#I think it's called Noah's Arc ? something like that

[maddy-ferguson]

Ngl, I really think that these bylers that are crying 24/7 about "purity culture" or whatever, are playing dumb when they start with their "but Nancy and Steve were 16 and 17 in that scene of s1!!!1" like... We got introduced to these characters at that age and the people playing them were already adults. So yeah, sorry but I think it's easy to see why most viewers would be uncomfortable with a more sexual scene of Mike and Will and it's not automatically homophobia, I think that would be the case with any of the kids since we got introduced to these characters when they were 12 and the actors were babies as well. We literally saw those kids grow. And I'm not saying byler should only get to peck or hold hands, It'd be cool if they have their epic kiss or whatever, but Will hasn't even had his first kiss yet and some of these people are already talking about sex scenes, like... Be for real 😭

funny you should say that...because i've used the nancy was 15-16 in season one argument (last tag) before while also saying that i understand why people find the sex part of their sexualities uncomfortable to discuss. and i wanna reiterate that, again, i totally understand that people feel like they've seen them grow up etc etc and that they still think of the actors themselves as children even thought they're not anymore.

i don't think it's all homophobia because like you said, people would probably feel the same about lucas and max and discussions of sex (i don't know if anyone is discussing that because there's much less discourse to have there and you can't argue that people are homophobic if they disagree with you) but i don't think it would be justified either. the "but we knew the characters when they were little" argument makes me think me of an ancient disney channel/abc show that old people and girl meets world fans who watched it for the first time in the 2010s will know, boy meets world (1993-2000). classic comic of age show, look at these kids. and eric in the back (he's fifteen).

they're eleven at the start of the show and then, what happens in any coming of age story happens, you guessed it...

they grow up. this is them in the later seasons, when the main characters are still in high school i think. they grow up, they talk about sex and about having sex at prom in season five and then they don't have sex right away because they figure it's not the right time yet or something like that, and then they have sex later and get married, the details don't matter. but my point is, who watches a show for five seasons, over years and years and gets upset at the main characters having sex because "this is crazy they used to be children"? isn't that the point of coming of age stories that cover multiple years or that focus on the latter years of adolescence, that they're not children forever and that at one point the characters "come of age" which usually includes their first sexual experiences?

i don't think the having sex part is particularly important in stranger things but also it doesn't have to be for it to be portrayed (see jonathan and nancy), teenagers have sex, it's just the way the world works. i'm not advocating for sex scenes of any kind especially because stranger things isn't a show that features a lot of sex in general, the only "explicit" sex scene being nancy and steve in season one with cuts to barb dying, but i genuinely don't think the duffers would have any qualms about portraying teenage sexuality in general with the party. if they did, they wouldn't have included erica threatening lucas to tell dustin what she found under his bed (it wasn't the communist manifesto) and they wouldn't have had max looking at a shirtless steve for an amount of time that's supposed to make the audience laugh. it's been 7 years. if they do a time jump, the babies will be about 17, played by actors who will all be around 20, the age natalia was when filming season one. the characters are teenagers, babies grow up. it happens to the best of us. i get why people would find it uncomfortable and maybe i would find it uncomfortable too but i wouldn't be scandalized. the duffers had no problem having a child actor portray everything will goes through in seasons one and especially two, i really feel like sex is fine and...not traumatizing or hard to watch compared to every single thing will's gone through lol. and again, i'm not even expecting them to have sex lmao, but i wouldn't cry myself to sleep if they revealed that everyone in the party actually knows what sex is.

last question: do we have any indication that jonathan had talked to more than one other girl (the girl at the halloween party being the one girl i'm counting for him) before he got together with nancy. i'm just asking because of your last sentence, because if we don't he should have slowed down also😭

#yes i'm back to calling people old for no reason. <3 #saying that they will all be around 20 isn't a stretch because noah's turning 19 in 4 months and they haven't begun filming yet. thank you #i'm not mad at you anon sorry for not really agreeing with you and again i get where you're coming from and i don't even expect them to #have sex and if they did i would expect it to be implied like jonathan and nancy but yeah #what i mean when i say it's not particularly important in st is that i don't think they need to have sex for will's arc to be complete or #anything😭 #i would've been happy with jonathan and nancy only kissing in s2 like idc yk it's a detail #i'm not advocating for sex scenes means HERE in this case i'm not anti-sex scenes in general lmao #i didn't watch bmw over years and years i watched it in like. a month and a half maybe i really was not crying when cory started wanting to #have sex and i was 15...an impressionnable kid who knew what sex was...disheartening i know💔 #<- that wasn't me making fun of you anon lmao again i get where you're coming from i just respectfully disagree #i looked up the episode where they have sex and (spoiler alert lol) cory and topanga end up only having sex on their wedding night i think? #and that's not the episode in s5 i'm talking about but they consider having sex and talk about it so still bringing that one up #i found an article about something rider strong (shawn) said about not liking this episode because while they talk about sex at length they #never talk about safe sex and he even talked about his concerns to the showrunner because he thought it was irresponsible since yk young #viewers and all that and he was like maybe you don't get it different generations mine grew up with aids and everything this is really #important and he brushed him off! i thought that was interesting. this has nothing to do with st #ask

[telekineticseance]

STUDY BUDDIES

pairing: ted logan x afab! reader

summary: your teacher gives you the assignment of tutoring one of the dumbest kids in school

genre: smut

word count: 1895

cw: p in v, dick riding

author’s note: this is mainly for @animulnitrate because they asked so nicely and they're my roomie so i can't say no

“Help out Ted Logan? The guy who thinks Joan of Arc is Noah’s wife?” You asked your teacher, you couldn’t believe what you were hearing. You were usually fine with tutoring others but when it came to Ted Logan, it was a lost cause. He barely knew basic math, spending hours with him trying to teach him history would be a nightmare.

“Yes..I know it’ll be hard at first but he needs to pass this exam or else he’s not passing the year and he’ll have to repeat a grade.” Mr.Ryan, your history teacher, explained to you He knew how bad Ted was and Ted’s best friend Bill was just as bad. You couldn’t imagine being in his shoes and having to teach not one of them, but both of them, at the same time. You let out a sigh of agreement and nodded before walking out of the class running into Ted at the end of the hallway.

“Whoa hey there Dudette! Gotta watch where you’re going.” He said, his hands holding onto your arms as he looked down at you with a grin on his face. You scoffed slightly at him while rolling your eyes and brushing his hands away. “Look Logan, I’ve been given the task of tutoring you tonight in preparation for your exam.”

Ted chuckled while nodding his head, his hair bouncing in the process, “Well alright! Alone time with a babe like you? I’m so down!” You hid back a giggle, as he smiled down at you. “Uh yeah..right. So do you want to study at your place?” You asked him.

“My place sounds sick!” You nodded as he gave you his address and the two of you parted ways before you went to the rest of your classes.

—

You walked up the steps to Ted’s front door and knocked gently, while holding onto the bag on your shoulder with your other hand. You heard footsteps run down the stairs before a loud bang on the door and the door opened revealing a disheveled Ted with one of those grins on his face, “My savior! Come in.” He said, moving to the side so you can walk in. You walk past him, looking around at the decorations, expecting to see something the total opposite than the preppy vibes you were viewing.

Ted lightly grabbed your arm and led you up the stairs, “Come on we can go to my room!” He ran up the stairs with you closely behind before leading you to a bedroom which was a lot more like you expected. The bed was unmade with posters plastered in random spots all over the walls of different movies and rock bands. Including some homemade posters of something called Wyld Stallyns. He stood in front of you throwing his arms in the air, “Presenting tu casa!”

You paused looking at him, “Actually..” You started before he dropped his hands and raised his eyebrow and you stopped, “Nevermind. Yes this is tu casa.” He grinned while nodding again before sitting down on his bed with a plop and you took your bag off your shoulder, sitting next to him before pulling out books. You sat your history book in your lap, opening it to a page before turning to him, “Okay so I thought I would start with the beginning and then just going through at whatever pace is more comfortable for you?” You asked him, looking over as he looked down at the book in your lip while nodding.

As the two of you looked through the book, Ted would inch closer to where your legs would be touching and you’d scoot away a little more. He would also move his hand close to yours as you held the pages open, lightly stroking his pinky against your hand in the process. Every time he’d try you would awkwardly clear your throat and move away from him, but he’d just go back to trying. Eventually Ted took a deep breath before looking at you, “You know…you’re quite the babe.”

You raised an eyebrow, looking at him as he grinned that same grin he’s had practically all night. “Thank..you?” His eyes widened a little bit and he shifted his position to look at you more, “No what I meant was you’re bodacious! Uh..a sight to see! Hot!” You couldn’t help but let out a giggle at his actions, he wasn’t smart but you did think he was cute at times. He blushed slightly, looking back down at the book, pointing at a picture of Napoleon, “Who’s the guy with the funny hat?”

You started to tell him the history of Napoleon Bonaparte and the French Revolution as he listened closely, nodding while you talked. Eventually you were interrupted by Ted moving in close, kissing you deeply. Your eyes widened as you pulled away and looked at him, “Oh I’m sorry.” He apologized, putting his hand over his mouth. You sat there in shock before leaning in and kissing him yourself. He slowly moved his hand up to your arms, stroking them as the two of you kissed. Your hands gripped onto the black vest he was always wearing as you deepened the kiss.

He pulled away, his lips a dark shade of pink from the kiss as he looked down at you, “Whoa.” He grinned as he slowly opened his eyes, almost as if he were in a trance. You felt your face heat up as you nodded. He bit his bottom lip slightly looking in your eyes, as his hand lightly stroked your cheek.  “Can we do that again?” He asked gently, leaning closer again. You nodded, caressing his cheek before kissing him again. You repositioned yourself, letting the history book fall to the floor as you sat in front of him on your knees.

Both of your hands were on the sides of his face, while his hands moved to your waist. Your tongue explored his mouth as he let out a few hums during the kiss. You slipped off the vest from his torso, and started to pull at his shirt before he put his hands on yours, pulling away. “I can’t.” He whispered against your lips. You pulled your hands away and distanced yourself from him, “Oh.”

“No no I want to,” He corrected before thinking for a minute, “But I just…I wouldn’t know what to do.” He mumbled, looking down at his lap, picking at one of the patches on his shorts. Did he mean? You lifted his face, looking into his eyes, “Have you done anything like this before?” He shook his head, looking into your eyes. You thought for a minute before moving close to him, “I can teach you..if you’d want.”

He smiled as he looked at you, “You would?” You nodded slowly as he nodded back, “Okay!” You giggled while rolling your eyes playfully before kissing him again, leaning him back against the headboard. You straddled his lap, moving your hands to start pulling off the shirt again. He moved his hands to your waist, pulling you close to him. Your hands moved to your own shirt, pulling it over your head as Ted watched, his eyes widening once he saw you in your bra. His gaze lingered on your chest, “Do you want me to take this off too?” You asked him, tracing your fingers along the lace of your bra. He gulped, nodding slowly as you unclasped your bra, pulling it off and putting it next to the two of you.

His eyes stayed focused on your chest, as you felt his length growing against your crotch. You bit your bottom lip before Ted leaned in, placing wet kisses on your chest before placing his lips on your nipple. Lightly sucking and biting on it, causing you to let out a moan. Your fingers tangled into his hair before he pulled away and looked up at you, “Is this okay?” You nodded slowly and he moved his mouth to your other nipple before repeating the process.

You moved your hips, grinding your crotch against his. He pulled his mouth away, letting out a breath of air while closing his eyes tight from the feeling. He looked up at you, his lids barely open. You bit your bottom lip before removing yourself from his lip and starting to pull off his shorts. You were slightly confused from the layering he was doing as when you pulled down the shorts, he had a pair of gray sweats on underneath. He bit his bottom lip, “They’re comfier than boxers.” He said softly.

You nodded, pulling down the sweats, revealing his growing length. He bit his bottom lip when he noticed you staring. He was definitely above average and you couldn’t help but let your gaze linger. You slowly pulled off your panties from underneath your skirt and threw them onto the floor before straddling Ted’s lap again. You could see the sweat beads from his forehead as he looked up at you, “Are you sure you want this?” You asked him, your hand caressing his face. He nodded slowly, “I-I’m just nervous. You’re really really pretty.”

You giggled slightly at him before kissing him deeply, moving your to the base of his cock, stroking him gently. He let out a gasp into the kiss, followed by a soft groan. You positioned the tip to your throbbing clit before lowering yourself down, He buried his head into your chest, letting out a small whimper as you continued moving your hips against him. He leaned his head back against the headboard, biting his bottom lip as you slid up and down on his length.

A mixture of moans and whimpers escaped his lips as you continued moving, rocking your hips in the process. You dug your nails into his chest, as his grip tightened on your hips. He thrusted his hips up causing you to let out a moan, throwing your head back in pleasure. Ted opened his eyes partially, watching you before leaning back and starting to kiss on your chest again, leaving marks all the way from your neck down.

Your hips moved in sync with one another as you felt Ted’s stomach tighten from underneath you before his eyebrows furrowed, “I-I’m cl- hmm.” He interrupted his sentence with a hum, throwing his head back against the headboard once more. You leaned down and pressed your lips to his once you felt yourself starting to reach your own high. Ted let out a small gasp as you felt his tip twitch , the two of you releasing at the same time. You rode out your high, practically sinking onto his chest, feeling the energy evaporate from your body. Ted’s face was flushed a deep shade of pink and his hair was sticking to his forehead from the sweat. You pulled yourself off of him, sitting on the bed next to him while processing the events that just happened.

“That was..” You started, “Excellent?” Ted said, looking at you.

You giggled slightly in response, “Sure. Let’s go with excellent.”

“Can we do it again?” He asked, his hand snaking around your waist as he buried his face in your neck. You nodded, knowing the two of you probably wouldn’t be getting much more tutoring done for the night.

#this was fun #thanks bestie for suggesting this #ted logan #ted theodore logan #bill and ted's excellent adventure #ted logan x reader #ted logan smut

[bengiyo]

Only Friends: There are No Heroines. They're Just Dudes.

I’ve been meditating on what I want to say about Only Friends for a while. I’ve read so many great posts coming from a lot of lenses I respect and admire. I loved @shouldiusemyname pointing out the 90s aesthetic of the show and how the creative team is unpacking some of what informed their early experiences. I think @respectthepetty is right to call out the way Boston’s aggression crosses lines and @syrena-del-mar reading Boston as a Machiavellian Prince, even as I think @waitmyturtles, @wen-kexing-apologist and @lurkingshan provide good reminders of the kinds of lenses we need to interrogate as we approach stories about queer people written by queer people. I’m enjoying the discussions on ephemerality happening around the show from @waitmyturtles, @ranchthoughts, @twig-tea, @neuroticbookworm, and others. I think, when it comes to how I’m approaching this show, I’m watching I the same way I watched Queer as Folk, a text we know the creative team is familiar with (@omarandjohnny).

I don’t watch this as a story about heroes and villains. They’re just people with mundane goals reacting to each other as their desires interface with each other. I watch this show the same way I watched Queer as Folk, Black Sails, Game of Thrones, How to Get Away With Murder, and similar ensemble cast shows. None of these characters are heroines dealing with flawed suitors. They’re a bunch of dudes in their early 20s with problems, many of which have to deal with sex. This show isn’t like La Pluie, which was big romance in which Saengtai was the heroine and Phat was the romantic lead. Only Friends isn’t a big romance that’s interrogating the nature of romance itself. It’s a gay ensemble drama.

At first, I wondered if this show would center on Mew’s perspective because he was our opening narrator, but it’s clear by episode three that the show doesn’t have a central narrator. This was a similar shift I had to learn while watching Queer as Folk (2000) in realizing that Michael’s perspective is not sacrosanct and that he can be an asshole just as much as any of the other guys. It was also something we had to appreciate in Noah’s Arc (2005). When you’re watching Game of Thrones or Black Sails, you choose the faction you most want to see win or most respect or admire. For Only Friends, I’m mostly watching it from a third-person perspective; I am watching to see how each character’s choices impact the other characters.

I want to stress how mundane much of this show feels to me. Watching these guys interact with each other and their world reminds me exactly of how I felt interacting with other people when I was 21-24 and hanging out in spaces like this. Just like with my argument that Sailom (Wedding Plan) is just closeted, I think most of these guys are just young and a little messed up.

I liked @respectthepetty talking about how she feels bad for Top because of how people see him as a body, and how Top may just be using sex as a coping mechanism to not be alone. I like how obvious Ray’s abandonment issues have played into his substance issues, and how that informs the way he tries to cling so tightly onto people. I like that there have been huge warning signs over Nick ever since we saw him violate Boston’s privacy and look at his photos (I was not surprised he bugged the car at all). I am so fascinated by Mew’s apparent need for control (@lurkingshan), which may be over appearances. I am curious to see how Sand responds to Ray throwing him back after opening himself up past one of his boundaries. I am stoked to see how everyone eventually responds to Boston’s callousness now that things are going to start coming out (@ranchthoughts). I want to know how Cheum and April deal with all the gays losing focus on their project when they were the only ones trying to secure the bag during the party.

For me, I find myself waiting for context from these characters rather than trying to dig it out myself. I think I am worrying less about why anyone is doing anything and more on the responses they illicit from everyone else. I think it’s fascinating for me that prior to this episode I don’t think Top had done anything egregious we’d seen. He’s said he’s tired of hooking up with guys like Boston and wanted to try Mew and, despite their games, he’s been straightforward with Mew; he’s only faltered at the point that he believed Mew lied to him first. No matter how sad and lonely Ray is, I don’t want him driving his car around Bangkok, and I think he needs to stop dicking around with Sand. I think Sand needs to stop playing Captain Save-a-Hoe with Ray and reaffirm his solo stance. I think Nick needs to recognize that Boston’s insinuations that they could be more are hollow and he should just move on. I think Mew should stop trying to win his relationships and be honest about what he wants. I think Boston should probably taste a little fist and have his worldview rearranged a little bit.

Please keep writing and unpacking the psyches of these characters! I’m enjoying reading all of the ways people are connecting to these characters. Still, I want to avoid blowing them up into high-drama figures because they’re just like a lot of the folks I knew (and still know) in the community. I had dinner with some of them last night. These guys are just people, and people sometimes fuck each other up. I think the mundanity of their actions is probably the most appealing part of this show for me.

#Ben writes #only friends the series #only friends meta #ofts #thai bl #bl series

[scepterno]

you've made the mistake of endorsing my josé redemption arc so i shall release the horrors within

because i like to think that josé, to some extent, in the back of his mind always felt bad about hurting alejandro. yeah, he thought it was necessary to get him to man up and for alejandro's own good in the long run, hell he even enjoyed taking his frustration out on someone else sometimes. but you don't press lit cigarettes into your little brother's skin and just not care. you don't have someone looking at you with hate and fear and exhaustion in their expression every day and not feel anything. you don't hurt someone day after day and remain oblivious to what it does to them

and maybe years down the line, after a lot of therapy and a long and ongoing process of healing, josé will look at the tiny circular scars on alejandro's arm and feel this... pit in his stomach. something heavy and cold that claws at his insides and makes him nauseous, it clogs up his throat and makes him want to look away. it's the same feeling he gets whenever he sees the relief on alejandro's face when josé doesn't turn something into a competition between them, or when he tenses up at being called "al", and so on

it's so different from the warmth he feels deep in his chest whenever alejandro laughs at something he says, loud and unburdened and giddy, whenever he lets josé see him weak and in pain without trying to cover everything up, whenever he shows the tiniest bit of trust in his older brother

being part of alejandro's life means he has to put up with that annoying twig boyfriend of his, who seems dead set on antagonizing josé with snarky comments and long, hard stares that seem to burn the side of his face. but the effect is lessened whenever alejandro comes to his defense with an easy smile and a "he's not so bad, come on, stop being mean". it also means he has to deal with the lovey-dovey looks exchange between the two of them, which, eugh. but fine, whatever, he can handle it

he still fucks up sometimes, of course he does, they both do. they step on toes and revert back to old habits and hurt each other and pull away. sometimes it feels like it's an uphill battle of three steps forward, two steps back. it's painful, it's messy and it's a long, long process. but they're burromuerto men, which means they're stubborn beyond reason and the very thought of giving up is appalling to them

one time josé goes over to alejandro's and noah's apartment when the little bastard is at work. they're supposed to hang out, just the two of them, watch some cheesy telenovelas and poke fun at the acting, predict the plot 30 minutes in, and get way too invested in the characters' relationships. which is why he's confused to find the apartment silent and empty, no sign of life in the living room or kitchen. he knows alejandro's home, his shoes are at there under the hangers and the door was unlocked, so where is he? he calls out his name as he makes his way towards his bedroom, knocking on the door and waiting for a reply. still nothing. he pushes the door open cautiously and feels his heart drop to his stomach

he recalls both carlos and alejandro mentioning something about "bad days" offhandedly, but neither of them seemed particularly interested in talking about it in more detail, and so josé never bothered asking either. and now he can only assume this is what they meant, because to him this seems pretty fucking bad. alejandro's in his bed, blanket pooled around his hips, a layer of sweat covering his entire body, hair messy. one of his hands is gripping the sheets next to his thigh, knuckles white from the effort, while the other one is pressed to his forehead, obscuring his eyes from sight. he's shaking, jaw clenched tight and in the silence josé can hear how ragged and uneven his breathing is.

he can only stand and stare for another moment, before he calls out alejandro's name again, quiet and more uncertain than he's felt in a long time. alejandro startles at josé's voice, tensing up, before lifting his hand away from his face enough to look at josé. his eyes are bloodshot and filled with tears, exhausted and pained and utterly miserable, and josé doesn't know what to do

later on he's sitting on the edge of alejandro's bed, one of his hands caught in a death grip so tight he swears he can hear his bones creaking, his other hand wound around alejandro's shoulder and buried in tangled, sweaty hair. alejandro has his forehead pressed to josé's shoulder, his entire frame trembling like a leaf, breathing a mix of sniffles and gasps under the weight of his sobs, his hand clutching at josé's back so hard josé can feel his nails digging in.

and it's sat like this, holding alejandro, lightly scratching at his scalp, desperately trying not to fuck this up, that he realizes he doesn't want to see his little brother in pain anymore. fuck what the doctors say, or what his father or the rest of the family will think. this is his hermanito, and josé cannot stand seeing him in pain, not anymore

holy fuck anon just send me to an early grave why dont you UROGUGHGT *psychic damage* *psychic damage* *psychic damage*

yeah so this is EXACTLY what i had in mind with their relationship. you nailed it. it's on the damn cross. i dont even know what to say other than holy shit, you get exactly what i was putting down. AND THEN YOU RAN WITH IT. you dropped this bomb ass mini fic into my inbox and just. HOW DO YOU EXPECT ME TO RESPOND?? my jaw is between my feet.

we stan the burromuerto brothers redemption and healing arc WE STAN IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BURROMUERTO BROTHER SUPREMACY!!!!!

#long post #tagging so i can save this and find it later #alenoah #josé burromuerto #alejandro burromuerto #total drama

[she-wee]

The tangled alenoah AU actually makes tons of sense

Let's start with Flinn Rider or Eugene.

Alejandro and Eugene have the SAME PERSONALITY. They will use people often, but it is also easily tricked himself. Uses flirtation to get what he wants (bonus cuz it did not work on Rapunzel and def would not work on Noah) and his character arc a has alot to do with his name (not in the same context but I digress). Both are ok with singing to get what he wants, both like money a lot, and both change that when they meet their partner (cannon partner in Alejandros case).

Also, they are both extremely smart but also just silly little guys. From Alejandro, making a puppet of himself to Eugene fighting with a horse like it's a person to get the crown back. They have the accusational sarcastic whip, like Alejandro teasing Heather by calling her Mrs. Alejandro and Eugene joked with Rapunzel by lying that she begged him to marry her. Convince me that's not the same vibe, is it not?

Now when it comes to Rapunzel, we hit a brick wall.

Because Noah and Rapunzels personalities are miles different, but we do see lots of time we're she very intelligent and hard-headed, which are words you could describe Noah with. But for the majority of the movie, she's up and dancing around smiling and taking in this new world. We can't say if Noah would be the same because, obviously, that's never happened to him.

Though Noah's not so static all the time, in RR we see have a lot of mushy emotions and easily saving Emma from DEATH and stating something after, implying that if it was anyone else he probably wouldn't have. There are scenes where Rapunzel acts on life-threatening situations with a quickness because Eugene's in danger shows a connection. And I wouldn't say it's a stretch, bc if it's and -ALENOAH- AU,,,, then of course he going the like Alejandro in the AU???

Plus, Rapunzel was fully willing to sacrifice herself for Eugene, something Noah's hopless romantic ass would do. Also, Rapunzel likes books, and she has moments that are on the spott BANGER lines (Ex., "Did I mumble, mother?" ) , like Noah. And, in that one scene where Rapunzel is all mushy to Maximus ( the white horse) while degrading Eugene,, WAS SO ALENOAH CODED... and, yes, it's more fandom. But in like 3/4 of Alenoah fics, Noah is having trouble trusting Alejandro, like Rapunzel does with Eugene. ( The last one is a stretch, and I realize that)

If you have other opinions or you feel I messed a point, just tell me.

(originally ( i think) by @bbycha25 on Tumbler)

#total drama #alenoah #tdi #total drama au #tangled au #tangled #Alejandro is literally Eugene #Badass Rapunzel #not haye aleheather tho #noah is a hopeless romantic #rip #reference to ships i dont ship #no hate to Aleheather tho #or Nemma

[spicybylerpolls]

Here me out, I am not against a byler sex scene cause I don’t think it would be anything remotely explicit anyways so discussing it in depth for me feels pointless, but I have issues with tying a sex scene into the character arcs of mike and will as if it’s the only logical way to wrap up their story, only because had there not been a pandemic and multiple delays, byler would have happened while at least one of them was still a MINOR (maybe both I would have to do the math) and there’s no way the show woulda had a sex scene in those circumstances so it’s more likely to me that having a sex scene—while it would be interesting to go there now that the actors are older—it is not the end all be all for their character arcs and not something that *has* to happen for their end narrative to make sense, since it probably was not going to happen in the first place. So maybe let’s reframe the discussion away from “they have to bone or else all the build up and such makes no sense it’s the only way to end things because blah blah blah” and more as it would be fun/cool/hot to see something more adult now that they ARE actual adults, and it would feel satisfying to their story, but that’s it. cause some people are starting to feel so passionate about the idea that i am concerned they are going to make themselves very angry if there isn’t one …

Hmm, I kinda see your point, but I also feel like there's no real point in speculating about what might have happened in the hypothetical past where the pandemic and the strikes didn't happen because A) we don't live in that timeline lol, and B) the Duffers have always had the ending in the show in mind from the jump and many/most of the beats they knew they needed to hit along the way, BUT I personally don't think they've planned out literally every single detail from the start with no wiggle room.

The writers have said as much, like for example when they tweeted all the crazy things that were supposed to happen in season 2 like possessed Will killing Bob or El mercy killing her mom. They've definitely added and subtracted some things along the way.

Beyond that, regardless of the ages of Finn and Noah, it's not outlandish to argue that sex is still thematically connected to the characters and their arcs. Byler is a story about sexuality, of which sexual attraction and, well, sex play a huge role.

And ST is a coming-of-age show, of which sex often plays a huge role regardless of the age of the actors. During S3, the writers didn't shy away from including sexual themes such as Max's happy screams comment, and the actors were still minors then. Every season has progressed these themes further. The writers and filmmakers are the ones putting the sexual symbolism and jokes into the story, and we're just picking up what they're putting down, right?

Like, I don't think Murray using the phrase "experiment sexually" was accidental, nor was hosegate, nor was Mike checking out Will's ass lol. It's all fair game when you're telling this kind of story (as long as you're creating a safe and comfortable set, of course). Because of this, IMO, there's a high chance the ST writers would've still at least implied that Byler had sex even in your hypothetical scenario. There actually isn't a hard-and-fast rule that prevents actors who aren't legal adults yet from acting out light, non-explicit sex scenes.

You say that, "byler would have happened while at least one of them was still a MINOR (maybe both I would have to do the math) and there’s no way the show woulda had a sex scene in those circumstances," and I understand why you'd say this, but if you look closer at films and shows in media history, that's not always true. I can name several shows and films that call this theory into question.

While it's true that most modern shows with teen sex scenes do tend to also have adults already playing teenagers- there's a whole page on TV Tropes about this phenomenon called Dawson Casting- (and these tend to show a lot of skin, i.e. Euphoria), which makes it easier to explore sexual storylines, that's not the case across the board.

In your hypothetical scenario, the Byler sex scene obviously wouldn't have been an explicit one (and no one's saying it will absolutely be that way now either), but that doesn't really mean it wouldn't have existed in some form. There are many examples of coming-of-age shows/movies where the actors were technically still underage at the time of filming, and it showed them making out intensely before cutting out (and sex was implied) or it showed something slightly more (closer to Stancy) but still not anywhere near HBO-level.

McLovin's sex scene in Superbad comes to mind (his actor was still 17 at the time, and his mother had to watch while it was being filmed). Thora Birch was 16 when American Beauty was filmed. More recently, there was the Jevon sex scene in Chucky this season. Devon's actor recently turned 18, but Jake's actor is still 17. And yet the season was non-subtly building up to the scene, it was 100% tastefully done, and it cut away before anything super specific happened.

Now that both Finn and Noah ARE adults, and we know there will definitely be a time jump, this hypothetical is extra meaningless. And if the Duffers want to go further and bolder with a Byler sex scene, they can, even if this wasn't the original plan. And there's lots of brilliant analysis that argues the Duffers have been planting the seeds for a while for at least some kind of sexual resolution.

But your assertion that, "some people are starting to feel so passionate about the idea that i am concerned they are going to make themselves very angry if there isn’t one" doesn't seem based in reality either. Spicy bylers might want a sex scene, and many might believe there at least will be something implied like Jancy, but I don't think anyone will actually be angry if there isn't one. Correct me if I'm wrong? I think most people are just happy there's a space to talk about Byler in unfiltered ways, to analyze the mature themes of the show, and also to have fun while doing so, especially since the season is still a ways away. It's not like people will actually fist fight the Duffers if Mike isn't moaning and giving Will backshots in S5 💀.

What do y'all think?

#spicy byler #byler #mike wheeler #will byers #finn wolfhard #noah schnapp #spicy byler meta #no poll

[asetoblog]

A Seto psychological assessment

So, I said I was gonna do this and now I finally did it. Behold, a Seto Kaiba psychological assessment about interpersonal relationships! (I'm gonna try to make this as simple as possible for everyone <3)

I'm gonna consider original dub Seto ONLY, since the american version totally fucked his character up.

ATTACHMENT STYLE

According to Ainsworth and Bowlby's studies there are 4 Attachment styles:

Anxious/Preoccupied

Avoidant/Dismissive (ding ding ding!)

Disorganized/Fearful

Secure

What are Attachment styles (or Internal Working Models)? In children, we can find that they behave in different ways according to the presence or absence of their parents in an environment: anxious children have a deep fear of being abandoned or left alone so they act really upset or even cry when their parents are not around; avoidant/dismissive children usually hate to depend on others and don't care if they are left alone (they like minding their business); disorganized children are harder to understand since they act fearful towards their parents but at the same time they want to be close to them; finally secure children have a healthy relationship with their parents.

I think you've already noticed which one fits Kaiba the most: of course he's gonna be an Avoidant child!

(Mind that I think his attachment style CHANGED after he and Mokuba got adopted by Gozaburo, so there's gonna be a paragraph about their biological parents' death, because I think Seto's behaviour was much different before the whole orphanage and adoption thing)

The attachment style of a child is of course going to define their behaviour as adolescents and adults. The attachment styles of teenager/adults are pretty much the same and now I'm gonna list any behaviour that confirms Seto's attachment (Avoidant/Dismissive): as the Adult Attachment Interview (the AAI, a psychological test) suggests, avoidant people tend to belittle or even ignore their own emotions concerning their relationships with anyone (Seto openly admits to love and care about Mokuba and no one else, but even this happens rarely in the series and when it does he's pretty much always ALONE, when no one can hear or see him. It happens only once in Noah's Arc in the anime, when he gives us that ssweet face in front of Yugi and Co). The fact that he avoids his emotions about relationships and attachment with caregivers is also held up by the fact that he never brings up his parents, nor even with Mokuba. In Noah's Arc only Mokuba says something about them; Seto doesn't answer. Avoidant people also tend to devaluate their attachment with their caregiver (in this case we're gonna consider Gozaburo as the “caregiver/parent” because he gave our boy big trauma): if I remember correctly, Seto says he stopped calling Gozaburo “father” at one point. HOWEVER, the rest of the Avoidant assessment doesn't really fit Seto's behaviour, because he remembers very well what Gozaburo did to him (being physically and psychologically abusive) and doesn't idealize him as a good parent (which is what Avoidant people tend to do), so I think he's got also a little bit of Preoccupied and Secure characteristics in him (I'm gonna talk about this in a sec) and I believe it's because he's got a little of the positive influence of his biological parents in him AND he's not an easy guy to control/influence.

According to the AAI, Secure teenagers/adults are fully conscious of the abuse they suffered (I think Seto totally is, he just – you know – AVOIDS it) and are able to find a way to be happy and healthy again (I mean, I don't really think made it to the end, but he's still young and he's got a long road ahead, maybe he'll fully heal some day and I believe he's capable of doing that, because we've already seen his character development since the begninning of manga to the movie DSOD. Mokuba has been his strength and, you may like it or not, Yugi and Co (especially Atem) being a good challenge, nosy and friendly helped him too, which is cute (also Atem and Jonouchi made him reconsider playing games for love and fun, instead of only winning, so he found that old spark he loved playing games for again). Also, this is a little unrelated to the attachment itself, but a Secure person can also be defined as an autonomous and functional adult and I think he is, since he's a freaking CEO(?).

Now, let's talk about the Preoccupied people a little: a part of the AAI says that some individuals feel anger and/or conflict towards one or both parents. I mean. I don't think I have to explain this one, but Seto perfectly shows he hasn't moved on from the hatred he feels fro Gozaburo (and rightly so, I might say lmao). In Battle City he destroys an entire Island just to get rid of Gozaburo's memory and Obelisk representes his wrath and hatred (the soundtrack itself is called Wrath of God).

So, there we have it: Seto's an Avoidant child/teen, with some Secure and Preoccupied behaviour.

Some time later, another theory entered the chat: Lyons-Ruth presented her classification system of the attachment adding new styles, which are Hostile and Helpless. HH behaviour indicates that traumas are still present and working (ouch).

Hostile individuals are busy trying to control their own unwanted emotions and feelings of vulnerability (lol, Seto I see you): they are pretty much in denial, trying to hide their feelings of fear and helplessness. They also tend to identify themselves as their abusive parent and they hate it (yeah... I mean, this is so Seto).

Now, as I said in the beginning, I'm gonna talk a little bit about his attachment style BEFORE the orphanage thing. Seto used to smile (a lot), play many different games with Mokuba (which suggests they grew up in a positive environment where the parents were loving and the family as a whole was functional, since there seemed to be no hostility betweet the two brothers), be supportive, be happy and active. This is important, because this indicates that the little guy had good caregivers (as I said the family was functional and he had and still has a good relationship with his younger brother) and that means: Secure attachment style. Being Secure means not freaking out about a caregiver's absence and this might be a little stretch since grief is no joke at all, but even if it's a traumatic event, Seto handled it like a champ. (Of course this doesn't mean that didn't hurt and he didn't suffer. Quite the contrary. But he's been very strong since childhood).

I think this is it for the attachment style! Moving on to ...

GRIEF IN CHILDREN

So, we all know Seto and Mokuba lost their parents in an accident when they were children (I think Seto was about 8 or 9 yo and Mokuba was 4). Studies suggest that 4 yo children start to understand how death works (it's irreversible and universal, that means that they know who dies won't come back and that everyone will have the same fate sooner or later), whilst 6 yo and older children fully understand other implications (e.g. vital functions - like breathing - stop, and so on).

Now, of course this is considered as a very traumatic event for children to go through, but they can be calmed if treated right. Which didn't happen with Seto and Mokuba of course (poor babies).

Not only they suffered the sudden loss of their parents, but they also had to face heartless relatives who didn't want them and abandoned them in an orphanage. At that point Seto decided to step in as a father for Mokuba, which is HUGE for an 8 yo child who doesn't even know to tie his shoes yet (but is really great at chess, yo!)(just kidding).

What the studies tell us is that children who suffer a sudden loss of their parents also lose their only source of safety and support, which will make them feel like they're in danger and abandoned. What emotional reactions this may cause: sadness, anger, anxiety, apathy, shame and guilt. I'm pretty sure Seto felt all of this, but ignored it and tried to stay focused for Mokuba, which is sweet and a great proof of psychological stregth.

Physical symptoms: headaches (I'm sure Seto gets a lot of them), anxiety, sleep disorders (like, come on...), always scared of what could happen to other people (you may argue Seto doesn't give a shit about anybody, but everytime Yugi and Co are in danger, Seto's always there ready to help even if he doesn't admit it), always on the alert.

However, the most interesting bit is what a loss like this causes to children's relationship with their peers: they start to isolate themselves and start to show aggressive or hostile behaviour, which is exactly what Seto does. He's definitely a loner even as a teenager and he's a little hostile and dismissive towards everybody, especially his peers.

So, I think that's all...? If anything else comes to mind I will edit this post and add it, but I think that's pretty much it. I hope you enjoyed this!

PS: I'm sorry if there are mistakes or weird sentences, english is not my first language. I tried! 💀

#seto kaiba #seto kaiba psychological assessment #yugioh #mokuba kaiba #psychology

[cleradinel]

Genuine Q: how is the boys only sign a gay proof for Mike Wheeler and a sign that he isn’t bi? Isn’t he just saying “Boys Only” because they go into a men’s space? Like they weren’t gonna go into a women’s bathroom/locker room? And Lucas goes with them, so if that’s “gay Mike proof,” wouldn’t that make Lucas gay too? Saying “boys only” is not a gay thing either in general, lots of media has moments where straight male characters break off for “bro talk” or “just the guys” and it has nothing to do with their sexuality. Are guys not allowed to socialize with their gender without it being a queercoding clue? (Is it lesbian when girls go into the bathroom together?)

see i was debating the value of presenting my arguments because i truly don't know if you're up for civil discussing or not, but i'm giving you the benefit of the doubt here.

dear anon. your first mistake here is watching and thinking of the show as one dimentional : aka, you think of mike as a person with free will figuring out how to go about trapping a dangerous murderous cunt inside a sauna. in a non meta way, in their world, it is absolutely what's happening, it's just mike stating "i figured something out, will, lucas, follow me." but a tv show is two dimentional : there is a meta layer to the dialogues, to the set design, to the character blocking etc. there are a lot of thoughts put into those decisions, and writers have a lot of fun figuring out how stuff something that on surface level is innocent and devoid of importance with double meaning. i'll give you one example, when will is encouraging el when she's called to do a presentation for class, you can read the word "HENRY" above his neck. in THEIR world, this is just a random name that happens to have been written on a piece of paper and stuck to the wall after discussing whatever henry dude will and el's curiculum asked the teachers of california to talk about. in OUR world, as people watching a tv show, the set design decision to place it here, the director's decision to have the cameraman do this specific shot and to place noah in this specific way is foreshadowing. it's a hint. it's a meta detail. it SHOULD mean something to you. another example ! jason telling lucas "you first hangover feels like you're going to split in two" is not about jason knowing he was quite literally going to end up split in two, he is just recounting his experience with his first hangover to lucas. to US, in a meta way, it's significant, because it was foreshadowing, it was a hint, it was MEANINGFUL. it wasn't a random choice of words from the writers that coincidentally ended up lining up with jason's death down the line. it was INTENTIONAL. jason as a person was not saying anything more than just "man hungovers are a real bitch lol", jason as a tv show character was quite literally telling us how he was going to meet his demise. another one : max in the school's bathroom. there is a graffiti on the wall with "i see you" and a little doodle of two blue eyes. in their world, whoever wrote this was obviously not doing this in vecna's name. it's a random person who randomly decided oto have some fun and graffiti this particular thing. in a meta way, this is referencing vecna. it's not a coincidence. especially considering this is a max scene and her arc is very closely linked to vecna this season. do you see where i'm going with this ? mike in hawkins indiana 1985, saying "i have an idea, boys only." is just letting lucas and will know that he figured out how to stop billy and that this plan requires going somewhere max and el can't follow. in their world, that's it ! but in our world, in the double meaning way (which is a very real thing, if you insinuate the stranger things dialogue, or most of cinema dialogues are "not that deep" you are quite literally insulting writers everywhere, like. straight up), in the "this is a character who's words are chosen by someone else with purpose" way, this particular phrasing is meaningful. he didn't say "i have a plan, follow me to the men's locker room guys". the writers chose a specific phrasing. it's even more obvious recontextualized : mike JUST fought with will, who told him his obsession with growing up was ruining them and the party. mike, affected by those words tries to figure out what that whole argument and his own reaction to it means to and for him. he has an idea to figure it out, and it is to let himself wander into "what if... i was..." territory as we do see in the second half of S3. (i would include screencaps but i can't be bothered rn)

mike's reaction at the end of s3 aka the conclusion of his S3 arc (in 3 parts : pushing dnd and queerness away because it's not socially acceptable -> why am i even doing this ? why am i acting like this -> right. i'm actually gay and terrified to be.) goes something like this : a scene flirting with will, followed by a scene of el kissing him and not reciprocating, followed by a scene that is shot in the same way a scene in which a character realizes something shows us the conclusion that mike has come to about himself : yes, he is gay. his own theory about himself actually being into boys was the correct theory. i think that answers the second part of your ask. someone choosing for mike to lay out his plans with this choice of words at this particular moment in the story is heavy queercoding. had it been dustin (random choice, he wasn't even there), whose narrative is simply not mike's, it would have been meaningless. it wouldn't even have been worded like that. in the case of mike, because it is mike and because of the nature of his storyline, it isn't.

#ignore the weird grammar and typos i am but a french native lad after all #i hope this is concise enough anon i feel like i kinda went everywhere with this #anon #asks #gay mike wheeler

[haggishlyhagging]

“In the Chinese myth of the great flood, the Moon Goddess sent her representative to earth, after the waters had subsided, to repeople the world. In the Babylonian account, Ishtar, the Moon Goddess, is reported to have both caused the great flood and to have saved a remnant of her people. Here her dual character is clearly seen, for she herself sent the flood and then lamented over the havoc she had wrought. On the Eleventh Tablet of Creation is told the story of the flood. It is called "The Lamentation of Ishtar at the Great Deluge." According to this ancient record the goddess Ishtar prophesied evil which immediately came to pass. If a person endowed with magic power prophesies, according to the "magic" way of thinking, she evokes that which she has prophesied, whether it be good or evil. We are still swayed by this old attitude when we feel it to be unlucky to suggest that something may go wrong, or that there may be an accident, or other misfortune, and we can still "feel" a hint of the dread which was caused by a witch's curse. For the curse was by no means only a wish that evil might be fall, it was believed actually to bring to pass the evil that had been "wished on" the cursed one. This colloquial expression gives the nearest modern equivalent to the old concept of a witch's prophecy or curse. So Ishtar, who was a noted prophetess, as were all the moon goddesses in whom the dark side of the moon was represented, prophesied evil, thus bringing the flood upon the earth. Then when mankind and all the animals were threatened by the rising waters, she pitied their plight and saved them.

Spake Ishtar like a child uttered the great goddess her speech, “All to corruption are turned and then I in the presence of the gods prophesied and

As I prophesied in the presence of the gods evil, to evil were devoted all my people and I prophesied

I the mother have begotten my people and like the young of the fishes they fill the sea

The gods concerning the spirits were weeping with me

The gods in seats seated in lamentation covered with their lips for the coming evil

Six days and nights passed

The wind, the deluge, storm overwhelmed.

On the seventh day in its course, was calmed the storm and all the deluge

Which had destroyed like an earth quake,

Quieted.”

As the poem proceeds, Ishtar is depicted in the boat which she has made and from which, like Noah from the Ark:

“On the seventh day in the course of it I sent forth a dove and it left”

. . .

"I sent the animals forth to the four winds"

There was probably an earlier version of this myth which makes the Moon God the central figure. Noah, in the Old Testament story, is probably a form of Nuah, a Babylonian moon goddess, and like Ishtar, he saved a remnant of the world from destruction in an ark which he built. Then when the waters subsided, Noah, taught by a dove, the bird which is invariably associated with moon deities, came out onto the land. The depopulated earth was repeopled from him and his family alone. He was thus the father of all who were born subsequently. As he had taken with him in the ark one pair of each animal species he was thus the generator or creator of all animal life on the renewed or redeemed earth.

The word ark is cognate with the Hindu word argha, which means crescent, and also with the arc of a circle. The ark in which Father Noah carried the animals over the flood was thus a moon boat. This story is put into the form of history, in the Old Testament, as is so much of religious myth. Even today, controversy still centers around the problem of the factual basis for the almost generally accepted legend of a great flood. Whatever may be the truth in regard to the deluge, it is clear that the story of the moon boat refers to psychological events. In the Chaldean story the whole happening is concretized. It is living men and animals who are transported over the floods to the "New World." In the Egyptian story Osiris, the Moon God, ferried the dead man who had been initiated into his rites, over the waters to the Isle of the Blest, and so gave him immortality. This also was a concretization. It was thought of as having an actual physical reality. But the Hindus, who were more psychologically minded than either the Chaldeans or the Egyptians, speak of the moon as carrying the souls of the dead over the waters to the sun where they live a redeemed life. This transition is represented in the Tantric diagrams of the Seven Stages of Consciousness. There the crescent moon is seen in the watery region, above which comes the fiery region of the sun. But already this is realized as symbol. The psychical is no longer projected into a concrete semihistorical happening, but the myth is recognized as representing stages of consciousness or of psychological development.

The moon boat of the Hindus carries the souls to the new world, the new incarnation, it is the boat of immortality. The Chinese moon goddess after the flood gives birth to all living things. It is a renewed world and a new creation. Men, women, and all animals arise from the different parts of her person. The moon goddess of Western Asia and of Europe similarly gave birth to all living creatures. The statues of Diana and those of the Asiatic moon goddesses in their hieratic form show animals and plants springing from heads, limbs, and breasts. For the Moon Goddess is the Many Breasted Mother of All, creator of all life on the earth.

The Moon Goddess is, in literal fact, the mother of all living things and yet, strange though it may seem, not only is she the life-giver but also the destroyer. She creates all life on the earth, and then comes the flood, which overwhelms it. And this flood is her doing, for she is cause of rain and storm and tide and also of the flood. But like Ishtar of Babylon, she laments at its consequences and does her best to save her children, who have all become ‘like the fishes of the sea.’ Similarly, though she stands passively by when her son is killed, the Moon Goddess mourns, as Aphrodite did, at the defeat and death of Adonis, an event that was commemorated annually, in the festival of the ‘weeping for Adonis.’”

-M. Esther Harding, Woman’s Mysteries: Ancient and Modern

#m. Esther Harding #flood myth #moon goddess #ishtar #Noah and the ark myth

[abybweisse]

With how certain parts in the story play out or are portrayed, do you think Yana exploits or down plays O!Ciel’s trauma sometimes? For example, during Noah’s circus arc, that panic attack he has is caused when he was exposed to Kelvin’s doings which triggered his trauma. Yet at the same time, actions like Ran Mao hugging O!Ciel and pushing him into her chest makes him flustered. The interaction doesn’t make him panic in the same way even though he suffered at the hands of both men and women in the cult. I can mostly chalk it up to Yana putting in fan service in when it comes to how he is framed in certain instances or in situations like the corset scene, but overall, is his trauma only there when the plot needs it?

Our earl's trauma on display

I'd say the trauma is there all the time. It's just that much of the time he can somewhat control how he reacts. He regularly suppresses his emotions, anyway, because it's the only way he can move forward on his goals. Consider this part of his act, pretending to be the "better" older twin. He knows real Ciel went through the same ordeals, but he probably assumes his older brother would have faced each new day with all the strength he could muster... if he had survived instead. It's probably on his mind more often than we actually witness, but since he's not the main, title character, we don't see his thoughts as often.

If he were constantly displaying the effects of the severe trauma, he'd pull a revolver on Sebastian when he's called upon to wake up each day. He'd be jumping out of his skin to run away whenever a creep like Druitt showed up. Or crouching down to go into the fetal position and scream. That sort of thing. He'd be too much of a mess to let the plot progress. He wouldn't be able to function very well. Basically, he'd be like he was during the witch arc, until Sebastian was 90% serious about devouring his soul then and there.

Honestly, the series would be hard(er) to read, if we were constantly getting the full brunt of the effect those traumatic events have on him. As a victim of childhood abuse myself, with the repetitive intrusive thoughts and flashbacks I already have regarding those long-past experiences, reading and seeing illustrations of similar ongoing suffering would be somewhat detrimental... possibly. What I experienced wasn't as terrifying or horrific as what happens to him and his twin (though the abuse lasted way longer for me), and I don't have any real triggers. Regardless of what happened to me, I do my best to carry on with the day-to-day, even on days I'm thinking about it more than usual. Whatever PTSD I might have isn't nearly as severe as it could be. A series written that way -- our earl constantly showing us how he suffers from trauma -- would be downright unreadable for a lot of people. Some find it too emotionally difficult, as is, and dropped the series.

I expect that what he mentally goes through, after the abuses, is pretty much the same thing all day, every day. It's repetitive, pestering him, and he has to brush away thoughts about it. He does the best he can to hold himself together. He tries to focus on revenge. On Funtom. On his duties as watchdog. Whatever... to think about something other than that timeframe and those memories. What's shown to us (of the trauma) are the times when it's just too much for him to maintain that composure... as well as what caused the trauma in the first place. I'd say that is quite enough to get the point across.

It's sad that a lot of those scenes are given fan service treatment. Sad mostly because it means there's still a large chunk of the fandom that practically demands it. I'd prefer a lack of glamor and sexualization in those moments. I know a lot of fans would agree with me. But she can't please everyone all the time. And what sells, sells.

#black butler #kuroshitsuji #our earl #tw: csa #tw: child abuse #ptsd #living with ptsd #ptsd in literature #coping #coping abilities #portrayal of ptsd #childhood trauma #portrayal of trauma #anon asks #i answer #answered asks #nov 14 2023 #sorry for the delay

[rosalind-hawkins]

Mastershipping Musings ft. Pegasus

Pegasus is obviously a point of contention between Duke and Kaiba.

Pegasus and Kaiba still have to be business partners after Duelist Kingdom in anime canon, and that's the primary canon I follow because I'm still working on the manga. (side-note: Pegasus probably makes Kaiba pay through the nose for BEWD royalty rights, don't ya think?) Anytime they encounter each other, in business meetings and gaming conventions and tournaments, they have to play (mostly) polite in front of the cameras, but Kaiba can't stand him. That said, he's built his entire company based on Duel Monsters, so he has no choice but to put up with him. I imagine that Kaiba keeps Mokuba away from Pegasus as much as possible, to the point of making sure they're never ever in the same room together and trying to just never mention Pegasus to Mokuba if he can help it. Mokuba doesn't act outwardly traumatized after DK, but he's not taking any risks and not putting his brother in harm's way. Pegasus is a dangerous man, and Kaiba learned that lesson the hard way.

{Long post, rest under cut}

Duke idolized Pegasus as an artist and creator, and was basically the sole inspiration for Dungeon Dice Monsters. Once he finds out about what Pegasus did to the Kaibros in Duelist Kingdom, he's going to feel so conflicted. I think the internet's been around for long enough that we've all had a creator that we liked get outed for something awful they've done (I feel like it's happened a lot) and then we have that uncomfortable feeling afterwards of "but their art/content is so good" "but I shouldn't support them" "but you can separate the art from the artist" "but not when consuming the art is giving them money." Duke is gonna have a whole crisis about it when he finds out. When.

I don't think Kaiba feels a need to explain to Duke what Pegasus did, as he really doesn't come up too often as a topic of conversation between them, but also because he doesn't want to deal with the memory of it.

This gets a little bit into something that's fun for me: the different histories that Duke and Ryou have with Kaiba. Ryou experienced Duelist Kingdom (complete with the Kaiba bros getting their souls stolen by Pegasus) and Duke knows nothing about that. There's no reason for anybody in the friend group to tell Duke about what Pegasus did to Kaiba, or that Pegasus even had a Millennium Item (I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that never even comes up around Duke in season four). Ryou has no reason to talk to him about Pegasus because Ryou never thinks about Pegasus. Just forgets about the dude most of the time. And it also slips his mind that Duke doesn't know about that.

On the flip side, Ryou knows nothing about the Noah Kaiba virtual world adventure (I imagine Duke calls it the Battle City Bonus Round) because he was in the Shadow Realm, so he doesn't know about the KaibaCorp missiles that still exist btw (that's something important from that arc that I think it's easy to forget about, but yeah, Kaiba still owns all the weapons that KC had when he took over) and he didn't meet Noah or Gozaburo or find out how screwed up the Kaiba family is from that. He gets told or finds out later that Seto and Mokuba are adopted, but that's about it.

It's also entirely possible that at some point these three—Pegasus, Duke, and Kaiba—will sit down to a business meeting together because of the deals between their three companies. Just imagine Duke going into this meeting with no idea of the personal history between Pegasus and the Kaibas, all he knows is the professional stuff between their companies, and he assumes that they're on friendly terms with each other. Boy oh boy, is he in for a surprise (yes, this is a scene that I have planned for Power of Three). Duke goes in clueless with his boyfriend and the artist he adores, and then they're both going for the jugular, and he's just in shock. One of the few things that can leave Duke truly speechless, but he's got words for Kaiba after the meeting, you can count on that!

Power of Three snippet/preview below, because this scene won't be getting published for a looooong time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You were so much cuter when we first met," Pegasus sighed. "Fifteen and full of hope, and so terribly naïve."

"You've always been an opportunist,” Kaiba scoffed. “I wasn't nearly as naïve as you thought I was."

"You were naïve enough, dear boy. After all, you trusted me."

"At least you admit that you're untrustworthy."

Pegasus smiled.

Again, Duke was at a loss.

"Have you seen the pictures of when we first met?" Pegasus asked Duke, his smile smooth and charming. "He was downright adorable."

The way he stressed that last word made Seto's skin crawl.

"I'm not sure that's relevant to the topic of royalties," was Duke's tactful response. Seto had told him to keep the conversation on-topic; he’d thought Seto meant for him not to get distracted, not to keep the other two on track.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I'm not the one luring children to my private island in international waters,” Kaiba sneered, and Duke couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen him look so angry.

"Children are delightful, and they have such vivid imaginations." Pegasus laughed, his relaxed posture a sharp contrast to Kaiba's tension. "I can only imagine what Mokuba invented about his visit with me that makes you so resentful."

"You call that a visit?"

"Of course it was a visit. He even had his own little room." Pegasus's single brown eye twinkled. "And so did you, for that matter."

Kaiba stood sharply, glaring down at Pegasus, who simply leaned back in his chair and met his gaze. Duke held his breath, too confused to know what to say at this point. The silence stretched out, the clock on the wall audibly ticking down every second that passed.

"You're a damn lucky man that I can't cut ties with you," Seto finally said, releasing the fists that had been clenched at his sides.

"I'm a damn clever man for making things that way."

The air felt heavy in Duke's lungs and on his shoulders as he looked between the man he loved and the man he idolized.

"As long as you're damned, I'm content." Kaiba carefully sat back down.

"You're never content, but that's alright. I like you that way." Pegasus leaned forward again. "Back to the contracts?"

"Yes."

#seto kaiba #kaiba seto #maximillion pegasus #pegasus j crawford #duke devlin #ryuji otogi #otogi ryuji #mastershipping #fanfic preview #snippet #my writing #mumbleshipping #Power of Three (fic) #ryou bakura #mokuba kaiba #don't tag as toonshipping

[springbloggy]

Noah Knows Best: The Forgotten Nickcom

The timing of this is completely coincidental, as Quinton Reviews just uploaded (at the time of me writing this), part 2 of his Sam and Cat review (watch it btw its really, really good). This is something I've been thinking about writing for a while now, because I find the topic fascinating.

I first found out about Noah Knows Best from Pop Entertainment's history video on Nickelodeon Studios (another must watch, especially if you love Nickelodeon and theme park content). There, the show was given a brief mention, being called one the greatest bombs in Nickelodeon history. There was also a commenter below the video who pointed out how, when they tried to find more info on the show, Wikipedia had no summaries, only a quote from the creator on why the show failed. This came as a shock to me, as Nickelodeon is known for being the nostalgia network, where even the most obscure movies and shows from Nickelodeon have their own small fanbases. Yet Noah has no (easy to find anyways) fanbase, no one sharing their memories of seeing the show, its nowhere in nostalgia compilations, and the lost media search for it is incredibly small compared to other Nickelodeon search efforts. Official recognition from Nickelodeon itself in the years since has only been in a compilation of Nickelodeon Studios bumpers. Which judging by the lack of mention or acknowledgement otherwise, I personally believe was an accidental inclusion after digging through showtapes and including whatever they had.*

Now below, I will go through what the show was about, one of the found episodes, the different factors that caused the show's downfall, and whether or not I think Noah deserved better. Buckle up, because I have a feeling that this will be a long one.

What was Noah Knows Best about?

Since Wikipedia lacks a summary, I will provide my own based on what I could find before watching one of the episodes and what I could gather after watching it.

Noah Knows Best was about a boy named Noah Beznick and his sibling rivalry with his sister Megan alongside with his friendship with DJ Martin. The three would be entangled in different plots due to this "triangle" arc. For example, Megan wants a computer, DJ promises to give a computer to Megan to earn a date, while Noah secretly plans to take the computer as payback for Megan getting him in trouble. At some points, Noah will "talk" to the audience to explain his feelings. The different cross-factors will then combine in a grand finale, which will end with a positive message from Noah.

Source of image: 2010snickforever

Episode 2: The Computer

The episode begins with Noah explaining that Megan's school "Yardly Prep", which he describes as being more like a country club with a chalkboard, is two miles away from his school. This, he feels still isn't far enough distance. The show then quickly pans into Yardly, which does have a more unique layout compared to most classrooms. Having an almost college vibe.

And this is where I could start to see why this show failed with the kid audience almost immediately. I am thrust in and to me these characters seem too old to logically have a sibling rivalry. It might make sense if the pair were elementary/middle schoolers or even high school freshmen trying to find their way, but this girl seems to be in a college-like setting. Even if the two are the same age, why does she go to a different, more expensive school than her brother? It makes it seem like their parents prefer Megan over Noah, which has a kinda uncomfortable vibe.

Anyways, Megan is upset that she does not have a computer despite it being the 90s (which she was very quickly corrected to being the 2000s). Noah and her apparently both got a computer by their parents, but Noah got a job and bought out her share for 200 dollars. A strict teacher or principal walks by and all the students stop in their tracks, tidy up their outfits, and sits back down upon his presence. The whole setup, despite laugh track, is rather odd and unfunny.

After this, Noah says something that doesn't match the sequence just shown at all.

Uh, ok Noah.

The theme song well...

It sure is something! It feels like the last breaths of a dying trend in a way I can't describe.

If this next sequence was shown at the beginning instead of what I had just described, I would have preferred it. Megan walks into a pizza shop with her friend, discussing about how she dislikes kids from a rival school called Hudson*2. Meanwhile DJ meets up with his older brother who schools him on what not to do while he's gone (no borrowing my stuff without my permission, no touching my stuff without permission, no looking at my stuff without permission). Megan and Noah meet at him at the table, where they go over DJ's many failed attempts to ask her to a date. This intro is a lot more natural than the odd previous sequence and sets up each of the main characters and their relationships with each other really well. When Megan leaves, her friend Camille suggests to DJ to get the computer Megan needs to get her attention.

Sadly the rest of the episode does not keep up with this upbeat feel, as the next two sequences have an odd negative tone. The first has Noah attempting to help with his sister Megan with a lie she set up about her saving him from a mugging, only for his Mom to catch the lie and ground the two.

At least, that's what I think is what happened, as the scene comes and goes so fast with little explanation I was left confused.

The next scene has more setup, as the character previously appeared in the pizzeria scene. Noah tries to escape a bully named Zeke, who used to be his friend until Noah stood up to Zeke and got him into detention, which caused Zeke's dad sent him to military school. Zeke blames Noah for the whole thing and has a grudge against him. Noah tries to make things up with the advice of his friend, but Zeke doesn't take it.

Both of these scenes are dour, they have some jokes, but none of them hit and just make the scenes worse.

Of course, things don't get better from there, as Noah and DJ convince Megan to go out with DJ for three days for a computer. Little does she know, that Noah is actually planning to borrow the computer from DJ's brother, then take it away from her as payback for her lie from earlier that episode.

Everything about this sitcom is miserable so far. When compared to the Nickcoms and Disney Channel sitcoms I grew up with, there's nothing really likable, or funny, or engaging about anything. And I don't see things improving as things go on.

Noah and DJ go into the shared bedroom of DJ and his brother in a "comedic" (heavy quotes there) scene of them trying to hide the fact they stole his laptop.

After this scene, Noah admits to the audience that while the plan sounded good in his head earlier, he was now having second thoughts.

It's a rare moment of earnestness in this show, a moment where I could feel a little bit of something, even if for a brief amount of time.

DJ gives Megan the laptop, but the next day she finds it missing from her desk. She complains to Noah about this, but has to hide the laptop's existence to her parents, who are unaware about the bet and only want to give her a computer when her grades rise up.

Once again, this showcases the overly negative tone of the sitcom. The mom is upset about the siblings fighting, the dad is upset about his failing play, the siblings are upset about the laptop, it's said that the date had Megan three rows behind DJ, and the whole scene just adds to an already miserable watch for what is supposed to be a somewhat-comedic sitcom.

Or at least that's how one network advertised it!

I get life is messy, unpredictable, and can be dour. But I personally don't think that's what most people look for in a nickelodeon sitcom. I can imagine kids getting bored or upset by the show and changing the channel.

Everything about the laptop then comes to a head later in the pizzeria. Noah and DJ find out that the laptop that was in Noah's locker was stolen by Zeke, who gives the laptop to Megan at the pizzeria. As a cover to DJ's brother, Noah tells the brother that Zeke bought the computer and wiped the hard drive, which prompts DJ's brother to chase Zeke who then gets chased by Megan.

At home, Noah apologizes to Megan and Megan gets payback by getting Zeke to scare him. Noah allows her to borrow his computer, but for an hour a day.

Meanwhile DJ's brother confronts him about the computer and scares DJ so much he runs out of the building.

The episode ends with a recap by Noah...and then this happens

What caused the downfall of Noah Knows Best

Noah Knows Best seems to be a show that was doomed from the start, as Nickelodeon always seemed to butt heads on the direction of the show.

Noah was something I really wanted to try and even though it was a different idea for Nick, and they didn’t warm to it immediately, I appreciated when they green lit for pilot. Unfortunately, their view of what the show should be and my vision of the show were not the same and they never really matched up, which was ultimately a reason for its lack of success. And the big thing was, I wanted to shoot it the same way I had shot Alex, with many of the same directors, writers and crew members, but they wanted it for Nick Studios, which, as I mentioned above, was built for a different kind of show. I tried to thread the line between sitcom and single-camera show and it was never one or the other. I’m still proud of the show, but what I wanted it to be was not what Nick wanted and it was a battle all the way.

-Ken Lipmann, creator of "Noah Knows Best" and "The Mysterious World of Alex Mack"

One of the largest factors to the show's failure was Nickelodeon's insistence to film the show in Nickelodeon Studios Florida, which by the year 2000 was dying. Noah was one of many shows that were put in the studio as a last minute attempt to revive the studios before the contract ran out. The majority of these plans failed, with the one large success being Slime Time Live which was replaced by the easier to film UPick Live. However, out of all the last minute lifelines, Noah was the most apparent failure of the bunch, as it lasted only two months after premier, with 5 of its 13 episodes being unaired in English. Interestingly, those 5 episodes were aired in Russia. Your guess is as good as mine.

This lies in conspiracy territory, but I wouldn't be surprised if Noah Knows Best caused not only the death of Nickelodeon Studios, but also the rise of the Dan Schnider-verse. Especially given that Noah Knows Best was paired with the much more popular Amanda Show during the last months of Snick. For better or worse, without Noah Knows Best we might have never gotten Drake and Josh, iCarly, or Victorious. However in a hypothetical world where Noah Knows Best and the other shows it was paired with succeeded, the network could have gotten a more varied schedule with more kidcoms and game shows by different long-time Nickelodeon creators or even newer creators. A world where the hyperactive humor of shows like Drake and Josh may have never gotten popular in favor of the more subdued humor seen in Noah Knows Best.

However, even with executive meddling, I still think that Noah was destined to not be popular with kids. The episode I watched anyways, was dour, it didn't have the fun or whimsy of shows that would become popular in the 2000s. The characters don't have the likability factor for kids to feel sympathy towards even if it was advertised as a drama rather than a comedy. The jokes often don't land and the whole thing just ended up making me feel more bored than entertained, and I can imagine it being similar for a lot of kids who tuned in. This is ultimately why I think Noah Knows Best had such low ratings, even though it was paired up with heavy hitters such as The Amanda Show and Spongebob during SNICK.

Did Noah Know's Best deserve better?

Here's the thing. I think the show's basic concept was done better by another show. Drake and Josh takes every concept of Noah Knows Best and does them better. The sibling rivalry is done between with Drake and Josh, however its more loving and the pair share a school and a room, which brings them closer together as characters. Opposed to Noah and Megan who are split apart for everything for 10 years. The aspect of pulling mean tricks is done by Megan who plots against the brothers, rather than the main two siblings going against each other for their own gain. Various side characters fill in the friend roles in a fulfilling way that the side characters of Noah Knows Best couldn't do.

For a non-Schnider option, there's Ned's Declassified, which has a similar "lesson" format in a much more fun and engaging way. The various friends bonds are tight despite their differences, and there's even a cheesy bully character done in a better way than the bully shown in Noah Knows Best.

So in that regard, I don't think Noah deserved better...because it technically already was done better. However, I do think Noah Knows Best needs more recognition from the network and the fans and does not deserve to be lost media. I think this show, its troubled history, and its ties to Nickelodeon Studios Florida's ultimate demise, are interesting and important to preserve, despite the final results. The fact that Nickelodeon is storing high quality tapes of Noah Knows Best, but haven't released them to Paramount+, Pluto TV, or even a dedicated Youtube channel as many other smaller shows do, is a shame. Noah Knows Best is another sign of the ultimate failure of companies to properly showcase and preserve their media in the streaming age. And possibly how companies always failed to showcase their shows prior to then.

I hope you enjoyed this strange mini review and retrospective. It's a topic I find fascinating.

*Note also the video was uploaded on the Nicktoons youtube channel and not the dedicated NickRewind or Nickelodeon youtube channels. Since Nicktoons Network is infamous for being Nick's "burial ground", perhaps them putting their one acknowledgement of Noah Knows Best onto the Nicktoons Youtube is a modern extension of this practice? *2 later on watching this, I realized Hudson is the name of Noah's school...or at least I think so. The show never really seems to explain these elements too well.

#nickelodeon #nick #lost media #196 #196 campfire #quinton reviews #90s #2000s #nostalgia #streaming #long post #springy thoughts #noah knows best

[tdciago]

What do you think about Hawley’s comments about the Jack Skellington-Gator link? I found it interesting because Gator is stereotypically terrible so far. Do you think that’s just because that’s all he knows? Having said that ‘out loud’, that really does sound like Jack! But the softness is a surprise.

In retrospect we have seen hints of something deeper in Gator. Not many, which could be because we’ve rarely seen him on his own. There’s always someone to put up a front for. When he’s in his bedroom you see him looking defeated before he amps himself up. You can also see how Roy’s dismissal of him hurts him in the barn with Ole Munch, and when Roy calls him out on being a two-time loser. Which, ouch. But there aren’t many other examples, unless I’m missing something.

So if there’s more to be revealed, I wish Hawley hadn’t spoiled it. Kind of undermines the actor’s good, subtle work, and it would have been nice to watch it evolve without the creator over explaining things. But that’s on me for reading the article! In fairness, I thought it had spoilers for the just aired episode, not for things yet to come.

Some spoilers follow, but nothing that isn't already publicly available on the internet from reviews and official promos.

I had to go and read the article first, so that's done. If you read Gator's official character description, he's compared to Oedipus, who inadvertently murdered his father and married his mother, because he didn't have the necessary information to avoid that, which he desperately wanted to do. So I've been expecting some Oedipus stuff to come up.

Noah Hawley says that "with a different father, he would have been a kind soul.” Well, maybe Roy isn't his biological father, but Gator doesn't know that.

Recall Munch telling Roy that he sent him to do a job without the necessary information, so how could he expect the job to be done. In that scene, Gator calls Munch The Riddler. Oedipus answered the riddle of the sphinx, which is how he became a big hero and ended up marrying the recently widowed Queen of Thebes, who was his biological mother. What he didn't know was that the guy he had killed at a crossroads was not only the King of Thebes, but also his biological father.

Because the circumstances of Oedipus's birth were concealed from him, he stepped right into the prophecy he was trying to avoid.

So I think Gator has been denied some crucial information. I already did expect some kind of redemption arc for his character. After all, this season is about debt, and I think Lorraine's debt collection business is called Redemption Services. (We don't even know at this point what her business is.)

When Oedipus realizes what he's done, he blinds himself. He has already been figuratively blind the whole time. We've seen Gator blindfolded in a preview, and he wears his sunglasses on the back of his head, where they're useless. We also have characters with eye patches and eye injuries, perhaps signifying that they don't see the whole picture.

Munch seems to be the truth-exposer, the sphinx who will bring Gator up to speed and make him face reality.

And Noah Hawley is absolutely terrible at interviews. Most of the time, he ends up making the story sound boring, when it definitely isn't. It's like he's two different people, one who writes the show and one who gives interviews. After months of keeping the nature of Roy's connection to Dot a secret on Reddit with spoiler tags, Noah Hawley went and spilled the beans that Dot was Roy's wife before the show even started!

At this point, I'm actively trying to avoid his interviews.

#Fargo spoilers #fargo season 5 #fargo #fargo fx

[sassydefendorflower]

what is your opinion on the CoS movie

It is, most certainly, a movie.

No, but for real... The CoS movie is a very interesting piece of content, that's for sure.

There is a lot that can be rightfully critiqued: the writing is rushed, due to the studio pushing an entire seasons worth of plot into one movie, and that is visible in much of the characters' arcs. Roy Mustang just repeats his 03 arc but in under two hours, and Winry seems to mostly just be there because Ed needs automail. Threads are left hanging, and historical choices were made...

Look, I'm neither Jewish nor Roma, so I cannot speak for the portrayal of ether Alternate!Bradley or Noah, but I will give CoS the benefit of the doubt of being produced in 2005 and trying its best. It is still something that made me uncomfortable while watching, but some of that I think is worth examining under a personal lens and not a general one.

(and honestly... Noah telling Ed that Roma simply means People? That seems significant considering movies made in 2023 still use the G slur)

As I said - much of the plot is all over the place.

But.

And it is a noteworthy BUT... there are some aspects of it that I really enjoy.

Al's character design: CoS makes it painfully obvious that something is very wrong with Al and I love it. Ed is in Munich having the worst depression known to man, meanwhile Al cosplays as the older brother he forgot, basing his entire personality NOT ON HIS OWN MEMORIES but on the stories strangers have told him about the brother who died for him. INSANE BEHAVIOR. He even creates his own soul-bound armor, just so he can wander the lands as the Fullmetal Alchemist once did. 10/10 character writing choice.

Ed's entire... thing: I love Ed's depression mood - caught between delusion and reality, a shitty friend, and a desperate soul. Sometimes it is as simple as a depressed anime boy with long hair and alcoholism - sometimes I am allowed to be simple.

The historical details: while I haven't forgiven CoS for forcing me to see Anime Hitler, there is a surprising eye for detail in CoS when it comes to 1920s Weimarer Republik. Of course, space rocketry wasn't actually a thing in Germany back then, but many of the smaller details are actually very accurate - especially considering this being a time period Hollywood loves to mess up. The Bierhalle was actually a meeting place of the early version of the NSDAP, and they did organize their coup from there on the 9th November of 1923. It was actually the height of inflation back then, and people DID actually burn money because it lost value quicker than they could spent it on firewood. Alfons makes references to the Dolchstoßlegende which was a real, wide-spread piece of propaganda about the communists being at fault for Germany loosing the first world war. People in the background of shots being antisemitic, racist, xenophobic AND ableist. People with disabilities begging in the big cities, which Munich was.

All of this is historically accurate - hell, even the existence of the Thule Society is based on some fact... aka the fact that the NSDAP and Hitler especially were utterly convinced they could harness supernatural powers to gain the upper hand and reach their goals.

And probably the most controversial one: Hughes being a member of the NSDAP, and helping in the Bierhallen Coup actually makes sense considering his characterization and I think it is an interesting but sensible choice for the alternate version of Maes Hughes. Not because he is inherently a Nazi, but because Maes Hughes is a follower and even in the main universe, if Roy hadn't decided to change the country... Maes Hughes on his own would never have questioned their fascist military dictatorship. So, in a world in which he doesn't have a Roy to act as a wake up call... it makes only sense that he would follow a man who made millions fall in love with him.

(this feels like a weirdly serious answer to a silly question, but I hope I could offer some insight anyway - and thank you for indulging me <3 )

#fma #fullmetal alchemist #cos #conquerer of shamballa #edward elric #alphonse elric #maes hughes #ww2 #nazi mention #fma meta #ww2 fiction #ask and answers #anon #thank you anon <3 #this is like... just my opinion

[autistic-robin]

something that really doesn’t make sense to me about the bylers in mourning rn is that like… mike’s forced-ass monologue to el doesn’t refute or erase their conflict, OR the moments between him and will in volume 1, which was essentially confirmation of endgame byler for a lot of people. if they wanted mleven to be the focus, if they wanted the monologue to feel meaningful, they would have shown us mike’s journey to realizing he does love her and given us an in-show explanation of why he hasn’t been able to. but we didn’t see that journey, because it didn’t happen. instead, we saw will tell mike in a coded conversation that he loves him. we saw mike react. we saw him still unable to tell el he loves her until she’s on her deathbed, and he still has to look to will to say it in the end. we saw him call her a superhero again when her entire arc this season has been about “getting independence from the men in her life… [and] standing on her own two feet” according to milly bobby brown. we saw el refuse to seek comfort from or talk to mike after the confession. we saw the heavy imagery in the last shot of the season.

as disgusting as the “sad gay kid” shit they pulled with will this season is. it makes sense for will’s character. he thinks he has no chance with mike, but he loves him so much that he wants him to be happy. like noah said, “will wouldn’t take a chance on mike if he was in a relationship.” he thinks mike loves el. the audience does, too. for a long time i thought we as the audience were going on this jounrey with mike, which is why the refusal to address mike’s repression at this point in the series initially felt like a death sentence to our ship. but what if we’re going on the journey with will? what if we get answers later on, after our darkest before the dawn moment? this was the season where our characters lost everything. it would only make sense to drag it out— if byler happened in s4, what would the point of s5 be?

#byler #st4 #st4 spoilers

[tending-the-hearth]

transformers: rise of the beast + what i loved about it

this movie was absolutely PHENOMENAL and had me on the edge of my seat for the majority of it. it's the first time i've seen a transformers movie in the theater, and i'm obsessed. i've loved transformers for the longest time, so this movie just had absolutely everything.

so below i've put together a list of everything i loved, my favorite moments, little over-analysis bits, all of that good stuff!

spoilers below if you care!!

first off, i absolutely loved how they set up the Maximals, and gave them such a distinct look and storyline. it was a great way of introducing new characters, as well as setting up the main plot device of the key!

Noah's relationship with Kris made me so emotional, like he loves his little brother SO much, and Kris loves him just as much, like UGH SIBLING DYNAMICS

Elena my beloved beloved nerd

She's one of my favorite characters in the movie, and I love how they portrayed how much she loves research, and how much knowledge she has

Obsessed with Noah keeping track of Mirage's braincell within the first five minutes of their meeting

but also their meeting + beginning scene, absolutely no thoughts in either of their heads (affectionate)

Noah and Mirage's friendship being built from the very first car chase, and them communicating so well even before Noah knows what Mirage is!!!

"I work in a museum and you've broken in and now we're hunting for an ancient artifact together" is SUCH a quality trope and Noah and Elena are so valid

Just saying I don't think I've ever happy-stimmed so much during a movie then I did when I saw Optimus and Bee show up on screen

Optimus being so against trusting the humans vs. how protective and fond he is of them in the Bayverse movies was such a good choice, and i'm so happy they gave Optimus more of a character arc!!

THEY REFERENCED CHARLIE AND THE BUMBLEBEE MOVIE REALLY BRIEFLY AND BUMBLEBEE GOT ALL SAD AND WAS LIKE "I HAVE A FRIEND" BECAUSE HE LOVES CHARLIE SM

Kris being just as protective over Noah as Noah is over him!!!!

ARCEE <3333333

Optimus continually calling Bumblebee "Bee" healed my heart he loves him so much

Going off of that, Elena finally giving us an "Optimus is Bee's big brother" confirmation made me SO happy

also yeah... Bee... baby boy... I literally thought I was going to have a panic attack bc i was so upset over him dying

listen Transformers Prime traumatized me with Bee's death first, so I still have a hold over from that era

I love Wheeljack with my whole heart and was absolutely terrified he was going to die during the battle with the Terrorcons

the Maximals are so fucking cool, I love their designs, and Primal's entire character???? beloved????? fantastic??

AIRAZOR DYING OF THE SAME THING THAT KILLED IRONHIDE I'M GOING TO BITE SOMETHING HOW FUCKING DARE

Primal having to kill Airazor was devastating

Noah running to check on Elena after that fight, Noah and Elena my beloveds 😭😭

MIRAGE 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

Absolutely heartbreaking

The "home team?" "home team." callback hurt my soul

also Noah being Sonic, Kris being Tails, and Mirage being Knuckles?

BUT THEN HE'S OKAY AND THE SUIT??? AND NOAH AND OPTIMUS FIGHTING ALONGSIDE EACH OTHER??? NOAH LEARNING TO WORK WITH A TEAM???? OPTIMUS LEARNING TO TRUST HUMANS????

Also Kris and Noah basically being like "new brother? new sibling?" as soon as they meet Mirage

Bee's entrance was absolutely fucking top tier, he's an icon, he is the moment

Also Scourge was absolutely terrifying, one of the BEST bad guys

Nightbird was also so so cool and also so so terrifying, the Terrorcons were insane

FUCKING G.I. JOE AT THE END??? I FULLY THOUGHT NOAH WAS OGING TO GET RECRUITED BY SECTOR SEVEN?? WHAT THE FUCK???

Also the post-credit scene with Mirage coming back was fantastic, he's such a little shit and i'm obsessed with him

overall i'm obsessed and this is one of my new favorite movies, i'm really happy the movies are getting an overhaul, and hopefully we'll see more within this section of the franchise!!

#transformers #transformers: rise of the beasts spoilers #transformers: rise of the beasts