#you can't con a conman

[lisbonsteresa]

m'kay

[junebugdunes]

alright listen. it is 3 in the morning and I have a cold but listen to me. I feel like one of the biggest reasons I'm so enthralled with Ramsey and Percy's dynamic is because it subverts the typical cop/con buddy duo-

Usually in buddy cop shows the dynamic play out as the smug or playful conman and the straight man cop

But what I'm really into is Ramsey is actually the "straight man" in their dynamic because Percy is so strange but completely able to roll with basically anything that happens, and she takes everything on the same serious level that she would normally

Which I think a lot of characters mistake as her taking everything at face value, but she doesn't do that either- Ramsey takes advantage of the situation by lying to her about his epithet and trying to play off how big of a criminal he is, and she does believe him, but you can see as the episodes move along she has her suspicions- but she's not accusatory. [Ep 6 "All's Well That Ends Well" 15:15]

She won't make any moves until she has solid evidence, which is a really good quality considering her line of work. She's smart, but she's not unfair. (Added to the fact that even once she recognized Ramsey, she made sure to negotiate something nice for him because of how much help he was. [Ep 7 "Winner Takes All" 23:20])

I've read a lot of fan stuff where people have completely misread her character and they make her so... robotic? And like, unemotional. Which she completely isn't.

She's very emotional. Although a lot of her more emotional scenes are read as comedic, she's not cold or robotic. Some of my favorite scenes from her are the crayon debauchery scene:

[Ep 6 "All's Well That Ends Well" 6:55] Along the same lines as when Zora broke her peashooter (the Oh Danny Boy scene)

When the Well Watcher was promoted to Sky Watcher and she was very supportive :) [Ep 6 16:50]

And when Ramsey used his epithet for the first time in front of her [Ep 7 19:15]

I feel like the comedy of these bits are really through Ramsey's reactions as he kind of just... doesn't know how to handle the situation or his brain literally won't process it [Ep 6 7:40]

Yes, Percy for the most part is a joke character but the whole point is the joke plays off of her being the silly one and Ramsey being the straight man, not vice versa.

I'm really tired so I can't exactly remember how I was going to wrap this up but

TL;DR: I really like Ramsey & Percy's dynamic and I feel like a lot of misreadings of it are due to a lack of understanding Percy's character

[gabessquishytum]

Time and Night Endless have a problem. Their darling son Dream has been dating a man completely not of their class, a shameless and uncouth ruffian, by the name of Hob Gadling. While they did make their disapproval known, they were inclined to leave it at that, as surely this was merely a rebellious phase on Dream’s part; at some point he would come to his senses, end the relationship, and settle down with someone more suitable.

Except they have heard through the family grapevine that not only has Dream not come to his senses, but he is in fact planning on proposing to the dreadful man. That he has in fact purchased a ring already! Clearly something must be done.

They arrange a private meeting with Hob and offer him fifty-thousand pounds to break up with their son before the proposal, preferably publicly enough that they can be sure he did it, and so it decreases the likelihood of reconciliation.

Hob only hesitates for a moment before agreeing.

Time and Night walk away from the meeting feeling incredibly smug that they’ve saved their dear son from an inappropriate relationship with a blatant gold digger.

Hob walks away from the meeting pulling out his phone to call Dream. “Hey love, how would you like to con your parents out of a shit ton of money?”

Three days later, Dream and Hob have a giant blow-up fight in the middle of a friendly gathering—Desire was there filming the whole thing and had gleefully uploaded it to every social media platform they have, so the Endless parents can see for themselves. It’s pretty ugly: there’s accusations of cheating, loud negative allusions to their sex life, Dream even throws in a “my mother was right about you” for good measure. It’s a goddamn disaster of a shouting match that ends in the world's messiest breakup.

Time and Night would be horrified by the scandal if they weren’t so pleased with the results. Hob Gadling may not be an acceptable partner for one of their children, but at least he certainly does deliver. They wire the money to him with absolutely no remorse, considering it money well-spent.

A week later, a new video is uploaded to Hob and Dream’s social media accounts: the two of them side-by-side, leaning into each other's touch like love-drunk teenagers, fingers entwined and sporting beautiful engagement rings, as they announce their reconciliation and engagement.

“Communication has always been the key to a successful relationship, and all we really needed to do was sit down and talk to each other like adults. Any issues we may have had have been resolved, and if it weren't for the people close to us who didn't want to see us fall apart, we might not be here today,” Hob says, grinning ear to ear. 

“I would particularly like to offer my greatest, most heartfelt thanks for our upcoming marriage to my parents,” Dream says with an evil glint in his eye. “They not only engineered our reconciliation, they selflessly gave fifty-thousand pounds of their own money to help pay for the wedding and honeymoon. We can't thank them for their kindness and support enough.”

Hob then grabs his fiance and dips him before kissing the life out of him, and that’s where the video ends.

Night faints and Time breaks a priceless vase.

(Desire also gleefully shares this video on the same platforms as the first one, and helpfully tags their parents with it to boot. It was actually fun scheming with their brother for the first time in a long time, and they may or may not be planning to stitch the two videos together into a small tasteful movie as a wedding present (and perhaps providing a copy to their parents as well))

-🪽anon

I love the "evil parent offers main character a lot of money to break up with love interest" vibe. Whatever happens you just KNOW its going to end badly for the parents!

And really, they should have known better. Hob is a shameless ruffian and an experienced conman, OF COURSE he was going to pull some kind of trick. He's actually really pleased because he was worried that Dream wouldn't get his perfect wedding, because Hob’s meagre salary won't stretch to a big budget. With the "generous contribution" from mum and dad, Dream can make his gorgeous goth wedding fantasies a reality.

Dream has an amazing time at the fittings for all the wedding outfits, and Desire even has a hand in designing the most gorgeous jumpsuit for Dream to wear at the reception. They're totally invested in this wedding and keep feeding Dream and Hob information about their parents latest plans to sabotage the big day. This leads to Dream getting in touch with their estranged younger brother, who is thrilled to a) be invited to the wedding and b) provide security on the big day! He's built like a brick wall so no attempted shenanigans will get past him.

There won't be any trouble at the wedding, anyway. Hob has a few of his old pals on the job, and they will make sure that the Endless parents are tragically prevented from reaching the venue on time. So sad. Its okay though, because Desire will be putting together a beautiful wedding movie for everyone to watch after the honeymoon!

When asked by their society friends about their new son in law, Night and Time will grit their teeth and smile. He's a very... resourceful man. Not what they'd imagined for Dream, but he seems happy enough. And there was a prenup, so it can't be that bad if (hopefully when) they get a divorce.

Yeah.......they're never getting a divorce!

[gin-juice-tonic]

What in Lost Legends makes you think “he would not fucking say that”? Not trying to start discourse, just genuinely curious!

Stan and Mabel have a rather special relationship, especially after Not What he Seems, and the idea that 1) he couldnt pick out an obvious fake of her and 2) that FORD CAN when Stan can't actually genuinely pissed me off when i read this story

(not to mention... hes a conman. A conman cant spot a con? Cmon)

[izloveshorses]

I saw a post complaining about musical Dimitri so I want to know what is your favourite things about him in the musical?

sigh... musical dmitry... giggling kicking my feet twirling my hair thinking about him. i'm always daydreaming about him. if you saw me on the street irl i almost guarantee you'd catch me lost in some variation of musical dmitry thoughts.

there are so many things i could say here, anon. his redemption arc™ from a selfish liar to the most noble and self-sacrificing slavic sadboy i've ever seen? his angsty daddy issues backstory? his bewitching silly goose ways? how he lets One Woman completely change the trajectory of his life? how he falls into an emotional spiral about it? the way he Knows Who He Is and is very self assured in his identity, and helps anya do the same? how his identity is so intertwined with his home? his role as a Storyteller™? etc????

but for this ask today i'm going to focus on how gentle he is. i don't think gentleness is something that comes very easy to this dmitry. he lost his father at a young age, as we know. he was alone on the streets and had to fight to stay alive. he cons people for a living. by the time we meet him he's very cynical about the world and doesn't really trust anyone, other than vlad. mostly he just relies on himself and can't really count on anyone else. when he meets anya, a cryptic girl who is a bit off but in need of help, his first response is to scoff and send her away, since unstable people are too risky to deal with. he's capable of being charming, but he uses this skill to get what he wants.

a lesser character with an identical backstory would be gruff and unfeeling, but... this dmitry isn't. in spite of it all, he's so hopeful, though he buries it deep. his most treasured story is about a girl he met at a parade. he is known as the 'prince of petersburg,' has a relationship with everyone on the streets. in the hartford production he calls an older woman in the ensemble 'little mother.' he rescues vlad, a complete stranger, from a firing squad. and though he turns her down at first, he agrees to get anya to paris. he protects what's his own.

you can tell it takes him a while to learn gentleness. whether it's physical or verbal, especially around anya, he is still always on the defensive for a while. fight first, think later. she's really jumpy and skittish but he doesn't start changing his behavior until they fight the ruffians together. he flags all of his movements around her, making sure she knows his intentions first. he talks about his father. he gives her a music box because he thinks it'll make her smile. because she 'earned it.' when she's crying after a nightmare he tells her a sweet, simple story from his childhood.

the train scene is the best example of this shift-- when she cowers after the gunshot goes off, he is completely lost about what to do. 'calm her down,' vlad tells him, but how is he supposed to do that? she's sobbing into his shoulder and he's frozen, panicking, because what is he supposed to do here??? but he shushes her and holds her anyway. he does his best. and it works. in such a tense situation where they very well could be shot next he is so so gentle and patient with her. and by the time we reach iacot in paris, he knows exactly how to comfort her. he learned how to hold her gently and speak in a soft voice. how softness can ground someone in need.

to summarize: musical dmitry is... really soft? and softness/gentleness isn't really something you see in the conman archetype very often. he is so special.

[jadeacereigen]

i also always felt like the fandom depicting reigen's childhood as abusive and neglectful never really quite fit. i know that most of it is probably just projection, and it's something i really understand because i've done it before with other characters.

i feel like there's a difference between giving a character trauma that makes sense when taking their canon self into account and giving a character trauma for other unrelated reasons, like comfort or even for fun, to be able to explore the scenarios that would come with it. both are very valid. let the people do what they want, y'know?

but something i feel like people tend to gloss over sometimes is that parents can fuck up when raising you and still not be outright shitty evil people. they can judge you on your career choices and still love you. your friends can make an off the cuff comment that ends up sticking with you in a bad way without realizing, people can suck at showing they care about you while still caring about you, they can be imperfect just as much as you are. it's their first time on this earth too. and it doesn't excuse the times they may have hurt you or made you feel bad about yourself, but it's up to you if you wanna keep them in your life. everyone can change, but that's also up to them.

it gives reigen an added charm [or should i say humanity?], to know that he is a flawed person and that it stems from the things that happened when he was younger, and the people that were in his life, and to know that things don't need to be catastrophic for them to affect and/or change you, whether good or bad. it's a good thing to remember i think. to know that there's so many greys between the white and black. that he has layers. his experiences are very valid.

anywho. sorry for the long ramble i just had to get this out there hehe.

ask game time!!!! 25, 9 and 22

Oh my god no don't apologize you're so right. I agree 100% so I'm gonna answer with my own long ramble.

(Discussions of child abuse below, though nothing that's not present in MP100 canon.)

Yes, it almost feels like people want to dismiss all flawed parenting and strained relationships between parent and child as abuse. There's certainly something very wrong with Reigen and his parents' relationship but I'm gonna be honest, I don't understand how people can find redemption in Toichiro who literally beat up his own son but then at the same time demonize Reigen's parents for the crime of disapproving his life as a CONMAN.

Yes, Reigen actually helps his clients and refuses to take money for things he cannot fix, but he's an incredibly special case and his parents are like most people who have no clue that the supernatural is even real. I personally think IRL psychics are full of shit and prey on the naive and emotionally vulnerable. If I had a kid who quit their normal job and spent all their savings to become a psychic I would not be happy with them! I would hope I wouldn't be as cold and that they wouldn't live in fear of my messages to them but I would definitely be encouraging them to stop that shit and get a "real job". To think that his parents should support his choices in life when he's pretending to be a psychic with no additional context is wild to me. (Also, I can't find the translation anymore but Reigen says in the fanbook that his mom thinks he's being tricked into doing his current job.) Again, they could go about this in a much better way but this disapproval does not inherently point to abuse.

(Sorry this rant got very long so everything else is below the cut.)

I think the biggest thing that points to Reigen's parents not being as awful as they are in fan content is that even after Reigen gets publicly exposed for being a con artist, his mom does tell him to learn his lesson from this but she also takes the time to prepare him an apology, tells him that he should come home (instead of telling him he's not welcome home/disowning him) and emphasizes that she's on his side. Maybe you could consider that the bare minimum of a decent parent but this to me just doesn't feel like she's the hateful abusive mother so often depicted. She could be warmer about it but she's obviously super concerned and wants Reigen to know she cares about him regardless of his actions.

(As for his dad, all we know is that he and Reigen don't talk to each other at all and that he thinks Reigen is unemployed. This relationship is definitely worse than Reigen and his mom's but there's little to go off of in terms of if his dad is a terrible parent or not. His mom seems to think he's worried about Reigen and that would definitely not surprise me.)

In terms of how Reigen feels about his parents, in the fanbook he acknowledges that there have been misunderstandings from both sides and that he'd like to talk things out with them and visit them more often. That's such a real thing lots of people can relate to and I'd love to see that get explored! I want to see Reigen patch things up with his parents! Maybe I'll write out my stupid fic idea for it idk.

I also don't want to stereotype but I am from an East Asian family myself and grew up surrounded by others so I feel like it's safe for me to say that Reigen's parents really remind me of your typical older generation of Asian parents. (Reigen was born in 1984 so his parents would definitely be of the boomer ilk, potentially even the Silent Generation if they had him on the older side.) Reigen also says in the fanbook that his parents are very serious people. Oftentimes with that older generation they just don't really show their care the way you'd normally see it. There may never be any "I love yous" but they'll cut you a plate of fruit without you asking or remember the show you liked 10 years ago and assume you're still into it...

Of course, parental norms in a culture don't justify hurtful parenting. (I mean just watch Everything Everywhere All At Once if you want to see the pain of having a disapproving Asian parent despite knowing they love you and just want what they think is best for you.) His mom fussing over his job and his lack of a girlfriend may be a super "Asian parent" thing, but it definitely hurts Reigen's feelings and she should cut that out. So yeah, Reigen's parents could do a lot better in terms of making Reigen feel supported and loved regardless if they approve of his life choices or not, but Reigen wants to patch things up with them for a reason and I'm hopeful that they can all reach a better understanding with each other.

One thing I also wish the anime showed was that Reigen's mom talks to him on the phone after Separation Arc! We see that in this omake:

Reigen definitely didn't tell his parents his phone number or his home address if his mom had to resort to emailing his business address just to talk to him. But I like to think that after Separation Arc he started letting his mom into his life a bit more...

God this was such a long rant, I'm sorry. One final thing before I get to your questions is that if we really need abusive parents to hate, Teru's non-present parents are ripe for the picking... Just saying.

(ask game)

I'm assuming you mean Reigen for all of these btw

25. What was your first impression of this character? How about now?

Gosh I initially thought he was just a silly goofy character who could be annoying and pathetic at times, but I enjoyed his presence on-screen. Then he got deeper in the Season 1 finale and showed just how much he truly cared about Mob... That part definitely got me shook. He only got better and better from there and now he's one of my favorite characters in the story.

9. Could you be roommates with this character?

Jesus christ uh I definitely don't think he'd be a bad roommate and we'd probably get along just fine but I also think I'd annoy the shit out of him. I'm not the best at keeping my space neat and clean. Also the thought of meeting Reigen in person is actually terrifying... Reigen should never exist outside the world of fiction because his pure chaos would be too much for reality.

22. If you're a fic reader, what's something you like in fics when it comes to ths character? Something you don't like?

Hmm I answered what I don't like last time, but I do like fics that explore his relationship with Mob or Serizawa. I also like seeing him confront more of his personal issues and grow as a person even if he gets a little hurt in the process-

[hausofmamadas]

Plastic Gangster | Anatoly Givenchy Romanov

(He is modern man but don’t even think about trying to play tickle fuck with him bc he is serious man too)

The Gentleman, Episode 3 - Where’s My Weed At?

∴

So, remember how I actually despised this tiny, angry little mess of a man until I’d lain eye on his alter ego. Well comrades, this is that alter ego.

And what exactly is it about this scene that turned me around so drastically? where literally like if my body were a car, my brain’s grabbing the steering wheel and pistol whipping it, full 180 in the opposite direction as fast as Tam’s pitching that McLaren around the parking lot ?

OHHHH I don't know.... could it be the over-the-top, Boris-and-Natasha, his-and-hers Russian accents? Could it be the fact that they clearly do it against Eddie's explicit instructions? that he prob recited like a drill sergeant in the car no doubt, to avoid another I-just-killed-someone-E-I-E-I-O!!!!! on the way there ORRR could it be the fact that for whatever reason the shit seems to work? bc like somehow it does work, and in a way that Eddie's strategy was super .... not, at least in terms of getting them into the building.

Idk if Mama Mercy was so put off by the accents, she just wanted to get the sale over with, or if she heard the words, "Little Leopard Lady” and/or “FUCK. money” come out of ‘Anatoly's’ mouth, and decided that only someone with more money than God would say some edge-lord shit like that out loud. Whatever it is? It fucking works. Mercy caves. Okay and she was stone-walling tf out of Eddie who's wildly capable of doing pretty much anything and everything else except this. But for Anatoly it’s red carpet, the whole PIA pain-in-the-ass VIP treatment.

And I think the reason this success is so remarkable is bc at this point, the stakes are high, and yet the bar for Freddie is so low, it might as well be the core of the earth. Like he's managed to fuck things up so consistently and with such catastrophic results, if there was a drunk, coke-sniffing, constantly-crying version of the Tasmanian devil, Fredward would be Her, okay. But this is one thing he does correctly, the first thing in the entire show (this is ep 3 of 7, for reference), the first moment when he shows a modicum of value besides being hilarious for reasons that are usually-but-not-always accidental to the scooby gang as it were.

And honestly?? it kinda makes sense that, in this case, he comes thru in a way Eddie can't. Bc what the actual fuck has Fredward Horniman been doing all his life, if not bullshitting bouncers and promoters, charming them enough so they lift up those red, velvet ropes to exclusive (read: pretentious) underground clubs, boxing matches, raves, bath houses, key parties bc no one will convince me he and Tam don't love a good key party once in a while. No one will, it just won't happen like Freddie has CONMAN written all over him, doesn't he? Not necessarily like good? con-man? okay he's no Madoff, right but good enough that he can make you think for a split second, if you really tilt your head and squint your eyes, that this person must be telling the truth.

Bc only someone telling the truth would feel comfortable acting that fucking unbelievable.

Like who would look this woman in the face and say without an ounce of irony, “listen, in my life funny little lady, if you are not safe…. You are DED” I mean the only thing missing is him dragging his finger across his neck, all miming a guillotine. FREDDIE. FREDDIE FUCKING HORNIMAN, THATS WHO.

Beautifultropicalfish Edwina makes the mistake of trying to sell a believable story, a lie grounded in too much reality, when it's clear that the clientele for Mama Mercy prob consists of like eccentric arms-dealers and kooky billionaires ppl with some really sus, really weird, uniquely terrifying ‘hobbies’ that none of us ever want to know about but that will inevitably be the subject of a true-crime doc on HBO someday. Like this woman speaks to the most mind-blowingly ridiculous men on the daily.

And is Eddie over here with his sexy professor cardigan and sexy look-im-such-a-bookworm glasses, rolling up to negotiate on behalf of some white-collar-crime, new-money, C-suite, tech exec with ‘only’ a seven-figure salary, when really he needs to be coming at this with more of that oil tycoon, crimes-against-humanity, Fuck-You-Money energy that Freddie's serving.

Eddie also just can’t seem to suppress the Narc vibes that are seeping from his pores and tbh it’s actually what makes him such a great gangster but not a great con man. Bc Mercy sniffs him out p much every time he speaks, like so👆

Now, it's unclear if Freddie enacts Operation!BorisandNatasha in response to Eddie's evident flailing or if he planned to do it the entire time but either way, you cannot tell me he's not responsible for them being able to get into the chop shop to test drive that car. Bc again, it’s not enough to just walk into this place and act like you belong there. In this case, acting like you belong has to be: giving a ruthless, machete-wielding murderer a cute nickname like “little leopard lady,” claiming that she “laaaavs” when you call her that even tho she seems less than enthused, pitching a fit about wanting something less “poof-poof,” and “more sexier,” and spitting general bars like, “don’t play tickle fuck with me, lady” BC WHO TF SAYS SHIT LIKE THAT UNLESS YOU HAVE MORE MONEY THAN GOD AND HEAVEN AND ALL THE COSMOS

And bc it's not entirely clear whether or not Freddie decided to do this on the fly, I feel liek it’s one of those choose-your-own adventures situations. So I, for one, choose to believe that this was a plan deployed in the face of Eddie's plan not working, and for all of his flaws, Freddie is savvy enough to know how to bullshit someone to get his foot in the door. Bc I firmly believe he can be competent juuuuuuust long enough and lbr probly only long enough to do that.

I mean cmon look at Mercy👇you know she thinks he’s a lil funny

And as if the above display of uncharacteristic competence wasn’t enough, I’m more endeared to Freddie bc of how crazy he is about his wife. And why tf wouldn’t he be when she’s clearly way too cool for him which he seems to be vaguely aware of just casual busting out these moves ripped straight from from stunt choreography of like the fucking Italian Job or something and for like exactly no???????reason????whatsoever?????

Which brings me to the next point bc can we talk for a bajillion yrs about Tamzin is out-of-fucking-nowhere an incredible stunt!driver/renaissance!woman??? and they drop that on us and move on like I'm not asking a bajillion questions like whywhenandhow’d she learn to do this????

Like???? was she once, in her early 20s, engaged to an F1 racecar driver who taught her all the Ways of the Track before he tragically died in an accident, and in her grief, sought solace in a boy named Freddie, whomst she met at a race once, and then later married??? Was she a stunt double who worked on hollywood sets, appearing in some of the most critically lauded, well-known movies, before she settled down and married an aristocrat for his money, a boy named Freddie, whomst she met once at an afterparty, and then despite his lack of wealth bc she was in way too deep at that point and made the fatal mistake of actually falling in love later married??? Is she the long, lost daughter of legendary stunt performer, daredevil himself, Evel Kneivel who taught her everything she needed to know about her birthright before shipping her off to boarding school in the UK when she was just a lass, and then grew up and was charmed by a boy named Freddie, whomst she met when her all-girl’s high school or secondary school whatever tf they call it was paired up with his all-boys high school at a cotillion, and then later married???

I NEED ANSWERS, RICHIE. COUGH UP SOME ANSWERS, MAN. OR DON'T, BUT BRING TAM BACK, WE NEED MORE TAM IN S2, IT'S OFFICIALLY A MANDATE.

taglist: @drabbles-mc, @narcolini, @bellinitini, @ashlingiswriting, @when-did-this-become-difficult, @noctuabunda

[trashcanwithsprinkles]

Fox anon because I forgot to add this to the other one- the idea of a duo of con artists using that unknown cryptid status to go around is so funny to me? Like. Yeah sure he’s totally an adeptus/yokai, here to try your things before retreating back to the mountains to do some religious stuff. Yep.

yeah absolutely. nothing weird to see here. nah don't ask guuji about it please she'll ground him. yeah he did an oopsie and now she's mad at him and he can't have sweets. i know right? how could you do that to this face?

hilarious. cartographer adventurer realizes they're becoming a conman halfway through the journey on sheer accident and just by trying to play along and not cause trouble and they have a bit of a crisis about it at some point

foxboy: but you're not actually conning anyone? we're not doing something bad cartographer adventurer: that's not the problem!!!

[thereareeyesinsidethetrees]

choose violence ask game: 16?

hi thanks for sending an ask. sorry it took so long to answer, i had to take a second to sleep

number 16 - you can't understand why so many people like this thing (characterization, trope, headcanon, etc)

of course, i could talk about. a certain brand of ship. but, hey, im not looking to get insulted again, so lets not do that

hmm...there's this popular idea that stan would have never fallen for bill's manipulation. something something you cant con a conman. i dont like it very much- one, because bill has been doing this for longer than the universe has existed and stan's been doing it for a little over forty years, maximum. bill caters to his targets- he absolutely could have gotten at stan if he wanted to

(of course, if the reason he cant get at stan is because stan's already seen what happened to ford- well, thats not really a problem. that makes a lot more sense than 'well he just knows. he just doesnt get manipulated')

second, because- well, it just seems like another one of those things people do to make stan seem better than ford. actually, its exactly one of those things- i know that because ford himself does it. i would go into more detail, but this is long enough as is

theres also the 'ford should step up and be shifty's dad' thing, which i find ridiculous. ive said before why i think that, i can find the post if anyone needs me to

oh right yeah and same coin theory. of course of course

[cantsayidont]

March 2024. This seven-part Mexican miniseries (set in Yucatán, though partly filmed in Colombia) is a breezy, generally agreeable hybrid of Indiana Jones and caper movies like the OCEAN'S series. Miguel (Alfonso Dosal), the miscreant son of a now-senile famous archaeologist (ahem), teams up with his gay conman uncle Wilson (Juan Pablo Medina) and assembles a motley crew of misfit thieves and con artists to search for a legendary Maya treasure, pursued by a ruthless enemy (Adrian Ladrón) with a seemingly endless array of heavily armed goons and a grudge against Miguel for reasons Miguel can't fathom.

The story breaks no new ground, and its joviality initially feels a little forced; as with the weaker Indiana Jones movies, it sometimes assumes it can strong-arm you into enjoyment by just putting bickering characters in situations and hustling everyone through action setpieces like schoolchildren being dragged through an amusement park they're not that into. Fortunately, as the rest of the crew is fleshed out, the characters begin to grow on you and the series becomes more genuinely endearing, if still not very deep. Medina is great fun, as is Mabel Cadena as Inés, the only competent one of the cops on the crew's trail, and Ester Expósito (from ÉLITE) effortlessly steals most of the scenes she's in as Miguel's stone-faced scam artist ex-girlfriend Lilí, whom Miguel is not so secretly hoping to win back despite her resolutely mercenary priorities.

As with the Indiana Jones movies, the story's cultural sensitivity is low, the way it uses the villain's burn scars as shorthand for Evil is rather offensive, and some stabs at seriousness toward the end flirt with mawkishness, but it's no worse (albeit also no better) than most of the genre in these respects. CONTAINS LESBIANS? Inés the cop is apparently bisexual, although little comes of it in the story. VERDICT: Not always as fun as it thinks it is, but a pretty good time overall. Anyone who likes LEVERAGE or the OCEAN'S movies would probably enjoy it.

[foxonfier]

woke up at 3am and the first thing on my mind was marius josipovic. i fear there may never be a funnier character alive mostly bc of his perpetual irritation. the way it flares up so dramatically, you can just see it in his face. or his eye rolls??? JESUS that man can do an eye roll it's hilarious. the annoyed ass tone he gets, his lil accent slipping through. he really gets sooo upset that this fucking person ( carly ) whose family he's conning won't be his friend. what type of fucking conman tries to befriend someone who's going to be completely useless to their con. it's so funny because he really desperately tries to get on her good side, even apologizes and asks if they can start over, and presses the issue until she smiles?? his compassion for other people is actually insane considering he lies and cheats and steals, like at his core he shouldn't care, but he does, and that's what makes him stand out to me so much. i think he has the capability to emotionally remove himself from situations and other people, but when his empathetic nature hits, it's difficult to remain as unaffected as he tries to be. and something so fucking sad to me is that, for the first time in his life, marius feels welcome and at home when he goes to con the bernhardts. he feels like he has a family, because he's welcomed with open arms and there's not an inch of distrust there. which is so different from his own family - esp with his brother, who he genuinely can't trust bc eddie is actively trying to screw marius over to save himself! so to have these people who he actually somewhat trusts and who trust him in return? i think that's life changing.

and there's this scene with carly where marius mentions the bernhardts being a normal family and carly is like. normal family? and marius acknowledges that they may not be completely normal, and that's that. but to him, this is what a family should look like. a type of family he never got to experience, so of course this is normal for him. he even says this after learning about some of the fucked up things that have happened in the past and continue to go on between these people, knows about the strained dynamics, but it's still enough for him to feel safe. i think marius might be his most normal when he's with julia, shows her what he can do, but the thing is, he doesn't even think about it. he just does it, because he feels safe enough to. literally exposes himself as a fantastic liar, somewhat admits he's in deep with some bad people. and he did this all without a second thought, didn't even think, maybe i shouldn't show this person what i'm capable of when i'm about to con them. he even willingly comes back to save her life when he already told her it's best to run away from danger. she sees this as cowardice while marius just sees it as survival. which really shows the different experiences they've had in life. and yet, all the same, they bond and they work well together and they enjoy each others' company. like, genuinely. and that's something completely new for marius because he doesn't do bonding. the friends we see him have are old friends, people he's known for years. making friends ... it's not something he's interested in doing, but here, with the bernhardts, he just. subconsciously does that. sure, we can say he may need to bond with these people bc they literally think he's their cousin / family, and if he's going to be let into the family secrets, he has to be close to them. but there's no doubt in my mind that's not what's driving marius here. none of this behavior is calculated, he's not bonding or attempting to bond with them because it's the smartest thing to do. he's doing it because he fucking wants to. and that is just so interesting to me because marius knows better than to get attached, he's a seasoned fucking criminal, and yet...

and after he sees his own brother betray him?? marius doesn't even get mad, even when he would never do that to eddie, he doesn't get angry. i just don't think he's quick to anger, ever. irritation? yes. but not anger. and he can be a genuinely kind and understanding person, especially when it comes to people's emotions and motivations, like... he doesn't judge others for that. even if he doesn't feel the same way, even if it's something he would never do, he can empathize. at his core, marius is a sweet and warm person, but his entire life he's been molded into a criminal, a con artist. i'm sure he had to steal as a kid to help feed himself and his brother, because while we get very little information about he and eddie's childhood, it's clear to see that their mom wasn't a good one. and she was incredibly young. marius was always the caring older brother, always did everything he could to protect eddie, enough to where it's shaped him into who he is today. and he doesn't even resent that. he'd do it again in a heartbeat, and he does. his priority will always be the people he cares about, but when he cares about his brother and the bernhardts, who he has to steal from to protect his brother, what then? it's such an interesting dilemma and the writers just ... did a fantastic job of setting it up. this show, at least the first season, really is insanely well written and acted. giovanni ribisi is genuinely perfect as marius. and it's so funny because no one else i've showed this series to has liked it, but i just!! god i fucking adore it. i could write a fucking dissertation on it, about the fox metaphors, about marius and why he is the way he is, about VINCE?! fuckkk he's a great antagonist. there's just so many amazing characters in this show and i truly find myself liking every single one of them. that's rare. so, sneaky pete? you have a fan for life. will i ever finish s3? probably not but s1 goes so fucking hard and i'm never going to get over this story. also honorable mention, marius thinking anything spiritual is a scam is sooo interesting of him. he's such a skeptic. i love him. anyway. back to bed i go

[phoenixradiant]

OC Interview Tag

My thanks to @tildeathiwillwrite for the tag! I promise I'll get around to the OC interaction one eventually, I just can't decide who to do it with!

I did Cellic and Maiph last time (and they spent the whole interview flirting very badly), so I think this time around I'm going to do Magrom and Lutian Karven.

Are you named after anyone?

Magrom: He shrugs. "Some ancestor a dozen generations back. No one of note."

Lutian: "My mother's dead best friend. I was going to be named after Father's mother, but a week or so before I was born Mother's friend died and they agreed to change my name."

When was the last time you cried?

Magrom: "Last time a con called for it. Last time I cried for real? I don't think I've ever done that."

Lutian: "When- when F- whenfatherleftandsaidhemightnotbebackforoverawholeentiremonthandhe'sstillnotbackandI'mworriedandIthinkhemightbedeadand-"

Magrom: *gestures furiously to move to the next question*

Do you have kids?

Magrom: "Rai, no!" He pauses. "Unless Lutian counts. She's Keidor's kid, but I did most of the raising."

Lutian: "I don't even know where I'd get one. I thought you ate them and then they grew in your stomach but when I tried to find one to buy Allor told me that's not how that works."

Magrom: *gives her a surprised glance*

Do you use sarcasm a lot?

Magrom: "No, the wordsmith who has no problem offending people and rolls lies off his tongue like a river down a mountain never uses sarcasm! It's undignified!"

Lutain: "I learned it from him."

What is the first thing you notice about people?

Magrom: "How strong their shame is. Figure out what people are afraid of, what they're ashamed of, and you can control them, or imitate them to a t. Everyone's ashamed of something, except me. That's why I'm a god among men."

Lutian: "Whether they can be trusted. It takes a right good liar to evade my watch, even Kar can't do it!"

What is your eye color?

Magrom: "Naturally it's brown, but I change it so often that I doubt anyone else could tell you that."

Lutian: "A light goldish color. Apparently my mother had this same color, and her sister, my aunt, has an even more angelic color."

Magrom: "That's the only thing angelic about your aunt."

Lutian: "Take that back, she's right nice!"

Magrom: "Fine, fine, I take it back! Angelic is a strong word anyhow."

Lutian: "HEY!"

Scary movies or happy endings?

Magrom: "Eh. I don't get scared easily, and happy endings are boring. Give me a good tragedy!"

Lutian: "I haven't seen anything scary or happy, he's taken me to most of my plays, so they've been tragedies."

Any special talents?

Magrom: "Lying. Anything I say after that can't be trusted, and a conman never reveals his secrets, so might as well stop there, eh?"

Lutain: "I'm naturally good at pretty much everything. Except animals. They don't like me for some reason."

Where were you born?

Magrom: "Dunno. Royal family's secretive like that. Raised in Knithren, though."

Lutian: "Same as him."

Do you have any pets?

Magrom: "That's the kind of thing that hinders taking on new identities. No thanks."

Lutian: "Lots! None of them seem to like me, though. It's a real shame, 'cause I'd treat 'em kind if I had the chance!"

What sort of sports do you play?

Magrom: "I'm more of a 'games' person than a 'sports' person. Only so many different ways to trick somebody trying to get a ball from here to there."

Lutian: "No one ever wants to play anything with me except Kar. They'll talk honest enough, but no one wants to beat me. I settle for playing tricks on my minders instead."

How tall are you?

Magrom: "Tall enough that I could feasibly imitate a tall person with thick enough boots."

Lutian: "Kid sized. I'm never going to be taller than Father and he's not getting me any siblings, so I don't care enough to keep track."

What was your favorite subject in school?

Magrom: "Politics. It's great to scam someone out of their coins and then learn later in the week that that was the duke of here or there."

Lutian: "Acanics. I can make things explode! For school! Also poetry, but none of that flowery stuff. I like the insulting ones. There's this really great kid from King Falder's kingdom who writes stuff for the People's Missives every month, and he has the most acerbic sense of rhyme I've ever read!"

What is your dream job?

Magrom: "Me? Honest work? Imagine!"

Lutian: "What Father tells me a queen should be- smart, kind, honorable- sounds a lot better than what my minders tell me a queen should be- prim, proper, minded- so if I could be the kind of queen Father wants me to be, I'd be that."

[spectres-fulcrum]

SenshixShitennou-Loss of my Life

What if I said loml by Taylor Swift is so devastating SenshixShitennou that it was that interpretation that made me tear up? Cause it’s true. (And by the conman/betrayal/etc it’s because of the brainwashing/the girls believing it on the Moon/history repeating)

[Verse 1]

Who's gonna stop us from waltzing back into rekindled flames

If we know the steps anyway?

We embroidered the memories of the time I was away

Stitching, "We were just kids, babe"

I said, "I don't mind, it takes time"

Like who is going to stop them from reliving history? They were reincarnated to live happier lives, with no failsafes but to be prepped to fight when Beryl awoke first. And they were all just literal children-fighting each other doomed to repeat the horrors of the life they lived before. No one to stop them. Just the girls praying to save things.

When your impressionist paintings of heaven turned out to be fakes

Well, you took me to hell too

And all at once, the ink bleeds

A con man sells a fool a get-love-quick scheme

But I've felt a hole like this

Never before and ever since

But on the Moon? They didn’t realize it was brainwashing. They thought they had fallen for tricks, gotten betrayed, and it destroyed life entirely. And now they see their guys brainwashed but as they were and again-a hole. Ever since that fateful night.

You cinephile in black and white

All those plot twists and dynamite

Mr. Steal Your Girl, then make her cry

The Dark Kindom vs the Inner Senshi was black and white until Venus came and in a battle of dynamite, she unleashed a plot twist. They were fighting their ex-lovers. And Queen Beryl was Queen brainwash your man, then make him betray you.

You shit-talked me under the table

I wish I could un-recall

How we almost had it all

Dancing phantoms on the terrace

Are they second-hand embarrassed

That I can't get out of bed

'Cause something counterfeit's dead?

It was legendary

It was momentary

It was unnecessary

Should've let it stay buried

The Shitennou are shit talking them in the Dark Kingdom because the Senshi are enemies. But Makoto, Ami, and Rei can suddenly remember the love they lost. The amazing, short, useless love. But they didn’t live it. Their family and friends would laugh it off as as childish fantasies because they never lived it in this life. It was just a past life that just feels so real and painful and they probably wish they could forget it all,

[Chorus]

Oh, what a valiant roar

What a bland goodbye

The coward claimed he was a lion

I'm combing through the braids of lies

"I'll never leave," "Never mind"

Our field of dreams engulfed in fire

Your arson's match, your somber eyes

And I'll still see it until I die

You're the loss of my life

And we all know what they saw on the Moon. Fire. Destruction. The eyes of their lovers cold as steal. And they think it’s true betrayal. And they trusted Serenity to be near them. And so they fight to the death and kill each other and are reborn in hopes of-

And then they waltz into rekindled flames, knowing the steps. And they remember the night. The loss of their lives.

(Little Tortured Poets Department reminds me of modern SxS. The cycle. Who is going to know them/decode them? Who are they going to trust like them? But also they aren’t who they were, this isn’t the SilMil they’re modern people. It gives me strong Jade to Rei while Rei is fighting her feelings cause she’s scared he’ll end up betraying her again. )

[storkmuffin]

Oh Madi. Your mother is going to be so disappointed. Also, you're fucked. This is you being tricked into abdicating your own destiny. You were gonna be the leader of a people, and now you're gonna be conned into being a conman's tavern keeper wife. What a fucking comedown to wander into with both eyes open.

John Silver really gives me the heebie jeebies every single time. His entire entry into this world was based on a lie - I am a cook - and his main defining event was an ambitious scam which would've fucked over not just Flint and his vision for the world but also every single other person on Flint's ship that went wrong - and therefore he can't break out of this prison of lies he's built for himself which keeps him safe and wreaks havoc on other people.

Madi reads his refusal to take opium as some sort of Burden of Leadership type noble sacrifice (you must be clearminded to lead no matter the pain) but his actual reason for not taking a mind-relaxing drug is that he has built up too many lies that he can't be caught out on.

The lesson on Madi is that if you want to raise your daughter to rule after you, let her fuck a variety of men throughout so that she's innoculated from falling in love with the worst possible man based on no information and naivete.

[himbeereule]

Hey, wanted to ask about what modernization is extended to. Larger pieces such as armored cars and tanks is obvious, but does infantry gain from it? Something along the lines of shock infantry like the Germans developed or flamethrowers and night fighting? Or maybe motorization with trucks?

Hi, and thanks for the ask!

Short answer: yes, infantry will gain from it, but only in the form of better rifles.

Long answer:

It's not currently planned to be that extensive. Motorized infantry would also not really fit the setting from a historical and logistical viewpoint.

First off, Armored Cars are available regardless of your modernization choices, they are just the second type of recon (the other is cavalry), with both having different pros and cons.

The "modernization route" I mentioned refers to a conflict that will eventually arise between your four original companions, with a "tank faction" and a "cavalry faction" arguing for different approaches.

It's modeled after a real-life conflict in the RKKA*'s top officer cadre - a group of commanders led by Tukhachevsky envisioned a large-scale reform establishing large tank formations, while another group consisting of commanders such as Budyonny and Voroshilov argued that a) mass production of tanks doesn't make sense in a position where most of them would become obsolete within a short time and b) the poor infrastructure would make supplying them a nightmare.

It was an uphill battle for the "tank faction" from the beginning, since most members of the "cavalry faction" were personal friends of Stalin since the Battle for Tsaritsyn, but they were initially allowed to conduct large-scale trials for how they envisioned a modern army to be... until Tukhachevsky very aggressively pushed for his proposal to modernize and massively expand all Soviet forces at once (for example, he wanted to produce 50,000 to 100,000 tanks just within the year 1928 (in comparison, Germany had about 3000 tanks in 1939, which was then the largest tank force in the world)). He was consequently accused of sabotage, lost his position, was investigated, and in the end he was proclaimed a conman and German agent who achieved his rank by throwing around complicated words he made up and getting recommendations by other agents of the German intelligence service. He and most of the "tank faction" were executed, and that was that.

In my story, Mikhail/Marina, supported by Leon/Leah, will form the "tank faction". If you go with them, you will be able to use tanks (and acquire them from foreign nations), as well as get more powerful, modern rifles, and economic help. However, the more tanks and money you requisit from other countries, the more their influence on you will grow, and if you're too careless, you might end up a mere puppet.

Semyon/Selena, supported by Yakov/Liliya, will argue against them, saying that the domestic inadequacy of industry, which means you can't produce your own tanks and will have to import them from abroad, will lead to effectively selling out the country - plus, tanks are difficult to supply in most areas of Nevetskiya due to poor infrastructure, which limits their effectiveness. So, they want you to completely give up on tanks and instead focus on establishing large cavalry formations. If you go with them, you will unlock the Tachanka, a horse-drawn machine-gun cart that will immensely boost your Cavalry formations' firepower.

The faction you didn't side with will have to be dealt with in one way or another - can you afford killing off a large portion of your officer corps, including two of your closest confidantes, or will you risk them betraying you later?

*RKKA = Workers' and Peasants' Red Army

[bluiex]

I absolutely plan to write the dragon scar where Grian accidentally turns Scar just for nyall. And myself of course I have the brainrot, but hope keynon doesn't mind me using some of these ideas cause they are GOOD I just have to get through some super brainrot that happened, I was falling asleep and thinking about how we were talking about Grian pinning Scar with his knees while straddling him. And Scar likes thats far to much and being able to flip Grian for a moment Yah, yah I started writing the Whole story in my head. Conman Scar meeting avian Grian after Scar cons a village into thinking he'll "take care" of their problem. Which he has no plans of and doesn't exactly believe them anyways. Besides it seems like some farm animals go missing and some shiny things too. Which is their fault for leaving them out and putting them out when they get stolen so often. Doesn't seem harmless to him He sure wasn't expecting to meet Grian, but he sure doesn't mind how it goes down. Can't say I've every successfully written smut but! Guess practice makes progress 🌿

YEeeeessss super excited to read it whenever you do write it :D

Omgomg I love this idea! askdhkj I'm patiently waiting for this fic *vibrates excitedly* Smut is deffo something you gotta write a few times before you get into the flow of it haha I bet it'll be amazng nonetheless