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#unless i'll be blessed with another dumb idea
nocek · 6 months
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sometimes repeating the same information back in your face is funny
sometimes it also backfires :P (everything backfires when it comes to Deadpool, just give up Miguel, he is planning on 100% that sidequest)
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divetothefandom · 3 years
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A REALLY TICKLISH S/O | Iwatobi
Haru:
Haru is so calm and distant, surely he wouldn't try a thing? Right? Right...?
WRONG!
He's a very discreet asshole and a huge tease.
Haru is just very nonchalant about it.
He will alway poke you to get a reaction
He really likes seeing you smile so he will constantly use this to get what he wants.
Whenever he tickles you he smiles so gently, like he's not killing you.
He will tease you all casually.
"What?" "What's so funny?" "Oh, it's not so bad, is it?"
But he is cannonically very ticklish and considering it only became public knowledge that he is, he is very bad handling retalation, GO FOR IT!!! He will die.
He kindaaaaaaa likes it but he will never admit it.
His laugh is so pretty, but don't let that distract you because he will get revenge.
Makoto:
My man, my hubby-husband. The love of my life.
And even though he's very gentle and not the kind to take advantage of his parenter being hella ticklish...
He is fucking merciless.
Not intentionally tho, he just gets carried away... a lot.
When he does he panics about it going all "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to!" and will pamper and cuddle you afterwards.
But like, it's fine he'll never kill you... not literally.
For real though, he adores making you laugh and finds it a blessing.
Makoto is an oversized puppy so he loves some healthy and mindless fun with his lover.
And he thinks your laugh is the cutest thing in the world.
Tickle fights are a thing, ALL. THE. TIME!
Despite what you'd expect, tickle fights with Makoto are pretty even. He may be strong as hell, you may be ticklish as hell...
BUT! Makoto is super ticklish himself and is really clumsy specially when he's giggly so he's not coordinated enough to fight back.
So you may win about half of them if you manage to get at least one little ticklish giggle out of him.
If not, he'll make you laugh until you can't move for the rest of the day so RIP lol. Like I said, he gets carried away (unless he feels you're actually not having fun anymore or just getting too tired)
But ohohohoho! Revenge is a plate best served cold, and the orca angel boy is one ticklish mess himself.
And it's so easy... but he likes it a lot too, like I said, mindless fun.
I'll stop now because I could go on for hours. The idea of tickle fights with Makoto give me so much life... Maybe I will another time
Rei:
Rei is more playful than he lets on, we know that (except for Haru) all Style 5 are tickle monster assholes
He will probably find out by accident one day when Nagisa came to meet you both and you were distracted.
So he poked you and you squealed.
Rei didn't say anything at the time and played dumb but he noticed... And he hasn't let you live it down since
He's easily flustered and probably not a fan of PDA since it would be "innapropiate"
But when you're alone he's really mean
Tickling you while breaking in theory of how the brain reacts to it like its some response to potential danger and more tickle fun facts
He think he's funny
He'll probably start laughing along because of his dumb smartass input. And his laugh is more contagious than anyone in the world being ticklish.
Please give him a spoon of his own medicine.
He may be strong, he may be a former track team and knows his way around pole jump which needs a lot of arm strength and shit
But ya boy can't fight back for his life.
His laugh will be probably a lot more high pitched than the AHAHAHAHA we all know.
He sucks at retaliation so even if you're more ticklish he's done for.
Nagisa:
The little shit probably tried it day 1 in the relationship and hasn't stopped since
He loves playing around and seeing his friends smile
So as his partner... good luck lmao.
He won't stop poking you at the worst time like in middle of class or the library
If you're taking your shirt off (like bc you're going to swim or something) you're getting tickles
If you're stretching to reach something at the top counter, you're getting tickles
If you're carrying your books, you're getting tickles
If... you get the point.
He's more of the random pokes but he will also pin you down and tickle you silly
Doing a lot of baby talk that doesn't suit him because of his baby face.
It's really funny to hear him say kitchy kitchy koo like a baby because he looks so much younger.
He's a ticklish baby but he fights back
Tickle fights with him are the most chaotic
He tickles and pokes everyone so you can get them to help you gang up on him.
Hey doesn't know when to stop so good thing he isn't particularly heavy or strong (like not when it comes to wrestling and such, I know he's a strong swimmer)
SAMEZUKA | HIGH SPEED! | MASTERPOST
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4aloysius-porteu · 3 years
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i really wish i hated you || tsukishima kei
masterlist | 1 | 2 | chapter 3
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pairing: tsukishima kei x f! reader
sypnosis: It was an accident that (Y/N) met a certain tall, blonde male; a memory she isn't fond of remembering, but it is where it all started. And ever since, she magically makes her to his path. The image of the bespectacled man dwelled in her mind more than she thought. Tsukishima pushed away his softer emotions and denied their existence, or at least that's what he told himself. But then, he couldn't believe that this girl he labeled as a clumsy, unlucky creature who smashed his glasses is slowly bringing these strange emotions back to him. She might be irritating and dumb sometimes, but he couldn't get himself to completely hate her. Either that destiny was stupid, or he was blessed or cursed.
genre: fanfiction, fluff
wc: 2.6k
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She has met the tall, blonde, and bespectacled male yet again.
"Oh, the midget stalker is here."
"You again?! Seriously, I think it's you who's following me!"
"Hah, what do I get from following an extremely short person like you?" He said, borrowing her words from yesterday.
(Y/N)'s eyebrows creased further in irritation. "Why do you keep mentioning my height?!"
"It was you who started it. Anyways, can you shut up? Do you know that you're in a library?"
She didn't retort back and simply sat on the chair with her arms crossed. It was a fine day then —BOOM— this giant decided to appear out of nowhere. She was trying to forget this person who's associated with some of her embarrassing moments but those just got smashed back to her mind. (Y/N) sighed and pulled a book at the bottom of the stack to start reading, but noticed that the blondie is still standing near the edge of the table, hesitating to sit down while glancing somewhere and back to her.
"What?" (Y/N) frowned.
"Why am I unnecessarily stuck with you on this table?" He sighed, pulling out the chair.
"Because all of the tables here are taken? If you're worried about your glasses being knocked off, don't worry, I won't do anything reckless anymore."
"That's a nice reassurance," He settled down and brought out his studying materials.
Both of them shared the table in the crowded library. Ignoring the people, between them was a silent atmosphere. No one was talking as they both minded their own studies; he was reading quietly and turning pages of a huge book while (Y/N) wrote key points from the printed work and highlighting her notes. Sometimes, the other would leave to return books to their shelves and came back with new stacks. This went on for a few hours until her pen ran out of ink. She scribbled at the back of her notebook in hopes that the ink just got stuck, to no avail. She sighed, resting her head on the notebook. But she really needed to take down notes for her upcoming entrance exam.
"Hey." (Y/N) reluctantly said.
The blonde male looked at her, confirming if he's being called, "What?"
"I'm sorry to interrupt your business but... do you have a spare pen?"
He stared at her with a straight face and placed his chin on the top of his knuckles, implying his refusal to lend one.
(Y/N)'s mentally gritted her teeth. I'm just going to borrow a pen and he's making it hard for me?!
Swallowing her pride, she said, "Look, I need to finish my notes. I'll return it to you right away when I'm done. I promise. Please?"
He scoffed as brought out a pen, "An inkless pen is all it takes for you to become a less lively puppy? You better keep your promise."
A puppy?! "You didn't need to compare me to a puppy but, thanks."
She continued her work but her focus was a bit shaken. This happens whenever she's interrupted or took a break away from writing. Soon, her focus vanished and boredom took over. She tried to read a book to review ideas but her brain won't cooperate. She groaned, her head and arms fell to the table again. The blonde saw but chose to ignore her.
She closed her eyes for a second, however, her gaze fell to the blank paper in front of her face. Her hands are itching to do something other than reviewing and writing, so she put down the pen she borrowed and took a pencil out of her pocket. She placed a pile of books near her notebook so that the male won't notice what she's doing. There, she started to sketch the base of the figure.
She would observe the four-eyed guy who's busy reading some sort of article while taking notes. He has a calm expression on his face rather than an irritated scowl or a mocking grin he usually has. He wears a long blazer and probably a long-sleeved shirt inside. His blonde hair is short yet the edges are a bit curly and his upper eyelashes are prominently long. This was the first time she stared at the jerk's face who she kept bumping into random places that irked the hell out of her, but for some reason, she felt that she had seen this person before the accident in the park, albeit she doesn't know where. (Y/N) came to a conclusion; he was a little good-looking.
The girl looked back to her drawing and shook her head at her own ideas. I can't believe I actually thought that this guy is handsome. How can such a mean creature be blessed with such looks?! Ugh, don't mind, (Y/N). I'm only drawing him because he seems like a great canvas subject, it's not like I haven't done this to other people before...
She went on drawing and drew details to the sketch similar to the boy in front of her. To make the drawing more accurate, she stole small glances at him. She kept things low key because it'll be another embarrassing event if he found out what she's doing. She made the lines smoother in one swift move. The hair and clothes' folds are already well-drawn while she focuses on the detail of his eyes and glasses. She was about to shade when the male finally caught her.
"What is it?" He questioned, closing his book with a low voice and creased eyebrows.
(Y/N) froze on the spot. As much as she doesn't like it, she maintained eye contact with him, thinking of the best alibi that he couldn't argue with. Then, she remembered that she doesn't know his name.
"Uhm... nothing. I was just wondering if you have a name." While talking, her finger subtly moved to grab the nearest object it could get to cover her drawing.
"I have, but why would I mention it to you?" He cooly replied.
"It's alright. I'm not asking you to. Unless you want to be referred to as he/him or the tall, blonde glasses guy all the time?" (Y/N) countered.
He silently turned a page before answering, "Well, it's not like we'll meet every day."
"Oh," was her only reply. Looks like he will stay a nameless guy in her head for a long time. She was about to get back to her business when he spoke.
"Tsukishima Kei."
(Y/N) looked at him in surprise. "I'm not going to repeat it." He added.
She smiled, having clearly heard it right away. "Can you tell me how it is written?"
He looked at her to check for ill intentions but found nothing in her eyes. He hesitantly wrote the characters of his name on a piece of paper.
"I'm (L/N) (Y/N), nice to meet you again, Tsukishima-san." She'd like to initiate a handshake for peacemaking, but she knows how he'd only decline it. She wrote her name for him to see as well.
Tsukishima Kei. She repeated in her mind. What a nice name.
With a notebook covering the upper portion of the paper where she had drawn his portrait, she wrote his name at the bottom. She proceeded to the shading and background features. Backgrounds are one of the things she hates in art because it takes too long to draw one compared to the subject itself. Luckily it's only a sketch so she won't have to suffer. Although she doesn't know if Tsukishima had seen whatever she's doing so she's still cautious. She peered at him for the nth time so she could distract his peripheral vision. Maybe to test the social initiative skills she hasn't used for a long time too.
"Uhh, can I ask something?" She started.
"Hm?" He responded without taking his eyes off the page.
"What school are you from?"
"Amemaru Middle School."
(Y/N) hummed, thinking of another question, "Then, what school are you enrolling to? It must be an upper class one since you had to read those large books and all."
"Not really," Tsukishima closed the book, "I plan to go to Karasuno High School. They may not have a difficult entrance exam, but these readings are for decent grades and some stock knowledge."
"Decent grades, huh... you look like you could achieve more though. I'm pretty sure you'll ace it." She answered, "I was from Kitagawa Dai Ichi. I'm taking an exam in Shiratorizawa soon."
"You're going to that high-class academy? I see, I failed to notice that because you don't look like one. Have fun clashing with other elites there."
"Elites? What are you talking about, you still believe there's such a hierarchy?" (Y/N) chuckled.
"There is though. A gap between them and mere humans in terms of skills and power."
"In the end, they're still humans though. Be it numbers, hard work, or some unique strategy, those 'mere humans' you say will always struggle to step on equal levels with those on the highest rank."
Tsukishima only hummed and stared down at her, "Perhaps I was wrong on assuming you're an elite. You're clearly not."
"Are you underestimating me?" She challenged.
"No, I was just saying. Can I ask something though?"
"What?"
"Why are you suddenly talkative?"
She was caught off guard but tried not to stutter, "Me? Talkative? I'm always like this."
"Really?" He raised his brows, totally not buying it.
"Ugh, fine! I'm tired of studying!" She sighed, "I was scribbling some doodles on my notebook because I'm bored so I thought it wouldn't hurt to talk to Mr. Beanpole in front of me. Forgive me and my awkward social skills."
"Your social skills are not bad. I'm just thankful you aren't using the precious ink of my pen for drawing." He said, stacking the books he used.
She gasped, panicked inside, "You aren't looking at my drawing, are you?"
He got up to return the books,"Don't worry, it's none of my business."
She exhaled in relief, spared from another memory of embarrassment. Her eyes followed his walking figure and watched his movements. She looked at her drawing to compare and used her fingers to define lighting. When Tsukishima got back and placed new reviewers on the table, (Y/N) asked him once more.
"Do you ever get tired of studying?"
"Sometimes I take a break, but I can only do that if I have finished everything."
"What a diligent student you are."
"I hardly see any benefit in being dumb and slacking off all the time."
"Eh, I hardly see any benefit in studying Algebra and Calculus. I have a lot of questions. Do you use derivatives in counting money or salary? Do you use trigonometry in dividing pizzas or corn chips? Why do I need to find the limit of a function if numbers are infinite? Why do I need to get the formula of a certain point in each line or curve I draw on the graphing paper? What is the correct answer for?" (Y/N) complained.
Tsukishima looked at her blankly, doubting her chances of passing the Shiratorizawa's board exam. "I couldn't argue with that, I'd rather read a book composed of words than formulas, but you don't have a choice. Although, if you plan to be an engineer or something, that'll be a different perspective."
"No, thanks, I won't eat math books for breakfast. Other subjects are interesting enough to keep me awake in class, but numbers don't really entertain me."
"Then, what do you do?" He asked, writing on his notes.
"Not much. I just draw, paint, listen to music, and watch anime."
He let out an amused hum, "How about you? What do you do other than to study?" (Y/N) asked.
"I play volleyball, listen to music, and read narrative books."
"Volleyball? So that's what your height is for! I thought it's just for cleaning and reaching high places."
"That's rude."
"If I am, what do you call yourself? Besides, I don't want to make wrong assumptions."
"You just did."
"...right. I'm sorry."
The sense of familiarity took over (Y/N)'s brain, telling her that she definitely had met this Tsukishima guy before. Her face scrunched a little, trying to search her memories and connect the dots. Her eyes found his face again.
"Why do you keep looking at me?" His eyes narrowed, his annoyance towards the girl slowly rising.
"I HAD met you somewhere... before that accident, where did I see you?"
He was about to say something when (Y/N) stopped him, "Shh, I'm thinking."
He crossed his arms and frowned at her. Volleyball, Amemaru MS... She was about to say it but Tsukishima spoke first.
"Were you one of the audience who watched the middle school volleyball inter-high a year ago?"
"I was! Wait, you remember?"
"That was the only place where I could find someone from Kitagawa Dai Ichi." He confirmed.
"Correct. I was a part of the school paper where I was assigned in the sports category. I took a picture of you when my senior was interviewing you! You were the tallest middle blocker in the games! How could I forget that! So that's why whenever you irk me, it was familiar!"
"How am I annoying you? Aren't you the one who kept on talking right now?"
"I've figured out that there's no kind bone in you. And the way you keep on stuffing the spikes from the opposite team. It was never-ending that they didn't have a chance to score properly." She pouted.
"What do you expect from a middle blocker? It was my job to block spikes."
"You could've gone easy on them."
"The game would lose it's sense if that's the case."
"Fine. You're not wrong." Their conversation was cut short after she ceased talking. At least she found out where she first met Tsukishima. She finished the portrait sketch. Grinning, she believed that she captured his features accurately in her drawing. She'd like to hold it near him and compare to make sure though. Satisfied with her work, she went back on turning pages.
"So, you've finally decided to continue to study?" Tsukishima prodded.
She smiled, "I guess. Thank you for talking to me. That was a great stop."
Both of them worked quietly, but now, the irritation they felt towards each other lessened. After some time, a person in the speaker announced that the library will be closing before 6 pm. Tsukishima returned all the books he borrowed and packed his things.
"You're going home?"
"I don't want to come home late. You aren't finished with your notes yet?"
"Yeah, maybe I'll leave five minutes before six."
"Alright. I'll get going now." He swung his bag over his shoulder.
"Hey, wait! Your pen!" (Y/N) abruptly remembered seconds after.
"I don't need it anymore. It was useful, apart from its close on running out of ink."
"But it's yours and you told me to keep my promise!"
"Whatever. Keep it or throw it." He walked out and wore his headphones, having no intention to listen to anyone.
She sighed and checked the ink. More than half of it is gone, but she can use it again if she wishes. (Y/N) placed her fist to her cheek while writing.
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Random Tsukishima Kei facts:
In the second prototype chapter (unserialized, one shot, the first idea of the author on how haikyuu will go) Tsukishima was a second-year, which was changed in the serialized version where he's a first-year. His initial height in the prototype chapter is 184cm, a little shorter than his official height (190.1cm). In an extra sketch, Furudate commented, "Tsukki and Tanaka being in the same year would spell chaos!
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©4aloysius.porteu.2021. please do not repost, copy, or edit. plagiarism is punishable by law. 
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fallingsunflower · 3 years
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I think it was deleted :/ any idea what it said?
It wasn't deleted, but I'll copy and paste the original text hoping there's no problem with you or the original author of this, all credit goes to the original author:
(Original tarot anon) saw people were asking about Harry’s energy too so I’ll tell you what I see. I also saw those boat photos on Instagram and I saw something that I’ll also share but with peace and love this will probably be my last message because I kinda don’t want to waste my energy on this couple anymore😅sorry guys. So Harry is kinda interesting because he has a lot of conflicting qualities. His true self, he’s a very sweet, almost aloof/dumb(no offense) guy. Very non threatening however he is a very big opportunist. When I was a fan I watched his X factor audition and saw his energy sort of switch over right infront of my eyes on video. You can see the difference in his demeanor from his first audition vs when they got voted off. It wasn’t necessarily him being less shy, he also likes attention(he has to for the career he’s in. Vs. zayn which is a true private soul who was pressured into it, you can see the difference) He’s very career driven now which there’s nothing wrong with that. I get the feeling he doesn’t/won’t befriend people, or go places unless he knows it will benefit him in one way or another tho :/. It also seems like he struggled/might still struggle with alcohol issues and a off relationship with his dad. I feel like it was at its worst in 2014-5. (ALSO not from me but MY mentor was in the room while I was looking at Harry’s photos and the first thing she said was “oh god he smells like alcohol and sex”. The smell was so strong off of him she smelled it across the huge room we were in. She said she feels he could’ve been a sex addict. She’s also 65 from Romania and doesn’t know who Harry is). I also felt this but I feel like it was worse when he was younger. I feel he’s grown a bit. Harry isn’t a ‘bad’ guy, but he uses his luxuries to his advantage. He also has very specific requirements for the girls he chooses to keep around. They have to be a certain level of attractive to him. (I don’t want to elaborate because the requirements he has are ones most girls will get hurt by and I feel a lot of the girls that read this account are fragile enough right now). His relationship with his dad effects him more than he’d like to admit and his parents divorce was very hard for him. He’s not a ‘bad’ guy(he’ll help people in need and feels bad for those less fortunate) but his energy is far from pure. I feel like he was a little fish who got lost in a dirty pond(Hollywood). Also regarding Harry and Olivia it seems like they got into an argument like right before those boat photos were taken and they just made up. They definitely know what people are saying about them….do with this info what you will. Not pushing anything on anyone. Bless you guys. Stay healthy don’t stress over narcissistic celebrities!
Maybe she blocked me and that’s why I couldn’t see it initially but thank you!
Honestly I don’t know what to say to it. It made me sad and just disappointed, but I think I’m so put off by it because I already knew that. Had no proof of course but if you look through all my asks (which is a lot I know) I feel like we’ve all kind of gathered a lot of that. I know there’s no proof but hearing it laid out like that is just…sad. To me, it makes sense, and that anon spoke what I’ve been putting to the back of my mind
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Hello! Sorry for this stupid question, but here it is... how do you notice subtext?? Like, is it something that is obvious to you or do you know what/where to look for?? Am I dumb for not seeing it by myself, or is it actually okay and you need a skill for it, that's what I would like to know... *sigh*.. but also it's not like I'll accept any explanation that someone gives, I'll take it only if I find it reasonable, but lmao do I even have a right when I can't come up with anything by myself??
Oh gosh, that’s not an easy answer… Good thing I just had a coffee and my brain is nearly back online!
Essentially, it’s just about awareness and willingness to engage with the text on the level of being aware that it’s a text, rather than losing yourself to it. In a very good movie you forget where you are and you’re 100% in there and your thoughts are just absorbing what is in front of you. In a bad movie you’re gossiping and joking about the characters, even in your mind if you are polite in the cinema, and identifying shit like “oh wow what a surprise his sketchy brother is betraying him” or whatever. Aka you are viewing it as a bad movie rather than disappearing into the good one. 
And at that point you are an objective level removed, and your awareness of tropes and storytelling and general themes of the genre means you’re now engaging with the story and its subtext on a higher level than pure indulgent viewership. (Which is a blessed state and extremely important for creators to cause that to happen in us, but if we want to be critical of a text we then need to lovingly make this step back to critique and explore and analyse and understand WHY we liked the thing we liked. Or, of course, hated the thing we hated.)
This is the answer the internet gives on What Are Subtext?
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The important thing is that the subtext is an actual, solid, understandable part of the story, but it’s not one that the text will actually announce with words… Unless it’s being extremely post-modern.
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(You should watch Jane the Virgin, it’s amazing)
In that example, it’s extremely obvious in context that the situation sucks, and our narrator is telling us, as a voice outside the scene, how it feels for the characters even though it’s blatant on screen, it’s humorous for us to be told this as part of the overall conceit of the show, which is extremely postmodern and constantly types out the details of the story and how the characters feel, things they don’t know, etc, on screen for us to make sure we’re all on board and understand what’s going on. Using the narration like this is making what is subtext in the acted scenes, for example jealous eyebrows and the sort of other micro-expressions we over-analyse, into stated fact about the feelings. The serious nuance comes in other, much more intelligent ways in the story.
Another direct and frequent way we interact with subtext aside from it being just literally anything happening on screen that is not directly commented on but may be evident from the work of acting, camera, and setting-related design and other choices, is dramatic irony, which is a very good use of subtext which draws us in and makes us extremely aware of what we know that the other characters don’t, and plays on that for our attention and investment in the story, but of course MUST go unstated at least to some characters, meaning that any engagement we have with the conceit around said character(s) means we’re seeing the subtext they miss. Growing up reading Lemony Snicket was a masterclass in storytelling and general life so I’ll let him explain:
“Simply put, dramatic irony is when a person makes a harmless remark, and someone else who hears it knows something that makes the remark have a different, and usually unpleasant, meaning. For instance, if you were in a restaurant and said out loud, “I can’t wait to eat the veal marsala I ordered,” and there were people around who knew that the veal marsala was poisoned and that you would die as soon as you took a bite, your situation would be one of dramatic irony.”
When we’re reading a text to identify subtext, we need to have awareness of some pretty basic foundations, such as the major story tropes and styles, and character and setting and a lot of other things… Fortunately as long as you read books, watch films and TV series and otherwise consume tons of media, you will have at least unconsciously absorbed a LOT of the toolbox needed for this. You just need to know enough to know how to expect what happens next, OR to know when a story has done something radical which is NOT what you would have expected, and breaks a mould you thought it was set in.
For example, the cold open of 2x03 features a vampire, a panicked, conventionally attractive woman in a white top running through woods, being hunted by Gordon, with the vampire as the typical tropey victim, and Gordon facelessly featured as a seeming hook-handed killer. It LOOKS like it’s going to play into an extremely typical slasher story, but once Sam and Dean realise the victim was a vampire, it turns the entire set up on its head and is immensely unsettling to the foundation of the show (which is how Dean handles the episode). I use that example a lot but it’s one of the most blatantly tropey cold opens on the show which gives away nothing to suggest it will be subverted, because it’s so early in the show their mould is extremely simple, and you could almost not trust that they wouldn’t do another extremely on the nose urban legend, before they have really established themselves beyond the season 1 style.
That whole set up relies on giving us invisible cues we read which are the subtext of the scene, and then using the fact that this set up plays us really hard to believe one thing and the other, in order to make it so complex and confusing and uncertain even for us, as we relied on the cold open to tell us what was what and who was good and who was bad, which if we followed one emotional POV of the episode, could last as long as Dean’s uncertainty that the vampires weren’t bad.
Storytelling is built enormously on this foundation of subtext and stuff, and one of the things that you can tell is bad about Buckleming episodes is that they really don’t put in much subtext: things are fairly straightforward, subterfuge is broadcast, and there’s rarely deeper meanings or connections between events in their stories. It comes across shallow and weird, especially with side characters with bizarre and unexplored motivations, or surface level motivations which are not explored and we can only take it on face value what they actually care about. One of the most hilarious Buckleming scenes to me is the one where Crowley “forces” Lucifer to tell the court of demons that Crowley is the best and he is in charge, while with his back turned to Crowley, Lucifer winks and implies with his tone of voice that he is/will be in charge and is the real king they should be bowing to. This is their idea of dramatic irony, subtlety and subtext in character interactions and it is utterly, truly dreadful to behold, in the sort of way I want to put it in a museum as an example to future children to learn what not to do. You can press a button and Lucifer’s eyes light up in the exhibit!
In any case you’re probably really mostly asking about Destiel and bi Dean subtext etc, because this is what majorly concerns the meta-interested peeps. But to me it is really really essential to know and care about the entire house of cards. Billie’s words about the structure and function and behaviour of the universe in 13x05 are a wonderful description of how writing works, and as a bonus she doesn’t say “this is a writing metaphor” and wink directly into the camera, as Buckleming would have written it, but Yockey leaves this idea in the writing itself for us to interpret and understand. There’s a LOT of commentary in this show about writing but this one in particular really resonates with me when it comes to talking about interpretation, because we really have to understand and handle the entire story in order to really line up any of the pieces in a way that makes sense.
Right now I have that lil lesson in visual subtext floating around, about Ketch and Dean in 13x18 and Dean n Cas in 13x19. I think it’s a great example because Ketch and Dean have a real history, and that’s super important to remember when on the surface it looks like just a joke. The history goes back as far as 2x03, when I’ve written before about seduction and the trap Dean falls into with men filling a space in his life. The tl;dr of this linked meta is that Gordon, the Siren and then Crowley as a main arc over season 9-10 seduced Dean in a very similar pattern. 9x11 is the best example of a Dean seduction episode, but through season 10, Crowley is so successful that he has the dubious honour of having actually managed to bed Dean in the process, while the others failed, though the Siren at least got a proxy-kiss.
Ketch comes on to Dean in 12x14 and there was even a shot or promo image (I can’t remember which this is now) where they had this bottle in the middle of the table between them.
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Bottles are suggestive imagery in any case, and we have Cas flirting outrageously (for Cas) with Dean in 9x09 including this action of stroking his bottle in front of Dean:
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Ketch’s approach with Dean was a lot like Crowley’s, emphasising their similiarity and trying to get his little adventure with Dean to tap into all the dark parts Dean denies. In the end Ketch went overboard beating up the vampire girl, Dean went into protective mode, and didn’t unleash an inner killer, like Gordon and Crowley in particular had wanted him to, and so this Manly Bonding Over Violence failed to occur, they went their separate ways, and Ketch shacked up with Mary instead because this is a fucked up story :D
Once this incestuous connection to Ketch occurred, he for once is off-limits to Dean now, so he’s having this oddly romantic bonding episode with Dean in a sense - the kind that without this context would be huge alarm bells because it combines the ridiculous homoeroticism of Dean x Cole (thank the fucking lord that stopped short) and the plausible good chemistry of Dean x Crowley in the sense of Jensen and DHJ being a fucking delight when they’re together. This would be EXTREEEEEEEEMELY shippable in other circumstances, but instead Dean knows Ketch slept with Mary, they mother and son killed him and destroyed that gross connection, and then he floated back up like a turd, and so they mostly just talk about when and how they get to kill him again, and not in the “this is a blatant flirtation” way Crowley pointed out it was basically a come on from Dean to threaten to kill him in the closing lines of 9x10 and the opening lines of 9x11 featured Dean threatening to kill Crowley.
So Dean chilling 5ft away from Ketch in a hot tub because he’s not gay in the woods, and telling him flat out he’s not his type, is legit and not connected to subtext telling us that Dean isn’t bi, it’s that Dean in a zillion years is not going to sleep with Ketch, that if he was younger and dumber he would have, but he knows what’s up and now Ketch slept with Mary, this is fucked up in a way that we’re now verging into bizarre John subtext instead. The phallic symbol of a gun - used a lot by Dean from between his legs in humourous or not so humorous scenes and teased as penis subtext a lot (especially in #THINMAN with the “say hello to my little pistola” moment where Dean directly compares dick and gun in coded talk while having it out with Harry) - is therefore presented as Dean with it loose and not pointed at Ketch. Surface level, he’s not gonna shoot Ketch right now. Subtext… He’s… not gonna… shoot……. ketch right now…
And then you go to the kitchen scene with Dean n Cas, the subtext of beer as dicks is also deeply established as well as alcohol as sexual bonding between men, right back to Gordon and the Siren and Crowley, in a bad way, but also positive; Dean bonds with people who share a drink with him and his primary way of picking up women is in bars. In the open of 1x19 he and Sam have full beers on their table, and Dean goes over and buys more beers to talk to the women he wants to pick up, then goes to Sam and puts those beers down - in the end Sam has 4 full, untouched beers on the table in front of him when Dean runs off to go seal the deal at the end of the scene. I find that so utterly hilarious.
But yeah. Between Dean n Cas it has a much deeper level of symbolism about their connection, and the major moments are pretty numerous, but I love in 10x18 at the Last Supper, the Kingdom Beer bottle superimposed over the whole of Cas for a moment in the fade between scenes, before Dean picks it up and drinks from it. There’s also moments like 6x03 when Dean is praying to Cas where he’s holding a bottle directly between his legs, as Cas arrives in the room. Details like this always make me laugh. You need a dirty mind for this sort of subtext :P The show itself has a dirty mind… Season 7 is full of Dick jokes, but they’re only the most overt that the show makes. 9x17 is RIDICULOUS because Misha has the foulest mind and spent roughly 50% of the time he was directing doing close ups of Dean’s face as he drinks seductively from a bottle, or with him standing with a pool cue between his legs, running his hand up and down it. I… Am not going to comment further. It was, however, the episode where Crowley thought he had sealed the deal with Dean.
In any case the subtext of the beer in 13x19 is more likely to link directly to 12x10 and “this will do nothing for me but I appreciate the gesture” and the more wholesome theme of Dean trying to be nurturing and inviting Cas into the home and family - 12x10 was basically addressing and fixing an enormous problem of miscommunication about this. In the end despite the gesture - of both not killing Cas just to spite Ishim, or giving Cas a beer when it won’t make him drunk, Cas ended up still leaving on the mission that ended up with him stealing the Colt and then going off with Jack and Kelly. And this season the theme remains of miscommuncation, this time with so much dramatic irony that WE know that the characters don’t that their cross purposes can be seen from space… Hopefully for the sake of addressing it.
But I have a dirty mind and this is an established part of Destiel subtext from other scenes where the beer was more directly in focus, such as 9x09, meaning no harm in highlighting the upwards pointing phallic symbols in the room and grabbing an awkward shot of Dean holding the beer pointed Caswards from his lower torso… :P
I think in the end spotting innuendo is important to know when it is and isn’t intended by signifiers in the story and characters that it is just random. There’s almost certainly accidental moments where characters with no chemistry or emotional subplot have done things which might look suggestive but it’s up to us to use logic and reason to guess they’re not really telling us they have a boner for each other. Since Dean n Cas have romantic subtext and a strong history of innuendo and sexual subtext as well, it’s fair game to at least laugh about unfortunate implications, wonder about the Big O Slush Machine that Cas spilled over the phone to Dean in 9x06, or look stonefaced into the camera and say “that’s a dick.”
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