normelf

I saw your tags on my dnp 1984 comic!!! I’m so glad people are reading into this, that is what every artist wants 🥹 It is said in 1984 that gay partnerships are just as much- no more, no less- criminal than any kind of romantic partnership. So technically a man and a woman having a sexual relationship out of wedlock with no intention of having children (like Winston and Julia) is no better than two men having a sexual relationship.

It would probably be easier for them in some ways, like you said it would probably be easier to pass off as friendship, though any sort of romance or intimacy (or discussion of rebellious topics) would have to be hidden in the way Julia and Winston canonically hide it. Of course 1984 was written in 1948 when gay couples weren’t exactly embraced by society but if we think about 1984 as a separate universe than dnp wouldn’t have as much internalized homophobia as they would have an internalized aversion to romance itself (perhaps assuming that they were born a little later into the Party’s regime and they grew up with the idea that all romance is evil)

I don’t remember if there is a character in 1984 that goes by a nickname but I think it would be super cute for dnp to give each other the nicknames of Dan and Phil as they get closer :)

Oh that would be interesting to consider, then, where there’s less homophobia but instead a view of romance and sex as something forbidden. (Although, would the sexual relationship be harder, considering that they might need lube, something that I think would be difficult to access? But also easier, no risk of accidental pregnancy. (It always confuses me in apocalypse movies when a straight couple just decides to have sex. I think it’s just that I’m ace maybe, but risking pregnancy just seems like a bad idea if they’re already struggling to feed themselves, plus babies also aren’t exactly quiet or low maintenance. Not that this really has anything to do with a Dan and Phil and 1984 crossover, I suppose.) Accidental pregnancy might be worse, actually. How would they hide that? Doesn’t Winston have a wife still, because they can’t divorce?) Instead of internalized/general homophobia, still having to hide the relationship but even more carefully, and very limited time to see each other would certainly change how the relationship progresses. Slower, because they talk less, but at the same time faster, because they’re really the only person to be close and honest with, especially after years of loneliness, plus with the risk they’re definitely squeezing all they can into the limited time they get. Still, it might be easier in the long run to excuse some minor closeness, but based on the comic, they seem pretty obvious and would have to avoid each other where they’re being watched, otherwise they’d get figured out pretty quick, so it might not really have too much of an overall impact.

But how would being in 1984 affect their personalities? Neither Winston nor Julia seemed to be cheerful, a result of the setting, so it would definitely affect their characters. But would they both agree with the sentiment that they are already dead? Living like that has to kill so much about someone, especially if they have very few memories of before. (Would that be better or worse? Memories provide comfort but remind you of what you’ve lost.) Their jobs too, I don’t recall Julia’s, but Winston’s was like newspaper propaganda, which, if Phil has an English degree, something with words would make sense, so probably something along those lines? (No YouTube though, and just very limited things in general. Wearing the same thing and living in a dull and uncustomized apartment, etc. I think I read the graphic novel at some point, and it was mostly colourless, which I liked, but it only made the world that much more depressing. I think the movie had a little more colour?) I think too, at first I’m pretty sure Winston was suspicious of Julia, but with Dan and Phil, I could also see them both crushing from afar before Dan slips Phil the note. (I may be misremembering, but I think some of the hatred came from her being a young woman, someone he considered highly susceptible to the propaganda, and also her being part of an anti-sex league?)

I think the idea of them calling each other nicknames is sweet, and I like the idea of it in this au. Something to connect them, something private and special, and would also make for a good thing to add to the ending, depending on how it goes. Either they could keep the nicknames, show that the love remains, or drop them and kind of further show the distance. (I’m a sucker for when the use of names/nicknames have meaning, it’s always so interesting how it’s done.)

Speaking of the ending, though, would be extremely interesting to consider. In the book, I believe they end up loving Big Brother and no longer having any love left for each other, something which made sense for the book. If I recall, in the movie they still said they loved each other, (although it’s been a few years and the only place I can find mentioning the movie ending is Wikipedia) which although a more hopeful ending, in my mind defeats the purpose of the book. (Apparently, there was an older movie in which they both got shot, which, although I believe that ending was disliked, is still an interesting possibility.) It’s Dan and Phil, so I automatically want them to get a happy ending, but it’s also 1984, which doesn’t have a happy ending, so how do those two blend? The original ending, but they keep the nicknames maybe, and keep the love they have even if they can’t be together or see each other? But losing the nicknames would also be very interesting to show the shift in dynamic, even if it is a sadder ending, it is maybe more realistic.

(Hopefully this makes sense and isn’t too repetitive, I just think the idea of these mixing would be very interesting.)