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phoenix-fell · 1 year

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Anti-Bumbleby criticisms answered with BB analysis - Big post

As expected, as Bumbleby gets more attention from the show, the anti-BB crowd have surfed in on their tidal wave of bitter lemons. So, I’d like to put my degree, job and training to use and compile my thoughts down in one place - a one-stop shop if you will - it’s long and will be largely unfiltered as I tackle the weirdest and most common criticisms and BB analysis. (I kinda miss Bumbleby analysis Megaposts, I might make one sometime to go alongside this as a point of reference as most I’ve seen end around Vol 6).

TIA for anyone who actually takes the time to read my ramblings and please feel free to give your thoughts/analysis and I’ll edit it in. FIRST EDIT - 8th Mar 2023 presenting labels and sexuality in Remnant - 4th from end.

Credentials: Double major 1st class grad in Literature and Creative Writing, specialising in fairy tales and WLW representation in media. Recipient of dissertation award exploring character psyche and the presentation of psychological themes. Literary critic, writer and content specialist.

Let’s start off with a cracker from Reddit!

“Why couldn’t the BB scenes be more of a background thing? Why do they need to focus on them like they’re a main plot or something?”

Is... Is it stuffy under all that homophobia? I could easily rhyme off a string of sarcastic quips like ‘gee, I wonder why, it’s almost like it’s important to the development of two of the main characters or something.’ But it’s so lost on some people that I’mma spell it out:

We’ve seen Blake and Yang’s trauma painted across the screen from ‘Burning the Candle’ when Yang first confesses her abandonment issues, to the White Fang / Adam arcs that gave us a picture of the abuse Blake has endured - not just as a Faunus, but from her partner (“Adam used to get into my head, make me feel small.”), right through to their separation that dealt with their respective issues with running away/being abandoned and the shared trauma which has tied them both together indefinitely. They’ve been apart, they’ve repaired their relationship, they’ve grown together. In a current volume that’s so inherently focused on character’s individual development, seeing Blake and Yang together was almost inevitable as they’ve been so completely involved in one another’s development throughout the entire series. This is without going into their fairy tale allusions that tie them together which I’ll go into further down or the references to Yin/Yang and numerous romantic tropes that show how integral they are to one another’s characters. Contrary to belief, it’s not romance for the sake of romance - in this instance, the romance very much strengthens their development individually.

Asides from all of this, it was decided from the very beginning that Yang would lose her arm (foreshadowed in the Yellow trailer). The moment they decided that Yang would lose her arm protecting Blake, was the moment a decision was made to invariably tie these two narratives together on a very fundamental level.

But also, don’t clown yourself into thinking you’re not a homophobe if you think any LGBT content belongs in the background whilst also rejoicing any onscreen developments between straight ships.

“If BB was meant to be a thing then they wouldn’t have had Sun as a romantic interest.”

Is there a universe where love triangles and bisexuals are a foreign concept?

But in all seriousness, I think that certain corners of fanbases seem to struggle with any concepts that are non-linear; something I often see with anime. By ‘linear’, I mean: love interest introduced > build up > canon > together forever. As opposed to ‘non-linear’; a character that goes on their own journey of discovery and, through which, has more than one interest and path over time and has the ability to change their mind. The show was never a ‘romance’ as a primary theme; it’s an action/adventure which has some romantic subplots. But to honest, Blake changing her mind shouldn’t really be this much of a shock to the fanbase given that our FIRST ever interaction with Blake, in her TRAILER, is her changing her mind about her partner (and first romantic interest) and deciding to pursue a new journey. A scene which is actually referred back to in the Season 6 opener when Blake uncouples the train and sees what she believes to be a hallucination of a hooded Adam on the opposite carriage, foreshadowing the importance of that original decision later in the series (“you didn’t leave scars, you just left me, alone”).

The arc that follows Blake thereafter is inherently tied to Adam (amongst other important themes), who is predominantly based off Gaston and the rose (or curse of the rose) from Beauty and the Beast. Blake and Yang are interchangeably alluded to as both Belle and the Beast throughout their character arcs from as early as the Red Trailer: “Black the beast descends from shadows / Yellow beauty burns gold.” and as recently as Blake describing Yang to the Hunter Mice in Vol. 9 Chapter 1. I can rhyme off these allusions until I’m blue, but again, I may save this for a master post.

The story that Blake is based on is a love triangle - she was never meant to have one set path from the beginning and romantic interests were always meant to play a huge part in Blake’s story/development; she was always going to have a romantic decision to make after conquering the curse / Gaston. Blake being haunted by her first romantic interest is foreshadowed in the ending of her trailer and first referenced in her conversation (with Yang) at Mountain Glen, and becomes an undeniable path of exploration once Yang loses her arm to Adam at the end of Volume 3. Let it be noted that Sun was present when Yang announced she was going to find Blake at the Battle of Beacon - a decision was made here for Yang to be the one to lose her arm protecting Blake, as was Adam’s poignant promise to take away everything Blake loves - “starting with [Yang]” or, otherwise, the solidifying of this romantic subplot. Which, again, is called back to with the infamous line: “What does she even see in you?” besides the obvious subtext, it’s setting the stage for these parallels between Adam and Yang, past and future, the previous love interest identifying something in Blake that used to be reserved for him, now directed towards Yang.

This season began with Blake declaring that Yang “seems scary, but isn’t”. Because, once Belle knows the Beast isn’t scary, she allows herself to fall in love (conveniently, this is said whilst walking through a fairy tale).

I could go into a big post about romantic foils and the ways in which Yang, Adam and Blake are all foils to each other but I might make a separate post instead for anyone new to the FNDM. Either way, I feel it’s worth mentioning as it’s Blake who directly compares Yang to a past love interest who was designed with semblances and characteristics that mirror each other. Point being, no one should be shocked that Blake has multiple interests given the character and fairy tale she’s based off and heavy allusions where Yang is concerned.

“Oh yeah, because Yang ‘literally purred at guys in their underwear’ Xiao Long and Blake ‘literally kissed a boy’ Belladonna are clearly bisexual because of [insert out of context reasons]” and “yes but Monty said...”

1. You mean... the one, and only one scene in 9 entire volumes where Yang shows any interest (albeit jokingly) in a guy, and the literal scene directly before she sees Blake from across the crowded room and proceeds to never express interest in men again? (Ignoring the very obvious implied trope here). And, in fact, only expresses interest in a woman from this point onwards? This is your frame of reference? Personally, I find it quite lovely that Yang’s perspective is never the same from the moment she sees Blake. Asides from this, while ‘bisexual’ is the label that these guys have gone with, Yang’s sexuality hasn’t been confirmed outside of being sapphic - it’s not outside the realm of possibility that she is, in all likelihood, lesbian. It’s important to note here that any young character expressing an interest in a man would not invalidate that same character being a lesbian. In fact, if we apply this to real life, it’s not uncommon for people not to realise that they’re queer immediately (I myself didn’t until I was 21). But in the opening episodes of the series especially, I’d very much chalk this up to writers exploring the characters.

2. As for Blake - there are, from what I remember, three kisses in the entire show so far. The one between Jaune and Pyrrha - on the lips after prolonged romantic allusions between the two (their romance is explicitly referenced by Nora - “practice what you preach, Pyrrha.” - almost fitting that it’s Nora to call out the Bees in Season 7 - A Night Off, no? Neat little parallel for y’all). The one between Ren and Nora after trying to work out the status of their romantic relationship - again, on the lips. And the one where Blake says goodbye (and thank you) to Sun by kissing him... On the cheek. (So hot, I know). Which is immediately followed up with Sun telling Neptune “it was never about that”. One of these is not like the other, can you guess which? I’ll wait.

As for referencing Monty - I could go on all day about this one, and the quote most notoriously used is ‘they’re a sisterhood’. Firstly, let me just say that I find it disturbing that anyone would use the show’s deceased creator as ammunition, whilst also disregarding his other comments on LGBT rep - specifically, ‘maybe there are LGBT characters there now / they’re just kids rn and figuring it out / it needs to be earned’. But also, it’s really disturbing and egotistical that anybody would pretend to know what Monty wanted better than the crew he handpicked, worked with, collaborated with and was friends with (special mention to the fact that his own brother is one of the cast). If you truly want to honour his legacy, then show respect to the people he put his trust in.

“I don’t have an issue with BB, but why does it always have to take away from Yang’s moments with Ruby?” / “All Yang’s feelings for her sister transferred to Blake.”

One from the hall of fame. The age old question of ‘can a girl have a romantic partner and still care about her family?’ I wish this wasn’t a serious question, but there are actual sides of the Fandom that seem to think that Yang’s forgotten about her sister that she raised because she has feelings for someone and that the sole purpose of Yang’s existence is to be her sister’s keeper.

I’mma address this on 3 fronts. 1 - Logistically, the episodes for RWBY, excluding the intros, are 15-20 mins long currently and typically oversee several different storylines particularly as the cast grows larger, leaving us with... What? About 5 minutes of team RWBY interactions? It’s not a lot of time to pack in character development, relationship development, plotline, strategy etc. so often if they’re wanting to develop more than one relationship, they will alternate between putting these themes in the background (such as the yellow in Blake’s sword, references from other characters etc.) and foreground, and some developments have to be shoulder-to-shoulder to fit them in. This isn’t an indicator of how much one character cares for one another and is more a demon created by people’s perception of how they ‘think’ a protective sister should act.

Additionally, it should be noted that Yang fawning over Ruby and not allowing her to develop other relationships outside of her sister, would actually offer us nothing from a development perspective for both Yang and Ruby’s characters and would, instead, steer these two strong female characters down a path of co-dependency.

2 - It feels like a very easy excuse for Anti-BB folk to throw out there, conveniently forgetting how great of a sister Yang actually is (contrary to the number of RWDE videos I’ve seen arguing otherwise, as this is an essay I could write in itself). These very often take isolated incidents out of context and conveniently forget important information like Yang 1. Literally sacrificing herself twice to protect her sister 2. Sacrificing her entire childhood to raise her sister and 3. Importantly, the fact that Ruby is her (self-sufficient) Team Leader needs to be factored into their dynamic, as Yang gives her space to find herself as a leader and steps in when her sister actually needs her - not when the audience thinks she does. People hear ‘protectiveness’ and seem to think that this should mean that Yang should be overbearing.

3 - Anyone who says this doesn’t have siblings. I have older and younger siblings and, having largely raised my younger sibling, I can safely say that I still love them even when I’m in a relationship. I also feel extremely secure in arguing/disagreeing with any of my siblings because I inherently know they will still be there at the end of the day - a sibling love goes deep (referencing ‘Fault’ from Volume 8). However, in a romantic relationship that is not established and very new... you will feel insecure, that’s normal, it doesn’t have the luxury of established stability that siblings do, and therefore you will overtly express more anxiety about this as a result. It’s a very strange concept that if you have a sibling, you need to give them all of your attention and ignore any love interests. Yang has gone through her own traumas, she has every right to care about others, heal herself, and have a life that isn’t defined by being a caretaker for her sister. ESPECIALLY as she already gave up her childhood to fulfil this role, unselfishly AND as the person she’s bonding with is best poised to understand Yang’s trauma. Yang as a character deserves to receive the love she constantly gives out. Again, this is a demon born from the fact that it either doesn’t reflect the relationship commentors have with their siblings, or the fact that they’re *imagining* how that relationship should be.

Bonus picture below: Yang putting aside her anguish for Summer Rose, who she considered to be her mother, to prioritise comforting her sister about that same loss.

“I hate BB shippers because they pass off BS interactions as platonic. BS made more sense, there was no build-up to BB until Vol 6 and they let the BS build-up go to waste to force BB.”

First off, there’s nothing wrong with BlackSun as a ship. Shipping shouldn’t be dictated by canonicity and people have the right to ship it and to their opinions. And while a few of these seem to have referenced BS, I don’t actually think that BS shippers are at fault for the hatred coming this way, but rather that the ship seems to get used as ammunition from the Anti-BB crowd - to summarise, Anti-BB and BS shippers are not synonymous. I personally don’t ship BS, but I do enjoy the debate and actually think that Sun is a very important part of Blake’s development and arc. There did seem to be some form of mutual attraction between Blake and Sun. Had they gone down that route, I wouldn’t have hated it, I just never felt excited by it, which seems to be a large consensus amongst BB fans. An appreciation whilst feeling there was a better alternative.

Believing all the development between Sun and Blake was ‘wasted’ is also very closed-minded given how much he helped Blake in the White Fang arc and also disregards the importance of their friendship. BS has the potential to be one of the best and most supportive friendships in the series, I stand by that.

That said, I don’t think it’s entirely wrong to acknowledge that a lot of (not all) interactions between BS were platonic from Blake’s pov while Sun’s feelings were more explicit. The only real hint I saw of Blake reciprocating was a blush at the Vytal festival. Maybe the dance at a stretch, but there’s hints at both BS and BB and I will fight you on it. Now, it might be a question of timing; Adam was still a prevalent threat during this time which will have been weighing on Blake given the resurgence of the White Fang, and is clear when Adam rocks up seeking vengeance in Volume 3. For this reason, I honestly think it would have been disingenuous to have explored Blake in a full relationship with anyone at this point given these loose ends, and Blake undergoes a lot of development over volumes 4-6 as a direct result of this.

Additionally, if BB didn’t begin until Volume 6 then that means that BS had 4-5 volumes to happen - 2 of which where they were in their own arc, separated from the main cast. It didn’t happen. What happens instead is Blake’s guilt over Yang weighs heavily on her while she deals with her arc and Sun helps her come to terms with this, ultimately redirecting her back to her team, and Yang, while Sun’s interactions with her become increasingly platonic from his side.

Lastly, the only way you don’t see build up for BB, is if you actively will yourself not to see build-up. If you replace Blake and Yang’s moments with Sun, I don’t feel there’d be any misunderstandings on how these moments are supposed to be interpreted. Take off the hetero goggles, and we’re cool.

But on a sidenote and personal pet peeve of mine, the cries of ‘BB is forced while BS had build-up’ will forever irritate me - BB has a slow burn, a full arc, developed from a friendship and partnership as well as several tropes and allusions without going into too much detail. BS, firstly, never ended up happening, but it starts when Sun runs past, winks at Blake, magically knows she’s a faunus, then proceeds to follow around a girl he doesn’t know for two days who, at his own admission, didn’t speak that whole time. But... BB is forced? I’d say it’s subjective, but logic defies when this is the barometer for a natural introduction of a romantic pair.

“BB is ‘queerbait’”

Let’s address the ‘Goliath’ in the room, shall we? ‘Queerbaiting’ gets thrown around like a reflex at the moment by pseudo-fans who I don’t believe actually know the gravity of their statements or the meaning behind the word. I often see this slur paired with BB being strung out to keep the shippers watching. Now, there’s an essay in itself that could exist in this section, but are people really still clowning themselves that a show that’s explicitly shown that it wants to have queer representation in the cast and foreground is ‘queerbaiting’ it’s audience? Even weirder for me is the part of the FNDM saying that it’ll be baiting if they make BB canon. Please stop this nonsense and do some research.

Now, one thing I would like to tackle is that, sadly, some will still see pairings on the show through heteronormative glasses, so let me use that here. If the pair were a m/f couple and had several seasons of development and increasingly intimate moments, there would be no doubt in anyone’s mind that 1. It was heading in the direction of canon and 2. That it was a slow burn romance that’s building to its’ climax. Interestingly, the show actually does use the hetero goggles to frame BB on several occasions by paralleling this budding romance with several straight ships such as Arkos and Renora. Why? Because this is a narrative technique often used by writers to frame LGBT romances to separate them from ‘just friendships’ and, let’s face it, use an unconscious heteronormative bias to their advantage.

“BB is badly written, they barely interacted in volumes 1-3 then didn’t speak for two volumes.”

Tickle me pink. Volumes 1-3 are a very strange reference point for ‘in-depth’ development between characters. Crumbs, sure. The odd scene, absolutely. But let’s be real here - the show started as a low budget web series with an onus on cool fighting scenes and, most importantly, the episodes were around 5 minutes long whilst entertaining teams RWBY and JNPR, the White Fang, the Vytal tournament and several other plots. Nobody particularly interacted much but the writers did the best they could with what they had and the rest is left to us, the audience, to interpret that relationships are developing off-screen. Though from a critique POV in the interest of fairness, I would say the current season is a breath of fresh air by re-focusing the plot on the central characters as I think the show can sometimes be guilty of taking on too many plotlines.

As for volumes 4-5, while they’re in different continents, it’s obvious that they’re prevalent in each other’s arcs. Whether it’s Yang admitting she’s struggling with Blake’s abandonment - in the same episode the first lesbian character is revealed confessing their feelings to Blake (sidenote, all of team RWBY left Yang, and it’s Blake she’s mad at, this was always meant to be framed differently to her other teammates and IMO the struggle they go through is meant to frame the characters coming to terms with the depth of what they mean to each other), the parallels of them both getting onto the ship (named ‘Pride’ - wink wink), or Blake actively struggling to talk about Yang, yet referencing it when Sun is hurt (“Not again!”) showing it’s at the forefront of her mind. All of which culminates in their reunion in the Vol 5 finale.

Is it the best writing ever? No, nothing’s perfect. But they do explicitly use parallels throughout the series to drive the narrative forward as a foreshadowing tool to strengthen subplots.

“Blake being bisexual makes no sense - she was interested in Sun, it just seems so out of the blue, she and Yang just seemed like friends to me.”

Funny, because she and Sun seemed like friends to me too.

There are so many things I wanted to fire back at this, from the insinuation that if a woman first shows interest in a man then it’s out of the blue that she’s bisexual now that she’s showing interest in a woman... Like, how do you think it happens for bisexuals IRL?! Did you want her to burst onto the scene in Volume 1, announce she likes men and women, and then express explicit simultaneous interest in both of them? Start a harem? Proposition a throuple?

This particular take amuses me most of all as someone who is very openly bisexual. Yes, she and Yang seemed like friends. Great friends, in fact. That hold hands and blush and want to spend all their time together. And check each other out when the other isn’t looking. And make excuses for casual physical contact and flirt and giggle like a couple of giddy teenagers. Just like me and my ‘best friend’ did, before I realised I was bi. I’m sure that a lot of people thought it came out of the blue for me too. Blake being oblivious to being bisexual until it becomes too obvious to ignore is actually a very realistic scenario.

Bonus headline - just because you don’t understand/identify with something, doesn’t mean that it’s not good representation or realistic. I feel it’s also important to mention Blake’s VA, Arryn Zech, is bisexual and has spoken numerous times on the matter. The reason I bring this up is because it’s clear that the way in which the bisexuality of her character is presented on the show is actually something that’s incredibly important to Arryn - because good representation is significant.

Presenting labels and sexuality on Remnant: A Theory and - “BB is a terrible representation of LGBT and your critique ignores the female and LGBT people that have spoken out against it.”

They say, to someone who is both female and LGBT. Credit to the Anon who charged into my inbox to accuse me of the above - hope you enjoy. Now, there’s a couple of things I’d like to cover before I go into how sexuality is perceived in-universe. The first is that if you use this argument against someone who is queer without seeing the belligerent hypocrisy of your statement, please check yourself as, clearly, you only care about LGBT voices on representation when it aligns with your own rhetoric and ready to dismiss any narrative to the contrary from that same community.

Secondly, the queer/LGBT community is a vast and vibrant community of *individuals* with their own opinions and own voices. I didn’t nominate anyone to speak on my behalf, just as I don’t speak on the behalf of the rest of the community. Moreover, any art is open to interpretation. My opinion does not override theirs, nor does their opinion erase my own. And, believe it or not, it’s quite possible to have two or more differing opinions within one community without being at war with one another. I respect their opinion, just as I hope they respect mine.

We clear? Great. Onto the analysis! Huge shoutout to @crimsonxe for the brilliant discussion and assistance with the analysis in the comments that helped me construct this section! You’re awesome.

Let’s dive in with the headline - Homophobia doesn’t appear to be an issue on Remnant and labels don’t appear to exist, in the sense that it doesn’t appear anywhere in-universe. Now just to pre-emptively disclaimer: this may change, but in 9 volumes and however many supplementary materials, we’ve not heard any labels or had any representation of this type of discrimination. If that changes, I’ll happily remove this.

So why is this important, you ask? Ultimately, when you take away the inherent ‘fear’ that a lot of the LGBT community face IRL along with prevalent ignorance towards the community and society’s insistence on labelling sexualities and gender identity, it creates a world divorced from our own and is, from a narrative point of view, a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it allows the characters to explore themselves in a non-discriminatory environment that is inherently more fluid and free, whilst the audience will inevitably want to compare that to their own experiences. But we can’t - not properly - due to the still very real stigma and discrimination that exists in our own world. Instead, what we see are characters who express an interest in other characters and find other ways to allude to their preferences or identity. A prime example of this would be May, canonically a trans character, who does not use this term in-world but instead says, “To the Marigolds that meant I wasn’t their son, and I made sure everyone knew I wasn’t their daughter.” This is a theme that is poignantly reflected in the accompanying media for the series - such as the books; for instance, Coco, canonically lesbian, referring to “breaking the hearts of many women.”

How does this tie into the relationship with Blake and Yang? Glad you asked. If you bear in mind that Remnant has a very fluid outlook on sexuality and more of a ‘love who you love’ ethos which is blind to gender norms, it immediately subverts the assumption that interactions between m/f are romantic while f/f are platonic. It’s an open field, if you will. BB is a steady build from partner/best friend (though I’d argue that at least Yang had an immediate attraction, with Blake figuring herself out) with interactions that become increasing more intimate. Eye rolls and jokes become winks and innuendo (“I love it when you’re feisty!”), nudges become intimate hugs (Burning the Candle), become hand-holding (it isn’t coincidence that these two have held hands more than any other pair in the series), becomes pining, blushing, forehead touches (BB and Renora - remember those parallels), which evolves into flirting and... More. And yes, some of their interactions will still resemble the friendship they built their foundations on. But in a world where labels don’t exist, that journey from friend-to-lover is much more subtle and embedded in a gentle upwards curve of increasing intimacy.

“BB is only happening because the horrible BB fans demanded it, the show caved and gave in to the toxic fanbase, it wasn’t planned from the beginning.”

I’ve seen this in so many places, like a broken record. I have no doubt that there are BB fans that are fanatical, and I’d never justify the behaviour of any so-called fan that resorts to death threats or violence in any way. I’m hoping this surely must be a minority that has, hopefully, shrunk over the years as the audience has matured. However, this also really isn’t how shows work...

As many have pointed out in recent weeks, the show would be a very different landscape altogether if CRWBY were, in fact, that easily swayed by fans; namely, I’m thinking of Clover/Qrow, Pyrrha, Penny etc. While I don’t doubt that show-makers pay attention to the fanbase where needed and where it’ll be beneficial (seeing how fans react to developments, if allusions are clear etc.), sending death threats or whatever is actually much more counterproductive than anything else. But also... You’re not on the crew, you’re not part of those discussions. I feel confident that Miles, Kiersi and Kerry aren’t writing BB content with a gun to their head.

Lastly, the ‘it wasn’t planned from the beginning’ war cry is a tale as old as time. Like Beauty and the Beast. (See what I did there?) Asides from the fact that 1. Yang and Blake were actually the first created out of the team, and made with each other in mind, regardless of in what context (check out the original character designs/concepts) 2. Even if it wasn’t planned from the beginning, what difference does it make? There are tonnes of examples where the writers have felt the chemistry between two characters as the story’s gone on and decided to put them together (case-in-point from outside the anime world.. Chandler and Monica from Friends). In fact, while some writers like to plan every element of their plot from the beginning, there’s a great many writers who allow the characters to steer the plot as they grow - especially arcs with romantic undertones. The series was made predominantly for the action - it’s not a romantic series, so if they didn’t plan it from the beginning that wouldn’t be unusual, especially given that the episodes of the first few volumes are literally 5-10 minutes long. But regardless of whether the romance of the two was planned or not planned, it does not make it any less meaningful.

But let’s be real, the issue at heart isn’t that they weren’t sucking face in the first 3 seasons, it’s that they thought Blake would be with a guy, and she chose a girl. To which I say... Get over your bruised ego, and move on.

“BB fans deserve the hate they get because of x, y, z and cos it has toxic shippers.”

And you’re... Not... Toxic? If you’re an Anti-BB shipper and go out of your way to stalk and comment on BB tags/accounts just to harass shippers etc, then are you any better than the toxic fans you supposedly hate? To me, following BB tags and looking at BB content whilst being an Anti-BB shipper is so weird, why you trying to hurt your own feelings?

Also, saying that innocent shippers who are just living their best life should bear the burden of the toxic FNDM, is literally the definition of tarring everyone with the same brush. Some of us just want to eat our crumbs in peace, and from our POV, you’re the toxic ones being disrespectful. Bonus point: others being toxic does not give you licence to be hateful to anyone you come across that doesn’t agree with you.

“I’m no longer watching the show cos it’s trying too hard to be ‘woke’”

This ain’t an airport, you don’t need to announce your departure. But since you are, if your issue is the gay representation in the show then wake up and look around... We’re everywhere. The show is literally just reflecting the diversity you see day-to-day; but you keep sipping that haterade, my dude, we’re here to stay.

#anti rwde #rwby analysis #bumbleby #rwby

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kaladinkholins · 2 months

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Probably you have spoken about it earlier (sorry if so), but how do you think that Taigen will know Mizu's gender in the series? And how would you like it to happen? I would like it to be intentional, but regarding the amount of wounds Mizu constantly have, who knows...

Hello! :D And no I don't think I've ever written about it publicly on this blog, and to be honest I've never thought much about it.

To preface, I've not always been the type to properly sit down and theorise about future narrative decisions. When it comes to these things, I'm very "big picture" oriented, where I'd usually be fine with anything happening in the story as long as it touches on certain themes, remains in character, and adds something meaningful to our protagonists' arcs.

For example the only reason I came up with the Mizu's mom theory was because knowing exactly who Mizu's mother is (whether she is white, or royalty, or anything else), could, depending on the different posible outcomes, drastically alter Mizu's sense of identity and how she perceives herself, as well as morph the core themes and message of the overall story.

On the other hand, when it comes to the particulars of the inevitable gender reveal, I'm not picky at all, and I'm open to all the possibilities of how it would play out. This is because the outcome to all of it remains the same (in which Taigen finds out Mizu's gender), with only the process to get there differing, and in that regard, the question is then mostly on personal preference on tropes and avoiding cliches, and speculating future plot beats that would allow the gender reveal to happen in the first place.

Like you said, it could happen by way of Taigen trying to stitch Mizu up while she's unconscious or at least half-conscious, which would thus likely involve a big battle happening prior. A similar instance that comes to mind is Mizu's face off with Chiaki and the Four Fangs; iirc it's the only time Mizu is unconscious and vulnerable in front of Taigen. I'm not counting the time after they both fell out from Shindo and Fowler's fortress, because in that case, they'd both been completely KO'd. So anyway yeah, to get back on track, post-Four Fangs battle, if Ringo was not a factor, Taigen would've likely been the one to bring Mizu to safety and patch her up. From the framing of the scene, and Taigen's expression upon noticing Mizu look so vulnerable (because at this point he'd still believed Mizu to be nigh invincible, as we see from his daydream of him battling a giant Onryo in Episode 2), it's almost like the show was teasing us with the possibility of a gender reveal right there and then. But then of course, Ringo comes in and puts a stop to that happening (and thank God for that, because neither Taigen nor Mizu, on a narrative level, are ready for such a reveal yet).

Other than a Taigen-patching-Mizu-up scenario though, and outside of Mizu confessing to the truth herself, another possibility is that Taigen deduces the truth on his own. And this an idea that Ioana (@saessenach) and I were discussing, assuming a scenario where Taigen did not follow Mizu on the boat to London, but remains in Japan to do his own thing. In this scenario, all four of our protagonists are separated throughout Season 2 to have their own arcs: Mizu in London, Akemi in Edo, Ringo in Eiji's forge, and Taigen? Well, absolutely zero hints were given on where Taigen's going to go after S1, so everything's up in the air. The reason for this could be just some network/authorial reason whereby the writers are leaving it open because they themselves aren't sure what to do with Taigen.

Or, if they'd pre-planned everything early on, the complete lack of Taigen's presence at the end of the finale could itself be an indicator of where Taigen, and his arc, are going. What I mean is, Taigen in Season 2 might be a Wanderer, also known as a Ronin. Remember, he was disgraced and cast aside by his Lord, has lost his station and place in his Dojo, and him witnessing the "humiliating" death of the Shogun could be reason for Lady Itoh to want Taigen gone. He has nowhere to go. Plus, with him beginning on a journey of unlearning his prejudice and confronting his wrongdoings so he can properly change for the better (with the scene of him in Kohama in Ep7 being only his first steps), it's possible that his arc next season will be something along the lines of Zuko's from Zuko Alone in A:TLA. If you haven't watched A:TLA, what I'm referring to basically involves going from village to village, seeing that the status quo and society is cruel and unjust, trying to help people but having it kinda blow up in your face because of the fucked up status quo, and also facing the past you've been running from your whole life (through the form of flashbacks and introspection).

Thus, should a Taigen Alone arc really happen, it's possible that Taigen also gets wrapped up in some plot involving the black market dealers in these towns he visits, which would help tie in to the main story happening with Mizu and Akemi, because the white men (on Mizu's end) and the corrupt officials in the palace (on Akemi's end) both have ties to such black market dealers that Taigen may encounter. So it's possible that while investigating these people and tracking them down, Taigen gets wind of some rumours about the huge bounty on a half-breed blue-eyed girl. And, well, you can guess where it goes from there. Taigen deduces the truth, and when he reunites with Mizu later on, there'd be all this tension because now he knows. And this would be a very interesting outcome because this scenario wouldn't lend itself to a huge heat-of-the-moment argument that everyone's expecting, whereby Taigen finds out the truth while Mizu's right in front of him. Instead, in this case, Taigen finds out on his own, gets time to stew in the revelation, and likely drive himself mad in the process, and BOY THAT'D BE JUICY AS ALL HELL!

So basically, yeah, between the two scenarios I just presented, I'd favour the latter more, but I wouldn't mind the former either, or anything else the writers might throw our way.

However, I do still kind of hope Mizu could be the one to reveal the truth to Taigen herself, as I feel she should be allowed the choice in the matter, rather than having Taigen find out against her will. Plus, being the one to tell him herself would be such a huge step for her, signifying how she's opening up to people again, and would also be a big sign of some pre-established trust in their relationship.

BUT like I said, I'm not all too picky, and I also live for the drama, so, in conclusion: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Also I just realised just how much I typed up, and I'm so sorry that I can never be concise with my words, but I hope it's still somewhat legible. 😭 Thank you so much for this question by the way! I love rambling about this show, and I'm grateful for any chance to ramble about it even more <3 <3

#letters.doc #mbiterna #blue eye samurai #blue eye samurai theory #taigen blue eye samurai #mizu blue eye samurai #for real though thank you i love getting asks that pick my brain about this show (or about anything in general tbh)#let this be a sign for anyone to come into my ask box and pick my brain #meta dissertations.pdf #kind of?#fandom.rtf

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spirkme915 · 10 months

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I made the decision to be extra-judicious on deciding what constituted a spoiler for the new season of Strange New Worlds and I'm sticking with that.

But I have thoughts and I’ve spent way too much time thinking about them for a season and a half and I can’t hold them in anymore. So here you go.

Definite spoilers for episode 5 and everything before it under the cut. TL;DR at the very bottom of this way too long post.

Episode 5 was an absolute banger of an episode in terms of Hollywood entertainment value. But, and this is a big BUT, what the actual hell are the writers doing?

The Christine/Spock/T’Pring love triangle is tarnishing the gift that was given to Trek fans when Strange New Worlds was announced and it's becoming way too obvious not to comment on.

It’s maddening that they’ve decided to take a thirty second scene of a one-sided crush from the original series (Chapel confessing her love for Spock in The Naked Time) and turned it into a two-sided love affair that's part of a love triangle. It is, quite literally, derailing what is otherwise an incredible show.

I hear you asking… Seriously? Aren’t you being extreme? How could a consensual affair do that? Or.... You're a Spirk blog. Aren't you biased? Oh boy, I wish it were that simple. This is coming from a literal lifelong Trek fan who had Trouble with Tribbles memorized before I had an inkling what romance even was, and who - fortunately - was taught by my Trekkie father what made good writing.

The love triangle is not good Trek or good writing.

For reasons that likely have to do with Spock being arguably the most well known character in Star Trek canon (pop culture wise), the writers have chosen to focus on him. And what kind of storyline can they give us since Spock goes through a massive, decades long character arc in the original series and movies? (Spoiler alert, I answer that at the end and it's not a love triangle.)

For reasons that likely have to do with Peck’s appearance and natural charisma, they’ve decided to give Spock love interests - not just one but two.

Let’s ignore that Spock doesn’t show interest in either Christine or T’Pring in the original series. Really, that’s the least of the problems and easily explained away.

Where the problems arise are two fold - Spock’s emotional journey and the minimization of two strong female characters to love interests.

Spock’s emotional journey - As great as parts of this episode were (looking at you, Amanda), what it achieved was Spock coming to terms with his human side in a way that the Spock we know from the original series hasn’t accepted. It takes original series Spock until The Motion Picture (perhaps not until after The Voyage Home), to be comfortable in being both human and Vulcan. So the ground Spock gained in this episode? Strange New Worlds, if it continues as part of the prime timeline, can only result in character regression for Spock. As a fan of Spock in all iterations, that regression will be a heartbreaking and horrible way to end a hopeful show.

Christine and T’Pring as love interests - Dear god, can these women exist without being defined by a man please? It’s 2023. This shouldn’t be something female characters have to ask for. Sure, there was more about Christine in this episode, but her arc still revolved around Spock. And not only that, but we got the Korby name drop in this episode (her future fiancé). I'd love to think that this isn't headed in a direction where Christine will hook up with Spock then he’ll pull away and she jumps ship to Korby only to be defined again by a man. But for fuck's sake, this last season and a half hasn't given me much hope. Jess Bush is amazing as Christine. Is it too much to let Christine be her own woman? And T’Pring? I adore T'Pring way more in Strange New Worlds than I expected to. So, please, help a Vulcan woman out. T’Pring is already relegated to nothing in the narrative after Amok Time. If there’s going to be an insistence on bringing her into the story can she please not be defined by Spock then Stonn? I'm BEGGING the Strange New Worlds writers - let these characters and actors shine as fully realized women.

But the larger problem is that this single decision for a love triangle has not only fated these three characters to regression and minimization - IT'S DIMMING THE POSSIBILITIES FOR EVERYONE.

When Strange New Worlds was announced, there were so many possibilities. A whole new part of canon to be explored and expanded. NEW CHARACTERS, NEW PLACES, NEW MORAL QUANDARIES, NEW EXPLORATIONS.

But we only get 10 episodes a season, right? Not the 26ish we got with the original series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise. (Discovery, I'm looking at you and weeping too.)

So, why are the writers insisting on episodes focusing on an unnecessary love triangle when they could be doing this:

Uhura - Hello? SHE'S RIGHT THERE AND CELIA IS INCREDIBLE. The original series is notorious for brushing Uhura under the rug and other people can speak way more intelligently on Uhura meta than I can. But, I mean, she didn't even have a canon first name until 2009. So. Yeah. Good news, Strange New Worlds can change all of that. Build her history, show us her successes, her fears, her failings, glimpses into her past. Give her a chance to have a dalliance with the "alien of the week." Uhura is a beloved character for so so so many wonderful reasons. Give us the stories about her that deepen that love.

Erica - Oh, Erica. My beloved Erica. Paramount PR keeps saying that last week's episode was "Erica's Big Moment" and if it truly was her biggest moment of the season, then I weep for her and Melissa Navia. All we learned in that episode was that she's Erica Ortegas and she flies the ship (and, well, that Navia has a depth in her they haven't let her show with Erica so far). Erica does pilot and flies really goddamn well, but we already knew that. What about her time in the Klingon War? What about her family? Her friends off the ship? What was it that either made her determined to become the best pilot or that happened in her past that inspired her to become that pilot? How does she feel about being on the Enterprise? How does she feel about soup or carpet or art? There's nothing, literally NOTHING, in future canon about her and right now her Memory Alpha entries for her life before Strange New Worlds is seven sentences. SEVEN SENTENCES. All of this for a fan favorite character. *sigh*

Sam - The potential for this character is limitless and all we've really gotten is him touching something he shouldn't have, being xenophobic to Spock, and that he doesn't pick up his dirty dishes. Seriously? We know more about Jim Kirk in Strange New Worlds and he's not even on the Enterprise or in the same timeline! When we rewatch Operation Annihilate, give us a reason to mourn with Jim. Make that episode a billion times worse because Sam is a character that we know and care about outside of being Jim's brother.

Pike - Okay, so admittedly, Pike is probably the most fleshed out character besides Spock in canon and they're not shying away from the future he knows is coming. That's been handled really well. And they've also done a great job of showing how much Pike cares. But, what makes Pike one of the "great captains" and how has his past turned him into who he is today (the canon pieces with his father have so much possibility) and what is he doing behind the scenes to fight for his crew and his ship? I feel like we got more of the "great captain" in Discovery than we've gotten in Strange New Worlds. And, dear god again with the "romance," can his love interest get a canon first name please? Hard to buy he loves her when he calls her Captain Batel even in his personal log.

Una - She was pretty much a canonical blank slate going into Strange New Worlds and they've done some incredible episodes with her, but I'd love to see her actually be the XO? Making that a question because she absolutely is, but we have yet to really see that in practice. The relationship between Pike and Una deserves so so much more screen time. Let them be captain and first officer. Explore Pike mentoring her, and give way more of her mentoring crew. Let her be more than Illyrian. What are the unique challenges she faces as the highest ranked woman and non-Human on the ship? Is she a fighter or a negotiator or some secret third thing? Does she have an intricate knowledge of some space anomaly or ship function that no one else on board does? What are her future goals and plans? I'm rambling now, but the point is that she's a character who disappears from canon after Strange New Worlds and she's the goddamn FIRST OFFICER OF THE ENTERPRISE. Let her be that until she isn't anymore.

La’An and M'Benga - Honestly, I'm not going to put much here for La'An because out of all the "new" characters in Strange New Worlds, La'An has been fleshed out the most. And, out of all the "barely exists in canon" characters, M'Benga is the same. But I'm listing them because they make my point. La'An and M'Benga are good examples of what happens when the writers focus on characters who either don't exist in canon or barely exist there. We know pieces of their backstory and their motivations. We know what keeps them up at night. Both actors have given performances that tie the audience to their characters emotionally. And yet, there's seasons worth of more material for both of them.

So. To come back to my original point - why are the writers focusing on a love triangle that tramples on canon and minimizes female characters when they are wealthy af with primo characters?

I mean, there are so many other ways they could have gone with Christine (making her bisexuality more than a one-off line, having her struggle with what happened on the Farragut, exploring her role during the Klingon War, family, friends, facing moral quandaries in her research...), and Spock (his relationship with Sarek, Vulcan rituals and practices we've never seen ((double parentheses here to emphasize that to us, as viewers, Vulcan *is* a strange new world and there's still a hell of a lot of Vulcan stuff that's veiled in mystery)), and MICHAEL ((remember Michael, his sister, who got a one line mention in the first episode then nothing?? Yeah, that Michael)), Spock's grief over losing Hemmer and Michael so closely together, etc...). Poor T'Pring is pretty much relegated to love interest and plot device at this point unfortunately. Instead of the love triangle route, they could've cut the sex scenes and made her a cool, calculating advisor to Spock and the Angel/Sybok plotline could've still happened. But alas, was not meant to be.

I've written a lot of words and taken up way too much of my day with this, but I seriously couldn't hold it in any longer. Look, I love Strange New Worlds, but I also seriously grieve for the show that it could've been and I seriously hope it will become that show in future seasons.

Strange New Worlds is gorgeous, the sets and special effects are A+, the actors are all pretty too and know how to command a scene. There's a lot to work with. But let's not forget that the original series was put together with styrofoam, glitter, and a prayer and it birthed this 60 year franchise. What kept people coming back to Trek were the relationships and a found family working together to explore, not a forced love triangle.

TL;DR

The insistence on the Christine/Spock/T'Pring love triangle is dooming all of their characters to massive character regression and minimization *and* cheating us out of learning about and loving the characters who are practically unknown in canon.

#star trek #strange new worlds #snw spoilers #strange new worlds spoilers #star trek meta #strange new worlds meta #this is about as contentious as i'll get on this blog #because it's supposed to be a happy place for me #but damn #i couldn't NOT say something #it's driving me bananas #adding tags because i have more thoughts #this isn't even getting into that the writers fundamentally DON'T KNOW who spock is #like they really really don't #and vulcan emotions are more powerful than human's but he couldn't control the human emotions?#i don't get it #but they don't either so #adding one more #the bacon was a big wtf moment too #spock is a vegetarian because of respect for life not biology #but again #fundamentally misunderstanding spock seems to be the flavor of the day #fuck #adding more tags #how did i forget to mention that we’re wasting episodes on an unnecessary love triangle that’s DOOMED FROM THE START ON ALL SIDES #so it’s extra extra unnecessary #i just #i’m so tired #this episode was just BAD all around

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trashlie · 10 months

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ILY FP 231

ALRIGHTY KIDS WHO’S READY FOR STALKYOO WEEKEND WHO’S READY FOR ME TO TALK NONSTOP ABOUT ILY AND TENSION AND FEELINGS AND EXECUTION AND SUBTEXT I’M RARING TO GO picture me frothing at the mouth rattling the bars of my cage because that’s been me and that WILL remain me!

Look I’m about to choke out 246 different posts but I’m going to do my best to try to keep this one on topic... but we know how I get so uhhhh. Brace yourselves lmao

This episode is just CATNIP for me, and I know I keep saying that but forgive me, everything we’ve been getting in these arcs is jus tailor-made, it’s the stuff I feast on, it’s got me scurrying up walls like a lil lizard chewing on the rafters shrieking like a banshee. I am FED and I am addicted and I WANT MORE!!!!!!!

Nana + Shinae is just unhinged chaos I was completely unprepared for and getting to see them play out more in this episode is a HOOT. I say this with affection, but I am SO GLAD she’s not MY grandma cos WOW I, too, would be so embarrassed. (Actually she reminds me a lot of my mom, pls understand the embarrassment I have endured at her hand!) Shinae and Nana bonding over their mutual dislike for Rand was SO funny - like oh shit wait you don’t like that old geezer OR that witch? Oh you have TASTE (also there’s a subtle little... dig if we want to call it that “Oh I like this one” [eyes]). All the while Nol just sits by watching with that EXPRESSION LMAO

In fact, all of Nol’s expressions are SO funny and SO good! I cannot get over his deeply mortified blushing when Nana called the headband his “comfort headband” and pretty much aired that he was so upset that he was fiddling with it lmao LIKE COME ON (BUT ALSO HER INSINUATIONS? NANA U NASTY FREAK LMAOOOOOOO implying he’d done something unholy with it I SIMPLY CANNOT) His expression as he fucking!!! Throws!!!!! His blanket over her with his lil eye buggin out? PURE COMEDY I LOVE IT

But obviously the meat and potatoes of this episode is the Shinae Nol confrontation - and the elephant in the room. Nol says so much while saying so little - the subtext is off the charts and it’s INSANE to me that they are just.... confessing between the lines lmao

Let me get this out of the way, my favorite point to yell about: Nol cannot resist Shinae. He tries and he always fails. He is so weak in the face of her - and now he finally understands why. She doesn’t seem to realize it, but she manages to elicit truth out of him, she keeps him rooted to the spot. He’ll purposefully distance himself from her - angle away, sit away - but he still ends up angled in towards her, drawn in. She gets to him in a way that, as far as we can tell, no one else can. It’s what made it so difficult for him to actually part with her - why he stumbled and clutched her before he finally snipped the cord, why he had to block her and when she got around that (her message in his spam) he had to drown it out with alcohol. Her gravitational pull on him is so great and he is now aware of it.

I think he did have every intention to talk to her. Maybe he wasn’t going to be as open as we hope. He seemed like he wanted to at least try to clear something up. But his tune completely changed after she brought up Dieter, after she made him realize that Dieter saw it all, that he knew what Nol knows. Ngl I find this simultaneously funny and frustrating because it DOES put them in such a precarious position and Shinae is just SO unaware of it yet!!!!

Nol knows that when it’s just them, things cease to matter. It’s the way he phrases things - like how he talks about when they thought everyone was asleep, because it was that cloak of secrecy that allowed him to be so bold. It was the belief that the whole world was asleep and they were alone in their bubble, no thoughts, nothing else, acting on their whims. He knows he made a move on her, and he knows it was intentional, and it would never have happened if Dieter and Soushi were awake. But that’s the thing about when Nol is alone with Shinae - he seems to forget everything else. She disarms him and he acts on his whims.

The range of his expression is so good here - going from guarded and cautious to the moment he’s putting the dots together and he closes his eyes and screws up his face. Nol isn’t an asshole - he knows what Dieter must be feeling, what it must be like to have witnessed that, to listen in on that. Shinae may not have processed how loaded it was, but Nol can see it easily from Dieter’s perspective.

And here’s the thing about Dieter, too. He’s not a fool, he knows what he’s up against. I don’t mean it in that he’s competing with Nol, really, but we know he compares his relationship with Shinae to other peoples’ relationships with her. We’ve seen him voice his insecurity to Minhyuk - that he doesn’t have with her what Nol does. When he told Shinae she loves Nol, he obviously meant it as a friend, the way he does - but I still think he was voicing a fear that he already had in his heart. Like Nol, though, Dieter isn’t good at resisting Shinae, and he lets his hope build up when he knows better. Dieter knew he was playing with fire.

That doesn’t make it hurt any less, though - to basically have it confirmed almost behind your back. Dieter can see it for what it was - not just the way Nol was acting, the way he looked at her, the way he literally put the moves on her lol but it was the way she received it, the way she flusters under his gaze. It was how she stayed at his side the whole time, how her concern for him outshines her need for sleep or food.

Nol’s guilt is SO strong, it permeates this episode, but I think it’s also very much twisted with his fear. It’s easier to use the guilt, to frame around that, because in his mind he fucks things up all the time, he makes things worse, his existence creates more problems. I love that Shinae calls him out on the fact that it’s not his fault that his plan to get her and Dieter together didn’t work because it’s true. While he’s not wrong to some degree - pushing Dieter and Shinae to be friends does kind of prolong the pain, at the end of the day, they all make their choices. Dieter chose to collect those moments with Shinae knowing they were supposed to be strictly platonic, everything as friends. Shinae still chose to confide in him, to open up, to let him in. Just because Nol pushed the friendship it doesn’t mean they had no agency in the matter.

But obviously the real issue is not that he pushed them, that it draws out the pain for Dieter. It’s that he did all of that and in the end, he was the one who hurt him the most. It wasn’t that Shinae didn’t reciprocate - it was that Nol has feelings, too.

Now, I want to make a point here that I’m sure we’re all on the same page about. No one is really “at fault” here. It’s not like anyone has done anything wrong. Sure we can argue that Shinae has gotten Dieter’s hopes up unintentionally. Sure we can argue that liking someone your friend likes is bad. But human feelings are messy and don’t exist in a vacuum of good vs bad. The whole thing about dibs is so gross in general - it denies someone agency and instead rests on those who like them. Is Nol a bad friend for falling for someone his friend also likes? Is Shinae a bad person for falling for the friend of the guy who likes her? Obviously there are things that need to be cleared up - she needs to sort out her feelings for them, but the point remains. No one is at fault.

But that doesn’t mean Nol won’t feel guilty, won’t feel like an asshole for finding a new way to hurt the people he cares about.

I know this sounds crazy but I kind of lmao like the way he told Shinae she needs to go, that “You can’t be here alone with me any longer.”

Nol has acknowledged his role in this. He acknowledges the way he deliberately hurt Dieter, even though it wasn’t his intention. And what’s more is what he’s not saying - the subtext. That she can’t be alone with him because they will continue to say and do things that will hurt Dieter, that will create more pain. Nol knows how easily Shinae can disarm him if he’s not vigilante. All it takes is her bringing him ease again, him falling back into that comfort, forgetting the rest of the world, acting on it again.

There’s something that feels so urgent about it? Intense? That she NEEDS to go because he doesn’t have the willpower any more. That he’s trying REALLY HARD to be a good person, a good friend, but it’s so difficult. He says it every which way besides with words, and if you read between the lines he’s practically screaming it out loud.

I actually think he’s handling it pretty well, even if it doesn’t clear things up for Shinae in the moment. He’s acting on Dieter’s behalf - but also on his own. And hers. Shinae needs to come to the conclusion he has and it’s not for him to tell her. Part of why it’s so easy for Shinae to let herself feel that way with Dieter is because she knows he likes her. He’s safe and comfortable. Had he never confessed would she think anything of the way he looks at her? Would she think anything of the comfort he brings her? But because she knows, it has affected her view. I don’t say that like it’s a bad thing, because we all respond to people based on how they feel about us, I think. But if Nol were to speak those words out loud, if he were to tell her “it’s because I like you!” how would it make her feel? Would it influence what she thinks about him? Surely it would!

Nol is trying to get Shinae to come to the same realization he has, and more so, he’s trying to get her to be clear about her feelings. Do you like me or not? Do you act this way with everyone? He sees the way she gets flustered, he knows the effect he’s got on her. He’s probably sure she reciprocates those feelings and hasn’t figured it out yet - but there’s still a shadow of a doubt. There’s still the fact that maybe he’s reading into it, maybe he’s seeing something that isn’t there. Maybe she’s someone who cares about him and he’s misread it because he’s so desperate to matter to someone, anyone.

Look we all know better, but we also know how doubts persist!

There’s so much ANGST but it’s SO good! It’s not angst for the sake of angst, it’s not drawing something out just to make the story last. Nol’s expressions cause me PAIN, Shinae’s make me ACHE. He feels like a guilty asshole, he wants her to go, but he can’t even look at her and say it - he looks away, his mouth set in that way holding back all the things he believes he should not say. Honestly they are so good at hurting each other ;______; it hurts ME, too!

But also, I get it. I’m with Nol here. How can he bear to look at her when he’s pushing her away again? How can he bear to look at her when it’s all his fault (according to him). He can’t even look at her when he tells her Dieter was awake the whole time. It’s such a loaded statement but unfortunately it doesn’t QUITE land because Shinae can’t quite grasp the significance.

Actually this whole part is both so funny and so unbearable to me lmao because Nol is all but saying that Dieter oversaw them having a very non-platonic moment and she’s like i don’t get it why’s that a big deal LMAOOOOOO ;____; Nol is going THROUGH it okay! She keeps insisting that it meant nothing, that it’s just friends, what’s wrong with that. And Nol can’t come out and say the truth - that it looked romantic that it felt romantic, that he meant all of it and that’s why it’s so wrong. The whole time he’s trying to get her to understand WHY that hurts Dieter and she’s just hurting him at the same time LMAO OUCH

I LOVE those panels where we can’t see their faces - where it’s Nol’s frustration and anguish that she doesn’t get it, that he’s trying, that he feels awful because of course those feelings are still there why wouldn’t they be. His frustration, the faint lines on Shinae’s face.

Maybe it’s there at the back of her mind - something faint, something distant. Maybe for a moment she understands what Nol isn’t saying, the implications of what Dieter oversaw, overheard. But if it, she doesn’t acknowledge it at all.

Nol’s hand over his face in frustration, that panel where we close in on his eye and Shinae says “You’re not intentionally trying to hurt him!” But... he is. Maybe he doesn’t want to hurt Dieter - but he IS intentionally doing things that hurt him. And he still wants to! That’s the thing, that’s why he needs her to go. It’s so easy to fall into that, to act on that, to forget Dieter exists and instead indulge a little. It may not be his intention to hurt Dieter, but it’s his intention to do things that WOULD hurt him, and she doesn’t get it.

But GOD lmao the way she just starts to rub salt in the wound!!!!! “Whatever he thinks is just a misunderstanding. There’s NOTHING going on here!”

In ILY universe, nothing is always Nol. There is Nol going on here.

And look, I feel for him here, a LOT. This must be SO hard!!!! Not just the pushing her away, not just knowing he hurt Dieter, but having this whole conversation, her not getting it, her taking a moment that clearly meant SO MUCH to him and saying it meant nothing. Again, there’s so much that is LOADED when she says “We’re all friends here!” and he says that resolute “No”, his eyes hidden from us, his hands firm on the wheelchair.

Shinae misconstrues it as no, we aren’t all friends, but what Nol means is that no it’s not just friends. It’s two different people who like her a lot. It’s knowing he acted on something that hurt his friend. That moment wasn’t platonic, wasn’t just friendship - not for him. Clearly she’s unready to see it, but he knows it. No. We’re not friends here - we are people who like you so very much.

GOD, THE ANGST, THE ANGUISH. I AM SWINGING FROM THE RAFTERS I’M HOOTING.

I LOVE the moment he says he can’t take this - he can’t keep having this conversation, can’t take being shut down like this, can’t handle her downplaying a significant moment. If she wants to tell herself it was nothing but to keep reiterating it to him? Unbearable! But also I LOVE that Shinae stands her group and puts her foot down, I love her calling him out because like I get it! I understand both of them. She’s had no time to process any of this, all she knows is she wants him to stop pushing her away, she wants him to stop boxing her out, she wants him to be OPEN.

In a way, they are fighting for the same thing, but they keep obstructing each other. They want the same thing but they’re speaking in different languages. He WANTS her to see it - that it wasn’t a platonic moment, that he meant it that it matters that their fingerprints are all over it. He wants her to see what Dieter saw. She wants him to show himself, to open up, to stop hiding, to be vulnerable. They are trying SO HARD to get the same thing, but they just keep butting heads and getting in each others’ way.

AND WHEN SHE TELLS NOL THAT SHE’S NOT NOT INTERESTED IN DATING DIETER? OH MY /GOD/ lmao alkjfkjafkjafkjafkjja alfjakfjj SHRIEKS

Not ONLY has she basically downplayed this whole romantic moment, downplayed whatever is transpiring between them but she goes on to say SHE’S NOT NOT INTERESTED IN DIETER?! LMAOOOOOOOOO Again I reiterate no one is at fault here!!!!!! But lmaooooo the OUCHIES of this whole conversation! Isn’t it bad enough that she says it was nothing it doesn’t mean anything, and then she goes on to be like I mean i don’t totally NOT not like him idk..... LMAO

He’s clearly frustrated both in trying to get her to understand what he isn’t voicing, but also because he seems like such a resolute person? Or at least, he tries to be. I assume it’s kind of like... he realized he likes her and that’s it. It’s not that he thinks he might like her, it’s not that he might have some feelings. He knows he’s all in, all feelings, all eyes on her. And she appears so wishy washy - flirting with him but doesn’t acknowledge it, unintentionally stringing Dieter along and igniting that hope.

And the thing is she isn’t doing any of this maliciously. She’s tried to be clear with Dieter! It’s not her fault that he keeps getting his hopes up. She’s had no time to process her feelings for Nol, has had no experiences to compare any of this to. I love this conversation between them because it illuminates how little Shinae knows about feelings, about love, about romance. She hasn’t let anyone in in a long time, has guarded herself so tightly, and now that she has, how is she to understand the ways they affect her, what their significance means?

It’s easy to see why she keeps trying to box her feelings about Nol into a box they don’t fit. Of course she cares, of course she worries, that’s what friends do. It’s not that she cares, though - it’s why. Does she care as a friend or does she care as something else? That’s what he’s trying to get her to answer - and I think he got close. But she needs to distance herself from the night, too. She needs to dwell on those feelings - and not just the intensity of trying to hang on to him, but the other feelings, too. The butterflies, the fluttering, the fluster, the way she can’t meet his gaze, the way she starts to fluster if he looks at her for too long.

Someone said that Shinae is practically confessing to Nol and doesn’t even realize it and my god they’re right lmao. The way Shinae argues back that she knows Nol didn’t like it when she left after they danced, that she knows he was bummed, can you really throw all that away what we’ve been through, how effortless we are? lmao SHE REALLY JUST. Goes on saying it!!! AND SHE DOESN’T RECOGNIZE IT FOR WHAT IT WAS.

(I mean she did a whole damn love soliloquy in front of Minhyuk for Nol so like. It’s been an all night thing lmao)

Also it hurt when Nol admits that Dieter doesn’t have that with Shinae - not even as her friend. Even if she does not not want to date him, even if a part of her DOES like him - does it compare to what she feels about Nol? Does it compare to what he means to her? He can’t look her in the eye, and even as she tries to play it off, to say hey all friendships are different does it really matter SHE can’t meet his eye.

Consciously Shinae may not be aware of it but on some level she must know. On some subconscious level, that ghost of a thought passes by, a faint wave of shame. She doesn’t share with Dieter what she shares with Nol. It’s true that there’s something there, but it’s something she’s avoiding, something she consciously cannot face yet.

BUT LISTEN, MY GOD. NOL ASKING HER WHY SHE CARES /SCREAMS JUST SCREAMS ALJKFKJAFJKAFLJ AFJALJJAF AFJAKFJFA

He’s pushing!!!!!!!!!!!

I love that Nol is a ball of contradiction. He wants Shinae to acknowledge what he isn’t saying out loud, he wants her to realize that it means something to him, that there are feelings, that it’s not platonic, and he wants her to acknowledge so she understands why he’s pushing her away. But I think he also wants her to admit it herself. Confirm what he suspects. She fights SO hard but she can’t say why. She cares so much but she can’t elaborate.

Convince me.

LKJFKJAF LAJFKAJFA F /SCALES THE WALLS PARKOURS ACROSS ALL THE ROOFS IN THE NEIGHBORBOOD.

He knows. HE KNOWS. Convince him he’s wrong. Convince him it’s not what he thinks. Convince her that her extent of care of need her desperate desire to keep hold of him to make him show himself to her to be vulnerable with him is platonic. Convince him.

AND SHE CAN’T!!!!!!!!!

Again, she averts her gaze! Again, she flusters and blushes. Again he disarms her just by looking at her and he takes advantage of the moment to finally kick her out.

GOD WHAT AN EPISODE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I JUST WANNA BARK BARK BARK WOOOOF RLKJJKJ RRRRGGHHR RRRRHGHGHG LDKJC YIP YIP YIP

IT’S SO GOOD. THE SUBTEXT, THE EXPRESSIONS, THE DANCE AROUND THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM, THE ANGST, THE EMOTIONS.

And no matter which standpoint you look at it from it’s just GOOD.

Nol feels guilty, like an asshole, he has hurt his friend. But more than that - it’s how he knows he can’t be alone with her, how he knows he can’t stop himself any more from acting on what he wants. He needs to PHYSICALLY remove her because that’s how little resistance he has, because that’s how much she gets to him, how much she affects him. It’s the way it hurts to have this conversation - where if he says the words out loud it makes them real and it becomes a weight she has to carry. If he can make her reach the conclusion on her own, maybe it won’t be so bad. He won’t have to deal with the pain if she doesn’t reciprocate - if she comes to the right conclusion and keeps her distance. If he says them out loud and she has to turn him down? He can’t handle that he can’t bear it. But at the same time, every time she denies that their shared moment meant nothing, that the way he looked at her, the way he treated her (HOW HE TOUCHED HER?????) was just platonic to him???? HOW CAN HE BEAR TO ENDURE THAT CONVERSATION?!

And it’s not that it means nothing - she just needs the space and time to process it, to really play out what happened. I think, too, on some level she IS subconsciously repressing it. Isn’t it scary? Especially because Nol is a person who comes and goes, who pushes her away and then shares these intense moments and then shoves her away again. What good is it to acknowledge what he means when she can barely keep a hold on him as a friend, when she can barely make him understand his significance. Nol and Dieter both are such good friends to her, people she can rely on, people who make her feel safe. Sure Nol may not make her feel secure all the time lmao but when it’s just them, when they’re lost in that little world, for the moment, he does. It’s scary, to think of losing any of that. All the relationships she’s ever been privy to have fallen apart. There’s no photos, no memories of her family as a whole unit. She’s seen what Rand and Yui look like. She’s got no experience of her own, and now that she has friends she loves so much, she’s too afraid to lose them.

How can she begin to dissect what Nol means to her when it makes him feel more fleeting? How can she begin to understand what exists between them is romantic when she’s never really witnessed a healthy successful romance exist?

The thing that makes friends to lovers SUCH a good trope, and why I love it SO MUCH is the stakes, the risk vs the payout. What if you take that step and it all goes wrong? What if you mess it up and you lose someone who is SO important to you, someone who means so much? What if all goes wrong and you can’t put it back together and you make something beautiful all wrong by getting your fingerprints on it and chipping the corners? You start to fear even the possibility because sure it could go well - but if it goes bad you lose it ALL. Everything.

But what is life if you don’t take some risks? Can you live with that regret, if you never take a chance, if you miss out on something you wanted?

That’s the thing about Dieter, isn’t it? He knows the risks. He knows he’s playing with fire, knows he doesn’t quite have with Shinae what Nol does. But he still tries. He still lets his unwavering hope go, even if it hurts him. He can’t ever say he has any regrets because he’s given it his all. Sure, it hurt a LOT and it’s going to, until he gets over her and can find a way to move on, but at least he tried. At least he made the effort and can say that he did his best.

It’s funny that Nol and Shinae stand in that place. She’s doing her best, she’s making an effort so she can’t regret not trying - but she just can’t see the full picture, can’t acknowledge WHY she’s fighting WHY she’s pushing. But Nol is the other part of it, the understanding, but also fear. It’s not just Dieter that stops him. If she continues to deny that it means anything, if she continues to say it was nothing.... that hurts. It’s bad enough to have feelings - but for the person you like to deny them? GOD. ;A;

At this point there’s a lot of conversations that need to be had, and i think I’m looking forward to (hopefully?!) seeing Nol and Dieter talk it out. I think as much as Dieter is hurt, I can’t see him as the kind of person who would stand in the way of his friends happiness. If they make each other happy, who is he to tell Nol to back off or something? Shinae is a person with agency who can make her own choices and if she comes to a realization that she reciprocates Nol’s feelings well.... he can’t really stop her just because she doesn’t like him. He’s not an incel alkfkjafjaf lmao I don’t think it’s the kind of thing that would make him hate either of them.

I’ve said it before but Dieter loves Nol, too, so he can understand why Shinae would fall for him. And likewise, as a person who likes Shinae, I’m sure he can understand how Nol would unintentionally fall. There’s a lot that’s happened between Nol and Shinae that Dieter doesn’t know about - the things that draw them together, that make them reach out to one and other. I think he can probably get that sense - there’s just SOMETHING ELSE there that isn’t with him and Shinae.

I like to think Dieter might encourage Nol, or at the very least perhaps tell him to stop pushing people away. That one of these days he’ll push and she won’t come back and can he really live with that? While Dieter doesn’t know as much as Shinae, he at least seems to have the sense that there’s a profound depth to Nol, that there’s a lot of pain (as evidenced between him and Kousuke) and that his life hasn’t been as easy as Yeonggi made it look, so maybe he, too, will what it means for Nol to open up, to really truly fall for someone who feels the same as him. Who is he to deny their happiness, just because it makes him hurt?

On the other hand, a part of me dreads Dieter and Shinae talking because WHEW BOY we know it’s going to hurt either way it goes. Will she deny her feelings about Nol, try to continue to write them off as friendship because it scares her, because she’s so afraid of losing him that she’s willing to swallow them down, because she doesn’t want it to get in the way? Even if she did, Dieter would see through it. I think now that he’s seen it, really seen it at play, he knows he can’t keep pretending. That’s why he’s distanced himself. If she were to try to play the card that it meant nothing wouldn’t he get more upset that she’s lying? God it just feels like a painful conversation ;___; And if she’s honest with him, if she sets him straight that she should have been clearer, that she hurt him, it just makes it hurt more AAAAAHHHHHHHHHH

JUST AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

All that said, I love how good of a subversion of “why does my kokoro go dokidoki”. It’s not that Shinae is naïve - it’s that she’s inexperienced and scared. It’s that she hasn’t had the time to process, it’s that she has this mix of feelings that she’s had no time to sort them out and untangle them. For so long she held people at arm’s length and now her heart is too full! And because it’s subverting that trope, I don’t think we’ll see it drawn out for a terribly long time, and she’ll put on her big girl pants and try to make it right. Right now she’s afraid to rock the boat. She’s been hurt so many times by people, she doesn’t want to be the one who hurts others, she doesn’t want to be the one who inflicts pain. But I think when she realizes the truth, she’ll realize that trying to ignore it causes more pain, drawn out. That’s what Nol is getting at. That as long as she doesn’t definitively have feelings, it only hurts. It drags out Dieter’s pain every time he thinks there’s a chance. It drags out Nol’s pain, that she can’t sort out the feelings.

I love so much that Shinae cares about peoples’ feelings - especially because in the beginning she so badly wanted to believe she doesn’t care if people think she’s a bitch. She’s so empathetic and caring! But at some point we have to realize that avoiding a problem only makes it worse. It’s so much better to be up front and get it out of the way. Dieter won’t be able to heal until the wound stops getting ripped open. He WILL be okay, he WILL get over. But it won’t happen until she makes things clear.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

I HAVE SO MANY THOUGHTS SO MANY FEELINGS I HAVEN’T EVEN TALKED ABOUT NOL’S RESOLVE BUT I’M SAVING THAT FOR A SEPARATE POST AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS

#I Love Yoo #ILY Brainrot #ILY FP #ILY Spoilers #Stalkyoo #Shinae Yoo #Nolan Oliver T. Lochlainn #Nol #Dieter Becker-Wulff #Shieter #WHAT MORE CAN I SAY I AM BOUNCING OFF THE WALLS OKAY I JUST HAVE SO MANY THOUGHTS I WILL BE BACK TONIGHT WITH MORE THOUGHTSSSSSSSSS #gonna keep the tags short this time because i'm just completely feral RARRLKAJRJAJRRRRrr

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blazinginsquids · 3 months

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Utena Black Rose Arc Elevator Analysis (Case by case)

(Quick context- I’m going to do the rest of the characters, but I wanted to post what I’ve written so far. I’m going to post one character at a time as I do their analysis.)

So, i wanted to take my own jab at analyzing the elevator in Revolutionary Girl Utena. I can’t promise it’ll be the most extraordinary analysis of this scene only because it’s been analyzed a million times (As has everything in Utena, with good reason of course.) I doubt I’m the first person who’s reached this line of thought or chose to analyze these scenes this way, but I still thought it’d be fun.

So, in the black rose arc, every time somebody went down the elevator and told a confession, the picture in the frame would go from butterfly, cocoon, caterpillar, and leaf. I think this is an allegory for how the deeper into the duelist’s motives they get, the less complicated their motives are, as they become exposed as results of more raw emotions such as anger or jealousy. I also believe that the butterfly represents the way the duelist believes the situation is in the outside world, whereas the leaf represents their truest opinion of the situation, which tends to have some sort of shift from what the originally said about it. The subsequent duels are allegories for causing revolution, but rather than being about a historical revolution, I believe it’s in reference to the dilemma that the character revolves around. I thought it would be interesting to look at this case by case.

Kanae:

Butterfly: Kanae explains that she’s engaged to Akio and that she wants to love him, and genuinely likes him as a person. She feels lucky to be as well off as she is. The complication here is that there’s an exception. She doesn’t explain the exception until after the frame is changed from butterfly to cocoon, implying that she tries to hide this.

Cocoon: The only thing mentioned in this stage is that Akio has a younger sister, who Kanae believes doesn’t like her. This could be because there’s something about this information that she feels the need to filter more, whether out of paranoia or some other fear. It is the truth about how she feels, but it’s deeper than that.

Caterpillar: She gives an anecdote about a time she gave Anthy her favorite scarf, and Anthy wiped her glasses with it, despite Kanae being sure she’d told Anthy that wasn’t what the scarf was for. She had grown anxious after Anthy smiled at her, and later her father had gotten sick. She was convinced that Anthy was somehow responsible. Here we can see what seems to be the whole truth, that Kanae is paranoid regarding Anthy. While this in of itself it still very true, it is by no means the rawest layer of these feelings that Kanae has.

Leaf: In the final stage, Kanae finishes by saying she’s tried everything to get Anthy to like her. This reveals the rawest understanding. While Kanae’s reaction to Anthy could be chalked up to mere paranoia, it’s much deeper in the sense that the paranoia was not the origin. The origin seems to be a desire to gets others to like her. This tells us that Kanae is a people pleaser by nature and that her dilemma in life revolves around whether or not people like her. She fights for her desire to be a likable person to others.

#revolutionary girl utena #revolutionary girl utena analysis

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karatekels · 6 months

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Scream For Me – Chapter 1:

We’re back in the Fresh Start-verse for this one! I’ve missed this Terry and Reader (and Victor) so much! 😭

This is going to be a two chapter arc, and while there shouldn’t be anything bad in this one, the next post is going to be DARK. I hope you like it!

No real trigger warnings for this part (maybe some vague plotting), but the next part will be full of them, so don't get invested in this if you don't think you'll want to read that sort of thing.

---

“He ended up beating the kid I had handpicked as my champion in Sudden-Death. John was devastated, and he disappeared – I never saw him again after we lost the tournament. And it… it ruined me, Y/N,” Terry confesses to you with a pained, faraway expression, his head resting on your lap while he sprawled across the rest of the sofa in your bedroom.

You look down at him with sad eyes, running your fingers through his silver-white curls soothingly. It wasn’t often that Terry opened up to you about his past like this – he was content to leave it behind him where it belonged, especially since it could stir up unpleasant memories for awhile afterwards – and you always cherished the moments when he was willing to share with you, no matter how the stories might hurt you both.

“I hit rock bottom, lost myself, sent my first company into a nosedive, nearly lost everything that four generations of my family had worked to build up, nearly overdosed more times than I can remember…” he trails off, his pale blue eyes wide and staring up into yours. You move your hand from his hair to stroke the side of his face, smiling softly down at him. His eyes flutter closed before he turns his head to the side, nuzzling his face against your palm and breathing deeply.

“But all of that was worth it, now that I know that working through it would ultimately lead me to you,” he murmurs, and your heart melts, the way it always did when Terry was particularly sweet and open with his feelings for you, even a year and a half later.

“…Even if I truly don’t deserve you.”

You let out a weary sigh; you hate hearing him speak about himself like this, like none of the work he had done to become the man you knew and loved mattered in the long run.

“I wish you wouldn’t say things like that, Terry. You are the most wonderful man, and it hurts to hear that you don’t see it.”

“Did you miss the part where I psychologically tortured a child into bloodying his knuckles? And laughed about it?” he snorts derisively, dismissing your attempts to defend him.

“There were so many other factors that caused you to make those decisions, love. And even if that was the man you were, it isn’t the man you are now, and he’s the one I fell in love with,” you counter, leaning down to kiss the tip of his nose. “You are sweet, and kind, and generous, and considerate, and I count myself lucky everyday that you foolishly chose to love me back.”

“You are far too forgiving, my dear,” Terry informs you, reaching a hand up to cup your cheek. “I doubt you’d feel the same way if you had been around to see me do any of the terrible things I’ve done.”

“Maybe you’re right,” you say with a shrug. “I really can’t picture it at all.”

“Which part are you trying to picture?” he asks. “I assure you, it’s all still buried somewhere inside of me.”

“I can’t picture any of it, really. Breaking into that old man’s home, hurting anyone… I can’t picture you being scary at all, to be honest,” you confess, tossing your head back with a warm laugh.

Terry bolts upright, moving to sit on the other end of the couch to face you, and gives you a look.

“What?”

You cock your head at him, wondering at his reaction. “What?”

“You don’t think I’m scary?”

You try to look at him with a neutral expression, but can’t help but burst into a fit of giggles at how offended he looks right now.

“No! Should I?” you ask jokingly, raising an eyebrow at him.

“No,” he admits grudgingly. “But you should know that I can be!”

Trying to quell your laughter, you crawl across the couch to him, straddling him and wrapping your arms around his neck, moving your head to try to catch his eye; he is stubbornly avoiding your gaze, like a petulant child.

“I’m sorry, Terry!” you tell him, genuinely not wanting to hurt his feelings or his sense of masculinity; he demonstrated the latter in dozens of other ways than being scary…

“I know that you are big, and strong, and could kick someone’s ass with one hand behind your back, and that you’ve got this big, dark past… but in my eyes you’ll always be a big teddybear.”

He gives you a dark, brooding look, and remains silent.

“Ter-ry!” you whine. You hate when he gives you the silent treatment. “It’s not a bad thing, not being that person anymore. It doesn’t make you any less of a man or anything.”

“Oh, I am fully aware of how much of a man I am, Y/N,” he sneers at you crossly, standing up with you still wrapped around him and stalking from the seating area over to the bed, tossing you onto the mattress unceremoniously. “Let me show you…”

---

Terry’s POV:

Terry splashes his face with water from the bathroom sink, patting himself dry with a towel and gazing at his reflection in the bathroom mirror with a frown.

You had called him a teddybear…

It almost made Twig sound macho by comparison.

He had worked hard on himself for decades to stop being the cruel, vindictive man that relished in passing on a fraction of his deep-seated traumas to others. He had tried to atone for his sins, contributing to charities and getting out of the toxic waste industry. He had spent endless hours in all sorts of therapy, getting over the War, addiction, his parents’ deaths, John…

None of this meant that he was no longer able to strike fear – Strike first. Strike hard. No mercy. – into anyone who dared to cross him the wrong way. That part of him, while it had laid mostly dormant over the years, still lurked within him, coiled and ready to strike at a moment’s notice.

He was still Terry Silver, and all that that entailed. He could still get his hands dirty, still fight, still drag information out of someone, one way or another…

Still kill, if he had to.

How could you not know that?

Perhaps he had gone too far in his rehabilitation, had hidden away some of the core parts of him a little too well.

But they were still there, even if you had never seen them. Maybe it was time that you did…

He slinks out of the bathroom, picking up his clothing and dressing silently, staring at you the whole time and seething. You are passed out in bed, looking thoroughly ravished, as you should, your hair a wild mess and your skin covered in fresh love bites. Serves you right for underestimating him, in his opinion. And the pounding he had just given you was nothing compared to what he is planning now; you would never question his abilities again. You would never question him again.

He loves you so much.

Enough to let you see all of him, even if you don’t want to face the truth.

Now fully dressed, he turns and slips out of the master bedroom, immediately pulling out his phone and making the call before he’s fully closed the door behind him.

“Sir.”

“I need to speak with you, Victor. Where are you right now?”

“Surveillance room on the ground floor, Sir.”

“Stay put. I’ll come to you.”

He ends the call, immediately sweeping through the house to Victor’s office at the other end of the mansion. The door opens as he approaches, and he sees himself in one of the monitors over Victor’s right shoulder.

The man was very good at his job.

“What can I help you with, Mr. Silver?” Victor asks the moment he closes the door behind Terry, straight to business as usual.

“Two nights from now, from say… 9 o’clock until noon the next day, I want everyone out.”

“Sure thing, Boss.”

“Including you, Victor.”

There is a pause as Victor contemplates this requirement in silence. Terry knows that the man is particularly protective, and takes his job very seriously. It’s what Terry pays him so well for, after all.

“That… shouldn’t be a problem,” he concedes after a moment.

“I’m going to need all security devices disabled during that time, and the phone lines jammed, with the exception of my personal number.”

Victor stares at him as though he’s lost his mind. Perhaps he has.

“Would you like to tell me what the hell this is all about?” he demands. Terry wouldn’t tolerate any other employee speaking to him in such a way, but Victor was far more than just an employee. He had proven himself time and again, and become the closest confidante (aside from you) that he’d had since Margaret.

Hell, there were things about him that even you didn’t know, but Victor did.

“Nothing sinister,” Terry purrs, smiling wickedly. “It’s a… surprise, for Y/N.”

“What’s the occasion, Boss?” he asks, still skeptical. Terry levels him with an indignant look.

“She said I wasn’t scary, Victor.”

“Oh. Oh. Poor girl,” Victor mumbles, chuckling darkly at the implication of his words.

“Thank you, Victor.”

Victor has quite the soft spot for you, but your relationship is still antagonistic, if light-hearted. While he in no way wants to know the specifics of the dark and depraved acts Terry is sure he is imagining, anything that involves you being taken down a peg or two is more than enough justification for him to get onboard with whatever Terry has planned.

“What do you need from me, then?” Victor asks, back-to-business.

“A guarantee that everyone is out by nine without her noticing, and that no one whispers a word of this to Y/N. I’ll need you to handle the staff and sweep the place before leaving yourself; she’s going to think I’m out of town for a few days.”

Victor snorts at the lengths he’s going to, but doesn’t say a word against them; he knows better than that.

“Aren’t you worried she’s going to, I don’t know, kill you after all of this?” he asks, half-joking.

As the maniacal grin spreads across his face, Terry feels like a snake shedding its skin, and is deeply pleased by how easily this side of him is showing itself again. He knew it had always remained inside of him, but this was reassuring nonetheless.

“I’m not concerned about her reaction at all.”

---

You find him in his armory of Japanese weapons on the second floor some time later, lured by the sound of him whistling. He is absent-mindedly looking at his collection of daggers, finding the violent side he has awakened in himself temporarily appeased with handling the blades.

“You certainly seem chipper,” you comment in a husky voice, a seductive sway to your hips as you approach him, still rumpled from earlier. “What could be the cause of that, I wonder?” you ask teasingly, wrapping yourself around him.

His silly, foolish woman.

You have no idea what you’re in for.

“What indeed?” he replies coyly, kissing you on the forehead. He couldn’t give you cause for suspicion for the next day or so; it wouldn’t do to ruin the surprise.

You giggle, staring up at him so sweetly. A part of him feels bad that he’s going to break you.

But the rest of him doesn’t.

“Whatcha doing?” you ask, still pressed up against him.

“I was waiting for someone to wake up,” he replies with mock-exasperation, grinning down at you. He had forgotten how fun it was to be deceptive, to wear a mask of what someone wanted to see and lie straight to their face.

“I forgot to tell you; I have to go away for a couple of nights. It was supposed to be later in the month, but my meetings have been bumped up.”

“Anywhere fun?” you ask, clearly fishing for an invitation to accompany him. He did love you blowing him as they flew in his private plane…

“Vancouver,” he replies smoothly, raising a brow at you.

You had come to hate the rain; L.A. had spoiled you.

Sure enough, you grimace, and he internally crows in victory.

“Pass,” you mutter, more to yourself than to him. “When do you leave?”

“Tomorrow afternoon.”

“But that’s so soon!” you complain, pouting at him. Terry silently vows to have this bratty image of you in mind when he’s got you pinned face down a few nights from now; he adores it (he adores all of you), but can’t deny that making this side of you beg for mercy would be particularly delicious.

“I know, darling. We’ll have to make the most of the next few hours, won’t we?” he soothes, giving you a warm smile that makes you melt.

Later that night, when he’s packing for his ‘trip,’ he slips one of the daggers into his suitcase. The rest of his… supplies would be purchased once he left.

---

Two days later…

Reader’s POV:

Terry has only been gone for a day and a half, but you still miss him terribly. While you had become far more comfortable here over the last year and a few months, it still felt strange when Terry wasn’t at home with you. He made this place feel warm and inviting; He was your home.

You still hadn’t been able to get used to having the staff members around, looking to you for instructions or guidance when Terry wasn’t around, but they had mostly learned to leave you to your own devices if Terry was away. They made the house feel less lonely, at least, just by their presence.

You have been relaxing in the bathtub for quite awhile now, and decide it’s about time you went to bed. Draining the tub, you towel yourself off, feeling deliciously warm and relaxed, and slip into a pair of comfy pyjamas. That was one nice thing about Terry travelling without you, at least. You had long since stopped wearing pyjamas to bed since moving in here; they never stayed on the whole night anyway.

As you brush your teeth, you look across the bathroom counter for your phone, frowning when you don’t see it. You move over to the tub, checking around the edge of it – maybe you had brought it over while you were running your bath and had forgotten about it – but it isn’t there either. Strange… you swear you had taken it into the bathroom with you.

Shaking your head at your own forgetfulness, you finish getting ready for bed and leave the bathroom, momentarily distracted by the moonlight shining through the window. Walking over to it, you look down to the beach with a sigh; this view always made you think of the first night you’d spent here.

You return to looking for your phone. You had definitely wanted to charge it while you slept, and it would be nice to text Terry a quick ‘Goodnight!’. He was in the same time zone, after all.

The moonlight illuminates something, reflecting the white light and catching your eye, and you move over to it. A piece of thick cardstock, folded in half, sits on the coffee table. You’re surprised you didn’t notice it sooner, and pick it up with a smile.

When you had first moved here, Terry had left you little cards like these when he had to leave, full of sweet words and occasionally filthy promises. He hadn’t done this in ages, though…

You flip open the card, and recognize his handwriting, but instead of the lengthy message you anticipated, only one word is scrawled on the inside of the note.

Run.

[^ Him plotting with Victor over the phone once he leaves for his "trip"]

---

Maniacal little fucker. I love him.

Part 2 here!

#thomas ian griffith #terry silver #terry silver x reader #cobra kai #dark desires october #fresh start #the return of victor #eventual smut

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ive-given-up-the-bug-diet · 16 days

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Hot Take (by virtue of the fact that nobody but me cares enough about this character to have a Take about this):

(also spoilers for the Arc of a Scythe series under the cut)

Sycthe Constantine should've been permanently blinded by the acid. There are 3 main reasons for this and one explanation of how it could work within the series:

This would fix an issue that the aoas series has as a whole, that being the ableist undertones. Listen I understand that they probably aren't really indicative of Shusterman's beliefs, he wanted to make a story where the key question is "what if humanity conquered death" and it's hard to make a world like that while still justifying physical disabilities existing, I get it. But blinding Constantine would mean a disabled character and really help make the series feel less ableist.

There's a precedent for it. It is already establised by this point that death by corrosive acid is irreversible, it wouldn't be a huge leap of logic to say that, like the brain, the eyeball is too complex to truly reconstruct or that the optic nerve retained some sort of permanent damage. In my opinion it wouldn't require any explanation. If you've already established that acid can have irreversible effects then you can extend that to eyeballs all you like.

Think of the DRAMA. The TRAGEDY. Imagine being the only person in the world who is disabled. I understand that Scythe Constantine isn't a main character, no matter how much I might want him to be, so maybe this is too much for what is barely a side character, but just picture the feelings of inadequacy, and the hardship and the lack of acceptance or even basic accommodations etc. etc. And with the training that Scythes undergo he would likely still be able to keep his position as a Scythe, he has the capacity to be like that guy Caine from John Wick 4, or to make a more popular reference Daredevil.

Now the problem here is whether Goddard would let a blind Scythe into his inner circle. This is debatable but I don't think it's implausible. Constantine being blind would give him an even more iconic look. Whatever eye coverings he would go for (I like when characters have bandages over their eyes but realistically he would probably just wear sunglasses), and the presence of a cane (or ideally a seeing-eye dog but this is personal preference again, I confess) compounded with the iconography of his robe colour and material would make him one of the most recognisable Scythes in the world. This would appeal to Goddard as it is stated in the first book in the series that he wants high visibility, which is why he chooses Junior Scythes that have specific racial leanings even when that is much more rare in this world and why he and his clique all add gems onto their robes. He likes for him and his pals to have a distinct, iconic appearance when compared to everyone else. And Constantine getting blinded would mean an even more distinct and iconic appearance that wouldn't necessarily cost his skill or respectability

Overall, I've thought about this character more than anybody else alive and also I didn't mention this in the main body of the post but the reveal that he hadn't been permanently blinded was so anti-climactic I mean come on.

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user-needs-new-hyperfixation · 4 months

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Wei Wuxian, please, for the character ask game.....

Send Me a Character & I'll Tell You✨️

Wei Wuxian (Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation)

My first impression: glee and amusement

My impression now: glee and amusement, but also really impressed. He's one of my favourite main characters in anything. He has a very well-rounded, human feel to him.

Favorite thing about that character: I think how he interacts with the juniors. Rather than me rambling in this answer, here's a post I made about this a while ago.

Least favorite thing: I'd be a lot more comfortable with the CNC if he and Lan Wangji would actually talk about it outside of doing it.

Favorite line/scene: when he jumps out of the tree into Lan Wangji's arms.

Favorite interaction that character has with another: loudly interrupting JGY's villain monologue in front of a room full of people to do his love confession, including a very blunt declaration of sexual desire.

A character that I wish that character would interact with more: Lan Xichen maybe? Slightly awkward brothers-in-law.

Another character from another fandom that reminds me of that character: once again, broad category of Fai-alikes lol.

A headcanon about that character: I generally don't include "and then they had a baby!" as part of happily ever after. In fact, for most of my ships, I'm entirely uninterested in them having children or even dislike the idea. But I could see Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji collecting a handful of little orphans over time to add to the family. Sizhui is a good big brother.

A song that reminds of that character: When WWX took the Wen remnants and ran off into the barren wilderness all be-robed and wild-haired while making an enemy of his clan-leader surrogate brother whose family he was semi-adopted into out of servitude I was like 'Moses Arc!' So I am very pleased by the existence of this AMV.

An unpopular opinion about that character: I don't know if this is unpopular, but I don't think reconciliation with Jiang Cheng is a necessary part of Wei Wuxian's post-canon life being happy. Sometimes queer people have to cut off their "family" permanently to be happy.

Favorite picture: (probably not actual fave but first that came to mind and it's badass)

#mdzs #wei wuxian #asks

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restlesshush · 1 year

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I think that much like the use of “family” in supernatural, you can’t really treat “best friend” (as used to refer to Dean and Cas) as mapping onto our general conceptions of what the term means. Dean is really sorely lacking in other friends – “best friend” is a competition Cas sort of wins by default, it doesn’t really tell you anything about their relationship, taken at face value.

This has two major implications: the first, which I’m not going to dwell on for so long but don’t want to understate, is the whole “what if we just replaced ‘best friend’ with ‘the love of my life’” of it all. Like, the fact that it’s going to be pretty obvious to both of them that Dean (due to his dearth of friends) doesn’t have a better friend than Cas means that him calling Cas his ‘best friend’ is less about that and more about him designating his relationship with Cas as Important, in the language he’ll allow himself access to. As @autisticandroids said when I was discussing this topic with them, “you’re my best friend” in the trap is a “dean winchester gay boy moment”.

But then the other side of this is that while Cas being classed as Dean’s “best friend” being such a low bar means it means more coming from Dean than it sounds like it would, it actually means less to Cas, and just in general isn’t very informative re their relationship as Cas experiences it. Like, taking the phrase to justify interpreting them as Long Term Best Friends with the expectations of trust, and helping each other out etc that we might associate with the concept would be wildly misleading. What they have is a historically very volatile relationship, which Cas clung to even after he experienced significant disregard for his needs/goals and well-being, and which he hasn’t really been given a solid reason to feel truly secure in since. If you fill in the black box of his interiority between the input (his past experiences) and the output (him going off on his own to solve his problems / hiding them from Dean / generally avoiding making demands of him and only confessing his love when he thinks he’s going to die), you’re given a picture of a relationship he must feel very insecure in. People do talk about the fact that the clearest moments of Dean caring about Cas are when Cas isn’t present (eg his grief in the widower arc), and of course the result of this is that Cas isn’t factoring any of this into his understanding of their relationship! He genuinely does not really have access to enough evidence to be confident that Dean caring about him isn’t a fragile thing – even if he happens to be the ‘best’ of Dean’s very few friends.

This is crucial to making sense of his behaviour in general, but it’s also especially crucial to how his behaviour should be post-confession. It’s a relationship he doesn’t have good reason to feel secure in, and he’s also just thrown a massive spanner into things – he’s going to be really stressed about the consequences of that! If you’re modelling him and Dean as long term solid best friends, one of whom just happens to have confessed feelings, then that’s not necessarily obvious, but the thing is they’re not – the dynamic that Cas has rocked doesn’t, from his perspective, have a stable enough foundation that he can be confident that he hasn’t damaged it irreparably. That’s not at all to imply that he’s right but just, on the basis of the evidence he has access to, those are fears it’s perfectly reasonable to have. Because even though the show refers to Dean and Cas as “best friends”, that actually has very little bearing on how Cas experiences their relationship, and I think that can get obscured sometimes.

#i couldn’t be bothered to track down the ‘love of my life’ post but if anyone has it #i would be delighted to link it #destiel #castiel #dean winchester #worded thoughts #spn

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watermelonsloth · 8 months

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Hinata Jumping into the Pain Pit is Weirdly Executed

The Pain Arc is among my favorites, but something’s been bothering me about it; Hinata jumping in to save Naruto before she gets folded by the Deva path. Not the fact that she did it(I think it’s a really nice way for her to overcome her anxiety) or even the scene itself, but the fact that it was her.

To me, Hinata’s role in the arc feels very disconnected. She has no presence at the start of the arc. She doesn’t comfort Naruto after Jiraiya’s death, she certainly has no connections to Pain/Nagato or Konan, she has no relevancy in the question about world peace, and I don’t even remember her making a passing appearance. When Pain attacked, she didn’t take out one of the paths or anything(again I don’t remember her even appearing). Then she suddenly has all of the attention on her as she jumps in, proclaims her love, and gets “killed,” which causes Naruto to flip his shit. Then, she’s back to being near irrelevant. Kakashi carries Naruto back, Sakura hugs him, Hinata makes a brief appearance to show she’s alive, and the arc ends. She doesn’t say anything to him, Naruto isn't especially relieved to see she’s alive, and the confession is never addressed.

Do you see why I think this is a weird decision?

She has one moment of relevancy and then she fucks off until the war arc where she will once again have a brief moment to matter before the epilogue. This decision gets even weirder when you take in the bigger picture. For the scene, Kishimoto needed a liked character with an established relationship with Naruto to futilely jump into save him before getting “killed” by Pain. That character’s “death” would cause Naruto to lose control of the nine-tails, resulting in Naruto meeting Minato and yada yada yada you get the point. (Bonus points if that character jumping in progresses that character’s arc.) Now, I’m not saying Hinata doesn’t meet the criteria, but there were certainly better options. To list a few:

Sakura Haruno was literally right there. She is the primary heroine and love interest of the Naruto franchise. She wasn’t a focus character in the Pain arc, but she was at least present. In early shippuden, it was established that she was insecure about being unable to help Naruto in bigger ways. It was also established that she wanted to help Naruto fight back against the Akatsuki. Moments before the Pain Pit scene, Sakura was shown screaming for Naruto’s help so her having a moment of desperately realizing that someone has to help before turning the tables would’ve been a nice scene. Sakura “dying” would mean that Naruto wasn’t just pushed over the edge by seeing another friend die, but by pretty much losing the last member of the original team 7. I could go on about it being in character for her to do and her saying her choice to step in is selfish would be nice foreshadowing to her later actions in the Five Kage Summit arc and her hugging Naruto at the end of the arc would not only be more impactful but make more sense, but this post is long enough already.

Shikamaru Nara would’ve been a nice segway to becoming Naruto’s right hand man later. He was already one of the most present characters in the arc(helping decode Jiraiya’s code and Naruto moving forward) and it would justify the amount of screen time he’s given in both the arc and the manga. I like Shikamaru as much as the next guy, but it is odd how he’s given disproportionately more character depth and growth than the other tertiary characters despite contributing little to the greater themes of the series and stories of the main characters. Him participating in such a major moment would not only make the prior screen time make more sense but him protecting Naruto specifically could be an alternative start of him choosing to become Naruto’s advisor/assistant. Granted, him jumping in wouldn’t be very “protect the king” or “200 iq” of him, so his decision would have to be justified somehow or lead to some sort of character change.

Iruka Umino would’ve been a gut punch. I’m biased and I love Iruka, but sometimes a story needs to twist the knife and this is literally the arc’s darkest hour. He got a little screen time prior to the attack when he comforted Naruto, Iruka’s death was already teased when the Deva path nearly killed him while he was trying to protect someone, and he appears again at the arc’s finale. Iruka “dying” would, at least temporarily, make Shikamaru telling Naruto about the old generation protecting the new all the more grim. The scene could also be a nice call back to chapter one of the series. I’d also like to add that, while any of Naruto’s friends dying would’ve set him off considering the amount of buildup, him reacting so extremely to Iruka “dying” would’ve been undeniably an in character response and it would’ve added at least a little more weight to him choosing to forgive Nagato.

I think I’ve made my case why, without changing anything outside of who jumps in, at least three other characters would’ve made more sense narratively. So, why Hinata? I have two theories as to why Kishimoto thought he should choose Hinata.

1. Kishimoto originally planned to do something more with her character, but ultimately didn’t. Maybe the editors stepped in, maybe he changed his mind, who knows? Not me. I wasn’t there and even if I was, I’m not fluent in Japanese. This would explain both her stepping in specifically and her actually confessing her feelings, but neither being mentioned or relevant again(save for the one movie). It’s also possible that her encouraging Naruto after Neji’s death was that “something more” but it was just awkwardly executed.

2. Hinata is meant to be thematically relevant in the grand scheme of things.

Remember when I said Hinata didn’t have any relevancy in regards to the larger question about world peace? That wasn’t wholly accurate. To explain why, I have to explain the thematic conflict of the Naruto series very quickly.

The series is packed with commentary on humanity, but the thematic question most relevant to what I’m talking about(and arguably the franchise) is “Is it possible for people to understand each other?” (This is specifically in relation to conflict resolution.) This is why talk no jutsu exists, this is why Naruto and Sasuke’s rivalry is so relevant, and this is why the resolution of Naruto is international alliances rather than systematic change or whatever alternative plot resolution people where expecting. This question is lingering in the background since Part 1, but it’s first vocalized in the Pain arc when Nagato asks Naruto if he thinks world peace is possible(which is a stand in for the thematic question of if he thinks two people understanding each other is possible). Naruto answers that he doesn’t know but he’ll find out then spends the rest of the story doing just that. The Five Kage Summit arc is him finding an answer(only if the anger/hatred which would normally cause conflict is directed at a single target), the War arc is him reevaluating that answer once he sees it fail when put into practice(the infinite tsukuyomi/Obito/Madara), and the Valley of the End/Ending is the presentation of the final conclusion(yes). There’s more to it than that and the discussion of how well the theme was executed and if the conclusion was accurate is still open, but all of that is irrelevant in this discussion.

What does Hinata have to do with this? Simple, Hinata is integral in both Naruto reevaluating his answer in the first place and the conclusion he comes to. Naruto treats a large chunk of the war arc like a personal conflict. To him, it’s less of a world war and more of a “Naruto vs Obito/Tobi/Madara.” Because of that, he’s done whatever he can to shoulder all of the weight of the war. However, Neji dying for his sake was like a personal failure. Naruto, unsurprisingly, began to crumble at that failure(with the help of Obito’s taunts). Hinata snaps him out of it(slaps him out of it?) and reminds him of his ninja way. Specifically, she tells him that his conviction to protect his friends is shared by all of the shinobi there. She tells him that it’s not shared hatred or pain that connects all shinobi, it’s the love they have for their comrades(as cheesy as that might sound). That’s all to say that Kishimoto may have chosen Hinata to enter the Pain Pit to connect her to the theme that she’ll later be an impactful player in forwarding. By having her face off against the antagonist that brings the theme to the forefront, it makes her transition into her later role smoother.

However, I still think the execution was weird and the product we ultimately got leaves something to be desired. This isn’t to say that the Pain arc is ruined by this scene by any means—I wouldn’t blame you for thinking this is a nitpick—but I’m still bothered by it. Hindsight is 20/20, but even without hindsight I think the scene could’ve been better. Kishimoto should’ve either chosen a character other than Hinata to jump in and connect Hinata to the theme in some other way(or use the character she’s replaced by if you want to completely scrap her) or he should’ve given her more time to be present in the Pain arc.

#Hinata Hyuga #Naruto Uzumaki #Naruto #naruto shippuden #Pain Arc #Sakura Haruno #Shikamaru Nara #Iruka Umino #They’re only briefly mentioned but whatever #Rambling #Rant #Sort of kind of #It’s not really a rant #Naruto dissection #Analysis #Naruto analysis #my stooff

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ricihh · 1 year

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Happy one-year anniversary of my FafTakElma's Wip! Started January 4, 2022 and so far not finished—a great reason to celebrate, of course!

Oh. Do you want to hear the word of FafTakElma?

Then let's go!

This is the dynamic I imagine for them:

I just love them together and understand that it may seem strange due to their lack of interactions in the anime, so here I will talk more about why and how they work (or almost work, at least).

Almost all of their interactions are taken from Elma's spin-off manga "Elma OL Nikki", so if you haven't read it and don't want to take spoiler, I recommend stopping the post here—the same warning for the main manga, that there is a spoiler from recent chapters (but not so much).

The Takiya x Elma dynamic

They are the typical trope of co-workers to lovers. Even in the anime they are shown getting along very well in the work environment and complement each other in the scenes where they appear with Kobayashi. A friendly, but not so intimate relationship. But it is in the spin-off that we see their real interactions; Elma as an outgoing, cheerful and somewhat silly woman with Takiya, a very patient and very nice guy. Elma is usually shown asking Takiya for help, asking him questions so that he can answer them, and trying to help him (even if most of the time the attempts are completely unsuccessful). As a harmony dragon, I feel that Elma has a natural potential to get along with Takiya's calm and friendly spirit. They would surely reel for a long time in this friendship until Elma, with her terrible dragon social tact, confesses to him. Sure, Fafnir would be very jealous and defensive that Elma was invading his space and pulling Takiya into more social activities (and that's what I'm writing about), but in time I think they would come to an agreement to share Takiya harmoniously and consequently become friends.

Spoilers for chapter 113 of the main manga!!!

I know that the long arc that wrapped up around these chapters is about Elma's arranged marriage and the implications of a polyamour/love triangle between Kobayashi, Elma and Tohru, but I'm not a big fan of that dynamic, much less this arc of the manga. I like hc Tohru and Elma having a past relationship, but I don't think they have a good romantic dynamic in the current moments. Good for those who ship the three of them together (it's a cute ship for sure), but not for me. What I took away important from these chapters, however, is the implicit confirmation that Elma is polyamorous. She suggests several times to Tohru a polyamory between the three of them, even though Tohru doesn't seem willing to share Kobayashi.

And so we come to the end of chapter 113, where she returns to work and confesses to liking Takiya too! He is quite stunned (as you can see in the picture) and as much as this is completely dismissed (as is almost all the information in this manga), you can see how much her innocent nature makes her love everyone. And that's very cute. I think that in the right way, they could work out very well in a canonical setting.

Fafiya is my main ship, though. If Elma and Takiya were to stay together, I would prefer polyamory, which is impossible to happen. Even more so in the manga, where Fafnir barely has any stories focused on him or in which he appears at all. The Fafiya moments delivered to us in the anime are completely original, directed by the sadly departed director of Dragon Maid. So it's something to think about.

Chaos Dragon meets Harmony Dragon

Now, I don't ship Fafnir x Elma. They wouldn't work romantically from my perspective, however, they would make great friends! In the manga mostly they have no meaningful interactions, but the spin-off is filled with moments of them and the dynamic is GOLD. Because of the difference in their natures inherited by their factions, the comedy they create fills the scenes with joy and good laughs. They are true opposites communicating; Fafnir with that edgylord aura with a ray of sunshine that is Elma, but who at the same time share one thing in common: ignorance about human topics. The innocence of both of them in that regard is so amusing, it is as if they could understand each other for a moment. If they got on good terms, the polyamor relationship between Takiya, Fafnir and Elma, no matter how much Fafnir and Elma were not romantically involved could work just as well. I have even more pages of their dynamic (which are not few) since there was an entire chapter dedicated to this duo, but unfortunately tumblr has a picture limit.

There isn't a topic for Fafiya because it's pretty obvious why they work and why they are one of the healthiest couples in anime. They are still my OTP and I love them as a couple, although I would like to see them with Elma in an OT3. Takiya is great at dragon taming (no pun intended), so I feel like he would know how to balance his two opposing dragons and put them on good terms without forcing the bar and always giving Fafnir plenty of room. They are dragons, so the prejudice for that kind of relationship is non-existent.

They would still have their challenges, but at the end of the day it's a ship that I really appreciate and wish I could introduce to people.

Thanks for reading!

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class1akids · 1 year

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Popularity poll ranking - recent trends and predictions (Part 4 - the 5-7th polls)

Now after looking at the historical data (Part 1 (historical Top 20) Part 2 (historical Top 21-40), Part 3 (Top 41-50), let’s look at the more recent trends, which may be more interesting when it comes to predicting the result.

Here, instead of giving points for the rankings, I looked into the number of votes cast - and the averages of the last 3 and last 2 polls, to see if there are big differences:

Based on the average of the 5-7th polls, we get the following ranking:

1- Bakugou 2-Deku 3- Todoroki 4- Kirishima 5- Iida 6- Hawks 7 - Aizawa 8- Present Mike 9 - Shigaraki 10- Endeavor

If we look at only the 6-7th polls, it's almost identical:

1. Bakugou 2. Midoriya 3. Todoroki 4. Iida 5. Kirishima 6. Hawks 7. Aizawa 8. Present Mic 9. Endeavor 10. Momo

So it appears that the Top 10 is quite stable, but with Shigaraki slipping out. But if we look at the actual results, the picture is different. Average votes are not a good predictor of who will make Top 10.

To demonstrate this, let’s look at another table - highlighting the number of votes above the Top 10 cut-off point.

Red: > 7th poll cut-off (1524)

Yellow: > 6th poll cut-off (1170)

Blue: > 5th poll cut-off (1083)

As you can see, the cut off point for Top 10 slightly increased over time, but stayed under 2000 votes.

(Columns: 5th votes - 6th votes - 7th votes - 5-7 average - 6-7 average)

While “stable vote” characters like Momo are always close to the cut-off point, widely fluctuating characters can easily edge them out of the top 10 - see the evolution of Present Mic, Shinsou or Shindou. Some cases could be a shift due to role in the story (Present Mic seemed to gain post-war), but other times (like Shindou), it’s clearly organized.

The data also shows that the Top 10 spot is decided on sometimes as little as 5-10 votes and a couple of hundred organized votes can make a huge difference.

So with all these numbers, I think it’s safe to day that Bakugou, Deku, Todoroki, Kirishima, Iida, Hawks and Aizawa will surely take up 7 spots.

The remaining 3 could go to anyone in this table, but I think the ones who are the most likely to duke it out are:

Endeavor, who has been on a rising trend and got good content before the voting

Uraraka, who got some good spotlight for the Vol 33 release and has been gaining ground

Dabi - who is the only villain with an upward trend. He’s had some spectacular chapters in the endgame, while Tomura has disappeared into AFO and I’m not sure Toga’s love confession played well.

Present Mic and Shinsou both had great numbers in the last poll. Present Mic’s seems more stable, while Shinsou’s could be a fluke.

All Might could squeak in too. He had more spotlight in the post-war arcs and he’s always been a well-loved character.

Jirou could also be a wild card - she has historic popularity and a badass fight moment could spike her into the Top 10.

Rody could be a wild card, but I think the WHM hype died down mostly. Shindou fans are also very persistent over time, but with the more expensive voting, it may be harder to manipulate it this time.

So based on this, I definitely expect three Todorokis in the Top 15, and possibly even in the Top 10.

Full Twitter Thread

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soo-won · 2 years

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Akatsuki no Yona - Production Booklet | Q&A Corners Translation

T/N: Hi! I got my hands on the recently released freebie with Hana to Yume 19 that explains the making process of the chapters (using chapter 223 as an example) and with a lot of new Q&A, and since I found them really interesting I thought I would translate them! I decided to leave the comments about chapter 223's making process for now as it is hardly comprehensible without the pictures attached with them, and I don't have any scanner at hand...So this post is dedicated to the Q&A corners. Take my translation with a grain of salt as there are some things I'm unsure of here and there...On this, enjoy!

(translation under the cut)

Storyboard Q&A:

How many days do you spend on the storyboard?

It takes me around 5 days, 7-8 days in the worst cases. I spend 3-4 days in a daze trying to remember how to draw the storyboard because my feel for it disappears when I work on illustrations. Then during the two remaining days I finish the drawings, writhing around.

2. What parts of the storyboard do you pay the most attention to?

I pay close attention to the pacing, as it needs to not just become a bland digest of the events, as well as the tempo fits the flip of the pages and the direction of the eyes. Even in the same chapter, the impressions readers have will change depending on whether a panel is first or in the middle of a page, so I consider the position of a panel depending on the feelings I want to convey. I also consider whether the actions are in line with the characters' personality, whether it's things the characters would say, and discard any development or line that I think doesn't fit the characters.

3. Who are the characters of Akatsuki no Yona that are easy to write, and those hard to write?

Yona, Hak and Soo-won are the hardest to write. The other characters are relatively easy in comparison. If Yona, Hak and Soo-won were secondary characters it probably wouldn't be so hard, but since they are the main characters I have to show both their good and bad sides, and if I make one mistake I'm responsible for ruining the story…

4. How do you spend your break times during the storyboard process?

I pet my cats and I eat what I like.

5. What musics and dramas do you play when you draw the storyboard?

When I'm in the middle of drawing I listen to a lot of music and watch a lot of dramas, but I don't play anything when I do the storyboard.

6. What were the hardest storyboards to make?

Actually, there are only a couple of chapters that I was able to draw smoothly, but the ones I have the most painful memories of are the entirety of the Xing Kingdom Arc, chapter 125 "The thing I dreamed of" (Volume 22. The chapter about Hak's feelings and reminiscences of Soo-won), chapter 175 "I called out to you in my dreams many times"(Volume 30. The climax of the Sen Province Arc), chapter 176 "Did you hear me?" (Volume 31. The chapter where Yona confesses to Hak) and chapter 203 "The Illusion of dispossession" (Volume 35. The chapter that reveals Mei-nyan's true colors). I was thinking of starting chapter 175 after Hak had rescued Yona, but I just couldn't draw it, and after worrying and worrying, once the shape of the chapter was set, I could draw it sooo easily it felt like a lie. A bad storyboard will never progress.

7. What are your most memorable storyboards?

In the past it was Taejun’s arc, Zeno’s arc and the end of the Water Tribe arc. Recently, it’s chapter 197 “Shaky handwritings” (Volume 34). It is almost entirely a monologue by Yon-hi and Il, and it was my first time at a chapter like that. I had a hard time deciding in which order to arrange each of their monologues.

8. How do you handle a storyboard when you’re stuck on it?

I ask my sister and my editor for their objective opinions. Like 'If I do it this way, do I get an “ok” or a “no”?' I’m glad when I get an “ok”, but “no”s are also very valuable.

9. How do you feel when you complete a storyboard?

A part of me is relieved, but I’m still worried and anxious as I wonder if the storyboard is really fine, if there isn't something I should fix, and if I'll be able to meet the deadline.

Completed draft Q&A :

1. What do you use to draw?

I use various things like the I-C manga draft paper, the kaimei shoeki ink, a tachikawa school pen, a mapping pen, screentones, a misnon (a correction fluid), a multiliner drawing pen...

2. How much time does it take between the sketches and the completion of the chapter?

Ideally it takes 5 days, but in reality it’s more 2 or 3 days. I could never make it in time without the help of my assistants.

3. Who are the characters easy to draw, and those who are more difficult?

The ones easy to draw are Zeno, Yoon, Min-soo, Tae-woo, Hen-dae and the like. The difficult one is Yona. I still can’t draw her hairstyle and facial expressions right… I’m also careful with Hak. If he looks too neat, it may feel like he doesn’t carry any emotion.

4. What do you focus on when you draw each character?

Their facial expressions. They’re very important. For example, even smiles have to be different for each character. So even if they share similar aspects, I take care to make sure the characters’ facial expressions are based on each’s personality.

5. What do you focus on when you draw action scenes?

I pay close attention to the course of events even when the rough sketches are a mess. Of course, I want to draw cool things, but rather than the action itself, I’m more conscious of how to bring out the dynamics between the characters and the best part of the action.

6. What do you focus on when you create your character designs?

For example, for the dragons, I paid attention to the balance of their heights, colors and weapons when they were put together with Yona Hak and Yoon. When I’m in a hurry, I use inspiration to determine the shape of the new characters, but I try to remember how much the personality and appearance are impacted by the shape of the eyes and such and draw each of them differently…the best I can (sweat).

7. Which drafts are you fond of?

The last page of the special story on Kija that was drawn for volume 12. The scene where the first generation of dragons say goodbye to each other and all link their shoulders together in chapter 103 “My lord sleeps”(Volume 18). Then the scene where Hak and Soo-won meet their eyes when they save Lili in chapter 120 “Reach”(Volume 21).

(those are the exact pages shown in the booklet)

8. How many assistants do you have and how do you divide the work?

I have between 2 and 5 assistants. They’re asked to work according to their speciality. I’m very grateful for all the amazing backgrounds and effects they do for me, they’re really saving me.

9. How do you have fun and relax during the draft process?

When I’m drawing the draft, I try to avoid doing anything else as much as possible, so I can’t really catch my breath, but I’m happy when I find something to my tastes on TV (dramas, animes, movies) while I work. It’s always fun to jabber and laugh at the TV with my assistants.

10. How do you feel when you complete a draft?

I can finally sleep~! I can eat~! I can take a bath~!

Yona of the secret stories* - We asked Kusanagi-sensei 12 questions :

1. At the beginning, how many volumes did you plan the story to have?

At the start of serializations I don’t have much say on how long it will go on, as it is dependent on the surveys and the decision of the editorial department. I was thinking “How many stories will I be able to draw?” rather than “How long should it be?”.

2. What is the most important aspect of Akatsuki no Yona?

I'm drawing hoping that people are interested in the characters and their relationships. I'd be glad if this is the case.

3. How do you get the reference and data you need?

For the buildings I took many photos during my research trips. Before the serialization started, I also went to the library to take notes, etc…

4. Were there story developments and characters that took a different path than expected?

At first, I thought of making Vold, who was introduced in the Xing Kingdom arc, a two-faced character, but he turned out to be a gullible, honest and silly big brother type of character that competes with Akatsuki no Yona’s bests. The consequence is the strange character he has become today (in my opinion).

5. What do you focus on when you’re entering a new chapter and story development?

There tends to be a lot of new information, so I reveal everything about the characters and the setting little by little.

6. What do you focus on when you introduce a new character?

I release information about their background little by little so the readers don’t forget them. It’s not just for new characters, but it’s easier to write them if they have clear things that are important to them and that they can’t forgive.

7. What are the characters that take time to draw, and who can you draw quickly?

The characters that take the most time are those with a lot of lines and clothing decorations, such as Yona in her simple attire, Joo-doh and the generals wearing complex armors, and characters who are all injured and battered. The quickest to draw are the characters with simple clothes (laugh).

8. What made you the happiest while drawing Akatsuki no Yona?

The very best was when readers told me my story was interesting and fun, for sure.

9. Were there other titles you considered for Akatsuki no Yona?

There was a lot. I forgot what they were all exactly, but I think one of them was “Akatsuki no Shoujo Ou” (TL: The (Young) Queen of the Dawn). Since I was too indecisive to choose, Takada-san, my editor of the time, is the one who picked Akatsuki no Yona.

10. As an artist, what is the most enjoyable thing to work on?

I really love coloring and inking, even if it takes time, and I’m not always satisfied nor make it in time… But drawing storyboards was my favorite thing when I used to draw manga as a hobby.

11. Do you have any new challenges you would like to take?

I think I should learn to draw digitally…but there are still a lot of traditional drawing techniques I want to study.

12. Please tell us your objective for the future.

I want to be able to draw manga that I am myself satisfied with.

*wordplay with the title of the manga

#akatsukinoyona #akatsuki no yona #akayona #AnY_translation #my_tls #kusanagi mizuho

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bluemeetyellow · 2 years

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“False Confessions” & “Piggybacking” in ST4: Ask Yourself if We Are Being Encouraged to Pick Apart the Inconsistencies...

So it’s been a little while since Vol 2 aired and since then I’ve watched the “Paradise Lost” documentary that has been heavily pushed by the Duffers when they talk about Season 4. While watching the documentary I felt like I really began to understand the writing philosophy behind Mike’s character arc in particular, and how that ties into his implied struggle with sexuality and romantic feelings for Will (and how those conflict with El being present and external heteronormative pressures)... Most of all, I want to talk about two key points. The idea of “piggybacking” as it is typically defined and how it has been presented in the show (possibly as early as S2), and the practice of getting a false confession as presented in the Paradise Lost HBO series.

TL;DR yes this is basically going to be a long-winded “Mike Wheeler is gay and in love with his best friend Will!!” post...

(Speaking of long-winded, I can already tell this is going to be a long, long-ass post so I’m gonna go ahead and cut it down with a ‘keep reading’ section LOL)

NOT REQUIRED BUT HIGHLY RECOMMENDED WATCHING LIST FOR THIS POST: Paradise Lost The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills, Stranger Things 2, Stranger Things 4 Vol 1 & Vol 2, Chernobyl (2019)

*Some of the parallels/references to movies I make to Stranger Things 4 are not always implying that these are exact or intentional parallels made by the writers... Sometimes I am simply using other pieces of media to reinforce my arguments about themes/symbolism prevalent in film already or because it helped me to make sense of the story, or my interpretation of it at least!*

Let’s begin with the concept of “piggybacking” what it’s standard definition is and how it has been presented to us so far within the context of the show...

The term piggybacking is most commonly used to refer to the non-malicious act of trying to gain free network access to a Wi-Fi connection. However, this can result in the slowed-down transfer of data for any of the legitimate users of the network. So, in its most simplest terms, it refers to the act of commandeering a wireless connection.

We know that in season 4, El uses this term to describe ‘hijacking’ the battle between Max and Vecna (who are back in Hawkins) by tapping into her connection with Max to try and help Max during the fight.

But this practice has factored into Stranger Things previously as well.

In Season 3 we have the Russians stealing from Hawkin’s power grid in order to power their machine because their machine requires a tremendous amount of energy to operate. They are using this machine to break through a barrier, to open a doorway between worlds...

Now, this can parallels our more character-driven plotline of S3 as well, where we have Mike constantly “swapping spit” with El and acting out the kinds of m/f relationships he has likely seen on TV and in movies. Basically, I believe he is attempting to “open a doorway between worlds” in his own way. This is because he either subconsciously is aware of the fact that he is “different” and so he is using El to attempt to break free from feeling this way and make himself feel normal like his peers who are obsessed with girls (which Mike harshly objects to when Max enters the picture in S2).

However, the insistence from his peers (not maliciously or anything, of course) that he must’ve been harboring romantic feelings for El in S1 must still sit weird with Mike in some way. After all, Eleven arguably looks and acts a lot like Will from the beginning-- which is NOT me saying El “looks like a boy” because I heavily dispute that as solid evidence of Mike/Will-- with her quiet and awkward demeanor, down to her physical attributes like the wide brown eyes and a similar shade of brown hair. I think, because of this, it’s likely that Mike projected a lot of what he missed about Will in Season 1 onto El (since he was stuck in the Upside Down). Which, in the long run, is unfair to her as a character because it doesn’t give her room to discover who she truly is as her own person and what her purpose is in the world.

In his own way, Mike is using El to “piggyback” his romantic feelings for Will. Again, I think El is a very perceptive person and has clued in to the fact that Mike seems to be using her to ‘look for someone else’ (aka somebody he loves) while at this time maybe not being aware that Mike has already found that person and has known who that person is-- but never had that relationship with Will put through the same scrutiny as his relationship with El.

So, again, this is where the part in the “piggybacking” definition that specifies this act as one lacking malicious intent comes into play... Obviously, Mike is a confused and scared teenager living in a town that he knows does not take kindly to anyone who falls outside the typical definition of “normal”. We saw in season one how the bullies described Will in derogatory ways, all while staring right at Mike and therefore implying a similarity there. I’d imagine he very much does not want to go through what he’s seen Will deal with from bullies (since Will has stood out a lot more than Mike since the start... there are some heavy socio-political themes there of Mike/Will’s different class upbringings having an impact on the ways they are able to/feel inclined to present themselves to the world), so he’s trying very hard (AKA using an enormous amount of energy, much like the machine in S3) to repress this part of himself that makes him feel “different” (aka his attraction to men and romantic feelings for Will) and replace it with what he knows is the more socially “accepted” and “normal” (and encouraged) path.

Additionally, another important part of the Russian’s machine being located in Hawkins was stated by Alexi as being because a doorway had already been opened there [in Hawkins] once before... it was still healing, and therefore it was hypothesized that it’d be easier to break through a barrier in Hawkins than continuing their attempts to open a gate in Russia.

I believe this then ties into the character-driven plot in a metaphorical sense with Will. The correlation being: Will has had the ‘floodgates opened’ into gaining this perspective that he’s different from other people based on what kids (and his own father) used to bully him for. This is a painful experience, especially at first, but it also can have this unforeseen benefit of putting a name to what makes you different. Which, again, can be painful at first... but can also eventually be liberating. It becomes liberating when you make more positive associations with being that different thing, which is why a positive (and, ideally, romantic) relationship with Mike would be very beneficial to both Will and Mike’s character arcs if they are indeed aiming for a positive development (which makes the most sense to me currently).

Now that I’ve explained a bit more how I believe this concept has been explored in the more recent Seasons 3 and Season 4... I want to dig into how I also believe the concept of “Piggybacking” could have been foreshadowed as early as Season 2!

In the first episode of Season 2′s opening scene, when we meet back up with The Party via their Walkie-Talkie’s we see that Mike is trying to reach to El on his walkie... completely forgetting that he was meant to be collecting change for the party’s trip to the arcade that night!

Both Dustin and Lucas have already collected their own hauls, Lucas with a much more significant chunk of change than Dustin (foreshadowing him getting together with Max by the end of S2, after both him and Dustin pining over Max), and I believe this represents how both Lucas and Dustin are on track to fit in with the more socially accepted definition of “normal” in Hawkins (at least through Will/Mike’s current perspectives) than Will and Mike are.

I believe this is where Mike decides to really set his heart on this “being in love with El” narrative for himself... and also subsequently deflecting attention from his own sexuality struggle onto Will (who is a bit more obvious) in the meantime. Both Lucas and Dustin “fit in” by being girl-crazy and Mike has picked up on this, so this would be Mike’s easiest shortcut into fitting into that same mould and not sticking out in the same way Will does. It is a survival mechanism, which is also a topic discussed in this season. This is the metaphorical key to keeping himself in that closet of conformity (which, as a result, keeps him safe and protected while he’s in Hawkins because, again, we have to be mindful of the setting) for just a little while longer... but also begins to show us how Mike’s “bond” with El is holding him back from integrating himself back into his own life even when she isn’t back yet. And, even worse, how Mike clinging to his relationship with El being something to help him ‘be normal’, it keeps both of them from being able to really grow up and progress (which is a major theme in their relationship in S3). It’s a sadly symbiotic thing, the further Mike traps himself into the closet-- he only drags El down into the depths with him, even if it’s not a conscious or malicious thing it’s only going to harm them both in the long-run (which we then see brought to fruition in ST4 with the “you think I’m a monster too” conversation).

Now, let’s talk about symbols! Because in this opening sequence we then see Mike aggressively shaking Nancy’s piggybank when he cannot collect his own funds for the arcade so last minute.

I think this is a metaphor for how Mike, instead of being true to himself, has no option but to steal from Nancy (aka “piggyback”) which manifests as Mike and El’s ‘relationship problems’ echoing a lot of the same problems that Nancy had in her forced relationship with Steve (which then continues into both S3 and S4)... This allows him enough pocket change to get him through an arcade trip with his friends.

The arcade seems to be a metaphor for the kind of ‘adolescent fun’ both Mike/Will see their friends Dustin/Lucas participating in and desperately wanting to feel apart of that, even though they inherently feel more alienated than Dustin/Lucas *in regards to the whole ‘crushes’ and relationship aspect of things* (which is shown by how Mike/Will are pushed off more to the side and paired together, than Dustin/Lucas when they’re all gathered around the machine) Because consider how at the arcade, both Dustin and Lucas are the ones most invested in winning the heart of Princess Daphne in Dragon's Lair... and, again, this obviously foreshadows the arrival of Max, who captivates both Dustin and Lucas and sets up a “love triangle” between the three of them that pokes fun at the ‘love at first sight’/’adorable stalker’ tropes prevalent in the romantic subplots of many mainstream movies/tv shows.

Throughout S2, we see how Will and Mike are both decidedly uninterested in Max in any romantic (or even friendly, in Mike’s case) capacity. So here’s where the concept of “piggybacking” comes back in... This whole season, it’s probably easier for Mike to convince himself (and the general audience) that he just doesn’t like Max because he already has El. But upon closer inspection, it would seem that Mike is unfairly projecting his own frustrations about his inability to obsess over any girl he sees like Lucas and Dustin (and he assumes even Will is) onto Max, much like how he projected what he missed about having Will around onto El in S1.

As I’ve pointed out in this post, there’s a lot of similarities between Steve/Nancy and Mike/El’s relationship woes... Nancy can’t tell Steve she loves him because she loves another boy, and Mike can’t tell El he loves her because he also loves a boy... But, of course, this situation is fundamentally more challenging for Mike because the complicated factor of being a closeted homosexual in the 1980′s comes with its own unique set of challenges. Most of all, it is harder for Mike’s peers to pinpoint exactly what’s going on with him because in the 1980′s there was practically no public awareness of homosexuality as anything other than a taboo/blasphemy/a “cancer”.

(As an aside, this is also why-- though I think the sentiment is generally made with good intentions and all in good fun-- I don’t think Will/Mike could be “Murray’d” in the same way we’ve seen with Jancy and Jopper... Because the whole point is that because there was so little representation or even awareness of gay people, and especially gay people who got a happy ending or found themselves in a requited love story, made it much more difficult to have that kind of ‘epiphany’ moment as a young queer person the way Mike/Will are struggling with)

So, back to the point (LOL), I believe that moment with the piggybank does indeed foreshadow how Mike will repeat Nancy’s own relationship problems by continuing to deny accepting himself for who he really is (and who he’s really in love with), and instead retreat back to the safety of El (”Oh, [El]... We like [El]”) even though he is in love with Will (”but we don’t love [El]...”). And even in Murrays phrasing of things, you can see how Mike might feel at odds with his own feelings and get very confused-- cuz what he feels for El sure feels like a kind of love, but the only kind of love people are telling him he could feel for a girl who isn’t his biological sister is a romantic type of love. When, in reality, a lot of the ways Mike acts with El is the way an older brother might with his sister-- which is reinforced in ST4 as a lot of Mike&El scenes parallel Will&Jonathan scenes.. But, because he gets so confused, he just goes with the idea it must be a ‘romantic love’ because he cannot find a way to put his feelings into words (because there is very little representation of it at this time in the media!)

We can even see this idea of Mike/El being a “shitty knockoff” of Nancy and Steve’s doomed S2 romantic relationship enforced visually in ST4 when Mike comes in a silly Californian Costume (with the same sunglasses) that reminds me of Steve’s “Risky Business” Halloween costume in ST2.

* I read this interaction between Mike/Argyle as a meta-joke about how Mike hasn’t really found himself yet and is just doing what he thinks a straight boy would do for his girlfriend... and that last screencap is implying it will be especially important for Mike to figure this stuff out (and possibly foreshadowing that he will) if he wants to move forward and break this cycle of unhappy relationships that has plagued his parents and his sister before.

So, Mike/El is the “shitty knockoff” version of Steve/Nancy because (whereas Nancy was capable of feeling romantic attraction to Steve, she just wasn’t in love with him) Mike cannot even feel genuine romantic love for girls at all... because he’s gay!!

When Argyle takes the awkward moment to grab the tag from Mike’s shirt and read into that small detail... it’s another meta-joke for how Mike’s emotionally-constipated behavior with El may seem to broader audiences like he’s just struggling to say how he feels, rather than reading into the possibility that it may be because he does not feel the kind of love for El that everyone has been telling him (both in-universe and audience-wise) he’s been feeling since S1. This is all just a consequence of his ability and luxury of being able to be better at ‘blending in’ than Will (for example: Mike has a mom who will buy his clothing for him, unlike Will who probably wears mostly hand-me-downs from Jonathan and Joyce). Instead of blending in, because he knows he can’t, Will tends to resort to letting himself fade into the background as a way to stay safe from scrutiny and abuse. But, in the end, this doesn’t make him feel any better.

We have seen this decline of Will as a character who was willing to risk everything to protect the party in these bold and theatrical ways in their D&D campaigns, which fades into something sadder as we see his symptoms of PTSD beginning to shape him. Nowadays, Will just risks his own well being because he believes (or, rather, his traumatized brain tells him) that is his best defense for protecting his friends. Will no longer sees it as battling external threats with his friends, but in his time away from Hawkins where he was not in contact with Mike he began seeing himself as the threat. But we see that drastic change (and then have it stated for us by Will himself) that being with Mike makes Will feel like he’s special for being different, rather than feeling alienated or monstrous (which is what contributed to Will’s FOIL character Henry becoming so monstrous himself because he consistently rejected or killed the people in his life who wanted to help him). Once again, this show illustrates for us how trauma can so easily muddle the line between what is true/based in evidential fact (and how just because something is all in someone’s head doesn’t mean it can’t have dangerous consequences to anyone else.. again, Henry is an example of this) and what is assumed to be true... think about how the framing in the van has Will immediately cutting himself off from Mike by turning away, immediately assuming he is going to be rejected by Mike without even giving Mike a chance to really work things out for himself. This doesn’t mean Will is being malicious or cruel or uncaring towards Mike in general, but again he is traumatized and assumes the worst in most given situations anymore-- and that’s also how most gay ‘coming of age’ stories have been written even up until this point. But it’s also unfair because, imo, if we sift through the seasons we can see just how clearly Mike does seem to reciprocate Will’s feelings as he’s been heavily queer-coded since S1. He just does not understand himself as fully yet as Will does.

All throughout the writing as early as S1, Mike is clearly motivated by his love for Will in his actions. Just think about the parallels between Jonathan and Mike that first season, when Jonathan throws a punch at Steve for saying he’s not surprised Will turned up missing (like Lonnie had said) and then how Mike pushes Troy to the ground for insulting Will repeatedly at the assembly and how that’s followed by Flo saying “only love makes you that crazy, sweetheart. And that damn stupid.”... Both Jonathan and Mike, since the beginning, have been two of the people who know Will on such an inherent level and want to defend him. In different ways (Jonathan on the familial level and Mike on the friendly/romantic level), but all the same, they have been consistently motivated by their love for Will since the beginning!

I feel like the writing of Mike Wheeler has always relied more heavily on subtext rather than being more overt like Will’s situation is. But even then his coding is a lot more overt than other cases I’ve seen, again consider a scene like Karen telling Mike “I never want you to feel like you have to hide anything from me..” all the while Mike is hiding a very big secret (both literally, El, and metaphorically, his sexuality) in his bedroom closet upstairs.

A lot of Mike’s dialogue about both Max and Dart in S2 is supposed to show how hypocritical he is with his double standards for El in S1 and Max in S2. (for example: “[she’s] awesome? you haven’t even spoken a word to her!” // “that’s like saying just because someone’s from the Death Star [as a metaphor for Dart being from the Upside Down] doesn’t make them bad!”) All Mike winds up doing, in the end, is proving just how right Lucas was that Mike becomes blind to the main objective of finding Will (and this still remains relevant in a more developed sense in ST4) because he liked that girl wasn’t grossed out by him. This also pokes holes in my own ability to believe with a strong conviction that Mike is straight and in love with El.

In S2, when Mike starts “piggybacking” his love for Will onto El, the writing begins to show us how, over time, the subtle perpetuation of these typical heteronormative standards build up to a point where they only hurt people and their ability to have healthy relationships with others (this applies to both Will/Mike and Mike/El, of course). Think about this quote that was used as the opening lines for HBO’s 2019 limited series on Chernobyl (which definitely inspired a lot of the coloring, visuals, and that ending shot etc. for ST4 just as much as the event itself has been woven into the themes of the seedy underbelly of the 1980′s nostalgia from the start)...

“What is the cost of lies? It’s not that we’ll mistake them for the truth. The real danger is that if we hear enough lies, then we no longer recognize the truth at all.”

- Valery Legasov

Now, this statement can apply to both to more insidious situations, such as government coverups (Hawkins Lab) and can apply on a more interpersonal and character-driven scale (Mike’s situation).

But, in ST4 we really begin to see those cracks in the metaphorical dam that Mike has tried to build to protect himself... We can see firsthand as the pressure really begin to build.

We see it both on some of the more explosive levels, such as the “you never say it” scene between Mike and El in S4 E3... But it’s there even on the subtler levels as well.

For example, the airport scene has another interesting piece of dialogue when Mike talks about the flower arrangement he gives to El... He talks about how he thinks he may have “picked a little too much yellow” (yellow usually being the color associated with friendship in flower arrangements) and the rest is purple... which, again, is interesting as a color choice. Mostly because purple/lavender has been stereotypically ‘gay’ colors as well as being the color Will chooses for his D&D character’s wizard robes.

But color choices aside, Mike describing the bouquet as a “70/30 Split type of thing” struck me the second time around because it reminded me (and is only one digit off with both 7 and 3) of what is called the 80/20 Rule... Which is the idea that you will never be 100% satisfied in your romantic relationship. This concept was made popular by the movie Why Did I Get Married where it is described in this scene... “You will be mostly (aka 80%) satisfied with what you have, but there will always be something that might seem better (aka 20%)”. Especially when you pair this idea with the order in which Mike greets El and then Will at the airport, it compels me...

The scene where Mike awkwardly side hugs Will has also been smartly compared to this scene from Harry Potter where one of the top comments had this to say.

And audience reactions aside, it is confirmed by the director that this was in fact the intention behind that interaction.

And I’d imagine, given the likely age range of everyone in the writers' room starting at least millennial and older, that this is a scene that stuck out fairly well in their memories and was the main reason they chose to have Mike and Will greet each other in such a similar manner.

So uh... I was never a major HP fan anyway and have no interest in it, but had to include that bit as I saw it originally pointed out in this post and haven’t been able to let it go since. So, yeah! That’s all I have to say about that cuz I think it generally speaks loud enough for itself lol.

In season 2, we see how Nancy hurts both Steve and Jonathan by continuing to drag things out and effectively “piggyback” off their relationship to play things safe even though she is aware that she is really in love with Jonathan. This is a difficult decision though because she expects Steve to hate her and cut her off (”and yeah, sometimes [moving forward] is painful, sometimes it’s sad...”), but he doesn’t (”...and sometimes it’s surprising.. happy.”) He tells her it’s okay and encourages her to go with Jonathan (”so you know what? keep on growing up kid.”) because he knows that relationship makes her happy. It even helped Steve realize that he still has some growing up to do himself.

I think it’s easy, as an audience, to assume that because we saw the beginnings of the unlikely bond between Jancy at the same time we saw M!leven growing close means that they’re both these “endgame” love stories... However, we have to keep in mind that in the context of the show’s timeline-- the timing of Mike and El’s relationship lines up more with the relationship between Steve and Nancy than it does with Nancy and Jonathan.

Besides, Nancy and Jonathan kept lying to one another up until the end of ST4 so... Kind of feeling a lot of doubt for the trajectory of their romance as well after that. lol.

In season 2, a lot of the interactions between Lumax and Jancy have dialogue and interactions that are described by the other characters in ways that accurately describe and put words to some of the moments between Mike/Will in that same season. But, of course, no one assumes anything romantic could be happening between them the way it’s happening for Lumax or Jancy because... well... they’re both boys! So there’s this sort of irony to me in the fact that I see that more ‘brotherly’ dynamic between Mike&El than I do between Mike&Will. However, people are quicker to assume that’s what’s going on between the two boys rather than the boy and the girl lmao.

But in S2, Mike/Will and Nancy/Jonathan have a similar structure of how even though the Wheelers spend a lot more quality (and onscreen) time with the Byers Brother, they keeps telling themselves they love the person who they know they are supposed to choose. However, because Murray is able to read Jancy “so clearly” (helped by the fact that there’s generally more visibility for m/f relationships) they are able to have that ‘epiphany’ moment much sooner.

Stranger Things, right from the start, has been a show containing commentary about how everyone uses the media they watch to put words to the experiences they can’t explain, and how it helps us to make sense of the world around us from childhood right up until adulthood. It helps us to understand our past and traumas... And, in the show, when we see the characters (either in the show’s present timeline of the 1980′s, or comparatively how our characters have information that the older characters did not have in the 1950′s) do not have very good examples of what they’re experiencing onscreen, in books, or on the radio-- that is when they really struggle to explain how they feel and how that tends to leads to misunderstandings and that can spiral quickly out of control into full-on conflicts.

I’ll reiterate, the reason Jancy had a much easier and faster timeline of figuring out their feelings for one another is because there’s been representation of that kind of relationship trajectory for a long time. Whereas, for Will and Mike, there isn’t the same kind of guidepost. At least, it was much less accessible information for them to get their hands on. In the 1980′s a lot of your ability to obtain knowledge on queerness depended on who you knew and where you lived, as explained in this great post. If their local library doesn’t have books on that, they didn’t know it existed at all. Even if the library did have those books, consider the kind of paranoia that might ensue as a young teenager still trying to figure themselves out-- things like the books you check out can be documented (or, in the case of ST4, the movies you rent) and could be used against you in an investigation.

So how does the “Piggyback” concept and metaphors in ST4 fit in with our “bizarre love triangle”?... (+Introducing that idea of coercing a “False Confession” from Paradise Lost)

The confession from Mike to El in S4 E9 may have seemed like a deadly blow to Mike being confirmed as gay or Mike/Will ever being a thing... But I personally did not read it that way.

My reason for not being thrown into a state of despair was mainly how much Mike’s “confession” echoed the encouraging talk Jonathan had with Will in the Pizza Parlor... It sounded much less like a ‘love at first sight’ love confession, and more like... an amalgamation of some half-truths (Mike does care for El, even loves her, but re-contextualizes his own experiences into something that fits in with what he thinks El wants to hear from him [aka that he loves her] after he is urged on by Will to be “The Heart”) and putting a sparkly finish over those that echoes some popular romantic sentiments.

So while the circumstances are obviously different in their severity and context— i want to compare Mike’s “confession” to El with the tactics used to draw false confessions from suspects by police as described in Paradise Lost… Again, I am not trying to imply sinister intentions on the part of either Mike nor El-- I am merely drawing parallels between ST which is currently unfinished and lacking resolution, to a case that is still tumultuous but has somewhat of a conclusion and a much clearer concept of “false confessions” in the case’s context.

“You can tell the difference between a real, bona fide, valuable confession and a false confession by looking at how well do the things [the suspect] tells you stack up with the objective facts of [the crime]? And what [Jesse Misskelley] talked about doesn’t stack up to what the evidence shows.”

- an excerpt from Paradise Lost

And already we have seen that many fans have been able to debunk many of the claims made in Mike’s “confession”! Most notably, and what fits pretty neatly with this particular quote, is the detail about how Mike tries to assert this “love at first sight” sentiment when he talks about when he, Lucas, and Dustin found El in the forest in Season 1.

“I feel like my life started that day we found you in the woods. You were wearing that yellow Benny's Burgers T-shirt. And it was so big, it almost swallowed you whole. And I knew right then and there, in that moment, that I loved you. And I've loved you every day since.”

- an excerpt from Mike’s monologue in S4 E9: “The Piggyback”

So, as I said, he tries to re-contextualize it in a way that sounds romantic because he thinks thats what El needs to hear (based on how she said she wants Mike to say he loves her earlier in the season, though she doesn’t even specify that she needs it to be romantic in nature) in order to inspire her to keep fighting in that moment. However, it’s a moment that lacks punch or build-up.

And what makes this suspicious and feels like it’s meant to have holes poked in it... Is the fact that at the very beginning of this same episode, we finally get this big moment of resolution for Jopper where they kiss (while Joyce is dressed in an oversized, yellow t-shirt) and it has all the things it should- build up and tension and flirting and payoff! So rather than this very romantic scene between Jopper meant to parallel or foreshadow a romantic ending for M!leven, I think it is instead contrasting that sentiment. It shows just how much the romance shit has sullied their bond and watered it down.

This is obvious to me in even the subtlest choices... Such as how in Jopper’s scene, the music playing is very soft and quiet... like it’s trying very hard not to disrupt this romantically charged moment between them that is finally happening!

Whereas, with Mike’s monologue scene... the music seems to overpower his own words in this supposedly “monumental monologue” both in volume and in energy. Like the implication there is, imo, that the sentiment of Mike’s monologue is enough for El-- I think she even knows at this point that Mike is telling her what he thinks she needs to hear, and though it may not be as romantic in reality she knows Mike loves her. And that’s an endearing and kind enough sentiment to motivate her. She is not motivated by Mike’s love for her, rather she is motivated by the fact that she is loved. She is motivated by the fact that she is currently surrounded by people (including Mike) who care about her well-being enough to figure out a way to get her whatever she needs and wherever she needs, especially after what she’s been through over the past few days at the lab in Nevada I’m sure that means a lot to her.

I mean, hell, I think Mike’s words could have even reminded her of the things and the effort that’s been gone through by Will&Jonathan and Argyle to get El to where she needed to be without a second thought. The moment El gets carted off by the police, Will and Jonathan are in action mode trying to see if Joyce’s flight has left yet all while Mike just sorta... stands there.

I still think that, in the end, the intention was not to have it implied that Mike and El are back together or that they will (especially with the blocking of that final shot... it seems like El is much more ready to face her own destiny and is more confident knowing she has these people she loves and wants to protect who will back her up and be there for her), rather I think Mike’s comment about El not talking to him much is indicative of them being ‘broken up’... As, I have to say, most of the time-- for TV/Film dialogue the rule of thumb seems to be “never have your characters say what they mean”. So you are less likely to actually see a scene like “I dump your ass” and have something more along the lines of Mike telling Will that El hasn’t talked to her much like he does at the end of EP9 and we’re just supposed to infer. I mean, when you think about it... We never hear Steve or Nancy outright say to each other “I’m breaking up with you” but instead we have Steve tell Nancy he thinks “[she’s] bullshit” after Nancy is unable to tell Steve she loves him after the incident at the Halloween party the night before.

I think El knows that Mike is not in love with her and has no intention of dragging out that romantic pursuit any longer. If anything, it’s actually been framed more that she has romantic feelings for... Max? But at the very least, it does not come off to me that she has any real interest in a romantic relationship with Mike anymore.

Again, that final shot with El at the forefront of her own destiny was very telling to me. If they had gotten back together, it would be the same old Mike piggybacking off his currently unrealized feelings for Will. El is smart enough, especially after all she’s learned in ST4, that she does not need a boyfriend to back her up. She has a family and friends who love her to power and motivate her enough.

A lot of the Mike/El interactions in Vol 2 come across to me as Nancy and Steve did towards the middle/end of S2... Two recently ‘broken up’ people trying to navigate their relationship in a way that feels more comfortable, AKA a friendly one. That’s even more difficult when you’re not even the teens ages in S2 of being around juniors/seniors in HS... Instead we are dealing with two freshmen, so imo it makes perfect sense that it would not be a very eloquent thing. I don’t think Typically Oblivious Mike is even under the impression he is back together with El at the end of Vol 2.

I have a feeling that because El does not know that it’s Will and Mike who have feelings for each other yet in ST4, that it may be something she notices in season 5 between the two of them in their interactions-- whatever those may be. If we are in fact going to get the more S1 core dynamic of Dustin, Lucas, El, Mike, and Will for S5, that’d make sense to me with how close El has become to Mike and Will and with her penchant for ‘love stories’ with all the soaps she liked to watch LOL. I think that’d be kind of a sweet addition to that subplot, as long as it doesn’t take away from El’s own story in order to do so.

In the end, if anyone has decided to drop the show or take a long break after everything... I do not blame you. It’s important to give yourself time to relax and decompress, or even drop something altogether if it is no longer making you happy or fulfilling you in any significant way! It’s not defeat or giving up to take care of yourself. And for the people who are still here, still reading, and still digging... I know it can be easy to get discouraged when things are not handed to us at face value. It especially becomes frustrating when there are so many people who want to disprove the idea of queerness being allowed to exist in popular media or in the minds of children or anyone. It gets exhausting to fight those kinds of people, even on social media.

So decompress... and give yourself some time to stop posting, to just breathe and process and then...

Go back and look at the evidence. Just stop and think. Don’t let your emotions about it all get to your head. Just ... look back at the evidence and look where the evidence does point. And ask yourself, [“Now who do you think really done it?”]

- Jason Baldwin in Paradise Lost

And a lot of really good analysis accounts have popped up even since I originally typed up this post! Check out these two accounts I’ve been enjoying especially lately!

aaand that’s it. I love saying that after rambling on and on and on. lol.

Thank you to anyone who may have taken the time to read this thing to the end, I appreciate your time!!

Tagging (as per request): @will80sbyers

#byler #byeler #silver cat speaks

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