegregoryau, and every other fan who participated in Javid's experiment.

But.

There are things that could apply to someone who has never heard of Our Flag Means Death. There are things that could apply to a musician, taking a smoke outside their venue and hoping no one bothers her. There are things that could apply to a puppeteer, glad he can go to the store without being bothered but upset, too, that he will never be known enough to be bothered.

There are things that could apply to a writer on the picket line, striking well after this story was written. There are things that could apply to an actor, decades dead, worried about coming out of the closet. There are things a painter, not yet born, will be scared to let drop from their brush.

Here's the thing (one last time, because three is a magic number): Javid has never, ever, ever spoken to me. Not directly, and not-- I believe now-- even indirectly. Because it's not about me. To assume it is, is... to find false positives in patterns that repeat across all public and private faces; across art, and the painful arithmetic of artist and audience. To take something universal and true, and make it small and mean and about just one thing: believing myself the main character.

What hubris. To make myself the main character of someone else's self-reflection. And to lose the world entire because of it.

Who am I to Javid Denkins? Nobody. Everybody.

The beauty of the Experience in its totality is that it is so deeply, painfully personal, so wrenching in its honesty, that it seems to speak directly to you. To reach out a hand, offering a gift that only exists if you don't demand its existence.

Each of us can accept this gift. None of us can claim it as our own, because it's not our gift to give. We can only hold out our own hands, give our own gifts, and hope that so many people find joy and comfort in it, as we did in our turn.

It's a gift that feels heavy in my hand, and I know now that I will give it over and over. For those who stumble close unseeing, until: a gleam.

[bellevasseur]

FUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCKKKKKKKK

[turq8]

ATTN Javid Denkins-ers

If you’ve only been following along with the “not a game” ARG on @javiddenkins‘ page on Tumblr, you might not have realized that this thing has gone totally multi-platform (Twitter, AO3, maybe even Wattpad?)!  A ton of accounts, all talking about the fictional show (”Blow The Man Down”) from the fic that the audio Morse code sent us to!

If you’re wondering what I’m even talking about, @eefaevie has been keeping an excellent thread over on Twitter explaining everything that’s been worked out.  Unfortunately, Tumblr nerfs posts with external links from showing up in searches, and I want as many people to see this as possible, so I’ve made a separate post with the link to Evie’s thread here: 

https://www.tumblr.com/turq8/713250871316824064/a-summary-of-javids-arg?source=share

Now that you’re all caught up, you can see there’s obviously a lot to keep track of.  There are currently about 11 Twitter accounts, 8 AO3 accounts (with 7 legitimate fics written), and 2 additional Tumblr accounts, all interacting with each other and giving out clues to the BTMD canon.  I’ve made a spreadsheet to keep all of it straight, which you can find in this post: 

https://www.tumblr.com/turq8/713251454279974912/the-javiddenkinsbtmd-arg-spreadsheet?source=share

I think it’s going to take all of us working together to keep track of things and figure this out!

[evieeefa]

I think I found @larusargentatus in the wild 🤔

[bellevasseur]

never too late, baby

new person: i’m late to this fandom/ship.. there’s not much point writing fic/making art for it is there?

The Fans:

W̡̨͍̞̯ͬͦͤ̍̽͑̌͠E̼̠̪̩̯͈̩̖̳͛͋ͧͭͪ ̣̣̐̚ͅH̡͇͓̓̈́͛ͨ̏͛ͯŲ͔̙̳͇͔̺͓̲͚̐̇ͯ̃́̈N̛̈͐͗̍҉͕̗̗̠̞̗̠̱Ǧ̵̹̜̪̪̖̫̌ͨ̂̇͂ͬȨ̶̥̻̱̦̤̥̬̬͕ͩͪͤͧ̇͗̿R̵̢̘̘̩̠̜̭̭̯̅ͩ͂͆̉̅̎ͩ͜ͅ ̛̖͎̞̎̂̐͊̿̑ͣ͊̐͜͟F̵̹͈̯̘̣̀̽Ô̲̯͇̪̰̼͕̬͒ͣͪ̎͜R͓͚͌̍̔͐̓̈̚̕͜ͅ��͔ ̺̥͙͐́͟ͅN̲̹̘̤̱̅̊ͨ̀͝E̸̺͉̦̼͇̜͑ͯͭ̀W͈̳͉̘͈͓̅̃͘ ̸̣̜͙͉̀̊ͤ̐͐ͫͣ́͝B̵̨͇͍̟͎̞̦̝̄̎̌L̶̠̲̗̙ͥͮ̚Ŏ̊̋ͬ̉͡͏̞̥̤̫̱̪̝̮O̧̳͇͎͊̆ͭ͗̎ͤD̴̯͔̳̘̘̪̼ͨ̓̆͜ͅ 

[bellevasseur]

I wrote a bellevasseur fic ~~~~ post S1 emotional smuuuuut.

Find it on ao3 🗡️

[turq8]

The JavidDenkins/BTMD ARG Spreadsheet

Here’s a spreadsheet attempting to keep track of all the accounts and details from the BTMD canon!  One page has all the accounts across different platforms, including which are the same “person”, one page is what we know about the characters in BTMD, and one page is specifics about the BTMD fics on AO3 and how the accounts are interacting with each other there. 

I’m the only one with edit access, so I’ll try to stay on top of things, but if I miss something or if you have an idea for a new thing to keep track of, feel free to DM me!  If you’re here from Twitter and don’t have a Tumblr, you can @ eefaevie on Twitter and she’ll let me know lol

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1gj7LNjGr2x9ZWRYjvCJbUnIuaGbViyCBqjvRt4NDC30/edit?usp=sharing

[our-flag-means-death-ao3feed]

The Treasure of Our Days Spent Together

by BetterAlive

Small Sam and Olivier one-shot set at a flea market.

***Not an official part of the ARG, just playing along in-universe***

Words: 1671, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: BTMD

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: M/M

Characters: Samuel "Black Sam" Bellamy, Olivier Levasseur | La Buse

Relationships: Samuel "Black Sam" Bellamy/Olivier Levasseur | La Buse

Additional Tags: brief mention of oral sex, brief and silly metaphor for docking - iykyk, Poetry, BTMD - Freeform, Flea market, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting

source https://archiveofourown.org/works/47143687

[bellevasseur]

they’re MY barbies and I WILL make them kiss

[bellevasseur]

good news! he’s still just as fucking handsome as we all remembered

(I am chewing drywall)

[bellevasseur]

I suspect we’re gonna get a lot of looks like this in season 2

[bellevasseur]

I’ve written another fic for your enjoyment 💕 hope you like!

[bellevasseur]

can you believe this guy is first mate to the prince of pirates?

I can he’s perfect

[bellevasseur]

smile 🥺

Edition Magazine

[bellevasseur]

holy fuck holy fuck holy fuck

Il materiale di origine: @victornomoto (Instagram) / Oscar Isaac and John Boyega photographed by Victor Nomoto for Gizmodo Japan. (December, 2019)

[eefaevie]

yes, yes, ephemeral, much like a carefully constructed fake tv guide to give us summaries of every BTMD episode Javid

I’ve been clawing up the curtains since last night about this

And if you can’t read the picture (though I do recommend it, there’s SO MANY hilarious details to see) here are our official episodes

remind me again why this show doesn’t exist?

Chixf

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