#Murray cannot understand SHIT

[blondeaxolotl-twstocs]

Sorry about the influx of questions (feel free to ignore any/all), I really like Murray and Sirena and the little doodles and stories about them.

- Do either know Azul?/What do they think of him?

- What do they think about the twins going to NRC?

- What would they think if either twin brought home a partner?

Hehe no worries!! Send as many asks as you wish I love answering them (even if it sometimes takes me a while)

- Do either know Azul?/What do they think of him? They do know Azul :). A little funfact about Sirena is that she and Azul's mother actually went to high school together!! And ended up reconnecting after they were both picking up their kids from school because Azul's mother recognized her. That's kind of how the tweels and Azul actually started hanging out together because their moms wanted to catch up and therefore dragged their kids along lmaoo. Onto what they both think of him, Sirena adores him and finds him sweet. Loves the fact Azul looks like a mini ver of her best friend, and she's impressed how smart he is. Murray on the other hand thought he looked like a sad wet dog- SMACK actually she thinks he's pretty cool.

- What do they think about the twins going to NRC? Proud and happy that their boys are going to a such wonderful school! Sirena was worried at first, thinking what if they don't get along with others or they end up starting fights. But after hearing that Azul is also going there, she calmed down knowing there's at least one sane person keeping track of the two (somewhat... shhh). And ofc Murray's thoughts about it was something like "uhh don't start fights, but if someone starts the fight FIRST then be the ones to end it, and make sure you end it" <- please do not take advice from this woman

- What would they think if either twin brought home a partner? A new member joins the family :)))! If their son loves their partner, without a doubt both Murray and Sirena would love them too and they'll immediately welcome them with open arms!! Though there's a 50/50 chance Murray might or might not pull out a huge album filled with baby pictures of the tweels. Why? Because Murray finds it funny to embarrass her kid in front of their partner harharhahrharhahrhar (it's only 50/50 and not 100 because Sirena might tell Murray not to pull out the baby album after just meeting the person)

Anyways, bonus lil comic of the first question of Sirena and Azul's mom reconnecting!!! (No this wasn't just a huge excuse for me to draw Azul's mom and baby Azul haha what do you mean)

The lil tweels and Azul hanging out together in the last frame while their moms do the thing where they accidentally meet in public and proceed to talk for what feels like hours (Murray is stuck between them as she's forced to socialise but also can't understand either of them because of how fast they're talking)

Jade was the first one to immediately take a liking to Azul because he's ourple💜✨ and Jade likes anything that's ourple💜✨ (that's also why his pupils are so dilated here), Floyd is just glad Murray isn't manhandling him anymore (he tried to bite her, again.)

[sp0o0kylights]

Being from PNW as I am, I really want to do a Polybius AU with Steddie (I just don’t want to write it lmao) 

We begin with Eddie being absolutely attached to this growing urban legend. An arcade cabinet shrouded in mysterious gameplay, awash with rumors of kids disappearing or even dying, and men in black “collecting” something from the cabinet every week? 

Throw in his own little weird encounter with an arcade game as a kid, one Eddie cannot for the life of him find again and yeah, he’s salivating over this shit. 

Hellfire’s tired of hearing about it. This has been Eddie’s white whale since they met him, they’re done listening to him chase down rumors and insist the game was checking for psychic powers in the population. (Or testing a “mind weapon” or six other things.) 

 He gets met with nothing but groans and complaints when he catches wind that something like Polybius popped up on the west coast, igniting the rumors all over again, but this is a new tale for Hellfire’s freshmen.

They sit, enraptured  and asking six million questions, by something everyone but Mike thinks is just some silly bullshit story--but it’s so out there that Lucas and Dustin placate him. 

(“Why on earth would Brenner use an arcade cabinet when he was just kidnapping kids at birth Mike, you just want an excuse to see El…”)

Obviously Polybius IRL takes place in Oregon, but let’s say things have grown a bit. Extended, like the growth of a disgusting, pulsing vine, into California. 

Will is walking home when his hand flies to the back of his neck, a buzzing overtaking his ears as this weird, black arcade cabinet from a nearby shop seems to slide into his focus.

Slowly, like a camera lens being focused, it pulls him in until El yanks him out of it and he realizes he hasn't been breathing.

 Later he tells Mike--because he has to tell someone that isn't Jonathan and isn't El and absolutely isn't his mom-- and Mike absolutely loses his shit. 

This, of course, accumulates into a blowup at lunch, in front of the rest of Hellfire. 

Who are rolling their eyes because oh God, not only has Eddie infected the freshman with this, they’re now doing that thing they do where they get all secretive and try to talk in code words. 

(As if all of Hellfire isn’t aware they think “Mike’s girlfriend” who is about as real to them as Suzie is, has superpowers. 

The party is good at a lot of things, but whispering isn’t one of them.)  

There's an argument about whether this means Brenner, or someone like him, is collecting kids again and if so, do they have a responsibility to stop it, and that this isn't the Upside Down this is human horror, but what if it is actually the Upside Down, they don’t know--and it goes round and round between the Party in Hawkins and El & Will up in California, via phone calls. 

The Hawkins crew decides they need to go to California, together. 

They just…have to figure out a way to get there, first. 

Will & El on the other hand, decide they can’t wait, because they can save kids.

They can make a difference--prevent this shit from happening in a new location all over again.

El doesn't want to be like Kali anymore, but she understands what Kali was trying to do and she feels that same sort of responsibility to stop what she can. 

They disappear. 

Jonathan calls everyone he can, frantic, because he thinks Will and El have decided to go back to Hawkins, and his mother just left with Murray to do something she was extremely vague about and Argyle does not have enough weed for this.

If you guessed this accumulates with a Eddie + the Extended Party (Nance/Steve/Robin) going on a road trip you’d be right. 

Also they collect Suzie on the way because no one ever uses her in stories and fuck it she’d be fun to bring in. 

With them being in California you have Max’s past coming into play, as well as Eddie’s own mystery with the arcade cabinet, everyone crashing together at the Byers house (one bed or no bed either is hilarious for Steddie) and as we left the rest of Hellfire back at Hawkins to try and dodge six million questions about where like, ten people vanished off to (“Uh….camp?”) we get to have some fun there too. 

Throw in Eddie’s massive ass crush, “out of Hawkins”  Robin + Steve (who is perhaps a lot more chill with things than Eddie realized) and a need to go “undercover” at a gay bar purely for selfish reasons on my end (I want to see Steve flirt shamelessly with men and watch Eddie blue screen bc of it) and you have a lot of fun with the entire groups dynamic. 

I don’t have an ending other than Eddie at some point needs to play Polybuis and Steve drapes himself over Eddie’s back, whispering encouragement in his ear as a way to keep him from getting pulled into it the way Will was while the kids work together to kill whatever it is the government's unleashed this time (not Brenner, but instead another branch or faction who took his research and ran) but I’d love to parallel Eddie more to Will, on both the gay and supernatural fronts.

[ghoultrifle]

Ghost on Taskmaster !!

Copia is Alex Horne and you cannot convince me otherwise. Awkward rat boy who's subservient to his master? Yeah, rings a bell.

Honestly I don't think any of the papas have the right vibes to be the taskmaster, in my mind it's Omega. Big, strong, kinda mean and takes no shit.

Okay now here's my ghoul-by-ghoul analysis on what kind of contestant they'd be and which past contestant i'd compare them to !!

Aether - Definitely a Jo Brand or Julian Clary. Couldn't give less of a shit, just here for the free food tbh. Will occasionally try but can't be fucked to do anything physical. Everyone loves him for it, too.

Cirrus - Kiell Smith-Bynoe. Ultra competitive, has beef with another contestant (Rain). Effortlessy hilarious in everything she does.

Aurora - Charlotte Ritchie. Dressed appropriately (dungarees). Tries really hard but doesn't always succeed. Very optimistic though :)

Mountain - A mix of Bob Mortimer and Mark Watson. He's a prize task extraordinaire with hundreds of unbelievable (but true) stories. Will also get bullied by the Taskmaster though.

Phantom - Lucy Beaumont and Judi Love vibes. Just doesn't seem to understand what the fuck is going on at any point. A good laugh though and will always fight for points.

Sunny - James Acaster. She's chaos incarnate ("My eyes are circles?"). You think it's a character but as time goes on you begin to question that assumption ajskldfkh.

Rain - Mae Martin. Gay and good at it. No notes.

Cumulus - Al Murray. She's focused but also really cheeky. Always looking for loopholes. Will throw money at the tasks like it's nobody's business.

Dewdrop - Nish Kumar or Katherine Parkinson. People think he's going to be a half decent contestant, but he's actually incredibly shit at everything. Gets annoyed frequently.

Swiss - Ed Gamble. Once again very competitive and will throw a fit if he doesn't win. Can also laugh at himself but secretly dies inside when he does badly on a task. A great podcast host for the after-show interviews.

tagging people who expressed even the tiniest bit of interest so this incredibly niche post doesn't flop @sphylor, @thesunhatesme, @chapel-of-rizztual, @ghouletteanon, @cheerycherrycandy-resurrected, @mikorsghouls

Thank you for listening, have some homoeroticism :)

[licncourt]

Despite TC being horrible, I really do still love his performance as Lestat and would’ve loved to have seen him as the character had they continued the trilogy throughout the 90’s-00’s. I remember there was talk about Julian Sands playing the role and even though I’m not sure whether he could’ve pulled it off, there is a sort of clumsiness in his delivery at times that I can see working with Lestat’s character. Is there any actor from that time that you would’ve liked to play Louis? I know Brad Pitt understandably gets shit for it but I think his Louis’s hilarious.

Tom Cruise is many things and a great Lestat is definitely one of them! It's hard for me to give him up in favor of anyone, but especially Anne's picks because usually I hate them....Julian Sands is pretty good though as a concept, I'm not sure if he could pull it off though just because Lestat is a hard role. I don't think Sam Reid or Stuart Townsend have whatever "it factor" is required either to be honest. I also just cannot get behind hunky Lestat, that's a deadly sin in my heart.

Louis is hard too though! I do genuinely like Brad Pitt's Louis, I think by hating it so much and being so miserable he stumbled upon greatness and method acting. He didn't have the full nuance of the character, but that's as much about the writing of the movie, limitations of filmmaking, and the status of gay media in the 90s as it was about him. I have largely good things to say about his performance and Jacob Anderson's as well (my dislike of the show could never make me hate him 💔).

I think aesthetically Brad Pitt was a great choice as the premier 90s prettyboy + his accidental embodiment of the LDPDL je ne sais quoi. Honestly I don't see many other actors from that era who fit the role visually being able to really embody Louis super well, but in terms of looks I do think that if you gave later 2000s (too young in the 90s/y2k) Chad Michael Murray the right outfit, a good wig, and some tasteful vampire makeup he would have the vibe. Much like Brad Pitt, he has the facial structure and features to make things happen if he could get away from the 90s heartthrob energy and be creepier and gayer. Unsure if he could though tbh.

[kedreeva]

Apologies if it's a dumb question, english is not my mother tongue so it might be that but could you explain what you mean with Eddie's inability to let others get actually close? I feel Eddie is so easy with getting close to people and opening up, so wouldn't the description fit better for Jonathan? 🙈

Nope! And it's okay, I think it's great to ask questions. I'm going to start from the end, with Jonathan, because that'll hopefully make it easier to understand Eddie.

First, to clarify the language- when I say close, I don't mean physically and I don't mean "has a problem making friends." I mean close as in letting anyone know who he really is, rather than whatever mask he's wearing for them.

Jonathan is different because Jonathan stays away from people, because Jonathan cannot for the life of him keep people from getting in if he likes them at all. The other difference being that Jonathan doesn't LIKE people, but once he does, he has pretty much no ability to keep his mouth shut around them, if they show any sign of listening and sometimes even when they don't. I mean, look at him!

Jonathan is constantly talking to Will about their feelings, trying to get Will to acknowledge it's okay to feel stuff and feel a LOT of stuff, even if that stuff doesn't match what society says he should feel in seasons 1 and 2. He's literally the ONLY ONE who even notices Will's distress in season 4 and pegs it for what it actually is and the hot second he gets a chance he's there going "you have to know I love you so much no matter what and I will always be there for you" etc.

Nancy shows him one (1) second of empathy and he's pouring his lil heart out to her about how he takes pictures because he would rather observe people than talk to them because they don't say what they're really thinking (he wants to know what they're really thinking, who they really are, he wants to be real with people when they get close enough to talk to) and then they're out in the woods with guns and he's telling her about his 10yo trauma of killing a rabbit and crying for a week and lamenting the state of his parents' love collapse. S4 Nancy tells Fred Jonathan is "caring and compassionate" and "he's so protective over the people that he loves."

Murray talks shit at them and Jonathan literally cannot stand someone close to him having the wrong idea about him (even if it's right) so he gets up to go talk to Nancy about it. His hesitation to do so earlier has nothing to do with not wanting to be closer to Nancy, and everything to do with respecting how she feels about Steve- because it's not until Murray points out "we like steve, but we don't LOVE Steve" and Jonathan hears/sees her reaction that he thinks oh shit?? is that true??

He's known Argyle for ~8 months or so (july-march?) and Argyle treats him like Jonathan being quiet during workshop is him moping, tries to get him to talk as if talking is the norm for them. It's clear Jonathan has talked to Argyle about his future plans with Nancy (the ones he is having a hard time with), and he admits a little while later that he's self-sabotaging.

Even with the people he doesn't like? He lets them get too close in the bad way. He lets Steve get under his skin to the point of violence. When he goes to yell at his dad in season 1, you can see how much he's struggling not to let this absolute asshole get close. He can't stand his dad, but how much he cares about it is scrawled all over his face, with how mad he is- and it's not all anger, it's hurt, too. This is a guy Jonathan thinks SHOULD be close, but given what Jonathan tells Will about their dad in flashbacks, it's pretty clear Jonathan let their dad close and got burned, and he's trying to protect Will from the same. There's a moment at the end of Season 1 that just absolutely breaks my heart, when they're all at the school getting the pool ready and Jonathan is freaking out while he and Hopper are getting salt and Hopper grabs at him and looks him in the eyes and tells him he's GOING to take care of all this and GOD you can just SEE how desperate Jonathan's been for a halfway decent father figure, you see him go through all 5 stages of grief in an instant as he accepts Hopper's assurance.

Jonathan's problem isn't letting people get close, it's that people getting close is a problem lol When people show an interest in getting close to him and he actually likes them, he just opens like a fuckin' book. No wonder, being raised by Joyce and helping raise Will. Like. Jonathan is about the sharing and caring! Yes he was (is) a weird kid but he's also desperate for people to be close to. He doesn't have a hard time letting people get close, he has a hard time finding anyone that he thinks is worth knowing at all on any level.

Eddie, on the other hand, loves people. Loves attention. Loves being loud, loves being looked at. But people actually getting to know him for who he really is? Nah. Nope. He's got a dozen masks on hand at any given moment. Brash loudmouth climbing on a table yelling at the jocks with his finger horns on his head. Cocky triple senior spitting in the system's eye. Dramatic DM. Impatient but chill drug dealer in the woods. Jester at the picnic table, hopping around for a smile. "I run away" he says of himself, "so Mordor it is," two concepts diametrically opposed. "You won't believe me," he tells them in the boathouse, not sure he can tell them the truth. "These cynical eyes" he says with the taste of "true love" still on his tongue as he tries to play matchmaker. They're all him in different ways, but just pieces. Tidbits. Enough to ensure he isn't alone. Not enough to be known. Not enough to let anyone close enough to get to him, not enough to let himself be hurt.

Because, as I talked about before, look at what happens to him (to both of them really) when the chips are down.

When Will is missing? Jonathan knows he has at least some people, and seeks out more. Jonathan connects to his mom. Connects to Nancy. Even starts connecting to Hopper when they get to the same place. Shit starts going to hell and they need out from under the FBI or whatever at Jon's house in Cali? He calls Argyle, who literally then helps them hide a body. Like when shit hits the fan, Jonathan's gonna get shit done, and he's gonna grab up the people he's got, pull them closer to get through it, and he's so close with them they will literally help him hide bodies and hide from the FBI without knowing what the hell is even happening.

When Chrissy dies? Eddie isolates himself and even when people come to help him he struggles to let them close enough to let them help on any level. He supposedly has lots of friends despite being a "freak" but... he doesn't go to his bandmates. He doesn't go to anyone in hellfire. Hell, he doesn't even go to his uncle, who presumably cares about him more than anyone else. His bandmates don't even skip practice or anything to try to find him. His uncle, despite telling Nancy that killing isn't in Eddie's nature, despite that it's clear he cares about Eddie, is just like. Chilling at home talking to cops. To be clear, I love Wayne and I think he loves Eddie so much, but his reaction tells me Eddie hasn't let him close.

Which means the ONLY one to go looking for Eddie (for good reasons) is Dustin (yes Max comes to Dustin to ask if they even should, but it's Dustin who goes YES??? and then drags everyone else in), who would (and DID) literally form a bond with a bloodthirsty monster given 3 seconds of time together, and even Dustin doesn't know enough about him to guess where he is, even though he apparently knows a ton of names of people who are supposed to be Eddie's friends and none of THEM know where Eddie is either... in fact the closest anyone can tell him is maybe he's at his supplier's house. Are they even friends? Unclear.

I'm editing to add: Jason and company ALSO make a list of where he might be hiding, public places (where he obviously won't be but they gotta check just in case? because they don't know him) and his friends. Which means he's loudly friends enough with a bunch of people that even people who only know him by reputation know it, but... also they still have to make a long list. and go through it by hand. and drive around. because the guesses of his enemies are as good as the guesses of his closest friends. The only reason Dustin gets there first is that Eddie's friends will talk to him easily on the phone whereas if they're friends with Eddie they probably aren't the sort to talk to Jason willingly. That's it. That's luck.

All of that, Eddie's own reaction and the reactions of the people around him, the fact that his friends can barely find him faster than his enemies, says so much about Eddie's level of actual connection to others; even the ones that desperately do want to care about him don't know him well enough to find him. The only reason Dustin does is because he's a determined little shit just a little more stubborn than anyone else.

Eddie's easy to befriend, but he's not easy to get close to. Jonathan is hard to befriend, but he's easy to get close to. Y'know?

[star-shuttle-scout]

Noah Schnapp saying Volume 2 will have ‘deaths’, meaning more than one... fills me with visceral fear. Saying that, here are the people I think are most likely to die based upon how many people are suggesting it and how it will affect other characters. We want character deaths that hold weight, and I think they’ll really go for that. 

Just some fun speculation 

1. Eddie. 

We’ve all seen discussions on how his entire narrative is set up to reflect him eventually sacrificing himself in an attempt to prove himself no longer a coward. He’s new, and though he’s quickly becoming a fan favorite, the season has already been written and filmed so they cannot rectify it and keep him around. Not to mention, it would be easy to scapegoat him. The town is chasing him down like he’s Freddie Krueger, ultimately it would be hard to rectify and far too complicated for a brand-new character. 

2. Jonathan

Now all you Jonathan lovers please know that I am a Jonathan stan and if this happens I can and will lose my ever-loving shit. It will be the Magicians Debacle 2.0 for me. However, setting up Stancy a second time around could allow Steve and Robin to be there for Nancy in the case that Jonathan dies. This, his sudden distancing from Nancy causing a slight rift in their relationship, plus his repeated and deliberate shove to the side in the past three seasons just seems like they’ve been burying his character for a while. While it won’t harm the main plot, it would still be devastating to most of the characters, specifically Will, Joyce, and Nancy. 

3. Murray

I don’t think this would be an impactful death for most everyone, but if we’re getting multiple deaths then it could be in there. It just makes sense to me; dude is a bit of a loose end in my opinion. Seems like he’d die, and it’d really break Joyce’s heart and we’d get to see Winona act the shit out of that concept. Just makes sense. 

4. Mike

This one might seem crazy, but I think it’s just crazy enough that it makes sense. This would affect multiple layers of the narrative, as pretty much everyone is kind of at least a little bit tied into Mike. It would devastate Eleven, Will, and Nancy. But it will also affect pretty much all of the other characters. An impactful death, and one that just makes sense in my head for some reason. 

5. Erica

Now I love Erica, and it seems that despite her antagonistic relationship with many of the characters, everyone also cares about her. I think it would just be ultimately devastating to have such a young kid die. 

6. Steve

A lot of people have been suggesting this one. I understand the fear, but I genuinely doubt they would do this. Now if it came down to the final season, I would say all bets are off. But killing Steve off at this point would be dangerous, a lot of people would stop watching. This is one that I personally believe is safe despite other people’s insistence he’s not. 

7. Nancy

This one, in my opinion, also makes sense. It would drive everyone further into despair and dedication to the cause. Mike, the kids, Jonathan, Steve, even Robin and Eddie would be impacted by this death at this point. But considering we had a scare already in Volume 1 and we know that she survives said scare from promos for Volume 2, I doubt it will happen. 

8. Max

This is another one I’ve seen people fear, and as much as I understand the fear and wouldn’t count it out, I just have a feeling it won’t happen. We’re all worried about her dying, it feels purposeful. If we’re worried about Max and Nancy, it’s way easier to blindside us with a random out of the blue death for one of the others. 

9. Dustin

It’s an out of the blue and devastating death, one that would affect every single person in the show basically. However, for some reason I’m hesitant to believe it’ll actually happen. 

10. Lucas

Killing off Lucas doesn’t make sense to me. Though it would affect a lot of the characters, we’ve been seeing a lot of Max’s grief this season and giving her more of it so soon just doesn’t make sense. I’m predicting eventual alive and well Lumax.

11. Will

If Will dies, likely I will join Joyce and Jonathan in horrific despair. I don’t think this will happen, I do think he’s going to get outed by Vecna but that’s a whole other thing. We’ll have a scare, but I think it’ll just further the plot. 

12. Robin

I think this is the least likely death. And I think if the Duffer Brothers kill Robin, it’ll be a big mistake. Yes it would affect some people, but it’s just not conducive to furthering the narrative of everyone. It’s just another pointless death and I think that’s cheap. 

13. Argyle

I just think this one would be cheap and meaningless. But also fuck anyone who looks at this man funny, I’ll kill you. 

14. Joyce

Don’t.

[heartwisemage]

i have a confession, i actually don’t know who nancy is ending up with.

i don’t see enough theories or analysises and her rs with jonathan & steve is paralleled to both byler and mileven😭

so i’ll try laying it out

stancy: i really really don’t see it happening, when steve started going on about his monologue of nancy being the mother to his kids (??) or something she was about to reply (but got interrupted by robin)

these were her facial expressions and reaction to steve’s speech (i am so sorry for the quality it’s just dark in the upside down ig) and you cannot tell me she was about to reject him..??? or say something like “hey man i understand you’re a great dude now and you’ve developed and got educated but i’m over our relationship i’ve just been close and leaning on to you this whole season because we’re obviously still close and had history with eachother so i’m happy to just be friends” because thats the knly logical way to solve their unsolved tension from the past few seasons so yeah stancy gets crossed out of the list

jancy - probably the most likely to happen (or the one i’m leaning in to more) but i can never be too sure .. however there’s more supporting this like the fact they have matching scars, they got murrayed, and theyre standing next to eachother at the end screen and probs more but GOD AM I HAVING DOUBTS

lesbian nancy/ronance - i gotta say i love this one… the story of a “little miss perfect” girl who’s dated 2 guys but ends up finding her true self and her interactions with robin this season are just so romantic coded sorry and we know stranger things is the gayest show and season 5 will have be the gayest season so i’ll not be THAT surprised (i’m rooting for a nancy robin & vickie poly rs)

independent single nancy - i love this one too because she’d be paralleled with el a lot and her arc this season was more about beating the shit out of vecna than romance but honestlyyyyy

okay writing this down may or may not have made my jancy belief percentage higher because of the things i listed down but i really want to know your opinions and what you believe nancys story is going.

but i feel like we can ALL agree that that girl is sapphic.

[lesserfandomappreciation]

if any of the 4 main Sly Cooper bonded with Venom, how would they interact with the symbiote?

Venom's characterization really depends on the comic/media version, so these are just general ideas. Those who take issue with my writing are free to look at the comics and tell me what consistent traits Venom has outside of being extra and being fueled by theobromine.

Sly is the most open to working with Venom. The symbiote is snappy, has a sharp sense of humor and with enough chocolate and raw steaks can be cooperative without having to resort to... grosser foods. He can work with that. He's worked with one of the murders of his family, so Sly is about open to work with anyone so long as they are open to changing their moral compass. They make for a good team. Lots of quips, plenty of chatty back-and-forth that Venom can't help but grow attached to this host. This one is a fun one.

Bentley cannot be persuaded to use Venom often. Venom has to drag Bentley into doing anything the symbiote wants to do, but knowing the turtle, he is going to invent something to quell Venom's appetite enough to not try to murder people. Still, these two would likely not be a long-term working partnership. Would they work in a short-term arc where Bentlely and Venom have to work together to get Venom to his true host (Sly, Murray, Carmelita, etc)? Sure. But beyond that this would be very short-term.

Murray is what would happen if movie-Eddie was confident and had been consistently going to therapy. Murray is initially freaked out by Venom (understandably). But. This symbiote is alone in the universe. Without anyone else. This needs to change! Murray makes it his own personal mission to befriend this being through food and much needed emotional-support. Venom isn't sure what to think of this overly-friendly host, but he keeps the symbiote well-fed, supported and genuinely cares for their well-being, so Venom's not about to complain.

Carmelita has to be the worst possible host for Venom. She's not cruel to the symbiote, but tell me she wouldn't have the willpower to just. Negate what he wants to do. Venom wants to do something morally unethical, Carmelita will not take that shit at all. They might be able to form a sort-of friendship but it would be a while. A lot of time needed for this one.

[sortagaysortahigh]

Once again, do not send me asks simping for billy hargrove or defending him bruv, i do not care, you can simp for him on your blog or w other billy simps but i simply cannot rock w abusers or racists-and pls sont even try the “he was abused its a cycle” shit w me i very much understand the cycle of abuse, that doesnt excuse the damn racism. We’ve been over this before yall, do what yall want but keep that shit over there. Any other simping is welcomed-hell you can simp for Murray in my inbox and ill welcome it w open arms

[lesbianrobin]

What are your thoughts on stancy in S2? More specifically the Halloween party scene?

Alright, so. St*ncy overall is... a very rough part of S2. To this day, I can’t understand why the fuck they chose to handle it the way they did. The whole thing makes Nancy look bad, it makes Jonathan look kind of bad too, and it absolutely beats Steve to an emotional pulp. This post is going to be so long I’m so sorry dklnckn...

It’s canon that Nancy wanted Jonathan the entire time that she was dating Steve. Almost a full year! Steve is planning his future around Nancy, talking about how he wouldn’t mind not going to college if it meant he could be around for her senior year. It’s clear that Steve thinks he and Nancy are in it for the long haul, which is reasonable considering that they’ve 1. Been together for a year and 2. Fought a monster together. Steve loves her, and he thinks that she loves him too. 

He goes to dinner with Barb’s parents for her every week, even though he doesn’t know them and barely knew Barb, even though he’s incredibly uncomfortable, but he does it to support her. When she has a rough moment in the library because of her grief, he pulls her into a private space, reminds her that talking about it in public could literally get them killed, holds her and comforts her, and then basically tells her that he knows it’s stupid to go to a Halloween party and act like normal teenagers when they know what they know, but it’s all they really can do, and he thinks they might as well try to be normal. He’s not belittling her feelings. He’s not ignoring her trauma. He’s just focused on making sure they don’t attract government attention and on trying to enjoy their lives as best as they can. 

Now, the party comes in. Nancy is being kinda shitty to Steve before she gets drunk. Billy and some other guys come up to Steve and start insulting him about the whole “King Steve” thing and how he’s a loser now, and Nancy just... walks away. She doesn’t even try to pull Steve away, tell them to knock it off, anything. Steve’s getting bullied, and she just leaves. Fine, whatever. Steve’s a big boy, she doesn’t have to try and fight his battles. Then he follows her over to the punch bowl, realizes that she’s chugging that shit like it’s going out of style, and he’s like “Hey, slow down.” Nancy, still sober, says something along the lines of (can’t remember exact words) “You wanted to get drunk like stupid teenagers!” before chugging down her cup of punch. 

This is why I brought up the dinners with Barb’s parents. Steve’s been doing this thing for Nancy every single week for a year. He’s kind to Barb’s parents, he does his best to make conversation and be polite, even when Nancy isn’t around. Then, he asks her to go to one party with him (that she wanted to go to as well, indicated by the fact that she enthusiastically pleaded with Jonathan to come and the fact that she and Steve had been working on their costumes for a long time). She responds by throwing his words back in his face, intentionally getting drunk at least partially to spite him. What the fuck?

Nancy’s grieving. She’s a teenager. She feels guilty about Barb’s death and blames Steve for it as well as herself, and she tries to suppress these feelings until she just can’t anymore. I understand that. All of this stuff honestly makes for an interesting plot! However, it falls apart the second she goes off with Jonathan, and it stops being the story of a girl struggling with complex survivor’s guilt and starts being the story of a girl who dated a boy she never loved for a full year while harboring feelings for someone else.

Steve and Nancy have an argument outside of the gym. He’s bitchy, tells her to go ask her other boyfriend what happened last night, and asks her to prove that she didn’t mean their love was “bullshit” by telling him she loves him. She can’t say it, and he tells her that she thinks she’s bullshit. Did they break up? I personally think it’s a bad argument and not a breakup, seeing as nobody actually said “we’re over” or anything, but you could argue that Nancy interpreted it as a breakup if you’d like to be charitable. However, I’m pretty sure that later on at Murray’s, Nancy and Jonathan refer to Steve as her boyfriend, so... Nancy cheats on Steve. Perhaps the cheating would be understandable as a result of her suppressed trauma and emotions surrounding Barb and Steve and everything, a moment of weakness, EXCEPT for the fact that she confirmed to Jonathan the night before that she waited for him and has essentially liked him the entire time. That, in my opinion, pushes it from “mistake made as a result of heightened emotions after a bad fight” to “opportunity taken that she’s wanted for a long time.” It’s a fucked-up writing decision that makes Nancy and Jonathan both look bad, as not only do they both know Nancy has a boyfriend, they also both literally owe said boyfriend their lives, and they still choose to sleep together.

The whole “thing” with J*ncy is shared trauma, right? They have the matching scars. Shared trauma, that’s “the real shit” according to Murray. But... what trauma do they share, exactly, that isn’t also shared by Steve? Steve was just as much “as fault” for Barb’s death as Nancy (of course neither of them were remotely responsible, but they were both there and they both had sex while Barb was dying out back in the pool, so). Steve fought the Demogorgon with them. Steve actually stood in front of both of them and held the Demogorgon off, protecting them! Is the “shared trauma” meant to be losing someone to the Upside Down? Will survived, but even if you do count him as a “loss,” then Joyce, Mike, Lucas, and Dustin all share that trauma, too. 

None of that really even matters, because the concept of shared trauma as the basis of a relationship is a mess that the show literally dismantles themselves in the form of, you guessed it, St*ncy!

Steve and Nancy both know about the Upside Down. Steve and Nancy both ignorantly had sex as Barb died, and now have to live with that knowledge. Nancy lost her best friend, and Steve has to wake up and go to sleep right next to the place Barb died every single day. They both fought the Demogorgon. They were both told by the government that they absolutely cannot tell anyone about what happened, and they will most likely be killed if they do. This shared trauma is what makes Nancy lash out at Steve, it’s what makes her get wasted, it’s what makes her blame him for Barb’s death, and it’s presumably what prevents her from loving him even though she clearly wants to (why else stay with him for a year?). So why should we, the viewers, accept that J*ncy’s shared trauma will provide the basis for a healthy relationship when the very same thing caused St*ncy to crumble?

So Nancy and Jonathan sleep together. They come back, Steve can tell what happened, and he says that it’s fine. I think that we’re supposed to take this as character development, or something? When he first thinks that Nancy has cheated on him with Jonathan, he responds by publicly shaming them and insulting Jonathan, but now, when Nancy ACTUALLY cheats on him, he takes it lying down, says that it’s fine when it clearly isn’t, and... this is a good thing?

We already know Steve is a better person now. We knew it back in S1, when he cleaned off the movie theater sign, went to Jonathan’s house to apologize, and then literally risked his own life to save Nancy and Jonathan! We knew it when he went to dinner at the Hollands’ with Nancy. We knew it when he ignored Billy’s jabs during basketball and at the party and let the insults roll off his back instead of allowing himself to be goaded into a fight. We knew it when he went to Nancy’s house with flowers to apologize, when he helped Dustin look for Dart, when he fought off the Demodogs, etc, etc.

I’m getting off topic, but my point is that St*ncy is a mess in S2 for a lot of reasons, but the way it ends is the worst part. Steve, for whom infidelity is a big fucking deal due to his parents’ strained relationship as a result of his own father’s cheating, gets cheated on by Nancy. Nancy never properly apologizes to him. They never really talk about it. Steve says it’s fine, his heart is broken, and Nancy and Jonathan are happily in love and never have to own up to the fact that their relationship began as infidelity.

The whole S2 St*ncy narrative essentially functions to grind Steve’s heart into the dirt while making Nancy and Jonathan, protagonists who we are presumably intended to like and root for, seem like terrible people. I have so many more thoughts about St*ncy, but most of those are already up in some other posts, so this is it, I guess! Thanks for asking!

[ajokeformur-ray]

Arthur will love you. But what he won’t do is coddle you when you’re tired and need some TLC. That’s on his terms. His character is etched with severe mental illness and a repugnance towards a lot of people. Perhaps not towards you, but for the majority. My two cents is that he shows his appreciation in indirect ways. He’ll actually try to make you laugh and behave like a gentleman. Other times, though, he’s a handful little shit that likes to be chased lol

Hi, darling!💖

I’ll be honest, I very nearly didn’t respond to this because some of it is so different to how I view Arthur. However, I consider myself to be someone who is open minded, and I strive to have a blog which enables everyone to have a voice, whether or not I agree with them, so for this reasoning I went ahead. I’m a bit nervous about responding (this is a reflection of me and not you, nonnie!) so I apologise if my tone comes across as anything less than my standard.

I strongly agree with the first sentence, for one thing. I don’t say this as a self-shipper or as someone who loves Arthur, I say this because in his journal he has things written such as “where’s my one and only who understands me” and “I want someone in my space but not all alone” (heavily paraphrased, I can’t remember the exact quotes), which suggests to me that he does yearn to love and to be loved for who he truly is. With this in mind, I do think sometimes he would take extra care with his partner. I don’t think he’d coddle them, necessarily, because I wouldn’t appreciate being coddled if I was tired (I’m grumpy when I’m tired; just cuddle me or leave me alone) so I imagine others wouldn’t appreciate that either, but it can take a great deal of patience to look after an elderly person. Arthur clearly has patience with Penny (though he does show irritation and microaggressions, like when he shushed her when Thomas Wayne’s was on the television), so it stands to reason that he’d have more tenderness and more patience with a romantic partner.

There’s no denying that Arthur is severely mentally ill, though there’s no confirmation in canon (as far as I’m aware) as to what he was diagnosed with, but I can’t think of a moment in canon where he shows repugnance towards someone else. When I say this, I’m not including his segment on the Murray Show at the end of the film, or the scene at the end in Arkham, I’m purely talking about Arthur before he transitions into Joker (he is the same man but I hope that you know what I mean). When he’s taking care of Penny, he’s tender and so gentle I could cry. He caresses her cheeks, makes sure she eats, and while he does put medications in her food which lead to her having a stroke due to withdrawal symptoms, I also believe that he had good intentions. He takes care of her even when he is exhausted, and that, at least for me, speaks volumes as to his character.

I do agree that there will be times, and some of them to be more often than not, where Arthur would be less than what you need him to be. He has so much on his plate; his full time job (fifty-nine hours a week, which is almost twenty hours over what’s legal, at least in the UK), his therapy, his journal, his active pursuing of his career as a stand up comedian, his mental illnesses... Arthur is exhausted and he does his best, I believe. There would definitely be times in which Arthur is less than ideal as a partner, but then there would be times where his partner is less than what Arthur needs; the give and take equation of a relationship is different every day and one person has to give or take more on any given day. This is good and normal so long as the reverse is equally true. Arthur definitely has his moments of being cold or angry, but overall I think that he would do his best in the moment (sometimes it’s more, sometimes it’s less) to show that he cares.

I also agree that he would show his appreciation for his partner in indirect ways. Due to his social isolation, Arthur lacks the social cues which most others take for granted, and there are very definitely problematic behaviours which he displays in canon, such as stalking, but I believe that this stems from that social isolation - no one bothered to teach him how one should interact with others in certain situations. All he has to go on are the old films he watches in the evenings and observations he makes. Arthur is emotionally intelligent and he shows awareness that he’s being creepy, but he can’t help himself. I’m not saying this to excuse or condone his actions, but I’m trying to offer some evidence within the canonical context. If his partner was patient and persistent, one could arguably... not change Arthur, but at the very least offer Arthur more of an awareness of how to act and of how to be around other people. Love cannot ‘cure’ or ‘fix’ people, but in my opinion Arthur doesn’t need those things; I love him just as he is. Love would aid him and help him, I think, and he would show his appreciation in ways which, if you’re not looking for them, you would miss them. For example, I have night lights because I’m afraid of the dark, and Arthur could show his appreciation for me by changing the batteries in my night lights without saying anything. Again, I say this not as a self-shipper or as someone who loves Arthur, but this was the nearest example I thought of.

All in all, I think that any partner Arthur had would have to be someone who knows him and knows how to help him; someone who understands him to his very core, and once Arthur found someone who loved him, it would take a long time for him to accept it due to his issues with reality perception. When I say this, I’m thinking of how he showed awareness (in my opinion) that his moments with Sophie (prior to breaking into her apartment at a last ditch attempt for hope and help) were only daydreams (or delusions or hallucinations; this is up for debate, too!). When at last would Arthur actually accept it, he would cling to his partner to almost unhealthy levels, hardly daring to let them go in case he wakes up to hold the cold and empty air. He would definitely be a gentleman and he would love to make his partner laugh; I can see him practising his comedy in front of his partner. Over the weeks and months, his comedy would be tailored to his partner, so needy and desperate for validation is he (here, he displays narcissistic tendencies due to a lack of validation and love in his life. I don’t believe that Arthur is a narcissist; it’s learned behaviours from being raised by a narcissistic parent (credit for this statement comes from @fleckcmscott, who unknowingly taught me a lot about this recently), and he would love to make them laugh.

I just want to make it clear here that I am not, in any way, trying to tell you or anyone else how or what to think. I saw this as a chance for a discussion, which is also why I have responded in this way. I adore reading different people’s interpretations and other people’s metas and analyses and I hope that this opens up that gate! Arthur Fleck is such a complex man and his whole point is that he cannot be labelled; he’s so, so hard to accurately characterise because one minute he’ll say one thing but then say another, and I truly adore how everyone has a different view of Arthur!💚 I mean this answer in no way to be rude and my hand’s are kind of shaking right now and my forehead is hot on the inside because I’m worried that I’ll offend or upset someone (the worst thing to come out of this, I would never intentionally do that), and I just hope that my intentions of opening a discussion properly come across. 

Thank you so much for sending in your opinion, nonnie, this was an interesting response to put together! I hope that you’re safe and well.

[zalrb]

hi! i don't know if you've already talked about this but what's your take on how racism is presented and handled in sons of anarchy? i started rewatching the show a few days ago, only finished the first season so far but it hit me how blatant it really is (i was like 16-17 the first time i watched it and not really in touch with social problems, especially american ones since i live in eastern europe). i've noticed way more than before the repeated use of slurs against mexican and (1/? sorry)

“ hi! i don't know if you've already talked about this but what's your take on how racism is presented and handled in sons of anarchy? i started rewatching the show a few days ago, only finished the first season so far but it hit me how blatant it really is (i was like 16-17 the first time i watched it and not really in touch with social problems, especially american ones since i live in eastern europe). i've noticed way more than before the repeated use of slurs against mexican and and black people and how often times the sons relied on stereotypes to get away with their schemes (like clay saying they'll just say it was "the angry black man" who killed opie when he and tig planned on doing that). on the other hand i think it's good (?) that the racism is so in-your-face. like you cannot talk about racist undertones with this show bc it's all so obvious. they consciously made the characters racist, they didn't go pretend they weren't, like just saying "hey! these”

So I never got the next part of your ask but race/racism and Sons of Anarchy has always been uncomfortable for me, in fact if I rewatch the show, I’m always wary about rewatching season 2 because that’s when the white supremacists show up but the thing is, if I’m going to watch a show about white biker gang culture, I cannot be surprised that blatant racism is going to be a part of that world, it makes sense for the characters and lines like “blame it on the angry Black man” “it’s the American way” aren’t inaccurate. It should also be noted that a few Black writers and directors like Misha Green, Paris Barclay, and Charles Murray and a few Latinx writers like Gladys Rodriguez and Marco Ramirez were involved with SOA.

What bothered me were the racist undertones of the show because they do exist in how BIPOC characters are portrayed. I have seasons 1-5 on DVD and Kurt Sutter flat out says, “If you’re Black or brown on my show, you won’t last long” and kind of chuckles at that and I mean, I do understand that as the focus of the show, SAMCRO is going to have to find ways to triumph no matter what -- they triumph over the white supremacists, they triumph over law enforcement -- and really Damon Pope and then August Marks are kind of the most formidable antagonists they come up against, but the Niners and the Mayans, to me, were always portrayed as being more sloppy or lazy or less resourceful, less prepared and more prone to fuckups  and they just take the shit that SOA gives them. Like I understand not being able to kill people because you need to keep business relationships but Piney just shows up at a Niner bar and starts spewing racist bullshit and NO ONE has to pay for that?

Sutter said he wanted to play with Fiona being Black because of the club’s bylaws but we never get any interiority with her or why she would be with a man who is a part of a club that won’t allow Black people to be a part of it. Same with Juice, he lies about being Black and immerses himself in this racist gang in California when he’s from New York for .... what reason? What depths of self-hate must someone have to do this to themselves because when his storyline is explored, it’s just about how much he can’t lose this club who he believes will kill him if they find out his identity and it’s just sloppy.  So those were my issues.

[thedreamsmith]

How (Not) To Seduce a Blueshirt (Chapter 2)

@atc74​ @alleiradayne​ @arrowsandmixtapes​ @captain-s-rogers​ for #OC appreciation day 2020

Warnings: Swearing

Pairing: Jim Kirk x OFC

Chapter summary:  Reyne goes to Spock for help in deciphering the captain's motives and wonders why she's on this godforsaken starship.

The next comm from the bridge came through while she was between shifts, perched on a Jeffries tube beside Keenser, watching Jaylah and Scotty argue over the finer details of warp core technology.

‘No lass, you don’t understand-‘

‘No, you listen to me, Montgomery Scotty.’ Jaylah was planted before the Scotsman, jaw thrust out in an look Reyne had learned meant ‘tell me I’m wrong again and I’ll punch your lights out.’ That particular expression had made an appearance on several nights out during their academy days, most often before she tapped out some asshat who had been getting a little too cocky.

Not that Jaylah would ever hit Scotty – she considered the man an idol, even if they frequently butted heads. She had ripped through the engineering track at the academy even faster than Starfleet golden boy Jim Kirk had completed the command course, and she loved to point it out – especially if she was losing an argument.

‘If you rerouted the warp core power to the secondary drive, it would produce enough power to double our speed at warp.’

Evidentially at the end of his leash, Scotty threw his hands up, and glanced to his second-in-command for assistance but only received a mute shrug from the taciturn Roylan.

Reyne opened her mouth to intervene on the Chief Engineer’s behalf, before the insistent beeping of her comm cut off her train of thought.

‘Doctor Lyall here.’

‘There eez an alien creature on the bridge again, doktor.’ Chekov’s voice was carefully neutral, lacking the hysterical note that had been present from the last time.

‘I’m not on shift, Mr Chekov.’ Reyne bit back a sigh, mentally erasing the number of days that she had gone without an incident on this ridiculous starship. ‘I think Murray is in the menagerie at the moment, along with Nurse Phillips.’

‘The keptain asked-‘ The young ensign’s voice cut off suddenly, followed by what sounded like a short scuffle on the other end of the comm.

‘Mr Chekov?’

‘Yes, doktor. The signal must have cut off for a moment.’ Reyne lifted a brow at the trio of engineers listening intently to the strange exchange. ‘As I was saying, Commander Spock has specifically asked for you to deal weeth the alien, as he holds your skills in high regard after having worked closely with you for the last six months.’

‘Does he now?’ Reyne flashed Jaylah a soft smile as she extended a hand to help her down from the Jeffries tube. Despite her protests over the years, her friend still believed humans to be fragile creatures. Landing lightly, she took a deep breath before replying to the young ensign. ‘Alright, Mr Chekov, I’ll be right up. And please tell the Captain not to approach the creature. I don’t care if someone has to hypo him into unconsciousness. Lyall out’

She shook her head as she disconnected the comm.

‘Looks like I’m heading to the bridge.’ She grabbed her bag from a nearby workbench, already heading from the turbolift as she waved farewell to her friends.

*

Scotty turned to Jaylah as Reyne swept out of engineering and earshot.

‘Jim’s a right smart lad, but he ain’t gonna get anywhere unless he stops pulling on Ree’s pigtails an’ starts tugging summin’ else!’ He winked at his third-in-command but was only met with a blank look.

‘I do not know this phase - explain this to me, Montgomery Scotty. What else should the captain be pulling?’

Scotty threw a pleading look to Keenser, still balanced on a Jeffries tube overhead. But the Roylan just shook his head at the mortified Scotsman, jumped down from his perch and wandered off to find somewhere less awkward to be.

***

Reyne collapsed into her desk chair. At some point her neat, regulation hair-do had come undone, leaving her dark hair to frizz around her shoulders.

After almost two hours of chasing a hummingbird-griffin around the bridge, Reyne found that she didn’t have the energy to care.

‘Computer, locate Commander Spock.’ While asking the Captain directly about the seemingly accidental incidents on the bridge would prove fruitless, his First Officer may be more forthcoming – especially when presented with flawless logic.

Reyne glanced at the bottle of gin she kept in her bottom desk drawer but reasoned that the Commander would likely frown upon day drinking, regardless of whether she was on shift or not before she got dragged into the shit-show on the bridge.

‘Commander Spock logged into Lab nine approximately thirty-three minutes ago.’

‘Thank you.’ Thanking the computer system had become a habit that she couldn’t bring herself to shake – a product of her upbringing, manners instilled into her by her mother. Who had sought to grant her some semblance of ladylike behaviour in between the martial arts and bug collecting and video gaming that had so entertained her while she grew up.

Reyne groaned as she rolled to her feet, massaging the countless angry scratches that the panicked creature had inflicted upon her arms as it sought to escape.

Hopefully, Commander Spock would be able to shed some light on the situation.

***

The door to Lab nine beeped softly as she entered her code into the security pad. The Vulcan commander was hunched over a microscope, the image of a botanical sample projected onto the screen before him.

‘Commander?’ Although his sensitive hearing had undoubtedly picked up her arrival, it took several seconds for him to drag his attention from the slide in front of him.

‘Doctor Lyall, how may I help you?’

‘I’m sure you’re aware that in recent weeks, there have been several incidents of alien creatures getting loose on the bridge?’

‘Yes, I am aware. I have read your incident reports on the matter. Do you have further information?’

Reyne caught herself fidgeting with the sleeve of her uniform and tucked her hands behind her back. Despite being a fully qualified science officer, not a green academy Cadet, it was difficult not to quail under her former instructor’s piercing gaze.

‘Not exactly. On each occasion, it was reported that it was Captain Kirk who was responsible for the release of the creatures onto the bridge, and each time he has provided an explanation as to how it occurred, but there have been multiple discrepancies in his stories.’

‘I see.’ Although the Vulcan’s expression did not change, she noted a sharpening of his gaze and felt a faint pang of guilt for throwing Kirk under the bus.

‘For example, with the Lethian rat, Captain Kirk reported that the rodent must have slipped out of his sleeve once he returned to the ship. This theory is entirely unlikely, as the rat was too large and vicious to have not been noticed by the captain. At the very least, he would have been bitten multiple times. It is also unlikely that the creature would have voluntarily hidden in his clothing.’

Commander Spock was silent for a moment, the cogs in his brilliant mind ticking as he processed this new hypothesis.

‘Your logic is most sound, Doctor Lyall. I shall speak with the captain this evening.’ He nodded slowly, ‘Thank you for informing me of your thoughts, if I receive any further information, I shall update the incident reports on the ships database.’

‘Thank you, Commander.’ Reyne bobbed her head, offering a small smile but the commander had already turned back to his plant sample.

Turning on her heel, she strode from the lab, already thinking of a hot shower and one of her favourite vids. Gods knew what the captain was up to, but hopefully his First Officer would be able to weasel it out of him.

***

‘Captain, have you been releasing alien creatures onto the bridge with the purpose of spending more time with Doctor Lyall?’ This area of the bridge was mostly deserted, and his First Officer had him cornered. ‘She has reason to suspect your motives and I find her logic most sound.’

‘Does it really matter, Spock?’ He was decidedly uncomfortable with this conversation and was already eyeing the gap between Spock and the nearest science console – judging how quickly he’d need to move in order to get past before his First Officer caught him. ‘Only the Lethian rat was dangerous, and even then, I was the only one who got bitten!’

‘Your discomfort and avoidance of the question indicates that my hypothesis is true. And as Doctor Lyall has asked me to enquire further about this matter, it is logical to assume that she will ask me about my findings sometime soon.’

‘Are you going to tell on me, Spock?’ Jim’s tone was light, but there was tightness in his throat that refuse to budge. Spock’s face was impassive as he studied his captain, but what he found there, Jim couldn’t tell. Damn Vulcans and their poker faces. He made a mental note to never invite Spock to the card nights that the bridge crew sometimes held. He got cleared out by Bones and Chekov enough as it was.

‘Vulcan’s cannot lie, Captain. If Doctor Lyall asks me about this discussion, I will simply tell her the truth. But I suspect that she would prefer to hear it from you.’

‘I can’t!’ Jim threw his hands up, almost taking out a screen in the process. With a yelp, he withdrew his hand and cradled it against his chest. He was not pouting, because that would be undignified.

‘Would I be incorrect in stating that you have had numerous sexual encounters both at the Academy and while on shore leave?’ Spock raised one eyebrow slightly, which, for a Vulcan, was the equivalent of a wicked smirk.

‘No! But Reyne is just… different. She’s clever and doesn’t sleep around and is utterly unimpressed with me. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been turned down before – not by many people, mind you. Has Uhura ever told you why she rejected me, by the way?’

‘No, she has not.’ Cool amusement glimmered in Spock’s eyes as he subtly moved a few inches to his right, effectively cutting off Jim’s escape route. ‘Your efforts to change the subject will not divert me from the matter at hand, Captain.’

Jim made an inarticulate sound of frustration and narrowed his eyes at his First Officer.

‘She reminds me a little of Uhura, but with a much better sense of humour – no offense intended. Scotty is always complaining that she and Jaylah have been helping Keenser get into even higher places in engineering when she’s off duty. He’s threatened to resign twice in the last three weeks. Leonard talks about her sometimes, ‘cause they work together, so I know she’s kind and patient and I’m so confused Spock.’ He inspected his already bruising knuckles, finding any excuse to avoid his friend’s gaze. ‘I’ve never wanted anything more than a little flirting and a quick fuck. I don’t even know how to go about finding anything else. What if I’m not enough?’

‘Captain, while I may not be particularly adept at navigating human social interactions - especially romantic ones – but if being romantically involved with Lieutenant Uhura has taught me anything, it is that learning to accept your partner’s flaws is paramount to the happiness of both partners.’

Jim deflated, relationship advice was the last thing he had ever expected to hear from his stoic First Officer. Bones would have a field day when he heard this.

‘Alright Spock, I’ll speak to her tomorrow. I think she’s on Alpha shift in the menagerie.’

With any luck, the rest of the veterinary staff wouldn’t be around to overhear the possible humiliating rejection of their captain.

‘Very good, Captain.’ The pointy-eared bastard had the nerve to look smug as he stepped aside, allowing Jim to escape.

‘Yeah well, we’ll see about that.’ He muttered under his breath, and if his First Officer heard the choice comments he made about meddling crew and where they could stick their nosiness, he chose not to respond.

[sierraroo]

Sexual problems with Dr. Sally

Sumary:   An alternate version of Murray Franklin's interview.

Rated: T

"Now let's introduce the next guest .."

"Does he also have sexual problems?"

"Oh yes! And many others too!"

Murray gestures with one of his hands to get the attention of the attendees. As a circus director, everyone on stage is watching him.

Arthur could not have faced an audience that is there to make fun of him. He could not have tolerated Murray's condescending gaze, the hurtful comments.

Arthur takes the stage with a confidence he has never felt, nor will he feel. Because who introduces himself dancing and doing tricks is not him but another. The other who lives under his skin and can face these situations.

"Let's welcome Joker!"

He kisses Dr. Sally as soon as he reaches the sector that serves as a living room to simulate an illusory intimacy. She protests weakly but lets herself be done, visibly shocked at the effusive greeting of the new guest.

He smiles pleased with himself. His entry has not been irrelevant.

"Well, Joker, if that's how you want us to call you, have you been working on your material?"

Murray is sitting on his left. He is relaxed, his body seems to occupy as much space as possible. The boss. The king of the place.

"Actually Murray, I have a problem for Dr. Sally."

"Oh?" Murray raises an eyebrow exchanging a quick glance with his colleague.

"Oh yes, well you know that the health system in Gotham is not the most accessible. It's hard to talk to a doctor .."

From the periphery he can see that the producer makes signals but Murray has always done what he pleases with his program. Joker has counted on that.

"Well, very good."

Murray makes a sign with his hand. A magnanimous king. Dr. Sally reaffirms herself in her chair attentive to his question.

"Dr. Sally, as Murray said before introducing me, I have a sexual problem."

The howl of the public is instantaneous. He knows that these people react to the words on the signs.

"Oh well." Sally moves restlessly on the couch. Her discomfort becoming noticeable.

"I don't think this is the best place for .."

"Oh but doctor!" He interrupts her using a voice that looks too much like a plea "I won't have a chance to talk to another doctor in a long time and this is very important to me!"

Sally exchanges another look with Murray who nods slightly. He has captured the attention of the public. The numbers are going up. What does it matter if the guest is humiliated in the process?

"My problem.."

Joker lets pass a few seconds. Suspense. His tongue slowly passes over his lips.

"My problem is that I'm always hot."

The howls of the public resonate again in the studio. Some whistles and sporadic applause. Arthur would never understand the scandal that people made when they referred to sexual issues. Joker instead ..

"Well, that's normal for a man your age. Tell me, do you have any girlfriend?"

It is evident that this is not the direction that interviews usually take. Despite that, Dr. Sally tries to hide her discomfort behind a rationality screen.

"Oh no. I don't have any girlfriend. Actually .."

He tilts his head to the side, running a hand through his hair.

"I would really like to have a boyfriend .."

Squeals and howls disapproving. The occasional "Fagot" is heard over the screaming. Murray decides to intervene.

"Oh no, no, no!"

He makes a calm gesture with his hands.

"In this program we do not judge the sexual preference of our guests!"

He says it seriously, staring at the camera. It would have been easy to take his words for truth if it weren't for the fact that everything that happens there is scripted. The reaction of the people. The politically correct position of Murray. Everything happens as if there was no subject holding a sign in front of the public.

Joker smiles at the Machiavellian display.

In that society the spectators of the program would react in the same way as the people in the studio. Repudiation, disgust, rejection. But at the same time, they would admire the tolerance of the presenter.

"In fact, Murray ..."

His gaze seeks Murray's.

"I would like to have a boyfriend like you."

Obviously, this takes Murray by surprise, but he quickly recovers. Vanity seems to overcome displeasure.

"Like me?" The tone is condescending, Murray looks at the camera winking, convinced of his own appeal.

"I think I'm a little older for you, son."

At another time, Arthur would have given anything for Murray Franklin to use that word with him. Even if it was just a way of saying, feeling his child would have opened a light of happiness in his life. At another time.

Now..

"Do you think so? I think it would be nice to be with someone like you. An adult man who can take care of me and protect me. That can defend me in front of a crowd like you have."

Murray moves in the chair. Something in his words is taking effect.

"Well, that won't happen .."

"And why not? I thought you didn't judge people by their sexual preferences."

Murray is uncomfortable. He knows that he has put himself in an awkward position but cannot openly reject him because that would mean the opposite of his supposed posture of goodness and tolerance.

"You should give me a chance. I would be a good boy for you Muraaay." He extends the vowel of his name as he blinks rapidly.

"Well, I .."

An expectant silence settles in the studio. It is clear that there is a sadistic interest in seeing how the presenter, who always has a way out for everything, seems to have run out of answers. Joker enjoys it as much as he can until ..

"I'm just kidding! This is part of my material." A shrill laugh accompanies his words.

For a second no one seems to understand until, suddenly, the guy who is sitting next to Dr. Sally, brings his hand to his mouth to contain a laugh. Soon, everyone is laughing, leaving behind the tense episode.

He is leaving the studio, his hands busy trying to light a cigarette, when a voice stops him.

"You really gave that idiot a taste of his own medicine. They'll probably invite you again."

For a moment, he has trouble recognizing her even though minutes ago he has been sitting next to her. Dr. Sally, dressed in street clothes and smoking in the alley, looks like a different person. She notices his gaze.

"Oh yes, I'm not supposed to smoke, being a doctor and all that ..." She throws the ash aside.

"But putting up with this shit every week doesn't leave me with many options."

Joker raises an eyebrow. There is nothing of the dignified and conservative lady who has known through the program over time. Evidently, she also simulated a character.

"Oh, and by the way .."

Sally finishes her cigarette, discards it and steps on it. She stands by his side. He is much taller than her but somehow that doesn't seem to matter. Sally places a hand on his chest making a sign to approach. He hunches over until his face is almost the same height as hers.

"Next time you want to kiss me .." she whispers conspiratorially.

"You better take me to dinner before .."

She pats him before walking away. Joker smiles halfway. He takes her hand making an extravagant bow.

"Take it for granted."

Life was still a comedy.

End

[aegon]

okay, I know I’ve mentioned it before that I find the criticisms of ‘joker’ very shallow and misleading - but this is the top review on rotten tomatoes...

...and I feel the need to repeat myself again. This isn’t the only one of its kind, but it’s the most popular I’ve seen. Every media outlet has written about a similar topic in some shape or form.

So I’ve read the article, hidden behind a paywall as it is, and I take serious issue with the damaging message the author took from the film. I’ve copied the article bit by bit because I’m so fucking irritated by it.

For it is essentially a depiction of what happens when white supremacy is left unchecked. It shows the delusions that many white men have about their place in society and the brutality that can result when that place is denied.

Arthur Fleck doesn’t want to be treated better because of the colour of his skin. He doesn’t ask for help because he feels he’s superior to the POC around him. He needs help because he’s ill and no one cares. The film is a criticism of austerity and classism, and the unsympathetic arrogance of those in more fortunate positions than others. It’s also, more importantly, about how all this affects a mentally ill loner with a history of childhood abuse and living in poverty.

It has nothing to do with his race. The author’s words imply that a white person in such a desperate situation is only seeking to affirm their own supremacy. That’s....so fucked up. Mental illness isn’t some tool to be used in a race war, it hurts anyone. He’s dismissing the experiences of a man who happens to be white because he can’t see beyond the colour of his skin. Doesn’t that sound like exactly the kind of thing POC have been fighting against for decades, if not centuries?

The fact that the Joker is a white man is central to the film’s plot. A black man in Gotham City (really, New York) in 1981 suffering from the same mysterious mental illnesses as Fleck would be homeless and invisible. He wouldn’t be turned into a public figure who could incite an entire city to rise up against the wealthy. Black men dealing with Fleck’s conditions are often cast aside by society, ending up on the streets or in jail, as studies have shown.

And though Fleck says he often feels invisible, had he been black, he truly would have been — except, of course, when he came into contact with the police.

Arthur is invisible. It’s painfully obvious that he is. He incites a movement because of what he symbolises and the way Thomas Wayne dismissed people like him. When he murdered the three rich boys on the subway, only his clown makeup was identified. The police weren’t looking for a man of any specific colour, they were looking for a fucking clown.

Arthur could have been black, brown, red or blue. The face behind the mask doesn’t matter, because Gotham City united behind the icon of resistance. It’s supposed to be ironic. The only way Arthur felt seen was when he was under his mask. Nobody cared about Arthur Fleck, they cared about the Joker.

So yes, had Arthur been a black man, he’d still become the symbol of resistance.

Though Fleck is pursued and investigated by Gotham’s finest, his whiteness acts as a force field, protecting him as he engages in the violent acts of the latter half of the film. Consider his appearance on the live talk show hosted by Murray Franklin (Robert De Niro). A black man acting as strangely as Fleck does would not have been allowed to go on the air. But the white Fleck is given access, and bloodshed soon follows.

I mean, in regards to how strangely he was acting, the reason they invited him to the show was because they thought he was a freak. They wanted him to make a fool of himself. Also Murray’s producer never wanted him on the air, but Murray insisted because he was more concerned with viewership. Again - that’s the fucking point. Murray was far too invested in his own self-interest to see a man dangerously close to snapping. The author completely glossed over that, and the producer who didn’t want Arthur, white skin and all.

Or look at how Fleck interacts with others. He is frequently in conversation with people who occupy a lower rung in society than he does: a state-appointed therapist he sees early on; a protective mother who chastises him for playing peekaboo with her son on the bus; his possible love interest, a neighbor who lives in the same building; and the psychiatrist he sees in Arkham Asylum. Every one of these characters is a black woman with whom he eventually has confrontations. Phillips consistently places Fleck in an oppositional or antagonistic position to these women.

I don’t know if this is intentional on Phillips’s part, but it is significant. When we learn that his relationship with the neighbor (played with artful restraint by Zazie Beetz) was merely a figment of his troubled imagination, the way he leaves the apartment implies that this realization has led Fleck to kill her and perhaps her child. After his final conversation with the Arkham doctor, his bloody footsteps suggest that he kills her as well.

A key fact the author conveniently ignores in his article is that Arthur never blames immigrants or POC for his misfortune. When he takes a beating at the hands of non-white kids at the start of his film, his colleague calls them “animals” (a common racist term for non-white folks) but Arthur insists they’re just kids. He sympathises with them, despite the fact they brutalised him, because he doesn’t see them as an ‘other.’

And I do think that’s why, crucially, most of the female characters are black women. Whether they occupy a lower rung of society than he does is debatable, because he’s constantly framed as being in the same situation as them. He’s as impacted by the austerity cuts as they are, he rides the bus as they do, he lives in the same shitty building as they do. To quote his therapist: “they don’t give a shit about you, and they don’t give a shit about me, either.”

Arthur doesn’t just have confrontations with them, he has an imaginary relationship with one. Whether he murders her or not is left ambiguous and up to the audience to decide her fate. We can’t say for sure that she’s dead, and that’s the theme of the entire film. We have no idea if anything is real or all in his head when he’s in the asylum.

And that’s the brilliant point.

Arthur’s world is dominated by black women because black women are one of the minorities most affected by institutional prejudice, facing discrimination for both their race and their gender. In 1970s America, they were some of the most invisible people around, ignored by the wealthy and powerful. So Arthur relates to them. 

Phillips’ decision to use black women offers a double message that they, too, are suffering under austerity and classism. This isn’t just a white lonesome man’s struggle, it’s a reality for black women everywhere. Arthur’s situation isn’t exceptional because your neighbour, your therapist, the woman on your bus with her kid - they’re all going through it without going on a murderous rampage. If you feel for Arthur’s plight, you feel for theirs too. It’s fucking brilliant.

As for why he has confrontations with them - he has confrontations with literally everyone. Literally everyone treats him badly. Again, that’s. the. point. Except for the black man at Arkham Asylum who tells him to go get help, who’s just doing his job and feels pity for Arthur. But hey, the author ignores that. 

Fleck kills white men because he cannot access their status and is ostracized by them, but his black female victims are so invisible that the film does not bother to show their deaths. We as viewers can and should take note of them.

Arthur killed the three white boys on the subway because they were beating the shit out of him for no other reason than him laughing. They were cruel and sadistic, and he’d just been fired from the job he loved so was on his last nerve. He killed his white ex-colleague for framing him and having the balls to still ask him to lie on his behalf so he could keep his job, when he had Arthur fired. He killed Murray for demeaning him and mocking his plight.

Every person killed on-screen was white. Every person killed on-screen was because Arthur felt they’d done him wrong. Zazie’s character is unconfirmed if dead. The psychiatrist at the asylum is implied to be dead, but Arthur’s transformation to the Joker is complete and it’s entirely possible that the act in itself demonstrates (after having sympathised with black women before) that Arthur’s sanity has cracked and his humanity has been replaced by the chaos of the Joker, who cares little for any life, even that of a marginalised minority he once related to.

There are other ways that whiteness informs Fleck’s character. He anticipates he’ll be treated as a son by the Wayne family, and assumes he’ll be given medical records just by asking the hospital orderly (played by the great Brian Tyree Henry). The privileges that come with Fleck’s race set him up for these unrealistic expectations. When they’re not met, the consequences are deadly.

It’s almost as if Arthur has no concept of reality and has little understanding of the way the world works and naively believes that things will just happen because he wants them to. It’s almost as if he has severe parental issues and was so desperate for a father, he even imagined Murray calling him the son he’d always wanted. It’s almost as if this has been established in the film multiple times.

Whiteness may not have been on the filmmakers’ minds when they made “Joker,” but it is the hidden accomplice that fosters the violence onscreen.

Let’s take a film that offers a brutal outlook on the impact of mental illness on one’s psyche and sanity and demean the entire message, important as it is, and try to steer a much needed conversation on mental health towards something that doesn’t concern it. As a POC, I find articles like this so, so damaging to the fight against racism.

It essentially weakens our arguments and offers ammunition to those that believe POC just hate white people for no other reason than, “ur white and I don’t like it.” Way to go, NYT.

Guaranteed, if Joker had been black or brown and white women were only used, there’d be a backlash against the narrative for painting men of colour as unstable and white women as victims because men of colour aren’t allowed to be mentally ill, only terrorists and criminals. Which is what Joker ultimately ends up becoming. Can’t win, can you?

Thank u for coming to my ted talk.

[lfd072936]

Harlequin - Chapter 1

So here is the first chapter of the fanfic I posted about previously. It features a original female character I intend to be “Harley Quinn” later on, although this story is completely different from the traditional comic book one. This chapter barely has Arthur in it, but he will be featured a lot later (obviously).

Word count: 1788

Summary: a young woman named Lola Page starts working at a new wing in Arkham Asylum.

Warnings: none, except that this chapter has criminally little Arthur in it, but I had write a little bit of backstory/building.

@tiredwritersworld asked to be tagged (<3)

Chapter 2 link

Chapter 3 link

1.       Fresh Meat

She had been working at Arkham for little over a year now. She liked it although with most things she could make peace and be content no matter what cards she was handed. Of course this wasn’t what she wanted to do originally, she wanted to be a dancer, which she practically was up until a misfortunate misunderstanding (as her mother called it) put her in prison.

- What do you want to do after you get out? – her probation officer asked one week before her release.

- What do you mean? I’m a dancer, I dance… that’s what I’m gonna do.

- Lola, you know you cannot go back to your old company after what happened.

- So? This is a big city, there’s plenty of fish in the sea.

- Look… word’s got around. No sane person would hire you as a dancer. You have to come up with something more… realistic.

- So then what do you suggest? I am not trained in anything other than dancing, I have no skills. Should I sweep the filthy streets of Gotham so that you can check it off of a to-do-list, while telling me how much cleaning up other people’s shit is helping me to get back on my feet?

- Come on, there surely must be something that you would like to do.

The probation officer was too persistent to shrug off so after a few suggestions she agreed to try this job. The hospital was on such a staff shortage that it only took a 10-day training for an ex-convict who was sentenced for assault to start working there. Of course she was not allowed to do anything medical or touch any drugs, but she did help out with anything else she could from feeding to making the beds and mostly interacting with patients. She was placed in the eastern wing due to her past where the lighter patients resided, those who generally did not pose a threat to anyone other than themselves. Lola proved herself to be an excellent employee over the months, despite her criminal record no incidents occurred and she was adored by the patients she took care of and the feeling was seemingly mutual. She surprisingly had immense patience and gentleness towards them.

That day however she was called into her supervisor’s office out of the blue. She knocked on her door at around noon and stepped in confidently.

- Hey, Josie!

- Hey, Angel! Have a seat… - she sat down opposite of her supervisor, a sweet old lady with immaculate style. Lola always adored the intricate braids she could put into her greying hair. – How are things going?

- Amazing as always… you know me – she said with a wide smile.

- Yeah, yeah I do. So – she usually cut straight to the point – you’ve been with us for over a year now… - Lola heard the hesitation in her voice. Something was wrong.

- Are you letting me go, Josie? – her voice wasn’t worrying more confused.

- No, God no… listen the thing is… there was a situation over at west and I need to switch you up with someone.

- Sure, no problem.

- Yeah? – Josie raised an eyebrow.

- Absolutely. It’s even closer to my stop.

- But you know that the west is one of the more, well… problematic wings. And you will get an all new supervisor, new colleagues…

- That’s alright. I think I can handle it.

- Okay – she said with a slight surprised tone. – Thank you for being so understanding.

- No… - Lola leaned forward a bit – Thank you for giving me a chance for change.

The next week she started her shift at the notorious western wing. She was greeted by one of the nurses who was assigned to show her around, although it did not seem like she volunteered for it. Oh, how wildly different this part of the hospital was. Almost all rooms were for one person, the doors were made from metal and heavy latches protected the outside from anyone that was on the inside. Guards were patrolling the floors and almost all patients outside of their cell were at least handcuffed if not forced into a straightjacket.

The nurse led Lola up on one of the lesser used back stairs.

- This is the staff area – she continued her never-ending tale of dos and don’ts. – A little bit onward there is a kitchen and a room with some beds, although I heard that you’re not allowed to take any night shifts – Lola frowned. No she wasn’t, but why did everyone have to be aware of that? Why was her past such common knowledge even on a wing she never even entered before? – But sometime we do like to take naps. A little further back are the women’s restrooms and next to them the showers. Why they put them so far from the beds still baffles me… but make sure to always lock the shower with your keys especially if you’re inside, because we have some incidents from time to time.

- Wait… what kind of incidents?

- Those patients who manage to wander off are especially drawn to this place to give a little surprise visit.

- Oh… we never had anything like that. On my previous wing incident meant someone spilt their OJ – the nurse gave a mocking laugh.

- Welcome to the wild west, Page – Lola did not laugh though, if anything she wondered how can some patients just walk into a staff shower with all these safety precautions.

Their tour continued pretty smoothly, they walked and she talked on end. She finally halted in front of the entrance of the communal room.

- Now about some of our patients. The worst are Flynt, 7-foot guy, pure muscle. He is restrained at all times, but he sure likes to bite and if he spontaneously faints close to you, don’t try to catch him. Then there’s Marigold… she hates everyone younger than her, so more and more people every year, I would just avoid her all together. And last but not least, there’s Fleck. He is currently stable on his meds, but he has some authority over the other patients. If I were you I would put my sunshine and rainbows approach that might have worked back at your old wing aside and be little more tough or else this place will crush you, but… I would try to stay on Fleck’s good side.

- But why do the other patients respect him so much?

- How old even are you? – the nurse laughed again. She was rude, but Lola decided to just swallow it for now. – He is Arthur Fleck… the guy who killed Murray Franklin a while back. Ring a bell?

Lola’s face lit up. She never would have admitted it to anyone, but she adored that clown. She thought he was an icon, the face of the protests she desperately wanted to attend, but her mother forced her to stay in their spotless suburban house, that the garbage strike could not reach. Oh, and that television broadcast that she had the privilege to see live… brilliant. She did not condone murder, but he executed it so theatrical and with much flare. Honestly she wouldn’t mind someone killing her either, if it happened in such a stylish way.

- Wait up… you mean to tell me that you have the Joker in this wing? – she couldn’t hide her excitement.

- Yes, but why are you so happy about it?

- You never met a celebrity, huh? – Lola laughed. Now it was her turn to make the nurse uncomfortable and looked down upon.

- Stop laughing! – she hissed. – He’s not a celebrity, and trust me… you will be disappointed when you see him. Now get in, and do your job!

She forced a serious look on her face as they walked in. The room was more bleak and depressing than the one at her old wing, this one clearly had more insanity in the air. She could feel almost every patient looking at her, those at least who were aware of their surroundings, and it made her uneasy. She completed the tasks upon tasks given to her wondering which one could the Joker be, but she just couldn’t tell. Finally, she approached one of her colleague who’s face seemed familiar.

- Hey, which one is Fleck?

- Don’t look right away, but it’s the one who didn’t stop staring at you ever since you arrived – she said with a grimace on her face. – I mean the one by the window. – she had to correct herself, because most patients were still staring at Lola.

- I surely am interesting.

- Well, you know how it is… you’re fresh meat. – she returned the smile, because the worker had no wrong intentions, but being called fresh meat was not something Lola thrived on.

As promised she did not look at the window’s direction, but rather went back to doing her job, feeding patients, getting them blankets etc., but after a while she couldn’t help herself. Masking it as a simple glance to the clock on the wall above the man, she could finally look at him. The man was alone with nothing but a notebook in front of him, but at the moment he wasn’t focused on that. He was smoking and looking at her. He blew out some smoke as their eyes locked and took another drag. The nurse did not exaggerate; he really was a lot different than she expected. He was thin and frail, his face wrinkly, but that look… oh that was something to die for. He was practically piercing her with his gaze and she could feel blood rush into her cheeks. She quickly looked down unable to do anything else, but from the corner of her eyes she could see him smile with satisfaction. Bastard. It was so amusingly annoying she had to smile, but made sure to turn away, so he didn’t see it.

She went on with her tasks, being sent here and there around the floor. So far she wasn’t too impressed by this wing, how somber and grey everything was, despite the walls being painted to a pretty yellow color somehow the air was grey. But there was one positive thing: Arthur. She was desperate to talk to him, even though he surely was nothing like she expected, but it only made her more curious. How much did he change, how much did the meds tone him down, was that whole persona just for television? It was impossible to tell as of yet.