#New York Special spoilers | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

httplilyyy · 11 months

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𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄 𝐓𝐎 𝐃𝐈𝐄 | 𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐀 𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐏𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑

pairing: tara carpenter x reader

summary: everything must come to an end

warnings: descriptions of violence, murder, gore, blood (lots of it), multiple character deaths, knives, guns, swearing, scream vi spoilers, bad writing

word count: 4.5k

a/n: the final part for ‘new york, new rules’! I hope you’ve liked this little series as much as I have enjoyed writing it :)

scream masterlist | prev. part | epilogue

007. XIII - crazy lixx

‘time to die!’

Standing with your feet rooted to the floor, you watched as Sidney made herself known to everyone in the room.

“I had a feeling you could use my help.” Sidney said, walking over to you, ignoring everyone else.

“You can’t be here-”

“You just won’t die, will you!?” Jill yelled, cutting you off.

“I could say the same about you.” Sidney rebutted, turning to the younger woman.

“Well, shit.” Bailey chuckled looking between you and Sidney. “Look who decided to show up.”

“Look,” Sidney sighed, clearly tired after doing this multiple times before, “I don’t know who the fuck you are and nor do I care, so why dont you just leave us be.”

“Oh, you know I can't do that.” Bailey tutted, shaking his head.

“You’ll slip.” Sidney shrugged, looking back at Jill. “They always do.”

“You just got lucky.” Jill snapped and at the same time Ethan lurched forward, his knife stabbing Sam just above her collar bone.

Tara took a hold on Sam's hand, pulling her sister away from Ethan. The boy held a large smile on his face as he followed after the two.

“Now, it wasn’t until I saw the photograph of what you’d done to him that I knew you had to fucking die!” Bailey shouted out from the top of his lungs, watching as Ethan and Quinn surrounded Tara and Sam.

Ethan felt his blood pump faster as Sam and Tara swung their bricks over at him whenever he got too close. Intense thrill coursed through his veins as he playfully swung the knife over at them, purposely missing every single time.

"You had to be punished, along with anyone else who stands in our way." Bailey's loud voice continued to echo throughout the theatre, a scowl on his face as he glared at the two.

Sam's eyes darkened as she glanced up to meet Quinn's eyes, the thoughts running behind them being anything but pure. Quinn noticed the change almost immediately, and she tucked her knife under her chin, lightly placing it against her skin as she tilted her head up.

"There she is." Quinn whispered, closing some of the distance between them. "There's the fucking killer.”

"Real great parenting job by the way." Tara interjected, realising that their entire family had gone insane.

"Shut your whore fucking mouth!" Quinn screamed, shoving the shorter girl with a hard push, along with Sam who was standing right beside her.

"Have I been the perfect dad? No. Have I maybe over indulged Richie's love of these little movies? Yeah, maybe." Bailey told them, tears on the brink of releasing as his voice cracked slightly. "For me they're just a little dark, but Richie really loved them. He even made a few of his own."

Everyone’s gaze turned to face the large curtain that was showcasing one of Richie's films. Unknowingly, you felt a scowl form its way onto your face, scoffing at how someone would want to recreate this nightmare.

"Did you- did you know?" Bailey began, walking over to the stage and climbing up the few stairs to get on top of the stage so he could see the screen more clearly. "There's a very special bond between a father and his first son."

Ethan's mouth twitched, the muscle in his jaw tightened as he glanced away from his father. Bailey brought out his hands to showcase the entire room as he told them, "Which is why I helped him build this collection."

"This was all his?" Sam questioned, looking around her.

“What a fucking creep.” You muttered, glancing at Bailey before turning to look at Jill, the older woman watching Bailey with excitement.

"Yes, he's a very passionate collector, and he inspired others." Bailey gloated, glancing around the room at all the multiple different objects that he had given his son, remembering faintly the way his face lit up whenever he brought him something new. "Oh, we had to kill those two wannabe film students because, well, we had to kill you first, Sam."

"I put the theatre in their name, and then good old Detective Bailey would have just stumbled on it, but I didn't have to because my golly, that Gale Weathers is one hell of a journalist."

At the mention of Gale’s name you felt your body stiffen, a dark gaze swimming beneath your eyes, and it wouldn't take long for any of them to realise it if they simply turned around to look at you.

"I built a tribute to my son, which is why this is where you have to die, Sam." Bailey's voice thickened, his facial expression blank. "Surrounded by all the things he loved the most."

"What happens next?" Sam asked frantically, glancing around at each of them to get a little more insight on their thought process. "When after you're done with us, what? You just disappear?"

"No, I gotta hurry over to the hospital and make sure Mindy and Gale don't pull through." Bailey scoffed as he walked down the small steps to get off the stage and pulled his gun right at the older girl. "Because everybody dies, Sam! Everyone who had anything to do with the death of my son, suffers and dies!"

"Fuck yeah, they do!" Quinn agreed.

"Yeah!" Ethan shouted, nodding his head along to his fathers words.

"Now put on the mask." Bailey ordered, his words seething through his teeth as Sam glanced down to the floor where the ghostface mask was lying.

"He was," Sam whispered, breathing heavily as she shook her head lightly, "so pathetic."

"Huh?" Bailey's mouth hung open as he tilted his head in disbelief. "Th- that's not true."

"Yeah, your son," Sam continued, eyes holding no regret for the words she was throwing out breathlessly. "He was a man baby who made his girlfriend do all the killing."

“He was a strong feral young man.” Bailey proclaimed, glaring at Sam.

“He was a limp dick, little fuck, who cried before I slit his throat.” Sam said, her eyes hardening as she narrowed them down on Bailey.

"Shut the fuck up!" Quinn screamed, finally losing control of her anger and running over to Sam with her knife, but Tara was already prepared for her little outburst, and she swung her brick right towards Quinn's jaw, throwing it into her face with full force and watching as a couple of her teeth were knocked out of her mouth as she fell down to the floor.

At that exact moment, Kirby appeared with her gun and shot a couple of bullets over towards Bailey. You ducked down and covered Sidney as you watched Ethan stab Kirby before Sam smacked a brick over his head.

The older Carpenter took the knife from Kirby and stabbed Ethan repeatedly, the boy groaning in pain as he fell back.

"Sam." Tara called out, glancing back at her sister. “Come on.”

You got up and faced Jill, the woman looking at you menacingly. Sidney stood at your side, her gaze hardening on her cousin.

Jill flipped the knife in her hand, a grin on her face told you that she had been waiting for this moment for a long time.

“You really want to do this?” You questioned, getting into a fighting stance.

“You know I do.” Jill replied, her grip tightening on the knife.

“Then let's dance” You said, tilting your head and creating a ‘come here’ motion with your hand.

Jill ran towards you and Sidney, swinging her arm haphazardly, hoping to cut you with the knife in her hand.

You coordinated your punches with Sidney and you eventually landed a heavy punch to Jill’s ribs, sending the woman back, reeling in pain.

It didn’t take long for Jill to recover and she was soon running back towards you. Sidney went to punch Jill in the face but she dodged the attack and sent the older woman to the floor with a harsh shove.

Having the wind knocked out of her, Sidney stayed on the floor watching as Jill charged towards you, stabbing her knife towards your face. You blocked it and held her wrists back but got distracted when you heard a gunshot ring out followed by a scream.

You looked to your right and saw Tara grasping onto Sam’s hand as she hung over the edge of the balcony. The older Carpenter held Tara’s hand with all her might but due to the cut on her arm, blood dripped down making Tara slip from her hold.

“Tara!” You shouted, momentarily distracted and Jill added more pressure to her knife causing it to slip through your hold and into your shoulder. “Fuck!”

Jill then used all her weight to push you down and the pin you to the floor. She straddled your waist and pulled the knife from your shoulder, trying to stab you in the face once again.

Using all your force, you kept the knife away from your head. Sweat and blood ran down your face, some of it made its way into your eyes, making it hard for you to see.

“Jill, stop.” You grunted, feeling the tip of the knife make its way closer to your face. “You don’t have to do this.”

“I don’t have to do this?” Jill repeated sarcastically. “I can finally get my revenge and become the famous final girl.”

“Stop with this final girl bullshit! It’s never going to happen!”

“And what does it matter to you anyway, y/n? You won’t even be here to see it come true.”

“You forgot one thing, Jill.” You said, breathlessly, your arms getting tired.

“And what’s that?” Jill hissed, grinning down at you widely.

“Never turn you back on Sidney Prescott!”

Sidney came up from behind Jill, stabbing a knife of her own in the younger woman's back. Jill let out a scream, her back arching in pain and she let go of the knife in her hand.

“C’mon, sis,” you sighed, wiping the sweat from your forehead as your hand reached for Jill’s knife, your fingers grasped around it and you plunged it into her side, just under her ribs. “you should know by now, never fuck with the original.”

“How sentimental.” Jill laughed through gritted teeth, groaning in pain as you pushed the knife in deeper with a hardened glare.

“It’s only a taste of your own medicine.” You said, your gaze hardening.

Sidney took the knife out of Jill’s back and you pushed her off you. Getting back on your own two feet, you looked down at Jill, your knife still in her stomach.

You took a step forward, kneeling over Jill as you tilted your head to the side, your eyes boring into hers. You took the knife out of her side and trailed it down from her throat and towards to her chest.

Twirling the knife against Jill’s chest, anticipation coursed through her, your hands itching to dig the sharp weapon into her body.

"Fuck you." Jill launched her fist upwards to try and punch you in the face, but you were the one with the knife, so you pushed the knife in just above her clavicle.

"I should have killed you when I had the chance.” Jill muttered, her words barely above a whisper, blood loss taking a toll on her.

“Probably, but you’re too late now.” You shrugged before you leaned down to whisper in her ear, “hold still.” You raised the knife, digging the sharp metal into her chest. She cried in anguish as you sliced her skin, watching the blood drip down her body.

Jill placed her hands against your chest, trying to pry you off her body as she struggled to move from underneath you. You brought the knife upwards once more, impaling it into her body, digging it as far into her as the knife could reach.

“S-stop!” Jill stuttered, blood filling in her mouth as she tried to get you to stop in any way possible. “Please. Y/n, please.”

Your chest heaved up and down, you halted your ministrations and looked down at her below you.

“I’m sorry.” Jill coughed, blood splattering on your clothes. “I- I didn’t mean to do any of this.”

You stood up, looking to your side, you saw Sidney look at you with an unreadable expression. She reached behind her and pulled a gun from the back of her belt.

Wordlessly, she handed it to you. You took it from her hesitantly before looking back at Jill, her eyes going back and forth from you to the gun.

“No, no, please. Y/n, don’t do this. Please.” Jill begged, holding up her hands in front of her with all the strength she had left.

You gave Jill one last look before raising the gun up to her head before pulling the trigger. Everything felt numb as you watched your sister's body slump to the floor, blood still pouring from her wounds.

You were soon snapped out of your haze once you heard Tara let out a scream. From behind you, you watched as Tara got stabbed in the stomach by Ethan.

"Gotcha!" Ethan laughed, grinning from ear to ear as he ran his eyes over the girl's wound.

Tara recovered from the stab pretty quickly and shoved her knife deep inside Ethan's mouth, breathing heavily as she watched the pain in his eyes glimmer.

She let him swallow up his agony for a few seconds before twisting the knife inside, enjoying the painful noises he was making as blood dripped down his mouth.

"Now die a fucking virgin." Tara sneered, watching as his eyes widened before she pulled the knife out of his mouth.

His blood splattered on her face and clothing, but she didn't care as she let out a low laugh, lowering down the knife and glancing up to meet your eyes with a smile.

Your eyebrows rose in surprise, a low whistle falling from your mouth as you looked at the younger Carpenter impressed.

Another gunshot rang throughout the theatre and you looked up at Sam, the girl pointing her gun at Quinn’s body which fell with a loud thud, a bullet wound in the middle of her forehead.

“I thought she’d put up more of a fight.” You mumbled as your chest heaved up and down.

“It seems that you three didn’t need my help after all.” Sidney said, resting a hand on your shoulder.

“How did you even get in, anyway?” You asked, looking at the older woman.

“I have my ways.” Sidney smiled. “Being the final girl has some perks.”

You were going to reply but your words got caught in your throat as you watched Sam fall from the balcony and down to the floor below her with Bailey.

You rushed over to Sam, Sidney hot on your tail as the two of you had worried expressions pasted on your faces.

Sam coughed, holding her stomach as she sat up. You placed a gentle hand on her shoulder causing her to turn around and shove you to the floor, immediately regretting it once she saw it was you.

“You okay, there Carpenter?” You asked, looking up at Sam, your hands raised in surrender.

“Sorry.” Sam apologised, holding a hand out for you to grab.

Sam pulled you up from the floor and the two of you stood facing Tara and Sidney, finally being able to take a breath from all the fighting.

“I have a plan to kill Bailey.” Sam spoke up, a hand holding her ribs, still slightly sore from the fall.

“What do you want us to do?” Sidney questioned, looking at Sam intently.

“I need one of you to take these.” Sam said, holding her phone up as well as a voice changer. “And make a phone call for me.”

“I’ll do it.” Tara said, taking the phone from her sister’s hand.

“And what should we do?” You wondered, gesturing between yourself and Sidney.

“You go with Tara and stay somewhere safe until it's okay to come back out.”

“Roger that.” You smiled, sending a salute towards Sam before walking off with Tara and Sidney.

You turned around and saw Sam putting on her father’s ghostface robe and mask before getting in her position.

Bailey groaned, rubbing his head as he got up from the floor. He looked around and saw that it was only him left in the theatre.

Pulling his gun from his holster, Bailey jumped at the sound of his phone ringing.

“Hello detective Bailey,” Tara said over the phone, the Ghostface voice coming through on Bailey’s phone. “I have one question for you.”

“Oh yeah?” Bailey replied, walking up to the stage where the ghostface mannequins were. “What’s that?”

“What’s your favourite scary movie?”

“Favourite scary movie?” Bailey repeated with a chuckle.

“I’m asking because you’re in one now. You’re in my movie.”

“Oh, and I see you’ve put on your true face, huh? Your birthright.” Bailey said as he shot two mannequins in the head before looking at Billy’s mannequin which didn’t have a robe on it. “Poetic you’re gonna die in it.”

“This is what you wanted, isn't it?”

“Now you know the truth, huh?” Bailey said after shooting another mannequin. “Murder’s in your blood. Stop fucking around and show yourself!”

“Be careful what you wish for.”

“Alright, I am a fucking police officer, how do you think this is going to go, Sam?” Bailey shouted down the phone. “Who d’you think they’re gonna believe, huh?”

“Probably the one who’s still alive.”

Bailey screamed, smashing his phone to the ground, panting as he shook his head. Sam walked on the stage behind him, tilting her head as he turned around. Bailey stammered back, screaming loudly as Sam stabbed every inch of his body that she could.

When she finally stopped, Sam let Bailey fall to the ground as she took off her mask. The man looked up at her, choking on his own blood. As Sam was about to finish him off for good, Tara came up beside her, you and Sidney opting to stay back.

“My father was a murderer.” Sam said breathlessly. “No matter what you think, I'm better than that.”

Sam looked down at her sister, the latter tilting her head as she relaxed her face. Sam let a small smirk take over her features before turning back to Bailey.

“But you did fuck with our family, so...” Sam said, gripping her knife harder as she shoved it into Bailey’s eye, the man screaming in pain.

“Nice.” Tara nodded, watching as life drained from Bailey.

“Thanks.” Sam replied. “You okay?”

“No.” Tara chuckled with a shake of her head.

Sam gave a nod of acknowledgement as she took off her robe. You watched as the sisters walked to the stairs where they sat down, you and Sidney sitting beside them.

Tara rested her head against your shoulder and you gently took a hold of her hand, rubbing comforting circles on the back.

“Thank you for letting me go.” Tara said, looking at her sister as she kept her head on your shoulder.

“I knew you could take care of yourself.” Sam replied and the two sisters shared a smile between them. “I want to be in your life, but only as much as you want me to be.”

“I want you to be.” Tara said quickly. “I promise you I am going to get so much therapy after this. I’m serious. We're going to get through this. Together.”

All of a sudden, the peaceful moment was interrupted when Ethan ran towards you four, blood dripping out of his mouth and down his chin. Before Ethan could get near, a broken TV was pushed off a table and onto his head, the boy falling to the ground, finally being killed.

“Saw that in a scary movie once.” Kirby smiled, looking over at Sidney as the woman held a look of surprise.

The doors to the theatre were opened, multiple cops running in as Danny followed quickly behind. Sam quickly got up and made her way towards him, being followed closely behind by you, Tara, Sidney and Kirby.

“Are you okay?” Danny questioned, looking Sam over as he cupped her cheeks with a worried look on his face before pulling her into a quick hug.

“Yeah.” Sam nodded with a small smile.

“I thought you might need some reinforcements. And I called the hospital, Mindy and Gale are going to be okay. Mindy’s on her way here now, they couldn’t stop her.”

“Not bad cute boy.” Tara nodded.

“Thanks.”

“Let’s get the fuck out of here.” Sidney said, placing a hand on your shoulder.

You gave a weak nod, walking out of the theatre with everyone. Once you got wind of fresh air you were rushed into the back of an ambulance. A medic tending to the cuts on your face along with the stab wound in your shoulder.

Sidney sat beside you, the woman holding your hand every time you winced from the pain. After the medic was finished they gave you one more check up before moving onto something else.

Finally feeling fatigue catch up with you, you rested your head against Sidney’s arm. The older woman let a smile form on her face as she wrapped an arm around you, pulling you into her embrace.

“You’re a brave kid.” Sidney said softly, rubbing a hand up and down your arm. “You should never have had to shoot your sister.”

“She lost the right to be my sister when she started killing people.” You said, moving out of Sidney’s embrace.

“Still, no one should ever have to go through what you’ve been through.”

“I could say the same about you.” You chuckled, bumping your shoulder into hers.

“At least I didn't get stabbed this time, just a little winded.”

“You’re getting old for this, Prescott.”

“Watch it, y/l/n.”

“Alright, alright, I'm sorry.” You said, a laugh bubbling up from your throat as you held your hands up in surrender.

“I think someone is looking for you.” Sidney said, nodding her head in the direction of a frantic looking Tara, standing beside her sister.

“I’ll be right back.” You said, quickly getting up and making your way over to the girl.

“Y/n!” Tara said, finally spotting you. She ran towards you, the two of you meeting in the middle. “Shit, are you okay? I- I was so caught up I forgot to ask and-”

“Shut up and kiss me.” You cut Tara off, gently placing a hand underneath her chin, using your forefinger and thumb to tilt her head up.

Tara’s breathing was erratic, her heart practically beating out of her chest but she complied. Tara wrapped her hands around your shoulders and pulled you down for a kiss.

You both sighed contently into the kiss. Easily getting lost in each other’s presence. Butterflies fluttered all around in your stomach as you finally got to kiss your girl with no matter in the world.

“Sorry, that was a bit forward.” You mumbled pulling away, scratching the back of your neck as you rocked backwards and forwards on your feet.

Tara didn’t care and she placed her hands on the side of your face, pulling you into a kiss that took all of the air out of your lungs. Your eyes went wide with shock but you quickly fell back into reality and placed your hands on Tara’s waist, pulling her closer and letting yourself fall into the kiss.

Tara let out a small gasp once your lips separated and you smiled once you saw her chest rapidly falling up and down with a small blush coating her cheeks and you couldn't help the smile that threatened to break out on your face.

Due to the closeness of the two of you, both your faces barely an inch away from each other, you could see every intricate detail on her face. You admired her for a little while but you couldn’t contain yourself so you crashed your lips back against hers.

The kiss broke naturally, leaving pecks as you moved your face away from Tara. You rested your forehead against Tara’s, small chuckles falling from your lips.

“Your sister is going to kill me.” You whispered, wrapping your arms around Tara’s shoulders to pull her into a hug.

“One-hundred percent.” Tara replied, wrapping her arms around your waist and resting her head against your chest.

“You’re worth it.” You mumbled, placing a kiss to the top of her head.

“Okay, you two.” Sidney said, walking over to you and Tara. “That's enough sappy shit for now.”

“Sid!” You exclaimed, looking at the woman in shock. “What the hell!”

“Oh come on, let’s go see Kirby.” Sidney said, walking over to where Kirby and Sam were.

You followed behind, hand in hand with Tara, taking your time together.

“You ever need me, call.” Kirby said, talking to Sam, but turning to you and Tara as she saw you both walk over. “We’re all apart of the same fucked up family now. And also, legacy doesn’t always have to be a bad thing, okay?”

You smiled at Kirby but it quickly vanished once you heard Tara sniffle beside you, the younger Carpenter looking to the ground as her bottom lip started to quiver, tears falling from her eyes.

“Hey.” Kirby said, looking over at Tara, seeing as you pulled her into your arms.

“It’s just Chad-”

“Hey we got another one here!” A medic shouted, wheeling the boy out on a stretcher.

“Chad!” Tara shouted, running over to the boy with you and Sam not far behind her.

“How the fuck are you still alive?” You muttered, looking at him in disbelief.

Chad smiled, holding his hand up and showing five fingers.

“Core fucking five.” Tara smiled, pulling the boy into a hug.

“Oh my god, you guys okay?” Mindy shouted, running over to you. “I know who the killer is, it's Ethan and Bailey.”

“And Quinn.” Sam said.

“And Quinn, fuck!” Mindy huffed.

“And Jill.” You added.

“Jill? But she was dead? Wait, I missed the monologue again!” Mindy shook her head, not believing it all, holding on to her brother's side as he was wheeled into the back of an ambulance. “Wait, are you okay? You don’t look okay. Oh my god we all survived.”

As Chad and Mindy were taken away in an ambulance, Sam looked down in her coat that was hiding her fathers mask, seemingly in a trance she was snapped out of it by Tara’s voice.

“Sam.” Tara said, her hand grasping yours. “You coming?”

Sam nodded her head with a smile, dropping the mask to the floor. She walked up to you two and the three of you walked back over to Sidney, the woman standing by herself as Kirby was taken to a hospital too.

“You guys going to be okay?” Sidney asked, her gaze focusing on you for a moment longer.

“We will be.” Sam said, looking over at you and Tara.

“Yeah, we’ve got each other.” You smiled, tightening your grip on Tara’s hand.

“Just like Kirby said, if you need anything, you call me. Okay?” Sidney said, reciprocating your smile.

“We will.” You nodded. Sidney gave you one last look before walking off and down the road.

“So…” Sam trailed off, looking at you and Tara then glancing down to your conjoined hands. “You two a thing now?”

“Oh my god, Sam!”

tag list: @andsoigotabutterfly @dksjskx @dreifhraniquo29 @karsonromanoff @btay3115 @bananasplits-world @youralphawolf72 @beaniiekidd

#tara carpenter #tara carpenter imagine #tara carpenter imagines #tara carpenter x reader #jenna ortega #jenna ortega imagine #jenna ortega imagines #jenna ortega x reader #scream #scream 6 #scream vi

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thankssteveditko · 4 months

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Sony's PlayStation 5 Presents Insomniac's Marvel's Spider-Man 2 (the third game in the series)

I beat the main story and have enjoyed my time with the game overall! I want to talk about spoilers and things that I liked and disliked in the story, so here's a post with some scattered thoughts.

(Hello! I haven't forgotten that this blog exists! Like I said, no update schedule, I will read more of the Lee/Ditko comics whenever I make time for it. I've actually been sitting on a mostly-complete version of this post since I beat the game in October, thinking that I'd finish the rest of the side quests so I could throw in thoughts on those. But... eh, I'll do that whenever the inevitable DLC rolls around. I just wanna get these thoughts posted.)

Spider-Cop No More

First off: they downplayed the cop shit!!! This was the first thing that really struck me about the game, and I'm stunned that they actually listened to criticism on this. I thought we'd just be stuck with it forever.

It'll never be completely gone, of course. Spider-Man is always going to leave criminals webbed up for the police to take to prison, hoping that they'll do their time and come out the other side as Productive Members of Society. That's just a thing I begrudgingly accept as part of the genre that will probably never go away. But Spider-Man is no longer repairing police surveillance networks. You're no longer beating the shit out of random drug dealers. Gangs of escaped convicts still wearing their orange jumpsuits are no longer terrorizing the streets of New York.

Instead, Peter and Miles are played more as firefighters. Sometimes very literally! They work with firefighters, they rescue people from collapsing buildings, they rush injured people to the hospital. In general there's a huge increase in the number of random onlookers present during the big action setpieces, and the Spider-Men frequently have to save them from harm. One of the major side quest lines is even literally about a cult of arsonists, and you'll routinely find burning fuel tanker trucks you have to extinguish with your webs. It's great! Love this for them.

I also generally liked the side missions in this. There's a lot of good stuff with the Spider-Men being neighborhood heroes willing to help out anyone in need, no matter the problem. Some of them can get corny, sure, but that street level stuff has always been the real heart of Spider-Man to me.

Gameplay

The gameplay's as fun as ever. That probably goes without saying. I will not be spending a thousand words explaining that swinging is fun.

In particular, I really liked the changes to the Focus mechanic. I never loved the way Miles' game made you choose between healing and doing your special attacks, but here your four specials have their own cooldowns, and the Focus meter is spent on either healing or finishers. It still offers that risk/reward element, but those vicious cycles where you can't do any real damage because you keep needing to heal aren't nearly as bad as they were before.

Personally I didn't turn off the swing assist or turn on fall damage, because the streamlined swinging never bothered me in these games, but I'm glad the options are there for people who want them.

Kraven

I liked Kraven in this! I liked the way they leaned into his Hunters being this weird death cult, and him wanting to go down in a blaze of glory against a worthy foe, to the point that he's actually disappointed anytime a foe can't kill him. It riffs on things people liked in Kraven's Last Hunt without being the exact same story. I like that Kraven's gang is renting out this manor or whatever and just being a complete terror to the wait staff. I liked the way Kraven hunting Peter's rogues' gallery clashed with Peter's belief in giving his villains second chances. I liked that they were willing to have Kraven kill off a couple of the minor villains from the first game to sell how dangerous he is. (I know some people hated this, but like, come on. We already fought the Sinister Six. They don't need to do that again.) I like the way Kraven pushed Peter to the absolute brink, turning him more and more aggressive with the Black Suit. Good stuff all around, even if the Hunter enemy types did wear out their welcome a little bit by the end.

The Black Suit arc

I think I liked the way Insomniac handled Peter's Black Suit arc overall, but there's a tradeoff here.

They REALLY lean into the body horror tentacle stuff, with Black Suit Peter basically just being a skinny Venom by the end. The sequence where you play as Mary Jane while the symbiote puppets an unconscious Peter's body around and goes on a rampage against the Hunters was REALLY great at selling how scary Peter is becoming, and it made me completely change my tune on the inclusion of the MJ stealth missions in the sequel. Having to beat an out-of-control Peter as Miles immediately after Peter beats Kraven was also really good. This is all cool!

BUT, the thing is... with the symbiote powers being so freaky from the start, it really pushes my suspension of disbelief when Peter and co. take so long to become wary of it. I guess when you've been bitten by a radioactive spider and given superpowers, and when you live in the same universe as the Avengers and the X-Men, your perception of what's "normal" is going to be pretty warped. But they buy the whole "organic exosuit created to treat Harry's illness" story WAY too easily lmao. How do the self-aware slime tentacles help with his illness, exactly?

And I'm not sure how I feel about giving Peter Anti-Venom powers in the last act. It feels like it's primarily a concession so that they can give players that branch of their skill tree back, but honestly, the designer in me thinks it would be really cool (if risky) to just permanently lock players out of Peter's most powerful skills past a certain point. Yeah, it'd definitely piss people off, but it drives home the idea that Peter's given up greater power because it's the right thing to do. It'd put you in his shoes! Instead he just gets the symbiote powers back, but it's fine because the Venom voice in his head is gone and also the slime tendrils that explode out of his body are white now, which means they're good.

I have to say it. I'm sorry. The glistening white goo... they turned Peter into the Amazing Cum-Man. I changed back to the Classic Suit after rolling the credits and forgot I still had the Anti-Venom skills equipped, so I just saw regular old Spider-Man exploding his white goo everywhere. Terrible.

Assuming Peter is just stepping into more of a supporting role to Miles and not fully retiring after the events of this game, I really hope the Anti-Venom stuff is gone. I get that he needed it to counter Venom, but that's not what I want for Peter Parker.

Miles

Miles is good in this, and I really like his arc where he struggles with whether or not he should avenge his dad by killing Martin Li. I like how all that plays out. Unfortunately, they don't quite stick the landing when it comes to making him and Peter feel like equals in terms of narrative focus. His arc is definitely the B-plot to Peter's for the middle chunk of the story, which I guess was kind of inevitable since they decided to do the Black Suit arc. But Miles does at least get a lot of moments to shine, and by the end he's very much taking the lead as the main Spider-Man.

Becoming the main Spider-Man also gets Miles a new, wholly original suit that ended up being super controversial, and honestly... I kinda like it? Or at least I like what it's going for, even if the actual design could still use some work. It's something totally unique for Miles, and I like spandex/streetwear combo suits like what the Spider-Verse movies have popularized. But showing his hair is really pushing the limits of his secret identity. He hangs around Brooklyn Visions WAY too much for his classmates to not recognize his voice and haircut. And I understand why people would be wary about it becoming his "canon" look moving forward. But I think it's got potential.

On the subject of Miles, though, I will say that while I liked Miles' side missions, it feels like he's often saddled with the game's broad, kinda touristy, kinda token attempts at Showcasing The Diversity Of New York, in a way that Peter isn't.

I like that Miles has a deaf graffiti artist girlfriend that he and Ganke sign with, and I like that there's a series of side missions that explore some local jazz history, and I like that there's a mission where Miles helps a gay classmate ask his crush to prom. I like all these things! I like Spider-Man being involved with his community, and that said community includes such a wide variety of people! I like that this game slows down to savor these types of moments instead of just being all action all the time! But when I step back, I notice some patterns.

Hailey doesn't have a big role in the main plot, especially when compared to MJ, but Miles gets a side mission where you briefly play as her with muffled audio to teach you what being deaf is like. There are no major queer characters in the story - unless you count Felicia showing up for exactly one mission to mention she has an unseen, unnamed girlfriend in Paris now - but you get a side mission where Miles helps out a gay couple at his school, who then never come up again. To put it very uncharitably, they can feel like Very Special Episode missions. It's like the devs going: we're going to give Miles a Gay Mission, and an Impaired Hearing Mission, and a Cultural History Mission, so that we can say we touched on these things, but we're gonna make them all optional and keep them far away from the full-blown Superhero Stuff like fighting costumed villains. Those flavors cannot mix. Meanwhile, Peter gets to have a whole elaborate subplot about teaming up with Wraith to track down fucking Cletus Kasady. There's an imbalance here, and I think it's part of the reason why Peter still feels like the "main" Spider-Man for so much of the story.

I think this was all written with admirable intentions, but as others have pointed out, you can kinda tell that this game was mainly written by some white guys based in California. These attempts at depicting various marginalized groups can feel kind of detached in the same way that Insomniac's map of New York doesn't quite line up with the real thing. But I dunno. I'm not really the one to dig deep into some of this stuff as a white woman from Florida. I would be curious to read others' takes on this.

Maybe I'm just being overly cynical about the writers' well-meaning but corny and kinda out of touch liberal politics because of the podcasts.

The podcasters

I wish Jameson was in this more! They psyched us out by giving him a full character model for, like, two scenes. I like him being MJ's boss, but I wish we saw inside the Daily Bugle offices to get more Jameson.

At least his podcasts are better than the ones in the Miles game, though. Him completely trusting in Roxxon was just too much for me. Here he condemns Oscorp for the symbiote shit, and he also gets some moments where he takes the ongoing crises seriously and isn't just ranting about the Spider-Men. He isn't just a conspiracy theorist crackpot here. Shit like his "fuck Spider-Man, we have a justice system for a reason" speech makes him feel more like a human being with a point of view, rather than just a caricature. Definitely an improvement.

Unfortunately, I still find The Danikast grating. I'm sorry, Ashly Burch. It's not your fault. The quirky heckin' wholesome millennial podcaster lady who catches you up on current events and then reminds you to drink 64 ounces of water a day in the same breath is just too much for me. At least she doesn't have any lines as bad as her throwing in a "damn" and then going (direct quote here) "That's right - no censoring! That's how REAL I'm being right now!" like in Miles' game. Instead they give her this, like, almost psychic insight into the main plot to try and make her the angel on Peter's shoulder. The second Peter gets the symbiote she's like "Wow, y'all. Have you seen Spider-Man's new black suit? Something's different about him. He's been giving me such bad vibes lately. #NotMySpiderMan" Also she's supposed to be this, like, underdog independent podcaster who started her show on a whim and has become the voice of the people... but she's got billboards plastered all over the fucking city. Which makes her feel like an industry plant lmao

Again, there's a detachment with the writing. This is, like, some middle aged white liberal game dev guys' idea of what a modern leftist teenager would think is a Cool Activism Podcast. Unfortunately, because Insomniac thinks Danika's a hero, Mary Jane's triumphant ending is that she quits her job at the Bugle to become a podcaster, too, delivering a thinly veiled monologue about the pandemic to kick off her new podcast literally titled "The New Normal." She's going to save the world with podcasting, because that's the highest form of activism, I guess.

Venom

So! Venom! Venom was... okay.

Surprising no one, Harry Osborn is Venom. Harry's okay both as himself and as Venom, but I'm not sure his arc is a smooth one. He starts out as Peter's comically perfect best friend who returns to reminisce about the good ol' days and hand him his dream job on a silver platter, and then later he becomes a little ball of rage over the fact that Peter gets his symbiote and can't/won't give it back. I'm not sure that pivot is handled the most convincingly. You kind of have to write it off as the symbiote messing with their heads, I guess.

When he actually becomes Venom, I'm... mixed on the execution. On the one hand, the cool factor is absolutely there. He's a very cool big monster, and Tony Todd is great in the role. But he also wants to take over the world and make everyone a symbiote, and aside from any lingering resentment towards Peter, that's really all there is to him. It makes for a good video game to have a bunch of symbiote enemies and creepy symbiote nests and symbiote tentacles climbing up the sides of buildings in the last act... but is that really what I want out of Venom? Probably not. But he sure does look cool as a big monster guy to fight, and I was happy he was briefly playable.

Suits

Part of me feels like there's something lacking about the suit selection here, but almost every suit I liked in the previous games is back, and also I'm the type of person to give Peter the Classic Suit the second I unlock it and use that for most of the game. So does it really matter for me?

Peter's selection feels dominated by the various live action movie suits, but I get that those are going to be some of the suits people want to wear the most. I wish he had the Peter B. Parker skin to go with Miles' Spider-Verse alts, though. No idea why it's missing. Really I think I mainly just want more of the Spider-Verse designs.

Also I've complained about how most of the original suits designed for these games make Peter and Miles look like they were bitten by radioactive Alienware products, but I can just, you know. Wear other suits.

Misc thoughts

Everyone's already made this joke, but it's extremely funny that the Avengers didn't help with the symbiote invasion. Took one look at that and decided it wasn't their problem

On the subject of other superheroes, I do wish these games would acknowledge the Fantastic Four more. Peter's close relationship with that team feels woefully underutilized in his various adaptations

I like the trope of a boss fight that's a heightened version of a personal conflict between two people who are close, where throughout the fight the boss is airing out their grievances while the hero tries to get through to them emotionally. That especially works for Spider-Man! But WOW has Insomniac played that card a lot of times by the end of Spider-Man 2 lol

They're teasing the addition of Silk, I guess? I'm gonna be honest, I don't know shit about Silk, but I guess it was inevitable that they'd give us some form of Spider-Woman at some point. Gotta work all those costumes in somehow, and they're not brave enough to let one of the boys cosplay as Spider-Gwen.

They WERE, however, brave enough to let Harry say he loves Peter. I liked that little moment. They presumably meant it platonically, but clearly ol' Yaoi Lowenthal knows what's up

Post-leak addendum

So, obviously, by the time I got around to finishing this post the big Insomniac leak happened. I wish the game industry wasn't so secretive that it took a massive, dangerous data breach just to get our hands on some very basic info that would be public knowledge if Insomniac was a film studio, but here we are.

We now know that Insomniac spent somewhere around $315 million making Spider-Man 2 - triple what the first Spider-Man game cost to make. A quote about this from a leaked presentation has been stuck in my head ever since I first saw it on Twitter. “Is 3x the investment in [Spider-Man 2] evident to anyone who plays the game?”

To be honest, I'm not sure it is.

I liked Spider-Man 2, but I'd probably say that overall I liked it about as much as the first game. It's certainly a somewhat bigger game, with marginally more realistic looking graphics thanks to the power of the PS5. But I think I could do without ray tracing and more realistic hair rendering and whatnot if it meant that these games didn't take like five years and hundreds of millions of dollars to make. I could not give less of a shit if the swinging animations were recycled between games. I'd be fine with them being shorter, too.

I like these games, but as we look at that leaked project lineup and realize that Insomniac is turning into The Marvel Game Studio, I think about how many smaller, more original games that those resources could go towards if they scaled back the Marvel stuff just a bit. How many Ape Escapes or Patapons or Gravity Rushes could get made for the budget of just one of these massive AAA tentpole games of Sony's, which are apparently barely even breaking even? How many could be made for the budget of the "smaller, cheaper" Miles Morales game, which somehow cost $156 million to make despite using an updated version of the same Manhattan map from the first game? Hell, how many smaller games could have been made with the $39 million that went into remastering the first Spider-Man game for PS5 a mere two years after launch? How many people will lose their jobs if any one of Insomniac's upcoming Marvel games underperforms - which, in this case, could mean selling "only" 5 million copies? And would hardcore PlayStation fans even accept those smaller games at this point, now that they've been trained to only appreciate mega-budget Prestige Games with cutting edge graphics and treat everything else with disdain? How much worse will this get as the graphical arms race continues?

I think I just miss Japan Studio. Fuck Sony. Uhh but anyway the Spider-Man game this post was supposed to be about was good, some writing complaints aside. 8/10

#tsd post #other media

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httpknjoon · 7 months

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her majesty | jjk

plot | This is how the rumors began between a princess and a rockstar.

words | 615

genres | fluff, humor/crack, modern royalty!au, celebrity!au

pairing | rockstar!jungkook x princess!reader

note | this one happened months after my last update!! enjoy reading <3

main masterlist | drabble series

Sweet September’s Jungkook Posts His Cover of The Beatles’ Song, Her Majesty

Spoiler alert: It might be dedicated to someone *royal*

Last night, the lead vocalist of Sweet September shared a thirty-second song cover on his Instagram account. The said video only shows Jungkook wearing a white button-up while playing an acoustic guitar in what his fans claim is his kitchen. Within just twelve hours, the video reached almost twenty million views and was posted on various social media sites by his supporters. Some fans claimed that the song was meant for someone *royal*.

In the clip captioned with a crown and yellow heart emojis, Jungkook sang The Beatles’ Her Majesty. The song was a hidden track in the band’s eleventh album, Abbey Road.

Earlier this year, fans noticed the attendance Princess YN of Zafiro made at two of Sweet September’s concerts during their Denim Jungle tour. In the first one, she was seen with her sister, Princess Astrid. For the second one, the crown princess was spotted by a few fans in the band’s performance in New York just a day after the Met Gala. She was said to be seen wearing a particular ID only given to staff and special guests.

Many sources told E! News that there are sightings of the princess and the rockstar together in various places.

“I saw Jungkook approach Princess YN during the Met Gala.” an anonymous Twitter user posted. “He stayed and chatted with her until she left with her assistant.”

Another source stated, “Although Princess YN and Jungkook are both busy with their different lives, they really try to make time for each other. He (Jungkook) liked the princess before he even met her, That’s why he really took the chance when he saw it.”

It’s no secret to Sweet September fans that the lead vocalist has his eyes set on Princess YN. It was revealed years ago when each band member was asked about their ideal type and celebrity crushes.

“Oh, mine is totally not from the entertainment industry.” a nineteen-year-old Jungkook answered.

“Yeah, JK. We all know it’s Princess YN–” Mingyu was then cut off by Jungkook’s forced coughs.

Back to the song cover, Jungkook can be seen smiling as he sang the lyrics. He even smiled wider while singing the last line,

“Someday I'm gonna make her mine, oh yeah. Someday I'm gonna make her mine.”

The rumor between you and Jungkook was still new and growing when the song cover was posted. Various articles were later posted from numerous media sites with the same rumor topic. It’s a piece of surprising news for everyone since it involves a royal princess and a famous rockstar. With this, supporters of Jungkook’s and yours had mixed reactions to the ongoing rumor.

@/DENIMBLUE: so they are really dating?????

@/ynandastridslay: lol this rumor going around abt princess yn is just impossible.

@/jeonswatch: i just know jungkook is kicking his feet giggling twirling his hair when he heard that song before

@/sweeties09: omg so maybe my sister is not lying when she said she served jk and that princess in a mcdonalds drive thru 🤠

Replying to @/sweeties09

- @/carminwoojung: EXCUSE ME WHAT???

– @/gigglysun: abi when did she told u that???!?

— @/sweeties09: it was like after the band’s performance in new york months ago

@/ZafiroPrincessesFan: The King and Queen would never let the Princess date a rockstar. It’s just totally against the tradition. #.FakeNews

@/goldencrown: wth are these rumors??? Jungkook is dating louise right?

@/PopCrave: Netizens spotted Princess YN’s official Instagram account liking Jungkook’s latest Instagram post before unliking it an hour later.

Replying to @/PopCrave

- @/user90249853: someone’s finger slipped lmao

– @/bluemoon04: not her forgetting to switch accounts 😭✊

taglist rules

THE PRINCESS AND THE ROCKSTAR TAGLIST

@heartjiminie @rbrm094 @rjsmochii @jjkreblog @sugaslittlekookies @saintsugar @alpha-mommy69 @natalia-rmnva @stupendouscookiehumanmug @yoonjinhusbands @lilliankoo @gxtwllsn @snkyuv @canyon-lwt @hiii-priestess @jksgirlhere @bbtsficrecs @jnk-pop @jjeonjjk7 @tokkiggukie @kooliv @oopscoop @hani0407 @taebae19 @yunki-yunki-yunki @hellbornsworld

PERMANENT TAGLIST

@dunixxd @cixrosie @jksjx @embrace-themagic @buttvi @starbtslove @missseoulite @vanntaesworld @kenqki @imajinthis @stopeatread @seolaquotes @greyrain23 @chimchimmarie @petalsofink @jayhope88 @moonchild1 @laylasbunbunny @nikkiordonez12 @misshale21

#bts humor #bts fluff #bts imagines #bts x reader #bts series #bts established relationship au #jungkook fluff #jungkook imagine #jungkook drabble #jungkook x reader #jungkook series #rockstar jungkook #the princess and the rockstar jjk

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charlotte-of-wales · 3 months

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a summary of the Monaco Tea, creds to the lovely anon who sent me the article <3

btw most of the information on the family was in article one, the latter were more just info on real estate + off shore accounts

again, this info is all coming from the former accountant of the family:

Prince Rainier III was seriously considering changing succession laws so Caroline would be the head of the family and Monaco as he found Albert to be weak. Albert is said to be the "despised member of the clan" who would stutter while speaking to his father. Rainier even looked into what this would mean to the Grimaldi name since Andrea - at the time 17 - obviously carries his father's name (Casiraghi) and not his mother's (Grimaldi). Rainier told the ones carrying the investigation that this was done in case Albert died.

the funds from Albert's state endowment and his private funds would be mixed all the time.

Albert would say yes to essentially everything his family asked for, including a $30 million apartment for Stephanie

Palmero (the accountant) would frequently buy things for the family to keep "their privacy". He bought Charlene's engagement ring and multiple properties for the Grimaldi's in France. He would pay property taxes for those properties and have the family pay him back.

Caroline and Stephanie would frequently make use of and sell family property (Rainier's cars, family jewelry and art, etc) without letting him know, even though they technically belonged to Albert.

Caroline is in charge of the family's castle in Marchais, which he had an issue with as she would always go off budget.

he makes a note to pay attention to Pierre Casiraghi as he is very ambitious and his dealings in real estate could create problems (spoiler alert: it did)

Caroline is said to hate Charlene

the allowance that Charlene, Caroline and Stephanie receive increases constantly, which worried Palmero. As of late, they were: 1,5 million euros for Charlene, 900.000 for Caroline and 800.000 for Stephanie yearly. This follows the family hierarchy.

Jazmin Grace receives 86,000 dollars per quarter. In February 2010, Palmero had to spend $5,000 “extra for her birthday”. Albert also bought her a $3 million apartment in New York City.

Albert spends almost a million a year funding Nicole Coste's (the mother of Albert's second illegimate child) fashion business. It's all in Alexandre Coste's name as Nicole fears that Charlene might create issues when Albert dies.

loots about Charlene. She frequently demands high sums in cash, her personal chef is $300 a day, she has multiple undocumented people from the Philippines working in her staff, the celebrations for the birth and baptism of the twins was well over half a million euros, in eight years Charlene spent around 15 million euros when she received 7.5 million euros in endowment (the Palace didn't deny this and said that the accountant was simply told to pay the difference with the family's personal funds), she spent 965,000 on a villa in two and a half months, her office decoration cost a million euros, she requested 3 x 300,000 for her brother's house.

Palmero made sure to change Monaco's regency laws so in case something happens to Albert while Jacques is underage Charlene won't be regent. Instead, the principality will be ruled by a regency council.

Albert has a secret apartment in Monaco, bought by one of Palmero's secret companies. He also got rid of problematic photographs of Albert (hinted at blackmail).

there was a whole system for hiding sums used on "special missions". They were labeled DS (for special destinations) and with time were used to pay for an informal intelligence unit that operated within the police force of the principality. They'd collect information on those close to the family and even on politians of the principality. He would also pay journalists to paint a good picture of Monaco while Hollande was president in France and was constantly criticizing tax-havens.

the DS accounts would be used to hide over-budget situations, including budget for the children's nannies and the budget for the wedding.

they were terrified of the Panama papers, as a lot of money laundering funds go through Monaco and the family had accounts on Panamanian banks.

a link between a Russian billionaire and the Monegasque Minister of Justice was revealed in 2017 and the Minister was forced to resign. An investigation was launched by a French judge and there was fears that the palace would be involved: jurisdictional immunity was granted to members of the sovereign family by order. There was rumours that the French judge wanted to hear the Prince as a witness......he was told to leave the principality. He was accused of having, through his “behavior perceived as authoritarian and vexatious”, “endangered the proper functioning of the criminal justice system”.

the real estate market is a big point of collision here and a big focus of article 3. Nothing too interesting to report - Palmero says he tried mingling in the market to break down the monopoly of real estate owners in Monaco (centered around a bestie of the Casiraghi brothers) while Albert claims Palmero had close ties with some of the developers and tried mingling with things that were of interest of the government in order to make money. The real estate issue was what eventually led Palmero to be fired. Palmero and a former laywer of Albert who was his childhood bestfriend and is also now a persona non grata claims that Albert is now fully under the influence of the bestie of the Casiraghi brothers who now controls the real estate in Monaco.

Palmaro is STILL paying property tax on properties he bought for the family!! crazy!!

Palmero detailed a number of off-shore accounts that hold about 250 million euros of the family's fortune including a company created specifically for Charlotte Casiraghi. He passed on the information from that account to Albert's new accountant at a monitored meeting.

Albert's explanation is lowkey....pathetic. He claims he told Palmero to move all of his family's assets from off-shore accounts to Monaco but Palmero never did it and that was that. He claims he was never able to obtain a precise statement on the family assets due to Palmero's secrecy and Albert just trusted him. He claims Palmero would act in his name and refuse to delay his decisions.

#and that's what you missed on glee #again thank u so much anon you're the best!!!!#this was a wild ride #mpf

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captainsophiestark · 4 months

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Parents Weekend

Platonic!Percy Jackson x Reader

Masterlist - Join My Taglist!

Written for my personal fic writing challenge for 2024, Sophie's Year of Fic! Featuring a new fic being posted every Friday, all year long :)

Fandom: Percy Jackson

Summary: Percy's clear-sighted mortal cousin on his mom's side flies out to California to visit Percy for his first parents weekend away from home, at New Rome University.

Word Count: 2,166

Category: Fluff

A/N: This is full of spoilers for every book that features Percy Jackson, so if you're a new fan brought in by the show, welcome! But this fic might not be for you, unless you really don't mind spoilers. Also, it is loosely related to this other platonic Percy fic I wrote, but you don't need to read one to understand the other

Putting work into an AI program without permission is illegal. You do not have my permission. Do not do it.

"HALT! Not another step without approval!"

I jumped backwards as a talking statue appeared in front of me out of nowhere, stopping me right on the threshold of the city of New Rome. Of all the things I'd seen as a clear-sighted mortal, this ranked among the weirdest for sure.

"Who are you, and on what authority are you here?"

"Uh... I'm Percy Jackson's cousin, and I'm here to visit him at college?"

The statue narrowed his eyes at me.

"Percy Jackson's cousin, hm? I know him well. He spent quite a lot of time when he first got here disobeying and disrespecting my rules. But we killed a giant together, and he defended Rome honorably. So as long as you are not armed...?"

The statue raised an eyebrow at me, and I quickly held out my hands and shook my head to show him I didn't have anything on me. He narrowed his eyes, then nodded curtly.

"Then you may enter. Tell him hello, and to get a haircut."

"Yes sir."

The statue nodded, clearly pleased, as I walked past him and into the city of New Rome. Percy had told me all about his adventures whenever we caught up with each other, and I felt fairly confident that I'd just met Terminus, the Roman boundary god. He was even more uptight than Percy had said.

It was a beautiful fall day in California, the sun lighting up the Oakland hills and creating just the right amount of warmth. I stared around in awe at the city before me, which practically sparkled in the sun.

Percy had told me all about it, and I'd even seen a few pictures. But nothing quite compared to seeing it in person.

I joined the crowds moving through the city, laughing and talking with one another. Luckily for me, a very easy to find street sign pointed me in the direction of New Rome U, and I started heading in that direction.

Percy had just started college this fall, moving all the way across the country just when I'd finally settled for the long haul in New York. I gave him a bit of teasing for that, but I knew how happy he was to be going here (especially with Annabeth) and how hard he'd worked to get in, so I really was happy for him. I'd just made him promise to visit New York often, which I knew he would do for more family members than just me.

What I hadn't told him was that I also intended to visit him. This weekend was officially "parents' weekend" at NRU. Sally and Paul couldn't come, since Estelle was still a baby, but I had no such limitations. I'd booked a flight the second Sally had told me the date, and now, I was finally here.

Percy had no idea. As far as he knew, he had nothing special happening this weekend. I couldn't wait to see his face when I surprised him.

My head was on a swivel the minute I set foot on campus, looking for my favorite cousin. He wasn't short, so I hoped he'd be easily visible over the heads of people in the crowd, but I wandered between buildings and students with no luck. I needed a better plan.

It didn't take me long to come up with one, thankfully. A big, beautiful fountain sat in the middle of a cluster of university buildings, so I headed right for it and hopped up on the ledge, standing tall and scouting the crowds from my new vantage point. After a minute, I heard a surprised voice from behind me.

"Y/N?"

I whipped around to find Percy standing at the top of some stairs, apparently just coming from class in the building. He was hand in hand with his girlfriend Annabeth, which always made me happy to see. I beamed at him and waved like a maniac before hopping down and heading his direction.

"What are you doing here?" he called, momentarily dropping Annabeth's hand to race towards me, meeting me halfway across the square. I laughed as he picked me up in a tight hug and spun me around.

"It's parents' weekend for New Rome University, isn't it?" I asked, once my feet were back on the ground. "I might not be your parent, but I'm pretty sure the event has changed to mean 'family weekend' by this point."

"Why didn't you tell me you were coming!" he cried, laughing a little as he apparently didn't quite believe I was really here. Annabeth joined us, a smile on her face to match mine and Percy's.

"Because I wanted to surprise you, duh!" I laughed and pulled Annabeth into a tight hug, which she returned. "It's so good to see you both! Oh, and Percy, Terminus said you need to get a haircut."

Percy groaned and shook his head while Annabeth laughed.

"You met Terminus? How did you even get in here?"

"I name-dropped you for street cred with Terminus, obviously," I teased. Percy rolled his eyes, but he was still smiling. "And I might have found a way to reach out to a friend you mentioned had some power here. Frank Zhang was very nice when a total stranger appeared through a very shaky Iris message asking him to let me into his camp."

Percy and Annabeth both laughed at that, sharing a smile.

"I'll have to remember to thank Frank for the assist," said Percy.

"I actually have some of your mom's cookies with me for that exact purpose."

Percy's mouth dropped open in outrage. "And you didn't bring any for me?"

"Did I say that?"

I turned and reached into my bag, then pulled out a tupperware container of Sally's famous blue chocolate chip cookies.

"These are for you. I ate mine on the plane, and I have a batch of purple ones for Frank, since that's Camp Jupiter's colors."

"My mom is amazing," Percy breathed, the box of cookies already opened with one in his hand.

"Yeah. Yeah, she is. Now come on, I flew all the way out here from New York to hang out with you. I want to see your new school and hear about all your classes and everything else. Just tell me where we're going first."

Percy grinned. "I know the perfect spot."

My cousin didn't disappoint. Annabeth had to do a bit of work to prepare for the coming week, so after getting a promise from her to meet us later, Percy and I hiked to the top of a beautiful hill overlooking the entirety of Camp Jupiter, apparently called the Garden of Bacchus. With the sun shining and a slight breeze blowing, I quite literally couldn't have imagined anything more perfect.

"You know, I love New York. But I could stand living somewhere with more weather like this," I mused. Percy laughed.

"Yeah, it's a perk. I do miss the city sometimes though."

"Of course. But you'll be home for the break, right?"

"Yup. Annabeth's coming with me. I can't wait to see my mom, and Paul and Estelle. And we'll probably visit camp, which will be nice."

"I'm sure everyone will be excited to see you. Just don't forget to come visit your favorite cousin in fun places I can actually get to," I said, nudging him in the shoulder a little as I teased him. He grinned right back at me.

"Never."

"Good. Because otherwise I'll have to come track you down, and based on what you've told me about Camp Half-Blood, I'd have a hell of a time getting into that place."

"If any mortal could pull it off, I bet it'd be you."

I grinned, and Percy smiled. We paused for a minute, taking in the gentle breeze and bustling city below us, then I spoke up again.

"Alright, so catch me up. How's everything? Classes? Annabeth? Being on the West Coast? Any more of the Olympians trying to give you trouble?"

Percy frowned at the mention of the Olympians, which seemed incredibly fair to me.

"Thankfully no, at least for now. Otherwise, things have been good. It's still a little weird to be here, and I miss a lot of people back home, but I have a lot of friends here too. Mostly I'm just happy to finally have some normal life time with Annabeth."

"I can't think of two people who deserve it more." Percy huffed in agreement as I continued. "And one of the hardest parts of college is leaving behind people you love to go do what you need to do out in the world. But like you said, there's a lot of people you love and who love you here, too. And you know me and Sally and everyone else in New York will always leave our doors open for whenever you want to come back."

Percy gave me a small smile.

"I know. And I'll always be happy to see you visiting me here, or wherever else I might go. Especially if you keep bringing my mom's cookies with you."

I laughed. "Yeah, that makes sense. I think her cookies could open most doors for me, honestly."

"For sure."

We took a moment, smiling and laughing and breathing in the fresh air. Then finally, I sighed and stood, facing Percy with my hands on my hips.

"Alright, I've gotten the bird's eye view and I'm finally warm again after New York got that early cold snap. Now let's see what else this Roman camp has to offer."

The more we walked around, the more my jaw dropped. It looked just like the pictures I'd seen of Rome and Italy as a whole, places I'd always dreamed about visiting. Only bright, shiny, new, and right here in front of me, where I could reach out and touch it.

As we walked around and Percy gave me the full campus tour, we found more and more people who knew him, smiling and calling out hellos as we passed each other. I beamed every time, happy to see my little cousin doing so well. He'd been through hell, but he seemed at peace here. Settled, in a way I hadn't really seen him before.

"The camp itself has pegasi stables and stuff, but we'd need to get special permission to visit them," Percy explained as we walked into the plaza where I'd first found him, headed for 'the best coffee shop this side of the Mississippi'. The basic tour was completed, so we were on our way to meet Annabeth. "I can ask Frank about that, maybe. How long are you here?"

"I'm staying for the whole parents' weekend, so hopefully that means I get to see the pegasi! The day I met Blackjack might still be my best day ever."

Percy laughed as we walked through the door, a bell jingling happily over our heads. Annabeth waved to us from a table near the window, and we headed her direction.

"I think Blackjack enjoyed that day, too. He always likes to be appreciated."

"He's a flying horse. Who the hell isn't appreciating him?"

Percy just shrugged as we joined Annabeth at her table. She grinned and slid two drinks our way, one for each of us.

"Percy told me your order. Hopefully they got it right."

"I'm sure they did," I said, taking a careful sip. My jaw would've dropped, if I weren't incredibly determined not to let a single drop go to waste. "That is... actually maybe the best thing I've ever had."

"Right?" Percy grinned as he sipped his own drink.

"So, what did the two of you get up to?" asked Annabeth.

"Percy gave me the whole campus tour," I said, smiling as I leaned back in my seat, leisurely sipping my drink. The sun coming through the windows gently warmed my face, and I could've stayed right there for the rest of the day and been perfectly happy. "We hiked up to the Garden of Bacchus too, and I got a bird's eye of this whole place. I know I'll probably never get to see Camp Half-Blood to compare, but... this place is stunning."

"It really is."

Annabeth and Percy shared a smile, and he took her hand across the table. I beamed. I loved Annabeth, and I loved the two of them together. I'd never met somebody other than Annabeth who got such an immediate, unanimous family seal of approval.

"So, I got the tour of campus. I heard there are pegasi stables, which I will not be leaving without seeing. But what else is a can't-miss?"

"Don't worry," said Annabeth with a grin. "I had enough time after homework to make the perfect plan."

"Athena always has a plan," said Percy. He and Annabeth shared another smile, and I couldn't help smiling with them.

"Well good. Because I'm here all weekend, and this seems like a city I don't want to miss."

****************

Everything Taglist: @rosecentury @kmc1989

Percy Jackson Taglist: @valkyriepirate

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dnp-pet-rectangle · 1 month

Text

WAD reflection from the perspective of a theatre director

Inspired by @/calvinahobbes who did an amazing job breaking down the show’s metaphors & using her English degree in this post, I wanted to share my perspective on it (even a month later) & get use out of my theatre degree lol. Also, warning, this will be very much a long, long essay with run-ons. I have ADHD & I love when my frequent hyperfixations intersect 🤪 There are major spoilers.

My Background:

I am a semi-professional theatre director, but more broadly, a theatremaker. I have a theatre degree from New York University’s Tisch School on the Arts (NYU Tisch), where I did a conservatory program with one of their studios which focused basically on those who wanted to do a little bit of everything and create new works & was the only studio training directors & playwrights. I originally went into the program as a performer. I did not mean to end up concentrating on being mainly a producer & a director, but that’s a whole other story. I also through that program had to take theatre/performance studies courses, which I loved for the most part & is an interesting interdisciplinary field. But I will try to define terms just in case since anybody reading this may not know any or all the specific terminology I might use. In short, I have a fancy degree that apparently should cost $300k 🤡 & I’m gonna actually use it with doing this lol

Setting the Tone:

While Dan might call this a comedy special or comedy show, and thereby comparing it to other comedians, I actually think he is doing himself and We’re All Doomed (WAD) a disservice. I saw folks compare him a lot to Bo Burnham in the chat (who was actually was accepted and almost went to NYU Tisch for a different studio that focused on solely experimental work), which makes sense considering the theatrical nature of both of them. However, Dan actually goes further into the realm of theatre because of how he utilizes his crowd work (I’ll go into that later). I recognize traditional comedy specials/standup as having jokes or stories, when doing you know like late night talk show interviews, that can be made outside of the context of the show & slip into a conversation. Or with Burnham’s Inside Out, the songs & other parts can be done or understood mainly out of context, as seen through Bo uploading them to his YouTube channel. Comedy specials have the sections of their comedy stand-up thread together, but what Dan has done is weave his sections together. The length along with the intermission/interval being a part of WAD, adds to my point that he is not treating this as different material he tested out at different comedy clubs, but as something cohesive storytelling pieces. I think in terms of testing, Phil was the main sufferer audience member of the initial materials being created.

Anyway, you cannot as easily remove it from the context at certain points, because the transitions & the order of these different sections are treated as equally important, rather than a means to move on to the next section, with some possible space for improv.

Basically, I’m bi. Sorry, my brain started thinking about BIG when I started writing “basically” at the start of that sentence. Actually, what I am trying to say is that I would classify We’re All Doomed as a one-man performance piece/show, so I will be treating it as such in my review/reflection/breakdown. The comedy of it is important and there, but I don’t think it captures what WAD entirely is.

Also, unfortunately due to where I was at mentally at the time & the location it was being performed at, I never saw this live. To be honest, how it got framed marketing-wise did not help me feel connected with the actual purpose of the show, with hope being a key element. So while this was filmed, I am as much as possible trying to remove the cinematography as an element of my analysis. However, some things might be clearer on film, as with theatrical directing, you cannot add a zoom or crop & instead are trying to ensure moments are clear to an audience by what they see and hear through drawing their attention to it. With theatre being mainly about the live output by performers and intake by the audience, at the end of the day, what my job as a director is is to direct not only how the performers share the story, but also direct the audience on what is important to catch for understanding.

Breakdown of Thoughts

Originally, I wanted to rewatch the show again, and started to, but considering I ended up writing about a whole page worth of things for each minute of the show & I was sleepy by the time I was like 5-10 minutes in, I decided to be nice to myself & stay up all night in my comfortable bed instead of staying up all night at my desk trying to take in-depth notes 🙃

I’m gonna breakdown this analysis/reflection into further sections, just to give myself some anchors & break up the blocks of text. Also as a way to just be that pretentious, maybe with an academic flair, as is fitting to be for something about Dan Howell (said affectionately 💕)

The Script/Writing

When considering the text of the show itself, two things came to mind for me:

(1) This is definitely what I would call intertext. Intertext is a piece of writing that relates to another or more other writings through allusions. WAD is an intertext which alludes mainly to other works of Dan’s on his YouTube channel. The ability to get the true impact of the show relies on you knowing Dan (as his internet persona) on some level. And as a theatre maker & longtime fan, I love that it is, it’s what the piece needed to be. As a theatre producer, the hiatus from engaging with his audience and the limited runway given to reactivate interest in him and his creative work I think made it difficult to get that audience in some venues, along with some other funkiness (mainly with promo) I am less knowledgeable on. But I think Dan has already learned/continues to learn from that, which I think may have been valuable for him. (sidenote: I need the tea on all that because I love knowing how presenting venues work with performers, as well as the lack of understanding they have of internet culture as it relates to venue leadership.)

(2) This was a work he made for himself. He mentions this both in the show & in reference to WAD multiple times. But I think what truly came to mind for me was that it is still powerful for him to write for himself. He is writing for what he needs to be hearing or wants to be processing creatively.

I think why it is powerful is that Dan has discussed before how much stress he put on himself regarding danisnotonfire, and later Daniel Howell, videos, focusing on the audience, and how he was presenting a specific style/quality of video to them. Add in the layer of being closeted & actively fighting internalized homophobia, and the anxiety he built up makes sense. And I might personally attribute that more to his need to pass as straight & catering I believe at one point to an audience of cishet men, whether actual or perceived by him. Not all videos, especially the most impactful ones in my opinion, rely on this, but it was a key piece of what he made during his rise in popularity on the platform. This catering slowly decreased with the amount of uploads he was doing, along with a more tangible understanding of his audience thanks to the tours he did with Phil. Basically I’m Gay I think was the true shift where he gave himself permission to write work that had a main audience of himself. That’s where his best work has come from, and I think since then, he’s been able to have the space to process things creatively through his writing.

The Relationship Between Performer & Audience

When I was in theatre school, my directing teacher would constantly talk about not just considering the relationship of the performers on “stage” (I did a lot of more immersive work & we only had black box theatres, which is literally a room that is floor to ceiling black) but also the relationship of the performers & the story with the audience. By Dan knowing mainly who his audience would be, the show can now play with that understanding in mind.

This leads to my point that, overall, Dan does not use the fourth wall, and I think that is what makes We’re All Doomed work. It may also be why he called it a comedy show, idk.

For those who don’t know what the fourth wall is, it is a term from theatre originally that is about the way in which a traditional theatre stage (called a proscenium) has three physical walls around it, while there is no 4th physical wall, so the audience can see the performance. If does exist physically, it is only the curtain that acts as the 4th “wall”. So, in order to keep it as a separation between the performers and the audience, the actors treat the side where the audience is as a fourth wall. When someone breaks the 4th wall, this is when they speak to audience directly, rather than to another character. Examples from English-speaking pop culture would be the asides from Hamlet or Ferris Bueller in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. But when you are the only person on stage, the only way to have a fourth wall is when you don’t reference that you know there’s an audience there. Hence, a monologue where the character is talking to themselves or an entity that is not the audience directly (or assigned to be the audience by the director), it is the closest you can have a fourth wall when alone.

Dan in his videos and in his previous tours with Phil never were without direct engagement of the audience (obvious with the naming of Interactive Introverts). It was never not a variation on him speaking with the audience in any type of dialogue, even if done parasocially.

Some of that is not new to theatre, but I would say is that it has become more of a trend within new theatre starting in the early 2010s to have more interactivity and a more authentic, explicit message that no performance will be the exact same. I definitely saw that in the shows I saw both Off-Broadway (which sidenote, all that means is that there’s fewer seats in that theatre, not about quality of the work or how worth it is to engage with) and larger settings like Broadway and the West End. That’s what I love about theatre, and why my own work is more about immersion and direct audience engagement.

Now Dan’s creative works have never been skit only or interested in telling a story outside of the realm of connecting with an audience as a variation of himself, so again, him not using the fourth wall overall is appropriate and fits in with what I mentioned about intertext. The piece does however start with a fourth wall for the music number, which I will walk through fully sharing why I am saying that about the song & dance opening after establishing some other concepts to help build understanding.

Design Can Work With You or Against You

I just want to say out the gate that the design was done really well, and I immediately felt a need to emphasize it after watching the first 10 minutes again.

First, let’s talk about the orange & black aesthetic of the show. Dan may have simply said that the orange just looked cool, but I think I would attribute more meaning to that color. Orange brings to my mind at first instance both a bright happiness/warmth and a sense of caution and warning, like road signs (at least those in America). The themes of the show reflect these two ideas and plays with the tension between them. I don’t know if he or the team meant to have that be a conscious choice, but there’s a joke I’ve had with other directors of when they get complimented on something unexpected, they just nod and say “yes, that was a choice”, even though it was just a random thing that happened or was something that you just thought would be cool to do. Orange runs through the show’s designs and it becomes clear that it is a tool for contrast and emphasis for the points Dan & the director want to make.

Now with the design team of costumes, lights, sound, and media, I can see a clear cohesion. Good theatrical design has the designs act as a character or highlighter in the story. Bad theatrical design can take away/distract from the core intensions of the show. It was so clear to me that the design was a character. And seeing that there were two media designers make complete sense considering the labor lift of both creating the projections displayed, but also creating/filming pieces of the media itself. The music/sound and lighting work well to articulate the manic feelings it means to instill in the audience and seeing it as a director, I assume part of the creative discussion was about parts of the media played they wanted to make sure were heard, and the lights help catch attentions in service of those pulled out moments. For costumes, I think Calvina did well in her post at articulating the elements of the costume and the progression it goes throughout the show. I’d rather not take up space to say the same thing truthfully.

With all the design elements, I think three characters could be defined (not including the audience), two as main characters, and one as a supporting character. I would name the main characters as “the Circle” (the looming set piece throughout hosting the projections used throughout) and “Dan On Stage/Dan performing” (the one in the physical space) with the “voiceover Dan/inner voice Dan” as a supporting character. The voiceover only exists in the beginning, and it is only shared with us to demonstrate the way in which the Dan On Stage singing is not really that aggressively optimistic and wholeheartedly believes the words he is singing. He is not the Dan we know from the Internet, so we can cathartically laugh at the attempt to pretend everything is fine. The voiceover only has one role, and it is to force Dan to confront this breakdown has an audience.

Staging an Opening Sequence: Our First Stage Character is the Circle

In directing classes, often what you focus on is called stage pictures, which is meant to help you consider what the actual imagery you want to ensure the audience absorbs for their understanding of the piece. The first and last stage moment of each act should tell a basic story of what happened, and therefore, are heavily emphasized as important for directors. The Circle (capitalized for reference purposes) being lit up before the show starts and then again in conjunction with the light flashes and sound establishes the importance of the Circle to the show. When the projection comes into play, showing the speech of a 15-year-old Greta Thunberg before beginning to add more, we are then introduced to the purpose of the Circle to be an output/portal for the overstimulation of messages, in this case, I would claim it being what comes from the Internet.

The music/sound and lighting work well to articulate the manic feelings it means to instill in the audience and seeing it as a director, I assume part of the creative discussion was about parts of the media played they wanted to make sure were heard, and the lights help catch attentions in service of those pulled out moments. The Circle also through some of the lighting moments, mimic that of a clock, which again adds to the doomsday, the "end is near" type energy. To have the end of the opening sequence build to an explosion which then shows solid orange at the end while Dan is in silhouette begins the introduction to the orange emphasis & proposes a sort of prophet-like version of him after the apocalyptic imagery disappears as he rises to be seen. What we have opened with is setting the tone to how we should view these two characters of the Circle & the Dan on Stage.

Song Time!

Dan is such a theatre kid & I love that for him. His dramatic side shows through the moment he used a rise to start his show at the top of the stairs, first in a place of seriousness with the sharp lighting and smoke to then bring in a very happy music number. The contrast & switching of expectations is a key of comedic works, and shows through most of the phandom who did not know WAD started with that, as it is indeed funnier if it comes as a shock. The movement & music mimic what folks attribute to as musical theatre, which is campy, happy singing. Knowing he was the one who suggested the song for TATINOF, I am loving Dan clearly wanting to have that opening number of a musical moment, even if it is dripping in irony. The Circle & the lights in this acts as a supporter to the message of it being sunshine and rainbows, with literal rainbow lights included. (Sidenote: I am 99% sure the pigeon coo is Phil, so if anything, I’m disappointed he was not credited as Pigeon sound effect AND remote crisis manager. Idk why I could tell, but both times now, it’s what I immediately thought when hearing that part)

I think of the musical number as the only place where he does have a fourth wall, because the number does not directly reference the audience at the start. It’s a one-man moment and it is about the performance not the audience engagement. It starts falling away when he starts pointing out the “and you”s, but the voiceover is the real break in our understanding of the world. It is emphasized by the color inversion of the sun & sky media of the Circle. The director is saying, this is important to how you now interpret what you’ve seen & will see, this is another shift from what was established of this world.

I should mention “world” is the terminology used to name what the environment the story is being told in with consideration, especially in theatre, of how much of a need there is for suspension of disbelief. I believe this term is also referenced a lot when discussing the fantasy and sci-fi genres, since those also requires some distancing from reality for the audience. This ties into a phrase I will probably end up using a lot of “rules of the space”. When establishing this world for the show you are presenting to an audience, there is a type of logic that must be established in order to understand what is the baseline for what the audience will be engaging with over the span of the show. But the voiceover immediately changes the rules of the space, because it messes with the Dan on stage, and messes with the messaging of the Circle. It adds a new context to the Dan On Stage, as while a fan will know that this song is not in alignment of our knowledge of Dan Howell, we get confirmation that this indeed ironic and outside of the branding that Dan has boxed himself into over his time on YouTube.

But the voiceover is also not in alignment with that “branding”. It expresses concerns related to the Dan On Stage’s mental wellbeing. There is no irony or subtext in that voice, it is the most direct in speaking to Dan On Stage, because it is being said by a variation of Dan in voiceover to himself. These could be seen as questions he knows to ask himself, but as someone who advocates for mental health & shares now about being openly gay, I interpret that he may feel he cannot express that outside of his mind for fear of undermining his advocacy points. The discussion of the “wonders” of the Internet also continue building in the tension that exists throughout WAD of how Dan feels about that space. The voiceover then proposes at first a type of equal extreme, which only sees the Doom, and as someone with clinical Depression myself, I think is only a furtherance of the breakdown, rather than the reality check it started off being. Not that what is listed is wrong by any means, but the barrage of it is meant to expand the drowning feeling, not act as call to action or consideration of the intricacies for engaging in the world. With the Circle’s sun imagery & the music having been inverted and shifted to something more sinister, Dan’s movement up the stairs fits a type of circular moment from the first entry of him, where the image of the prophetic figure is questioned on how he alone will solve the climate emergency. The slap & break of character for the Dan on Stage serves to confirm our understanding of the voiceover as the voice in Dan’s head & indeed there are not two Dans.

Also, the sparklers �� showing up really make the key change for the song, but my producer brain is going, “girl, of course you lost money on this show, was that so VERY NECESSARY?” But the dramatic Gemini theatre bitch in me would 100% want this too. I just don’t have a capita£ester working to get sponsorship money in my life, so I have to be reasonable 😔 Also, the confetti with the high note is peak theatre gay so I again, love that for him. And of course, the confetti is orange.

Hints of Orange

When the song reaches its end & the Circle starts showing squares of orange, rather than a full background, this acts as a seed for the breakdown and waterfall of cubes, which Calvina speaks to the orange cube hint at the beginning in her post. The sudden cut-out with Dan simply lit replicates a moment the Circle is not present. The Internet is not present. To crawl to a microphone, the message is not “hey this guy needs two mics”, because we see one on his face, but that the wired mic (which I will now label as “The Microphone”) is a metaphor. It’s a crawl towards sharing out, not suppression. Only when the voiceover of himself points out the audience does he does a full fourth wall break. The suppression did not work, and neither he nor the audience can believe that it was the Truth.

The wire of the Microphone being orange showcases that it was meant to be seen. I don’t think it even in play in terms of the sound, like it might not even be on, considering the feedback nightmare it would likely cause. And no standard microphone used on stages has orange wires, because that would pull the audience’s eyes to it. But that’s the point here.

The rules of the space are now this: the Circle is not always active, the Microphone has significance, the Dan On Stage knows there is an audience. None of these were true before, even the Circle was on before the start. This draws the audience to know there has been a shift & to have the first words said into the Microphone be “We’re All Doomed” solidifies the song moment was a blip, that this is really where we start at. As an example, in the social media section, Dan does a deliberate wrapping of the wire on his hand at the same time the Circle scrolls to the social media icon. It is how the director & Dan are ensuring that we understand “what he is saying and what is been shown on the screen are in tandem”, so if you’re paying attention to that wire, it signals you should look up too.

Every other prop, except I believe the gavel and wig, is also orange. The bubble gun is mainly what comes to mind for me, since the cubes are not as activated as props necessarily. But if an item is to enter the stage, what I interpret it as is that it must be orange, there must be high contrast, nothing in the physical world on the stage can become blurred, only screens have that privilege(?) to have things blend together.

The Power Struggle Between Dan & the Circle

Once Dan has begun directly conversing with the audience, the rules of the space are:

(1) Dan On Stage acts, the design elements react (not including the Circle)

(2) The Circle and Dan have a symbiotic relationship, as neither have complete control over the other & react to what each other are doing

(3) The icons are our guides in understanding the sectioning done throughout the show

(4) Having “One Good Night” is the goal to reach at the end of the piece

As a person, as well as discussed throughout the show, we know that Dan has a contentious relationship with the Internet. It is what has given him his living but has also caused some of his worst moments mentally (2012? I don’t know her). It is the space in which lets him have an audience who have mainly showed him support, but also the space that has fed the cynicism that fuels his clinical depression. There lies in the way in which the Circle exists on the stage & looms over Dan in the background. It’s a necessary evil of what appears on the screen.

Why do I then say that the design elements are reacting? Well, if we remove the Circle from the equation, the lights, sounds effects, and props are all cued off of something Dan does like the clown honk. However, the Circle sometimes cues off what Dan does, but sometimes instigates what Dan speaks to. That especially is evident when video clips play that invoke what media Dan has been contending with on the Internet and the consequences of those things.

The Circle exists throughout both Act One & Act Two, but only becomes passive to the piece when Dan directly shows vulnerability & the removal of protective irony. Calvina spoke to this when discussing the costume choice of him opening the jumpsuit in Act Two to show the orange tank underneath.

Cubes as Articulators

Oh Creator did I have to dig deep into my brain for this term of articulators. So my directing instructor had some key terms that I think I don’t think are universally used, even by American theatre directors or at least in academic settings. She defined articulators to basically be elements that helped give almost like checkpoints for the progression of a throughline in a show. For WAD, that is easily those orange cubes.

When static is displayed on the Circle’s screen each time we transition to a new section, it is not the typical emulation of TV static, it is that sea of orange squares. It is an articulation of those fear, issues, concerns, all those pinpoints Dan speaks to why he says “We’re All Doomed”.

That’s why there is the culmination of the orange cubes falling on him, when he reaches the top of the stairs at the end of Act One. When he circles back to the same stage picture of him at the top, it can been considered a repetition of the prophetic imagery I pointed out from the opening sequence. What changes is that the orange squares enter the physical world, falling onto Dan. He can no longer say they live in his head. They are here and stay in the space until the end of the show. In Act One, they are the looming issues that signal the Apocalypse. In Act Two, they are the rubble that must be sorted through.

Calvina was the one who named it rubble and the cubes as representations of Dan’s problems. To have the audience actually able to take a cube home, she argued, would be symbolic of the audience helping carry that weight. While I’d love that, I mentioned in my tags on her post that I think mentally, that rubble would still be at his feet, even with taking home that visual metaphor. This is Dan we’re talking about, and with personal responsibility being a topic of the show, while it’s not his burden to bear alone, he does have to recognize it exists.

I think the repetition of the prophetic imagery comes to its climax when in the aftermath found in Act 2, voting who to fire into space can and does end up with him being sent by the audience. It represents an understanding of where he exists now from where he did at 18 in terms of social, political, and economic access and the possibilities of his influence. There is a responsibility there that ties to how he can move in the world now publicly, so why wouldn’t he have an existential crisis?

It is a Comedy Though, Right?

This is hundred percent comedy, and obvious dark humor at that. As a director, I love comedy, especially this type, because when an audience gets to laugh, the armor gets stripped away. They have no built-up resistance that let’s any uncomfortable point be heard effectively. It’s why the end’s vulnerability is effective, because we have already joked and laughed about our pains and our desire for escapism. Now we are able to move on into a place of reflection.

To underline why I say this is not stand-up comedy is that Dan has made it a stage show, just one that has comedy as a vehicle for telling this “story”. His interactions with his audience, through both quips based on audience reactions or “heckling” as well as explicitly asking for input into who to shot to space or what to add as a mad lib (generic brand for law purposes), are about being blended into the loose narrative constructed already, not actually to be reactionary like most crowd work I associate with stand-up comedy.

If anything, I could argue that it could be considered a comedy special that “Dan On Stage” is trying to make, but there is actually conflict being introduced that disrupts his set (both the comedy one and the physical one). There is clearly a showing of meta, as Dan makes sure to share thoughts on the creation of the show, the reactions from his overall show branding & imagery, the use of the lift because it was expensive to have. Dan’s comedy style can never be told without reference to behind the scenes, because if this is a creative means to process feelings, there are things about the show & its making that impact what needs to be processed too. It is also related to how his work is strengthened by acknowledging the two-way street of being in a parasocial relationship with his audience.

Can We Have One Good Night?

Another term central to what my directing teacher spoke of was the “Core”, usually a question, though not always, that motivated what was being explored over the course of a theatre piece. At the top, as Dan on Stage exaggerates that love doesn’t exist (which Dan refutes as being an actual belief of his during the afterparty) and other sardonic phrases, he also states he wants to give his audience one good night, because he recognizes the escapism his audience finds in his solo and joint content. We’re All Doomed’s Core is “can we just have one good night, even in the midst of the horrors we have outside of these theatre doors?”. But I would also say that in terms of where his writing was at the time of WAD’s inception and the naming of his mental health book as You Will Get Through This Night, it feels more like Dan himself has been grappling with a Core of “can I have one good night? Or a full 24 hours where I feel mainly happy when all I am bombarded with about the world is suffering?” I think night can be both literal, since we know he has had sleep issues, and metaphorical, as the night can represent this depressive episode he was writing himself out of.

When the mood tracker gets discussed in the last portion of WAD, to see a sea of neutral or uninterested emojis demonstrates when he took the time to do it, the answer that night was “no, not really” 😕. The main one mentioned is the ritual of “Fry Day” he has with Phil (sidenote: why are these British men not calling it “Chip Day”, since this ritual falls on a Saturday?), which is a rare smiley face. The question he likely has then is “can I ever have a good night again?”

So for him to then turn to his own videos during one of those nights, to a video where he states his famous “embrace the void and have the courage to exist,” that showcases what I mentioned of his best work being written for himself, in this case, a future version of himself.

Ending Sequence: Where Do We Land?

When the Circle does not display any media, it again shows the orange square motif, but after mentioning his own video, he turns to his audience for glimpses of what joy exists even in the face of Doom. The Circle changes into a display of different submitted clips showcasing this joy and hope that Dan was clearly looking for throughout this piece. He walks towards the top of the stairs to witness these clips. I cannot for my life at this point having now been separate from it for about a month, but I believe before the submitted media sequence, he states the famous line again of “Embrace the Void and Have the Courage to Exist”. With this last thing spoken, it gives that emphasis needed to take in the message emotionally and then witness what the Void (in this case the Circle) can offer.

A Good Director Should Go Unnoticed

When someone is not versed in theatrical directing, if the audience cannot tell what was a choice by the director or even consider the director themselves, this is weirdly a good sign. It means that it feels natural to what they are witnessing and to the messages that are meant to be communicated to the audience. As someone who also works in government, it feels very similar, as only bad work is evident to the general public. Obviously that is not true for everyone, but is an overall trait I think impacts both an understanding of public service and directing.

I am not familiar with any of the work of Ed Stambollouian, who through research, looks like he has done work with comedians like Joe Lycett (who I am also not familiar with) and directed TATINOF, but also more stripped down, exploratory theatre. Through a quick review of his portfolio, one, I am not shocked that Dan tapped him to assist with directing since there is a familiarity and two, his background tells me he knows how to direct for writer-performers, which is what comedians really are at the end of the day.

To direct for those who are doing one-person shows that they both wrote and performed, it is especially tricky to have the artist hand the reins over to the director. The director in this case acts as the artist’s eyes, because an artist cannot clone themselves. It is impossible for them to wear multiple hats at once, where they can give quality, objective feedback to themselves while also doing a full out performance. For Ed to be someone Dan has worked with before, there is already an established understanding of each other’s work styles, and a trust that otherwise would have to be built up before the work can truly begin to finalize the piece.

In short, Ed Stambollouian and the creative team on We’re All Doomed did an incredible job bringing what I understand Dan intended when he started writing this down in isolation. And @danielhowell you whole-heartedly deserve to call this your magnum opus. What can I say (sorry I can't help lovingly poking fun at you), your artistry shines throughout the show. I hope this too can be something your future self can turn back to.

🧡

(bonus) Thoughts on Orange Carpet & the Phil element

I didn’t fully rewatch the orange carpet, just to keep myself on task & not bring Phil too much into the main reflection without explicit reference in the show, but hearing Dan go “I’m alive in 3, 2…” made me laugh both times. He understands that we just want to know he has a pulse, ya know? Also them pretending it totally was live, when those fools (affectionate) cannot run a real live broadcast from their home for their lives. It just ran too smoothly, esp. in the transitions, for it to be anything but some very, very light editing on one improvised take they did. But I always support them in their acting, no matter how bad, like with DITL Australia’s opener or pretending there were not two apartments or that Google Feud being back was unplanned or Dil being pregnant with a statistically rare alien child or Phil living in a tiled, cramped bedroom or...

Also, Dan’s little laugh at the end of Phil’s sign-off is so fond it hurts. It also hurt that the VOD was hard to scrub through, so another deduction for the Kiswe platform.

Anyway, I’m glad that Dan was able to find space outside of the Dan & Phil branding of the 2010s as well as the image he was forced to manufacture for his YouTube presence, but also realize that with having a core audience that wants him to simply be happy, he can recognize that Phil is part of the things that make him happy. And can do so openly.

He is his own person, but it has been clearly emphasized now that Dan has no interest in not acknowledging that Phil always is and will be part of his present and future. He has made work like WAD & "Gay and Not Proud" to explore his way of thinking without the support of Phil present in the filmed/performed aspect. Dan acknowledges this intention, which is evident with him shooing away Phil at the beginning of “Gay and Not Proud” to process it alone.

It is also evident with the ending of “Daniel & Depression” and the WAD end credit of remote crisis manager showcasing the caretaking role Phil often plays in Dan’s life. But we know that caretaking is reciprocal, considering Phil's tactics with glue as well as his continuing health issues and anxieties. Dan has seen who he is without Phil by his side everyday in the public eye & has no interest in maintaining that Phil is absent for public projections.

I obviously do not know Dan Howell, or anything about him outside what exists on the internet. But in performance studies, there is a foundational understanding that there is no way to not be performing in some way during your day-to-day. Performing is not inherently a bad thing, as there are different roles you take on in your life, where how I engage at work is different from how I am hanging out with friends. This also has basis in gender studies, such as ideas that you can perform your gender "wrong". What has been so interesting to me in this phandom renaissance is the way Dan and Phil each perform as themselves in front of the camera now. What they share out and the layers they include--or choose to not remove--have been stated by them explicitly to be the most authentic they have ever been, without obviously removing their right to privacy. During the height of the glass closet that was their 2018 content, I remember thinking that it was going to be the most they would show us in the vain of "if you know, you know, and we know who will know". After the coming out videos of 2019, obviously that's not true, but the return of dapg has signaled a message of "we know you know, if you've been in the know" while veiled in a way that is not immediately perceivable by those who are casually engaging with their content. It is an authentic portrayal of themselves without filter, while also providing themselves space to not have to announce everything to the world. When you are in the know, it definitely targeted and causes psychic damage, but I am ready for anything and everything they throw our way.

#we’re all doomed #wad spoilers #daniel howell #danisnotonfire #dnp #dan and phil #dan howell #theatre analysis #performance studies #theatre director

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strangesthirdeye · 1 month

Text

No Way (Stephen Strange x wife! Reader)

Summary: All hell breaks loose, like they said right?

Warning: It's Stephen, who doesn't love him? slightly injured, No Way Home spoiler alert for those who haven't watched it yet, fluff, mention of other injuries, special appearance,

As usual, forgive me if there are any language mistakes or confusing storylines.. also forgive me if there are grammatical mistakes.. English is not my first language

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

You were married to Stephen while he was still working at Metro General Hospital and were with him when he had an incident that made him decide to head to Kathmandu to find a way to recover both hands so he could return to work as a Neurosurgeon. Too much happens as Stephen tries to recover his hands. No matter how much the surgery costs, he still wants to try to get his hands back to normal. And you, with a good heart and a patient person, try to help your husband in all the challenges you both face

So you with no choice decided to follow him to Kathmandu. And that's where all the stories begin and your new life changes. Stephen became a Sorcerer, fighting Dormamu and taking over as Sorcerer Supreme due to the death of The Ancient One and also helping Thor and Loki find their father in Norway.

How about you? well you and Wong became close friends as well as Mordo but it was only for a while because Mordo chose to go and make his own way so it's only you and Wong who still communicate but due to the things that always happen in Kamar Taj, it's quite difficult also for you to spend your time with your husband and friends.

And most surprisingly you and Cloak seem to have become good friends where Cloak will usually go to you if it is bored with Stephen or just Stephen being an ass which is sometimes. And often Cloak will put itself on your thigh like a blanket or your shoulder as if it wants to be pampered. So it's no wonder if Stephen sees Cloak with you because he knows that his relic will surely pamper you like a dog that wants it's owner attention.

But then, you usually spend your time teaching your students online in the library at New York Sanctum A. K. A your new home. So you are always alone and do your own work as a lecturer. Let me say that, you are also studying mystic art but not always because of your work as a lecturer which is often busy and also because of your students who can be said to be quite challenging as if teaching a kindergarten class. But, you still know some simple spells like opening a portal, or making things float towards you. So that's pretty easy for you too.

Oh yeah, i forgot...I haven't talked about Infinity War yet. Yeah, where Bruce Banner falls from the sky and destroys the roof of the Sanctum. sheesh.. there is a lot of money to be spent to repair the roof of the Sanctum but why be surprised? Kamar Taj students can fix it while Stephen, Wong, Bruce and Tony solve this Infinity Stones thing.. plus with you who are still confused about what happened because of this sudden thing.

"You have to stayed here.. it's dangerous outside.. I don't want anything to happen to you, yeah?" Stephen said while holding your face with both hands gently.

"Oh, you better come back safely, Stephen.. I don't want to see any cuts or scratches on you otherwise you sleep outside" you said sternly while frowning as your hands held Stephen's hand which was still holding the side of your face

And the next thing you know, an Alien comes and kidnaps your husband while Ironman and Spiderman come and try to save your husband and that was the last time you heard from your husband.

Welp-that happened 5 years ago.. where everyone in the world experienced a rather shocking situation where almost all life in the Universe turned to dust, including your husband. Lucky for you, you are not one of those dusty people.

But still, for you, half of yourself has disappeared with Stephen. You have started to feel down, you have started to distance yourself from other people.. and only Wong can give you a little motivation to continue living. The moment when the news of your husband's loss came out of the mouth of Steve Rogers who came to the Sanctum just days after the infinity Stones thing happened you started busying yourself from the outside world with work.

You have started working overtime until you forget to take care of yourself. Also, you don't realize that you have lost a lot of weight. And luckily, Wong noticed your change and tried to help you by advising you to eat and so on.

The thing happened for 3 months and that was 5 years ago. And now everyone is back to normal.. but still, the news of the death of Tony Stark and Natasha Romanoff still remains in everyone's mind.

" I'm old now" you said in a soft tone to Stephen as you put your head on Stephen's chest after your 'best' night.

"yeah but I'm still older than you" replied Stephen smirked while stroking your hair gently.

"traitor"

( don't ask me about the age..)

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

So! now the real story is about to begin. So you know who Spiderman is because you met him at Tony's funeral a few months ago. And you know that he is a good teenager, and caring and also has a heroic spirit. So for you it is not a problem because you know that every teenager has their own advantages and disadvantages.

And you also understand the side of today's teenagers because you also have students who are quite ok for you and some who are not right with you. But for you it's just ok. You don't even care as long as you can teach them so that they can continue their lives after finishing their studies is pretty good.

But for you Peter is different from the students you usually teach. He is a smart and independent person but sometimes he is a bit clumsy but that is not a problem because some teenagers are still not comfortable with their surroundings. Peter is also a shy person and is quite polite with the people around him. The way he talks is also a bit soft and a little stuttering because he's probably still shy but that's not a problem either because when you get to know him you immediately treat him like he's your child.. after all that's the way you treat kids and teenagers these days.

Back to the story, so the whole of New York is in chaos when the news about Quentin Beck or better known as Mysterio has spread all over New York plus maybe the whole world through his last footage of Spiderman killing him and saying Spiderman who controls all the drones to attack the population around And the most surprising thing is that Mysterio has also spread the identity of Spiderman to the entire population of New York and said that the true identity of Spiderman is PETER PARKER.

And of course you and Stephen know about this from the news that has been playing on TV. You start to feel sympathy for Peter and his family because he has to deal with this situation. And you believe that he is not a murderer or a criminal but just a teenager who was slandered by Mysterio because of his murder. You can feel that Peter's future is threatened by criticism and threats from the media or people around him.

And what happened after this was really beyond your expectations.

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

"I told you, you should check again.. see what happened now?" you said while looking for a thick sweater in the closet to wear.

"oh please, I've checked ok... but I didn't expect the Rotundas Getaway was connected to Siberia" replied Stephen who was leaning against the door of your shared bedroom while rubbing his cold neck.

You see, Stephen's carelessness has caused the entire Sanctum to be filled with white snow that has been blasted into the Sanctum through the Rotundas Getaway which has accidentally connected with Siberia and has filled every room with snow. ALL THE ROOMS ARE FILLED WITH SNOW.

Coincidentally, Christmas is getting closer which doesn't mean this is part of the Christmas decorations.. In addition, with the growing cold and thick snow, Stephen and Wong wasted no time looking for students who are willing to volunteer to shovel the thick snow in the Sanctum living room.

And the lucky thing is that your shared room isn't filled with snow so it's kind of nice too because it's where you both sleep but that doesn't mean the cold isn't there either. This has been happening for almost 3 days and Stephen and Wong are trying to fix the situation in the Sanctum.

How about you? welp- you also tried to help Stephen and Wong but because Stephen was haunted by guilt, Stephen kept rejecting your offer to help him even though you insisted on helping him too and besides you don't have any class to teach.. now it's the holidays. Of course, your 'lovely' students have returned to their hometowns.

Because you insisted on helping, Stephen finally had to give in and let you help him. So, the more people do the work, the sooner this ends, right?.

"yeah, just 'check' it. Next time check with your eyes, don't just use your mouth." you murmured while sighing heavily and smoky because of the extreme cold.

"aww, don't be like that. Anyway, this thing is under control, I'm sure this situation will end soon." Stephen said and walked over and started hugging you from behind, hoping to add warmth so you wouldn't get cold.

"I know, but still.. next time you must check properly and make sure that there is nothing wrong with what happens next time. Don't just work carelessly, understand?" you said with a firm tone while rubbing both of Stephen's arms.

"okay ma'am," replied Stephen and kissed your hair gently.

No matter how great and brave Stephen is, he is still afraid of his wife. He really can't imagine your angry face. For him that is very badass and at the same time scary. that's what Stephen likes. Yes. The scariest and cutest wife that Stephen adored.

"don't always say ok if you don't even do your work, Stephen" said Wong in his hoarse but firm tone as he was carrying his heavy bags towards the Sanctum living room.

" and where do you want to go? The work here is not done yet" said Stephen loosening the hug and allowing you to walk into the bathroom to change clothes.

" you see, I have things in Kamar Taj for a few days because of my duty as Sorcerer Supreme so I'm not here for a few days until the things in Kamar Taj are finished.. and I want what happened in this Sanctum now to recover and I hope nothing happened as long as I wasn't here, understand?"said Wong while pointing his finger at Stephen.

Wong is really familiar with Stephen's personality and he is already familiar with it. So whatever happened before, he will definitely know who masterminded all that happened, no matter the matter involving duty or a spell that went out of control because all the evidence will definitely be directed at Stephen.

Stephen sighed and walked towards the door of his room and looked at Wong with an innocent face.

"Come on, Wong. Don't worry about all that, besides, nothing will happen as long as you're not here. Everything will be fine," replied Stephen.

Wong looked at Stephen for a long time while raising one eyebrow. He wouldn't be fooled by Stephen's sweet words because he knew that as long as he wasn't in Sanctum there would be trouble. And he also believes that with you being with Stephen, you will definitely keep Stephen under control.

"I don't trust you but I believe that your wife will make sure that nothing happens as long as you stay in this Sanctum and do not do anything related to dimensions or spells or else you will be in a dangerous situation" warned Wong firmly.

"oh please, you know that I-"

"The most famous person in the world. I know. " interrupted Wong without looking at Stephen before opening the portal and then walked across the portal carrying several luggage bags.

Stephen sighed heavily. The bathroom door was thrown wide open by you as soon as you finished changing into a thick sweater. You looked at Stephen confused.

"What's wrong? "you asked before walking up to Stephen with a confused face.

"well- you know that Wong always warns me right? yes.. that's why" replied Stephen before conjuring two cups of hot cocoa for him and you.

"I see.. well, what Wong warned you is true. You have to take care of yourself so you don't get into too much trouble. And you're lucky because I have to take care of you or not, I don't know what will happen in Sanctum later" you replied before taking a cup of hot cocoa from Stephen's hand and sipping slowly. Then, the sweet and warm taste continues to soothe your freeze and dry throat and warm your cold body temperature.

"I'm not a little boy to take care of" complained Stephen.

"yeah.. whatever you say you're still my boy" you said sweetly before walking out of your bedroom.

"I like that sound of that" replied Stephen and walked out of the bedroom and was followed by Cloak who had been at the end of the room from behind before landing on Stephen's shoulder.

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

"Is all this for a holiday party?"asked Peter confused as he looked around the Sanctum's living room filled with snow as soon as he set foot inside the Sanctum.

Wong who wearing a thick sweater placed the last of his bags on the snowy floor before closing the portal and then looked at Peter with a fierce expression on his face.

"No. One of the rotunda gateways connects to Siberia. Blizzard blasted through." Wong replied quickly.

An abrupt swoosh can be heard. Doctor Stephen Strange floats down the stairs through his Cloak of Levitation, holding a mug, wearing a sweatshirt and an anorak. Its blue color resembles his usual mystical outfit. At first glance, it will definitely look like a father who is trying to get along with teenagers.

"Because someone forgot to cast a maintenance spell to keep the seals tight."replied Stephen lazily before he landed on the snowy floor and almost slipped as soon as he landed.

"Don't say that to Wong, Stephen. You should have done the work as Wong told you before" you said slowly going down the slippery stairs due to the snow and ice.

"That's right, because he forgot I now have higher duties. thanks Y/n" replied Wong.

"Higher duties?" asked Stephen, pretending to be confused.

"The Sorcerer Supreme has high duties, yes." replied Wong with a firm yet gentle tone.

Peter who had been standing watching the conversation of the three adults began to interrupt.

"Wait, I thought you were the Sorcerer Supreme?" Peter asked confused as he pointed his finger at Stephen.

"No. He got it on a technicality, 'cause Stephen blipped for five years and made Wong to take over as Sorcerer Supreme."you said with a small smile as if trying to make Stephen jealous. (But then again, he's really jealous but on the inside..wink)

Peter then looked at Wong with a sign of understanding after what you said just now.

" Oh. Well, congratulations." said Peter with his sweet smile.

Wong nodded in thanks. At least, there is someone who appreciates him as much as you. After all, Wong had worked hard during Stephen's absence in the previous year. He also has many services as long as he takes the rank of Sorcerer Supreme in order to protect the universe and this dimension.

"If I'd been here, then I'd-"

"-burned the place down. " Wong interrupted without missing a beat before walking past Stephen and looking at the two students who had been shoveling snow since the beginning "You two, no one said, 'Stop shoveling!'"

With a jerk, the two students continued to scoop up the white snow quickly. Stephen was silent for a moment. Maybe still thinking about what Wong said a moment ago. You looked at your husband who was still silent before turning your gaze towards Peter who had been listening to the conversation between the three of you. Too bad he waited so long. You sighed lightly.

" Steph? " you called softly as you gently patted Stephen on the shoulder.

Stephen jerked and looked down at you. " yeah"

You tilted your head as if to point at Peter who was still standing waiting for his turn to speak. Stephen quickly understood your meaning and looked at Peter with his hand still tightly gripping the coffee mug.

" So Peter, to what do i owe the pleasure?

And there goes to Peter telling him the problem he is facing in the hope that Stephen can turn back the time before Mysterio revealed his identity to the public. It's quite sad, because not only is he the target of the media, but his family and close friends are also affected. Even sadder, Peter was unable to continue his studies at MIT or any other educational institution because his identity was revealed as a murderer.

For them, they didn't want the killer anywhere near them nor did they want him as a student. Even more sad, his best friend and girlfriend were also affected and rejected because they were close friends of Peter. The irresponsible party is cruel and so is the 24-hour media that only wants to make the current situation worse.

"Peter... we tampered with the stability of space-time to resurrect countless lives. You wanna do it again now just because yours got messy?" Stephen said supportively. Yes, he did feel sorry for the young man but, without the Time Stone, he couldn't do anything to help Peter.

"This isn't... it's not about me. I mean, this is really hurting a lot of people. My... my Aunt May, Happy... My best friend, my girlfriend, their futures are ruined just because they know me, and... they've done nothing wrong." Peter pleaded. His eyes began to show sadness.

You who heard the two of them talking earlier started to feel sorry for Peter. Peter is just a boy. He didn't do anything. But, just because of that person's greed and hatred, the hope of a victim is shattered without end.

What Peter went through was too big and dangerous. Because not only the media make this situation worse, but the government does the same. Just because a hero called the Avengers makes a mistake, the government and the people will no longer believe in their safety anymore.

You looked at Stephen with a compassionate face. Begged him so he could help Peter. Stephen looked at you. He really can't go against your look. He knows, every time you give that look. He will definitely lose to you. He is afraid of you but at the same time he loves you. He doesn't care if you don't have magic or work as a university lecturer, he still loves you and obeys you.

Stephen looked at Peter and sighed heavily.

"I am so sorry, but... even if I wanted to... I don't have the Time Stone anymore"said Stephen with a disappointed tone because he was unable to help Peter no matter what the situation. The Time Stone has already been returned to the past so Stephen can't do anything else.

You sighed heavily. "I really want to help you and your friends for university matters, but unfortunately I'm not the person who has the power for university matters.. I'm just a lecturer. If I'm in power, of course I'll help you all. I'm sorry." you said, nodding sadly.

Peter who seemed to have hope began to drop his hope. It's true what they say, Stephen can't do anything if the Time Stone isn't there to turn back time and you're not a powerful person when it comes to the university where you teach. So all the hopes he had started to drop.

Peter nodded slightly. "That's right"

You and Stephen nodded in unison. Peter paused for a moment before letting out a heavy sigh.

"I'm really sorry if I... wasted your time." continued Peter in a tone of disappointment plus sadness.

You and Stephen shook your heads in unison as you waved your hands in the air.

"N-No, you didn't..."

"it's okay, you're not wasting any time"

"It's okay, Stephen.. Mrs Strange"

"No Peter, I really want to help you but I can't do anything about your education. I'm not the one to solve the university thing. But I really want to help you" you said walking up to Peter and holding Peter's hand and caressing his hand as if a mother was persuading her child.

Peter held your hand and looked at you with a sad face but managed to hide it with his sweet smile.. "Just forget about it. Mrs Strange..it's ok"

You looked at Peter for a long time before nodding slowly and letting go of Peter's hands. You then slowly walked over to your husband's side but your eyes were still on Peter. Feelings of pity and wanting to help still open up in you. But if Peter says that, you have to follow what he wants. You have treated Peter like your own son so the feeling of motherhood is still strong inside you. Even though you and Stephen are not blessed with children yet, so it's not wrong if you treat children like your own children, right?

Peter looked at you both and repeated the sentence he said to you again.

"Just forget about it, I think I can manage with what's happening now" said Peter in a tone trying to be strong.

Stephen nodded and sipped his hot chocolate. You looked at your husband with a pitying expression on your face.

"Oh, he will. He's really good at forgetting things." Wong said suddenly as he lifted several bags into the portal.

This causes a temporary enlightenment in the Bleecker Street magician's mind, as he points at his companion. You looked at Stephen and Wong confused as Peter looked at Wong with a frown.

"Wong. You've actually generated a good idea." said Stephen looking at Wong with raised eyebrows.

Wong looked at the Master Of The New York Sanctum confused.

"What?" Wong asked raising an eyebrow.

"The runes of Kof-Kol." Stephen said in a suggestive tone.

"The runes of Kof-Kol?" you and Peter said in unison in confused tones.

"Oh, it's just a standard spell of forgetting. Won't turn back time, but at least people will forget that you were ever Spider-Man." replied Stephen looking at Peter and you while swinging his mug of hot chocolate in the air.

Peter with his hope reappeared. With light up eyes looking at Stephen, he looked at Stephen as if Stephen was his idol.

"seriously? Thank-"

"No. Not seriously. That spell travels the dark borders between known and unknown reality. It's too dangerous." said Wong with a firm tone. He looked at Stephen sharply.

You looked at Stephen and Wong at the same time with a worried expression on your face. Even if you don't know much about magic, you know what Wong warned is dangerous. What the Spell that crossed Stephen's mind was indeed dangerous. It doesn't matter if it's a little or a lot, you keep an eye on Stephen if he uses any spells every time you're with him.

Stephen snorted and looked at Wong. "God, we've used it for a lot less. Do you remember the full moon party in Kamar-Taj?"

The moment you heard those words, you automatically blushed hard and had to hide your face on Stephen's shoulder while your arms hugged Stephen's side. You know what happened at the Moon Party's in Kamar- Taj. Only you and Stephen know about it. And we're not here to talk about that, right?

"No"Said Wong frowning and looking at you who was still hiding your face on Stephen's shoulder.

"Exactly." replied Stephen casually.

"Come on, Wong. Hasn't he been through enough?" Stephen looked at Wong with a pleading expression.

Wong looked at Stephen with a stern expression before he looked at you who were still hiding on Stephen's shoulder and looked at Peter. Not long after, a portal appeared behind Wong that led to the Kamar Taj.

"Just leave me out of this." Wong said hesitantly before stepping into the portal. But his eyes are still on Stephen and you.

Stephen raised his eyebrows. "Fine?"

"Fine.. Y/n, take care of your husband.. if anything weird and dangerous happens feel free to be angry with him." said Wong with a tone of suggestion plus advice as if he were a father-in-law advising his daughter-in-law.

You raised your face to look at Wong. Immediately, you nodded. The "technical" Sorcerer Supreme's portal closes. The "practical" Sorcerer Supreme smiles at Peter. While you looked at them both with a worried face. You then slapped Stephen's arm hard while looking straight into Stephen's eyes.

"Ow, what was that for?" said Stephen, starting to distance himself from you. As soon as he looked at your sharp face, he began to swallow his saliva slowly.

"Do you need to mention about the Full Moon Party in Kamar Taj?" You reprimanded in a firm tone of voice.

"Don't worry, he won't know" said Stephen teasingly but cautiously.

"He will know later. Knowing Wong, he will be able to figure things out quickly. What if he bans me from coming to the Library?" you said angrily.

"I'll make The runes of Kof-Kol again. Easy" said Stephen as he walked closer to Peter and changed his clothes to his usual tunic with a spell.

"Please be careful with that spell, Stephen.. I'm worried what will happen to us later" you said with a pleading tone of advice.

Stephen looked at you then pointed at Peter and told Peter to go to the basement first before Stephen slowly walked towards you. His arms wrapped around your body and he placed his chin on your head and kissed your hair softly while inhaling the smell of your hair lovingly. You hugged Stephen tightly and inhaled the smell of Stephen's body where there was a slight smell of hot chocolate and mint as well as the smell of old books. A smell that for you is quite comfortable and can be called a safe place.

" you don't have to worry, I promise I'll be careful.. If you need me just shout my name and I'll come in an instant.. ok? "said Stephen while stroking your back gently and lovingly.

You lifted your head from Stephen's chest and looked at Stephen's face. Your right hand let go and caressed Stephen's sharp cheekbone.

"It's not that I don't believe you, but you also know that I sometimes worry about what you do. That's why I'm worried that if something happens, who will help you later? Even though I don't know much about magic knowledge or cloak relic that can floating and living, I'll still help you no matter where you are." you said while peck Stephen's lips.

Stephen hummed as he grabbed your neck to kiss your lips for a long time before looking at you and loosening his embrace from your body and pulling back to look at you with his signature ego look.

"The way for you to help me is to just to be in bed" Stephen winked before he dramatically turned and walked towards the basement with the cloak swinging behind him.

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

You close your laptop slowly before getting out of bed and start reaching for the cable to charge your laptop. You stretched your body and yawned a little before walking back to bed to plug the charging cable into the laptop. You then intended to make hot chocolate again in the kitchen so you took the empty mug and walked out of your and Stephen's room. The Sanctum was quite quiet right now. The students who helped shovel the snow must have been resting for a while. You know they have been shoveling snow for a long time so it is not wrong if they want to rest for a while. And strangely, there was no sound at all from the underground where Stephen and Peter were now. Perhaps the process of the runes is quite long to make.

So you plan to make hot chocolate for the two students. Slowly you walk on the slippery floor. Carefully step your feet so you don't slip. As soon as you reached the Sanctum stairs, you immediately held the stair rail tightly with your right hand. You look for the two students who are not shoveling in front of the stairs. Weird, you're going down slowly.

All of a sudden, the Sanctum began to shake as if there was a massive earthquake causing your hand grip on the rail to slip and you immediately slipped down the slippery stairs before landing with your head hitting the corner of the stairs hard causing your vision to blur and have a black spot in the corner your eyes.

"Mrs Strange!" screams were heard simultaneously, which to you were the voices of two students who volunteered to help shoveling snow there.

Your blurry vision that was getting darker and darker was only able to see the shadow of the two students before your eyes closed, your eyes managed to look at the third shadow behind the student. A glimpse of black and bushy hair. And with that, your vision darkened as if you had fallen into a dark ocean.

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Voices as if people were talking faintly sounded in your ears as soon as you started to wake up from unconsciousness. Your head is throbbing as if there is a drum in your head causing your headache to become painful. Of course this will cause you an extreme headache later. Your eyes began to open slowly as you flinched when the voice that was faint to you earlier became clear. You whimpered a little in pain as every sound made your head hurt. Immediately everything was silent.

You open your eyes and look around. It turns out that where you are now is your and Stephen's room. You tried to get up but suddenly a black figure quickly rushed to the side of your bed and grabbed your arm and back as if it was trying to help you sit up. You looked at that black glimpse.

"Stephen?"

'Stephen' looked at you strangely and confused before releasing his hold on you as soon as you were in a sitting position and pulled back but his eyes were still on you.

"Stephen? I'm Sherlock. Not Stephen. John, what is she saying?"Said 'Stephen' or known as Sherlock with a British accent looking to the man with sand blonde hair, short and dressed in a black jacket and black jeans who was standing not far from where the two of you were.

"Sherlock I think she's still semi-conscious-"

"-I'm fully aware ok. I'm not unconscious anymore. So I know what I'm talking about. And who are you anyway? Why is Stephen or Sherlock if you want to call him wearing clothes like this? As far as I know his hair is not curly like this." you said looking Sherlock up and down.

The man with sandy blonde hair approached you both slowly.

"My name is John Watson and I don't understand what you are saying right now. All we know is that we are solving a case and suddenly, here we are." John explained to you.

" and I am not the Stephen you say." replied Sherlock lazily as he rolled his eyes.

"Sherlock!" John insisted angrily as his eyes were fixed on Sherlock.

"It's true what I said. She keeps calling me Stephen. I don't know why." Sherlock replied.

"yeah but this is not the time to argue about that. Right now we have to think about how we want to go back to 221B" said John looking at you.

"I'm sorry if I interrupted. But what do you mean that you and he are suddenly here?" you said confusedly to the two men.

John looked at Sherlock with a face you couldn't read. Sherlock looked at John for a long moment before he let out a heavy sigh. John must have thought that Sherlock must have some sort of solution to this.

"I'm afraid I don't know how the two of us are here. All we know is that there's a flash of colour and the next thing we know we're in this 'museum'," explained Sherlock while running his hands through his curly hair.

You looked at the two of them for a long time before sighing heavily. It seems that this may have something to do with the spell that Stephen made. Nothing but this must have happened when Stephen made the spell.

" I think I know how to help you two. I have to go and see my husband.. " you said starting to get up but stopped when Sherlock grabbed your shoulder to sit back down.

You looked at Sherlock confused. Sherlock cocked his head to the side as if to indicate something. You looked at what Sherlock meant and gasped as you saw your right leg wrapped in a white bandage.

"I suggest you don't need to walk for a few weeks. You sprained your ankle when you fell down the slippery stairs so I've bandaged your leg and treated your head. Nothing serious, you might just have a headache but that will go away with time," explained John in doctor mode.

"oh, thank you for helping me. It seems we have to wait for Stephen to come to the room, then we can help you" you said.

Sherlock and John nodded. The atmosphere in the room was quiet again. Only the sound of motorcycle and car engines can be heard from outside the Sanctum even though it is muffled because of the windows but you can still hear how busy New York City is. Sherlock and John who were still confused by the current atmosphere seemed to have relaxed a little with the quiet atmosphere. Maybe that's what they want. Quiet and peaceful.

Maybe with the current situation, this is the best time for them to think of a way to go home. You looked at Sherlock who was now at the window looking at New York City with a frown on his face. He was definitely not used to the atmosphere of a big and noisy city compared to where he lived. Maybe?

Sherlock's face, which is indeed similar to your husband's face, makes you amazed at how different and the same they are when they stand next to each other. His clean shaven face without any goatee, even his curly hair that looks soft makes you want to run your fingers through his hair a few times just to feel how soft his hair is.

The way of wearing it is quite different compared to what your husband wears. The black trench coat and blue scarf look neat tied around his neck, probably because he doesn't want to get cold. But, no matter how different he is from your husband. You remain faithful to your true husband until the end of your life. Maybe Sherlock will find a girl like you? we don't know. Love doesn't always come rolling, what we need to do is find true love.

"so umm... Are you two partners or colleagues?" you said suddenly trying to make a conversation.

John looked at you before clearing his throat. " we can be said to be colleagues but we are also flatmates. Although, Sherlock's behavior is quite rude, we are still friends. He trusts me and I trust him. Although some people think we are umm.. more than friends. But, it's not true. I'm a married man and Sherlock has a girlfriend, so over time the rumors just...disappeared"

You raised an eyebrow. Sherlock has a girlfriend?

Sherlock looked at you for a moment before looking back at the window. "yes, is there a problem?"

You shook your head quickly. " no no. John just said your behavior is a bit rude but it doesn't mean you can't afford to have a girlfriend. You are just like my husband, Stephen.. although his behavior is a bit cocky and his ego is a bit high, he knows how to take care of a woman who he calls his wife" you smiled to yourself.

Sherlock was speechless. His eyes were still focused on the outside of the window before he slowly turned his gaze towards you.

"Her name is Y/n. Yeah, you're just like her. Strong but she knows her limits. Fierce but kind at the same time. Likes to help others a lot. That's what I like about her. Stubborn too. That's the reason why I'm not surprised to see you is because to me you are just like her. There is no difference, only the way you throw your words is different. She is more soft but firm and you are more firm but soft." Sherlock said softly, his hand in his pocket gently stroking the black box.

You were stunned by what Sherlock said. It turns out that he admires the girl he loves without realizing it. The verse that is said to be arranged is beautiful like a poem. He really loves that girl. Even if the girl has the same name and face as you, no matter how different the version of Stephen in this universe is, it will definitely be united with the girl they really admire. And that girl is you.

You looked at John who was looking at Sherlock with his mouth slightly open. "What's wrong, John?"

John jerked away from his gaze and looked at you, his head a little closer to your ear. And then he whispered.

"this is the first time he admitted that he loves Y/n to someone else. All this time it was all done quietly and in his own way. So this is a bit of a surprise to me. He never told what 'our' Y/n is like to anyone but me " explained John in a whisper. Worried that his statement was heard by Sherlock who was now still in his own mind.

You nodded in understanding and looked at Sherlock. John pulled himself away from you and walked over to the chair not far from your bed, his hands clasped and gently stroked.

"umm.. how long will it take for your husband to come back?" asked John.

" I don't think it will be long because he is in the basement. So maybe he will come up soon. " you replied while tugging at your shirt.

Sherlock sighed quickly and ran his fingers through his hair repeatedly as if his mind was reeling. He then walked back and forth in the same place before walking and sitting on the end of your bed. He sighed heavily.

"oh please hurry up. I'm bored" Sherlock said with a complaining tone.

You looked at Sherlock confused then looked at John with a questioning look on your face. John looked at you as if he understood what you meant.

" don't mind him. He's always like that when he's bored. Complains and sometimes shoots the wall with a gun.. But that's when 'our' Y/n isn't in the flat.. if Y/n is there, of course he'll just stick with Y/n ." John said to you, shrugging his shoulders as if he'd had enough of Sherlock's behavior.

"shoot a wall? like really shoot a wall with a real gun? Aren't other people angry?" you asked widening your eyes slightly as if in disbelief.

John nodded and sighed. "yeah, of course our landlady is angry with Sherlock but because she's had enough of Sherlock's behavior it's become a habit. It's just that the price of the flat has increased"

" That's when your Y/n isn't there.. but what does he do when your Y/n is in the flat? " you asked John again.

"well, Sherlock usually just puts his head on Y/n's lap and Y/n will play with her hair as if that will calm Sherlock's mind. That's the calmest thing when Y/n is in our flat. All things or experiments are not touch by him if Sherlock is stuck with Y/n" said John looking at Sherlock who was looking out the window. Perhaps his attention was lost the moment he entered his mind.

You nodded understanding what John explained. Even though Sherlock looks cold and a little rude, he still has a kind and gentle nature to his lover. Also, just by looking at Sherlock you can imagine what it would be like if Stephen took criminology instead of the medical field. Surely Stephen will be like Sherlock. Thirst with knowledge and criminal cases must be his main characteristic. There is no difference at all.

You looked back at John but before you could open your mouth, Stephen opened the bedroom door wide and entered the bedroom you shared with his face covered in claw marks and bruises. Stephen limped into the room slowly.

Your eyes then light up when you see Stephen but turn worried when you see your husband's condition. The startled John quickly got up and walked towards Stephen to help him.

"Stephen! " you called in a soft voice plus a hint of concern towards Stephen.

Stephen who was limping and helped by John looked at you with a relieved face before turning to worry when his eyes looked at you who was lying on the bed with one leg wrapped.

"Honey, what happened to you? Are you ok?" Stephen asked worriedly and tried to go towards you with John's help. Stephen was still unaware of the presence of two men there even though he was helped by John. All his attention is only on you.

" Don't worry about me, dear. My ankle is just sprained and I'm sure I have a slight concussion but what we need to worry about is you, Steph.. what's going on?" you replied in a worried tone and tried to move towards Stephen but you winced in pain as you moved your bandaged leg.

Stephen sighed heavily and began to sit on the edge of the bed. John then stepped back trying to give the two couples privacy. Sherlock, who had been in the realm of his mind, started to snapped out of his mind and looked at you and his variant. Sherlock began to make deductions against Stephen.

Stephen rubbed your bandaged leg gently so that it would not put any pressure on your sprained leg. You looked at Stephen with a worried frown.

"What happened? you asked Stephen as your hand tried to reach Stephen's hand that was stroking your bandaged leg.

"well.. you know what Peter wants right? So I cast the spell but it started backfired and everything went haywire. And guess what, I found a lizard monster in the basement so I fought it and put it in the cell. It's pretty strong too and that's why I got some of these injuries. " Stephen explained. His hand then reached your hand and stroked it gently.

You let out a deep breath. Fortunately, nothing bad happened to Stephen and he only had injuries that could be treated with a first aid kit and enough rest. Luckily nothing bad happened after that. You frowned.

"So, the spell you cast and backfired is what caused this Sanctum to shake?" you make assumptions right away.

Stephen lowered his head slightly before looking at you with pleading eyes.

"yes.." replied Stephen with a small voice.

" and that spell caused the detective version of you to appear with his friend?" you said again as you pointed your index finger towards Sherlock and John.

Stephen raised his head quickly and looked at you with a confused face.

"sorry?" Stephen asked in a confused tone.

"the detective version of you appeared after I fell down the Sanctum stairs. Luckily, his friend helped me with a sprained leg and my head. Otherwise, I'd still be at the end of the Sanctum stairs." you murmured to Stephen.

Stephen immediately looked at your pointing finger and let out a heavy breath as his eyes widened to see his own twin standing upright next to the window of your room. Sherlock who looked narrowly at Stephen stiffened when he saw another version of himself in front of him.

The two men looked at each other in silence. Their eyes study each other's faces and selves quickly. Honestly, Stephen himself doesn't know whether this is an impressive thing or not because one, of course he was quite amazed when he could see another version of himself although it was a bit strange because he saw himself in front of his eyes and secondly, it was also quite dangerous if any variants who set foot in another universe, it will definitely result in bad things like incursion.

Talk about Incursion made Stephen widen his eyes with shock.

Stephen quickly shook his head in distress. "no, no no.. this is very dangerous. The two of you cannot be in this universe. It's too dangerous. One step in another universe, that universe will be destroyed and disappear from existence. This is all a mistake" Stephen rambled with stress while walking one places around the room.

John looked at Sherlock hoping Sherlock knew what Stephen meant. Destroyed and disappeared from existence. These two gentlemen should not be in this universe let alone other variants from different universes.

And what Stephen knew was that he was already fucked up after he cast the spell. Sherlock can only see the version of himself that is in distress and walking in that place. Back and forth steps were arranged by Stephen while rubbing his head. Stephen's injuries became numb and forgotten.

John decided to open his mouth. "You see, we here don't know what's going on right now. All we know is that your wife told us that you can take us back to.. our universe"

Stephen stopped and looked at John confused. "and you are?"

"John Watson, call me John" John introduced himself.

Stephen nodded his head. "Doctor Stephen Strange. Doctor Strange is fine" Stephen replied and looked at Sherlock with a frown. "and who's this friend of yours?"

John looked at Sherlock who was still standing stiffly by the window. "That's Sherlock Holmes.. just call him Sherlock.. Don't mind him, he's always like that. Trying to make some deductions."

Stephen nodded his head in understanding. Although Stephen knows who Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson are due to him having read Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's books in his spare time. But he does not expect that the real Sherlock Holmes is a variant of himself. He excepted that Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson would appear as in the book describe both of them and in Victorian era clothing but his expectations were wrong just seeing the way they both wore.

Although the way they both dress is quite good for the season in London, it is also good that they wear such clothes in Sanctum because Sanctum is still in a 'Christmas holiday' state.

You, who had been a witness to the conversation, began to open your mouth after being silent for a 'long time'. "Stephen, I think we need to treat your injury. I'm afraid there will be an infection and we can continue this while Doctor Watson is here treating your wound. Doctor Watson, you go to the bathroom and open the bathroom mirror. In there we keep first aid kit." You told John.

John nodded and walked into the bathroom. Stephen sighed heavily.

"Do you still want to stand there or do you want to ask questions?" Stephen sighed tiredly.

As if he had just woken up from his mind reverie, Sherlock jerked out of his Mind Palace. His mind played some questions that only his variant could tell. The Great Sherlock Holmes himself does not know how the universe works let alone know about the solar system.

Stephen sighed weakly and shook his head several times trying to get rid of the dizziness that was growing in his head. "I still can't believe I will discover a variants from another universes let alone my own variant" Stephen paused and looked at Sherlock. "seems like you have a question to ask"

Sherlock nodded slightly. "although I believe in science but what is happening now is a bit confusing for me"

"I can say the same thing for you. Even I know everything about universes and mystics but this is really out of control and shouldn't happen" Stephen rubbing his chin with both hands.

Sherlock cocked his eyebrows at Stephen. "and why is that?"

"Because once any variants or things from the alternative universe are traced in another universe, it will trigger something that can bring chaos to that universe" Stephen explained.

Sherlock frowned. Meanwhile John came out of the bathroom with a first aid kit in his hand and walked towards Stephen. The first aid kit was opened and John began to enter his Doctor mode and began to treat the wound on Stephen's face.

"don't bother telling him about that, Doctor Strange. He doesn't know that the earth goes around the sun let alone knows about things like this" John muttered.

You stifled a giggle and put a palm over your mouth to hide your smile. Sherlock grumbled unpleasantly when he heard what John said then he turned his gaze to the window again.

"and by the way. Back to the trigger something.. how long do you think it will take to start happening?" John asked with concern. "we didn't want to cause any danger in your universe, honestly"

Stephen sighed. "I don't know.. let's just hope it doesn't happen so quickly"

"also, we still need to find out how to bring you both back to your universe" you stated.

Sherlock looked at you. "can you do magic too?"

"uhm.. no. I don't have magic like Stephen, I'm just a university lecturer" You replied.

"Y/n in our universe is a Detective Inspector at Scotland Yard. From there Sherlock knows her" John said all of the sudden as his hand dabbed cotton on Stephen's wounds.

Stephen winced as the stinging pain flashed across his face. John looked at Stephen apologetically before continuing his work.

"Stephen met me.. correction bumping into me and causing my coffee to spill all over him that's how we both met. Years later we both got married and still have no children but we are still happy" you smiled towards Stephen passionately.

Sherlock looked at you both for a long time. This is what will happen if he and your version are in his universe. His hand in his pocket tightly holding the ring box.

Just as Sherlock was about to open his mouth, your phone made a loud 'ping' sound indicating that notifications had arrived.

You looked at your phone on the bedside table and reached for it. The screen opens and the dim light from your screen shines on your face. Sherlock, Stephen and John just looked at you.

Your face is shocked when you receive a message from one of your students which is the latest news about the attack on the bridge but what makes you more shocked is Spiderman and squid man? who made havoc there. You quickly flipped your phone and directed it to Stephen.

Stephen widened his eyes and quickly got up from his sitting position causing John to jerk in surprise at the sudden movement.

"i have to go" Stephen said then leaned and kissed your forehead.

You nodded in understanding and caressed his cheek. "be safe" you muttered to him with concern.

Stephen nodded and walked out of the room you two shared. The two grown men who are with you can only witness the situation unfolding in front of them with confused and worried faces (John who is worried).

"What's wrong?" Sherlock spoke after a few moments of silence.

"He needs to get Peter before something untoward happens" you muttered.

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

*Time Skips*

After the whole fiasco where Peter trapped Stephen in the Grand Canyon and he ran away with a cube that contained spells in the hope of changing the fate of the villains there, well that's what Peter said to you before he and the others left the Sanctum. You worriedly pacing with a slight limp in the main room of the Sanctum with a concerned face engraved.

You don't know how long you've been pacing around because you're worried about Stephen's condition now, you don't know how to open the portal. Stephen always said that he does not recommend you to learn magic because for him it is dangerous even though a simple spells can lead to a dangerous situation. You just scoffed at that. Said the one who always casts simple spells and leads into dangerous situations.

John and Sherlock who are 'still' in the Sanctum can only see your distressed session. John who was sitting on the steps was staring into space at the same time unconsciously tapping his foot on the floor while Sherlock was observing everything in the Sanctum trying to get rid of his boredom.

"it's been twelve hours he's trapped.. I don't know what happened to him and yet I'm here doing nothing to help him" You said with a worried tone.

"Calm down, Y/n. He's a Sorcerer of course he's fine. You don't need to worry about him.. Just sit here you shouldn't put pressure on your sprained leg. It will interfere with its healing" John tapped the spot beside him with his left hand.

"What if something happens to him? And I can't do anything. I don't have magic like Stephen" you said worriedly as you take a seat besides John.

"he's a great man, he'll be back later. You shouldn't worry about him. He might be dealing with what happened now." John assured you while patting your shoulder. He looked at Sherlock who was trying to hold the artifacts there. "Sherlock" he called.

Sherlock withdrew his fingers from touching the artifacts there and turned his gaze on John. He grumbled and sat next to you. Now you are among British men. One that looks like your husband and one that looks like one of the CIA agents you see on TV.

"I just wish he's okay, that's all. That's what a wife should do right? Worry about their husband's well-being" you murmured.

"Mary don't do that" Sherlock muttered.

John glared at him. "Pardon?"

Sherlock grumbled and looked away. You looked at Sherlock with confusion engraved on your face.

"Mary? As in Mary Watson?" You asked.

"My wife." John replied, smiling to himself.

"She sounds lovely"

"oh she was lovely.. Still is" John looked down his lap with sorrow.

"Was?" you furrowed your eyebrows.

"She's passed away a few years ago. It's complicated but everything is sorted out" John said, grieving.

"Oh, John.. I'm sorry for your loss. She's probably in a good place" you said, rubbing his back in a comforting way.

"Thanks" John said lowly. "without her me and Sherlock will not make up after a long time of not being on the same page for some reason regarding her death. She saved us one last time. Well, she's probably going to kill us if we still don't see each other. Rosie going to be pisses to her dad for that" John added.

"at least she has a favorite auntie and uncle by her side" Sherlock interrupted.

"yeah, well. obviously you and Y/n are her favorites. You both spoiled her too much with the puzzle. Now she's obsessed." John complained.

"It's good for 5 years old to grow up with the great brain. Otherwise you spoiled her with Mrs Hudson biscuits" Sherlock shot back his response.

"Rosie's first word is Murder. Murder! Not daddy or Papa. It's all your fault for teaching her that word" John said loudly.

Two British men fighting like old married couples? yup. Your day is very beautiful.

" her first word is Murder. Well.. that's quite surprising" You are dumbfounded.

"I expected she said mother but I heard it wrong.. She loudly said Murder. Now you know whose fault" John crossed his arms.

"At least she doesn't have a bad temper like yours" Sherlock said flatly.

"what?" John glared at Sherlock.

"nothing." Sherlock looked at you. "She and Y/n are very inseparable. Y/n loves her like her own daughter so no wonder Rosie has almost the same personality as Y/n. She follows her everywhere" Sherlock said admiringly.

"You really love her, don't you?" you said, grinning at him.

"Well, love is a strong word but yes. You can say that. Mycroft still debating with himself when I say that I have a girlfriend" Sherlock muttered.

You nodded in understanding and thought into space. The Sanctum is quiet.

"You know, it's a bit weird knowing that the characters from the books I read when I was little actually exist in another universe. Let alone have the same face as my husband." you chuckled.

"I'm still debating with myself that the Multiverse exists. Let alone meet the same person as my girlfriend" Sherlock said.

"I'm still in the state of making sure this is not a dream by the way" John spoke.

"well, Mr Watson. It's one hundred percent real and not a dream" you replied, smirking.

"But still, being in another universe is not our line of work" Sherlock said next to you.

You sighed lightly. "Is it true that you once encountered Professor Moriarty?"

"Moriarty is not a professor in our universe but well he claimed himself as a Consulting Mastermind. Well, he's dead now.. So no need to worry"

"is it Reinchenbach Fall? He's dead because he fell right?" You tilted your head slightly.

"he shot himself with a gun.. I was the one who jumped not him.. I'm pretending to be dead for 2 years just to destroy his network" Sherlock replied.

"oh, yeah.. i read about that too.. You pretended to be dead for 2 years... Gosh, that must be bothering you, isn't it?" You said, glancing at Sherlock sympathetically.

"You can say that" Sherlock replied.

"It's sound weird that you know everything because you read books about us even though you've never been to our place" John blurted after a long time silent.

"Well, the timeline in the book is the Victorian era, so compared to your modern era, there is no difference. The characters and the story lines are almost the same," you explained.

"but not all of them, right?" John looked at you.

You nodded. "yup" you thought for a moment. "Gosh, it's been a while.. I'm starting to worry about him" you rubbed your arms anxiously.

Sherlock awkwardly put his hand on your back and rubbed it gently in a comforting way.

"He's okay, Y/n..Don't worry about him.. Like you said he has magic so he knows when to protect himself" John reassured you.

"but what if something happens-"

The sound of the spark started to be heard in the middle of the Sanctum where the three of you were. You started to wake up with Sherlock's help. Both hands hug yourself as you try to warm yourself. There Stephen came out of the portal with scratches and cuts on his face. He looked obviously tired.

His body bends a little, probably his ribs are sore after fighting for a long time. You sighed in relief and rushed to Stephen. You immediately put Stephen's right hand on your shoulder as you helped him to sit on the Sanctum stairs.

"Oh, Stephen. Thank God you're okay" you put both hands on Stephen's cheek and caressed his cheek.

Stephen sighed heavily before putting his forehead against yours. He closed his eyes tiredly. "it takes a long time to handle that opponent"

"Are those villains already defeated? What happened to Spiderman?" You asked concerned.

"I already took them all back to their universes.. It took a long time to handle that because of Goblin. Spiderman is also okay, he's the ones who cure them all" Stephen explained.

"Oh, what a relief. At least you're okay" you said while looking at the injury on his face. "Luckily it's just a small wounds and not a big one. Need me to clean it?"

"no need, I can use healing spells besides I have one last job to do" Stephen opened his eyes and glanced at the Baker Street duo.

Stephen started to get up and walk forward facing the duo. "I believe this is the time for you two to return to your universe. Can't risk any danger in this universe, right?"

"yes.. of course.. We don't want that to happen" John replied.

"the spell doesn't hurt, it's just a bit tickle so both of you will arrive in your universe as usual" Stephen explained.

Sherlock nodded in understanding. "Thanks for letting us both sit here for a while. We appreciate it"

Stephen nodded then held out his hand to shake Sherlock's hand. Sherlock reached out and shook his hand.

"Until next time" Stephen nodded.

Sherlock nodded. John looked at you with appreciation.

"Thanks, Y/n. for explaining and letting us stay here.. Also for helping us get used to being here for a while. We owe it to you both" John said.

"You don't owe us anything, John. Besides, thanks for helping me about what happened earlier. Thanks for treating my injuries." you said to him with a smile.

You turned your gaze to Sherlock. "and you, Mr. Holmes. Make sure you propose to Y/n with a lot of books as a gift, yes? Don't think I didn't see your hand in your pocket, fidgeting with the ring box. Make sure she said yes even though she always says yes to you" you warned him.

Sherlock was stunned. His face turned red. John gawked at Sherlock while Stephen smirked.

"you-"

"right, shall we?" Sherlock cut him off by telling Stephen to leave.

Stephen smirked then nodded and then he began to cast a spell to send them both back to their universe.

Their bodies glowed with a bright yellow light and slowly they disappeared in front of you both. Sherlock nodded his appreciation at the two of you before disappearing in your sight.

You looked at Stephen with a grin. "well, that went well"

"yes.. it went well, honey" Stephen put his hand on your hips.

"now, why don't we just clean ourselves up and treat those injuries? After that we can just marathon read Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's books in our room? what do you think?" you suggested

"Is there hot chocolate?" Stephen smirked at you.

"oh, Husband. Of course there is. Besides Sanctum is still in the Christmas spirit, so we need more hot chocolate" you smiled teasingly at him.

"well, my wife. Lead the way then" Stephen squeezed your hips teasingly causing you to shriek.

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