#there's also sort of a parallel to the boys looking down at him here to marc looking down at him in the tomb

[mrcspectr]

please PLEASE go feral about The Scene w/dr harrow honestly i adore reading your metas and thoughts about the moon knight boys i don't care if it's 50k words i would LOVE to read what you have to say ^^

ALRIGHT YOU ASKED BESTIE.

This is quite possibly one of my favorite scenes of the entire show. It's not just the fact that they were cofronting so easily. It's not just the fact that this was essentially the biggest mindfuck right into Harrow's psyche, the way they turned a direct attack on their identity and mental stability, sharpened it, and threw it right back at him in retaliation. That it's implied that this is their final interaction with him before they hide this broken man and his imprisoned god from the world in a psychiatric hospital, just like Harrow did to them.

What really gets me is how Marc and Steven are on equal footing as the dominate parties in the entire interaction. It's usually Marc that's more forceful and tries to control the situation right? Lemme explain.

This is not the face of Steven Grant afraid. We've seen Steven scared, the way his eyes can take over his whole face and just shine with it. This is Steven feigning discomfort, faking concern at Harrow's words. His eyes are darker here, have more focus and purpose to them. He's pretending. Steven has to make him believe that what he's doing is working because that's what Harrow assumes about him, that he's the fearful one, the one that's easier to manipulate.

He plays it so damn well and then he gets to be the one to drop the façade. But do you believe that Khonshu and Ammit are real?

Do I? No.

And then Marc slips in, and the transition is like a whisper, there's no struggle in the way it happens anymore. They've planned this out amongst themselves, pinpointed the exact moment to drop the act and twist the knife so that it has the desired effect, makes Harrow start to question in the same way he wants them to question even now, even when he's losing.

And what if we disagree Doc? What if we believe somethin' different?

The boys are hovering over him, looking down at him, and that's the moment we see Harrow experience that first pang of fear because of them.

Then our work here continues. And Harrow tries to walk away, tries pulling back and taking control, but look at Steven. The way he's watching for something, anything that gives him away. Because Marc's the one that mentions the blood, but Steven sees it first.

It's the way they have so very clearly hatched this plot together, and worked together to just.. Essentially "playing with your food before you eat it," so to speak. And then Steven, oh Steven gets to be the one to drive the point home, and it's so satisfying to see. It's the world's biggest gotcha moment.

Yeah, I don't think you know as much as you think you do.

This is Steven playing an equal part in not just saving the world, but in their own story. It's his subtle sort of revenge against Harrow for everything he's done, and everything he's tried to make Steven believe about himself, about Marc.

This is how the boys finally win.

While it is tempting to accept your diagnosis Doc, we'd rather go save the world.

And they love it. They love having the final say, that last word, they find their own sort of amusement in it because they did it together. We don't have to listen to you because we bested you. I remember watching this for the first time and thinking oh wow, they're unstoppable now because if they can do this, if they can grow into this teamwork and continue to use it for good, who even needs the suit anymore.

#it lives in the forefront of my mind all the time #it is a MASTERPIECE like it's the culmination of everything marc and steven have worked toward the entire show #YA'LL ARE GONNA MAKE ME ACT UP #there's also sort of a parallel to the boys looking down at him here to marc looking down at him in the tomb #with a crescent dart in his hand #but it's a vastly different outcome #'you have a choice' and this was how they chose #and with this choice they both had equal input on how it would go #and there's also a lot to be said about this being a moment of emotional/mental abuse #and they finally found the strength in each other to stand up to it #and and and it's what would've paired so well with the goddamn fucking CONFRONTATION SCENE OKAY #BECAUSE CONFRONTING WENDY BRINGS US FULL CIRCLE IN THAT IDEA OF THE DENIAL OF ABUSE #god damn okay i'm sorry this was so so long but i guess you asked so #anonymous #asks #mcu #moon knight #marc spector #steven grant #mk meta

[the-words-we-sung]

Thoughts and pictures - S3E1

So after digesting my first watch a little bit, I'm starting my rewatch of this season and I'll share a few thoughts and reactions (and screenshots) because I can't keep it all to myself 😱

I was happy that we dived directly into the (sort of) trial and confrontation between Wilhelm, Simon and August. I do wonder how much time passed between the speech and this scene though. It sets the tone for the entire season for Wilhelm: he's gonna be alone, with no support whatsoever from his parents. He enters the room alone, his parents arrive after him and his mother doesn't even look at him... Simon arrives with his mother and August with his stepdad. But Wilhelm has to deal with the situation alone (aka how to get incredibly mad at Kristina barely 5min into the season 😤)

Simon looks so pretty and so sad. (And how did Omar manage to look even younger this season??) He wants to be done with this whole thing. Also I checked but 1.2 millions kronor is not as much as I thought it would be (it's apparently around 107 000€, which is not bad, but I was expecting more)

I see what you did there Simon 😏 (Can someone gif this scene and put it in parallel with Wilhelm seeing Simon's room for the first time and saying "cozy" in season 1? :p)

The boys coming back to the meeting: very smooth. Nobody knows what you were doing. Nop. Not at all. (We can see Linda kinda smirking when Simon sits back whereas Kristina looks like she just ate a very sour lemon). Wilhelm arranging his hair and Simon smiling at him: they might be in the middle of an important meeting and at the Palace but they're still 2 teenage boys in love (and I love them for that 💜)

Rickard looked and sounded like such an idiot in the previous seasons that I didn't expect him to actually be competent! But I guess we were mostly seeing him through August's eyes... I know Rickard said he was the best lawyer in the country but I have to admit that I thought he was just bragging ^^' Also: August is such an asshole. Did he really need to rile up Wilhelm like that? He's got quite the confidence to attack him and tell him how he just fuck things up on his own, in front of everyone like that, including the queen. Who, again, is not defending her son!! She tells them to shut up but she says nothing to August for talking like that to her son 😠

(They look like they've been called to the principal office). Kristina doesn't look at them immediately, she looks at Erik's picture on her desk first. Then she looks at August. And then finally at Wilhelm. She is so awful to him this season... Right from the start. And then she breaks down crying for Erik.

While Wilhelm holds her. I wasn't expecting to see her grieve so much this season. We didn't see that at all in season 2. Is it because she repressed all of her emotions too much? I hate that she breaks down like that just after Wilhelm publicly coming out. How can she not be there for him. I get that it must be hard to lose a son, but she still has a very alive one, who needs her.

Kristina is not getting redeemed in this season but Linda kinda is! I was super happy to see her get in mama bear's mode at the trial ^^ It was about time!! But here: I'm sorry Linda but it's not your son's role to keep you updated about what's going on in your house! You're the mother! Stop putting everything on this kid's shoulders!! Maybe he never tells you but do you ever ask??

Simon being truly angry at Sara is so good. I am so happy so he's able to feel that way and to not feel like he has to repress it, to forgive her, to help her. She did something truly bad and he's allowed to be mad. Also look at his angry lil' face 💜

In things that made me laugh: Wilhelm's reaction and face to learning that Simon is grounded all semester xD He was talking all smoothly/flirty and then his tone changes so dramatically when he realizes he won't be able to get his boyfriend in his bed very soon! Horny boy is horny (and frustrated :p)

This faaaaaace ☹

I'm happy to see that Simon still has Ayub and Rosh here to support him. I wish they would have told him that replying to comments online was a bad idea though. You know the saying kids: don't feed the trolls!!

Wilhelm looks like such a normal teenager when he gets back to his room. First time we see him so carefree. It breaks my heart to know that on the other side Simon is so unwell already.

Wilhelm waking up happy and smiling. And being just a teenager (for the first time in a very long time): thinking about his boyfriend, redrawing the heart on his hand. It's such teenager things!! My boy just wants to have a normal life... (And then he's immediately reminded that he's actually not just a regular teenager with Farima's text).

Simon's worried face when he asks about Wilhelm's initiation. You can see he's truly horrified at the idea that he might have gone through what's been described in the article.

And then it starts: the piling up of everything on Wilhelm's shoulders. First his mother looking really unwell and breaking down (even though she hasn't been said to be officially ill yet), and now the negative impact of his speech on the school... Which Vincent takes great pleasure in reminding him about.

This first episode is really good at setting things in motion. We see already the beginning of what's gonna go down during this season: Simon not feeling well, dealing with online hatred, struggling with his new place next to Wilhelm in the spotlight. And Wilhelm trying to finally live a carefree life at school with his boyfriend now that he's officially out but slowly getting crushed under the pressure of his role as Crown Prince and the increasingly obvious lack of support from his parents.

#Young Royals #Young Royals season 3 #yr S3E1 #Wilmon #Prince Wilhelm #Simon Eriksson #my little thoughts #I really liked the episode #but Simon is breaking our heart right from the start isn't he? #Omar and Edvin are incredible actors #and I truly don't know how Omar can look even cuter and younger this season >< #sorry for the long post #please let me know if I should put it under a cut? #I'm thinking of writing my thoughts for each episode this week #watching each episode again but more slowly #while writing up little thoughts and taking screenshots #is pretty nice #and makes me feel like now I can also go and enjoy what other people have written ^^

[inchidentally]

I'm so curious to hear what you think about non RPF differences between Lando with Carlos, DR and Oscar. I don't do a lot of RPF shipping personally but your takes on all of them are so intriguing and feel pretty truthful. I feel like fandom ignores that it hasn't all been smooth sailing with Lando and his teammates and want to know what you think about the less rose-tinted side of that?

okay so jsyk I always end up a little rose-tinted even when talking about non-RPF Lando relationships but I like to hope I stay truthful in terms of not inventing any kind of sexual/dating/etc narrative that just doesn't exist. and I'm afraid I'm about to go insane in my response so hopefully you don't mind that either lol.

also @twinkodium is so much better at timelines than I am so pls can you add your part to this if you get a chance??

so just to establish which I think we all know: Lando has a tendency to take his warm heart out of his chest and hold it up to anyone who seems even remotely kind or friendly. yes, he's got a bite to him and a temper but honestly that's all also part of being far too open to people. if a person - especially other men and boys - show him even a hint of affection or camaraderie then he's all in immediately. especially as the youngest driver on the grid for so many years.

truly, I think Carlos and Daniel didn't know what to do when Lando put his little beating heart into their big, clumsy hands. the fact that the level of openness and devotion they got - immediately - from Lando was so much down to Lando's insecurity in F1 and how much he was dealing with mentally, was way too much for two guys who honestly only expect to have a laugh sometimes with their teammate. maybe be chummy enough to hang out sometimes and make media responsibilities less tedious.

and Lando was so happy to be the adoring satellite, shrieking with laughter over all their jokes in exchange for him latching securely onto an established F1 personality. but Carlos and Daniel were running the show while they were his teammates - they were the entertainment and Lando was sort of a conduit for the adoring fans. and what's interesting is I think that we can pretty visibly see the turn with each of them where Lando came thudding down to that realization himself. that he would have to change his own ideas about friendship with both of them in order to remain friends at all. there's the infamous 2020 carlando "breakup" gifset (here) where Lando's face just sours at Carlos in his traitorous blood red suit making some offhand comment

and Lando cuts such a wide berth from him that it puts two whole people between them. by the time Lando reaches the reporters waiting at the media pen, his face looks gray and set

and it's like damn, we straight up witnessed Lando standing up for himself and setting up some boundaries with Carlos.

the moments with Daniel were more scattered but you could see them when Daniel was doing his usual attempts at the bromance thing and sometimes Lando was just. not. having it. there's the moment in particular of Daniel coming up behind him and hooking his chin over Lando's shoulder and oh. you can feel the coolness coming off Lando bc he's genuinely going through something and needs a friend, not another performance for the cameras.

ohhhh and the response of "no one" when asked who his best friend was on the grid was before casting around a bit and finally saying Carlos. parallel that to his irritated dismissal of the journalist pushing for carlando in Vegas and reminding them that none of these guys are his real friends they're his F1 buddies and he "hates them" when racing them. by the time 2023 rolled around Lando grew up, set up boundaries and will only give what he chooses to his friendships with Carlos and Daniel. which is overall so much healthier and has probably ensured that those friendship didn't die out completely. but they're not what they once were for him. Carlos and Daniel are allowed to visit the garden of Eden that is being fully intimate with Lando - but the gates always shut behind them when it’s time to leave.

genuinely I don't blame Carlos or even Daniel (even if I don't like a lot about him) bc literally neither of them has ever had a friend like Lando - and probably don't know any guy like him. and they're both such Typical Dudes - as well as being fully a different generation to Lando - so how were they supposed to know a sensitive, naive kid like this would be in F1 let alone their teammate? guys they know never butterfly themselves open to other guys except for extremely long term friendships - if even then. Lando above all wants to have a good heart and he just trusts people, and while it makes men absolutely crazy about him it's surely got to get him hurt a lot. you can even see it with his media pen work where he reacts to difficult questions or fairly open hostility with a wide disarming smile because he'd rather bring someone round than openly fight with them. even Daniel who definitely utilizes his smile to dominate and disarm can still easily be baited into hostility compared to Lando. but when someone persists in being a twat to Lando, he just closes off with that cold, sour look and bam. that moron just lost themselves any access to the garden of Eden.

and I'm not saying we know enough about Oscar to say that Lando's heart is definitely safe with him, but the absolutely huge difference is that Oscar came into being his teammate fully aware of who Lando is and he was willing to hold back and be content just being a teammate and let a friendship develop if Lando felt so inclined. *hint: this sign of respect and deference will be significant!

like we saw how they fell into this twinning thing at first where Oscar would mirror Lando a lot of the time - out of nerves but also deference. then as the season went on and the car still struggled, they developed sort of a tentative camaraderie born out of equally blighted hopes.

but what's really interesting is how much Silverstone was truly the turning point and not even in a fandom goggles sense. I isolated the following moments out in a video below: there's this hilarious little moment right before the fan stage where Oscar is asking Lando something like 'what's that (playing)?' and Lando seems to think Oscar is referring to the (very obvious) crowd noise and Oscar goes "no not them you idiot the song!" and it goes back and forth wayyy too long for the brain cells I would like to assume they have before they finally work out between them what song is playing.

and Lando had by the time of the fan stage momentarily set aside his own euphoria and positively showered Oscar with praise at press briefing after the race. he also repeated it at the fan stage in front of Oscar for good measure! and clearly loves it when Oscar says how he was rooting for Lando leading the race at one point.

then, like something out of a movie, as they're posing for the photo in front of the crowd, Oscar slips that arm around Lando's waist and urges him closer and you can see the whole of every thought on Lando's face. the look of surprise as Oscar's strong arm jostles his body a little, the blossoming delight, the 'woah is he really initiating this? he never does this!', and finally the big beaming smile as he wraps his arm around Oscar and settles in.

and just a few races later when Lando has another podium under his belt and has qualified 2nd at the Dutch GP, there's this other movie moment where it suddenly clicks for Lando… Oscar will always show up for him no matter what. not just when they're both doing well or both struggling, he'll always show up for Lando. out loud and where everyone can see but without a hint of performance to it.

and when you scroll through @piastrisms wonderful post-race gif compilations, you can see that dynamic shift even more to the suddenly much more tentative but openly kind of 'crushing' on each other. Oscar starts to let himself think that maybe, just maybe! the Lando of his 8-year social media obsession really likes Oscar for who he is and not just as a team obligation! this leads to him taking a few more risks during the McLaren challenges and by the time they film the beloved Austin material, Oscar has actually started to surprise Lando. from there on you can see Oscar's relief at making Lando really laugh and smile build his confidence right at the exact same time that Lando looks thrown off center and his boundaries start falling away. that mirroring they used to do started to build into trusting each other, which then led to them genuinely liking each other, and then mutually wanting to stay together as teammates. and isn't that level of security something new for Lando!

and you know what I noticed in all this that has me frothing and biting? that instead of Lando handing his beating heart over to his teammates and having it bruised and withdrawn? with Oscar, it's been the exact opposite. Lando had finally decided to be cautious from the start and keep this new anomaly teammate at arm's length - and for a while felt relieved bc the anomaly turned out to be so damn competent and quick! *oh and the anomaly was showing a level of respect and deference that Lando was not at all used to, which was so very nice but also ?? was the anomaly a little bit cold toward him ?? but then Silverstone happened and dawn broke. we finished the season out with Lando actually looking to Oscar for affirmations and wriggling excitedly and looking at Oscar with that wide-open expression on his face and Lando clearly beginning to wonder if maybe his sacred heart might fit comfortably in Oscar's hands that are smaller and gentler than the other men he's known on the grid? maybe how much more steady and careful and devoted Oscar is when it comes to his racing is reflected in how he has treated Lando, so unlike the usual "Lando effect" bromances that get all the attention and that the cameras and fans eat up. maybe the big, traditional handsome alphas and their big displays of affection are one kind of friend for Lando but perhaps not so good as a teammate. and maybe a friendship that grows too steadily and quietly for networks and social media teams to take much of an interest is another kind of friend, and maybe just the right kind of teammate.

#inchreplies #someone take my computer away from me I mean it #I cannot be normal #landoscar lore #mine #silverstone gp 2023 #angst #inchidentallyanessay #lando of the bleeding heart #for reference

[babyangelsky]

Color Moments in Two Worlds Episode 6

EVERYTHING IN THIS EPISODE HURT. SOMETIMES THERE ARE PARALLELS AND THOSE PARALLELS ARE JUST FUCKING PAINFUL BECAUSE THE SWORD OF DAMOCLES IS HOVERING OVER EVERYTHIIIIIINGGGGGUH

*gets self together* Okay. All right.

"You like Phupha!" Kram says to himself while thinking about his kiss with Tai and then immediately matching him.

Sure, sure, mhmm. You keep telling yourself that, mi cielo.

Tai's life briefly flashed before his eyes when he was greeted with this sight.

But there was no reason for him to worry because Phupha was not in fact debuting as a couple with Kram. He just wanted to give them some nice clothes so they could look pretty for the "thank fuck we didn't all die!" party he was throwing.

AND RIGHT BEFORE WE GOT THIS SHOT, MY BOY KRAM VALIDATED ME!

BECAUSE THEY DO MATCH! IT'S ALL ABOUT THE MATCHING! I'm counting this as a Clowned Correctly moment for me and no one can take it away.

We learned in the preview for this episode that Jao has an unrequited crush on Tai, but @respectthepetty and I are gonna need him to get it together because he's out here talking about it to Wayu while he's matching him.

(Side note: The subs make it seem like Jao actually has feelings for Kram but in the preview--which is hard subbed--he confirms the crush is on Tai)

AND THEY STILL AREN'T MAKING OUT ABOUT IT! JAO! LOOK IN THE MIRROR AND PICK UP WHAT THESE COLORS ARE PUTTING DOWN AND KISS THIS MAN.

Jao also matched Tai very briefly this week, on account of the unrequited feelings that have now been brought to light. He's trying to be there for Tai but Tai snaps at him because he preemptively broke up with Kram because he thinks Kram is about to leave him for Phupha. Which better not happen.

Tai apologizes and we appreciate that but really, this is a golden opportunity for Jao to run his cute little self right into Wayu's big strong arms. Which better happen. POR FAVOR!

And then everything just starts to fucking hurt because Kram goes looking for Tai after Phupha asks him to come with him to Bangkok (Kram I'm so serious, you better have told him no) but instead of finding Tai, he finds this.

LOOK FAMILIAR?

Jao drops by again and after seeing this painting, Kram finally asks what happened to his alternate self and we get a series of achingly sweet and painful flashbacks to alternate Kram's relationship with Tai. I can't be sure, but it's sort of implied that present Kram is remembering everything as we see it because he clutches his head.

Tai and his Kram met when Kram accidentally got caught in a tiger trap while trying to save a bunny, and as we all know he did, he immediately brought warmth to Tai.

And they immediately matched.

He finds Tai napping under a tree and paints him, then wakes him up when he hears thunder. Tai, in his cold blue, likes the painting and wants to buy it but Kram, in his warm yellow, tells Tai he'll give him the painting for free if Tai agrees to be his friend.

They do up getting caught in the rain and this isn't a color moment, but ya'll deserve to see Kram having a real normal one about wet shirtless Tai.

Kram is a BL Boy, therefore he has to get sick when it rains. Tai takes him to the doctor and Kram wakes up the next morning to see Tai has stayed by his side the whole night. As he looks at Tai sleeping, he is surrounded by Tai's blue.

While I begin to slowly bleed out, Tai tells Kram that he wants to be more than friends and offers Kram some of the same warmth Kram has brought into his life and asks Kram to come with him.

*through tears* Kram accepts and then they arrive at Tai's house--their house--with Kram dressed head to toe in Tai's blue.

*sobbing* They build this cozy peaceful life together where they do their laundry in the river and cook for each other and they're so in love, and Tai just keeps giving Kram his newly found warmth.

And it all culminates in Tai basically asking Kram to marry him with the biggest Heart Eyes in all creation and them having beautiful, joyous love-affirming sex absolutely bathed in warm light.

But let me tell you, noticing the way shots are framed is a blessing and a curse. Because as amazing and beautiful as this moment between Tai and Kram is, the show won't let us forget about the sword hovering above our heads.

It won't let us forget about the danger lurking outside this warm little bubble, or that it already told us how Tai and Kram's story was going to end.

#two worlds #two worlds the series #taikram #meta

[verytallfox]

The Sounds of Nightmares Episode 5: A Deluge of the Inevitable Thoughts

Right off the bat, we learn the Ferryman is likely the archetypal “guardian at the threshold.” Additionally, Noone has an OCULAR TUMOR in her brain?! She has a fucking eye-thing in there and it is what’s pulling her into the Nowhere.

Next, Noone gives Otto the chewing out of his life. He doesn’t want to listen to her about her parents, and she calls him out on his bullshit. She agrees to tell him about her latest dream so long as there are no machines this time. He agrees.

There’s a role reversal now: Otto will be lying down with a blindfold on while Noone tells him her latest trip to the Nowhere. Otto hopes that Noone can somehow transmit her dream into his head.

Noone is in a sewer setting. There’s lots of children and there’s waste and there’s messed up pipes. Also, unfortunately for Otto his plan is working.

Also, THERE IS A NOME!!! The same noise, the same description, and the same mannerisms! Noone calls it a “little mushroom fairy.” Noone also hits a nasty child with a brick who presumably seeks to hurt the Nome. The Nome guides her to a room full of scavenged junk and treasures, all compiled into piles, dropped down from the world above for years.

There’s also an abandoned child’s “propeller cap” that Noone suspects the Nome’s trying to show her.

There’s also a man, who empties his pockets with his goodies. He was seen before with a beeping device. He’s horribly distorted, his head a mess like most others in the Nowhere. Said head is swollen with the back sagging behind his head, mistaken for a sack for Noone. And she knows he used to be human. He became one with the sewers.

(Cutting out excessive summarization of the episode, there’s a chase, a tidal wave, and cruel singing)

Finally, the Ferryman appears and speaks in riddles that Noone has determined the meaning of: if she gives in to his world the suffering she feels in her own will stop. She suggests that CiCi (?) abandoned Otto because she had enough of his shit. He stumbles out of the room in shock.

Otto’s demeanor changes from this and he’s colder to her from here on out. She also discovers the tumor’s existence. He’s unprofessional and no matter what she said she’s a child and he’s an adult so fuck him, grrr!

Later that night, Otto decided to use a device on Noone to locate the tumor, believing it to be the gateway to the Nowhere. Noone is coming in and out of sleep and Otto is unhinged. He has some sort of brain imaging device and he finds her tumor. Upon viewing it, it LOOKS AT HIM, and its stare is seemingly painful. As it watches him, the machine breaks.

Something has happened to Noone…

And we’ve been cliffhangered. In the words of the great Rouxls Kaard:

GOD. DAMN IT.

Some analysis:

I fucking loved this episode. Of the few legitimate theories I have (this episode mainly backs up the ones I already there), Eyes in your brain lead to the Nowhere, the Ferryman is its guardian, and it can bleed into our world too are all that’s new. Pretty simple!

Also, I believe the “bag-headed man” was once a normal child or normal man, and he’s meant to embody some sort of desire or hunger along with the nasty children. Noone’s explanation of him and the children each wanting what the other has also is meant to parallel to some degree her and Otto.

Additionally, the propeller cap is either the man’s or the Nome’s. As for the children, I don’t think those children were always children (assuming they even are children now) or perhaps they originated in the Nowhere. There’s something wrong with those guys.

I think the man might be in Little Nightmares 3. There was a suspiciously sewer-themed area in the trailer so fingers crossed!

Also, I believe CiCi is Otto’s sister. There’s mention briefly of Otto being just a boy and also looking “nothing like” his sister.

Lastly, something bad has happened to Noone y’all. I don’t know what, but I think the answers fall under two categories: physical harm or vanishing. We’ve got one more episode left and I can’t wait for it.

EDIT

Holy shit I can’t believe I didn’t consider that they both might be in the Nowhere now. I honestly love that idea, along with the possibility that the final recording will be taken while in the Nowhere. LOVE THAT!

Apologies if this summary heavy, but I hope this gave folks some delicious morsels to nibble on until next week! Thanks for reading and god I love this fucking podcast so much, it has filled the Magnus-shaped hole in me hearto. Anywho, toodles!

#the sounds of nightmares #little nightmares #the ferryman little nightmares #noone #tson

[tpotr]

Hello my author, I came to leave a message to remind you when I have time and of course make a one-shot of your characters from your fanfic with all of Rhaenyra's children, all born girls HAHAHA I feel sorry for our boy, having to deal with his sisters and the strong girls!!!

I ended up finishing this right before a plane ride, thankfully! Thank you dear for always being so supportive <3 This is a little plus for all the readers. This is an AU tweak where not only the green children are genderbent, but also Rhaenyra's children. Meaning M!Hel (Rhaegal) is the only boy. You know the green girls names if you are here, so for Rhaenyra's children: F!Jace - still Jace as nickname, Jacaera F!Luke - Liliana (after another Velaryon girl) F!Joffrey - Josephine (not mentioned here tho) F!Aegon 3 - Alyssa F!Viserys 2 - Viserra

Aerea sits disinterested on the high table, sipping on her Arbor red. It is a holy day, and the Red Keep has turned into an odd mix of a tavern and a sept. The frigid brick of a High Septon is sitting by her uncle Daemon, still as if he’s about to piss himself. Aerea has the inclination to cringe at that, but actually does when she notices the poor singers who had been utterly ignored as they sang their hymns. It is the Feast Day of our Father Above, a day for tables of roasts and toasts, as well as a day to lay judgement, for the Father watches over and makes one’s judgement auspicious.

It can be argued that the most auspicious judgement of the day had been by the seating planners. While their father is sitting between their mother and half-sister on the elder side of the table, Rhaegal sits parallel to him, a human divider between her and Rhaenyra’s eldest daughter, Jaecaera. Effectively, he split the table between silver-haired sisters and brown-haired nieces. 

The seating choices had been deliberate. ‘The girls do not get along, therefore we must stick the boy in the middle.’ 

She does not find this decision astute, to say the least.

Aerea used to get along with her eldest niece, back when she looked like a little boy. She even gave her the nickname Jace. However, then she grew to own the same audacity and unfailing entitlement her mother is known for, learning how to speak well without knowing how to apologize. The girl used to be a cute, pugly thing; now she just knows how to bark and worse, be charmingly coy. 

Aerea will admit, she does not take it well when her husband has to play peacemaker. He’s an approachable sort of man, whose looks are graceful enough to be inviting and is of gentle enough character to be mannerly. Meaning, he is susceptible to being taken advantage of by girls who are bold enough, and very easily used by girls who want to annoy her.

“When I passed by the gardens, I remembered how we used to play hide and seek,” Jace reminisces fondly. Aerea brings her hand over her husband’s. Lest he thinks I’m not attentive, she thinks to herself. He glances at her nervously, squeezing her fingers between his for some assurance. Jace looks at her sister, chuckling. “Well, Liliana’s sobs came to mind first, really. When she couldn’t find us on that tree, if you recall.” 

“Can you let that go?” Liliana exclaims, and for once, Aerea agrees with that twerp. As if it has any relevance now.

“Never,” Jace smiles, affectionately patting at the top of her sister’s head. “It is a shame we don’t have as much of a thriving garden in Dragonstone. It is barren, rocky land for the most part. I wanted to play similarly with Alyssa and Viserra. These are sweet memories to have.”

Aerea’s fingers move slowly over Rhaegal's fingers. She’d consider it an affectionate warning, but it seemed more a hostage situation. 

Rhaegal swallows, offering a timid smile. “You can still play with them there during this visit,” he suggests.

Jace perks up. “I should, I suppose. Will you come? I think they’d enjoy your presence. You’ve always been good with children.” 

Aerea’s finger squashes down on her husband's index. I’ll smash your pug nose flatter than it already is. 

She moves herself to look beyond her husband and stare down her offending niece. “We will come. Our twins need more companions to play with. You’d think Maelor would be enough, but they still ask for more siblings.”

She expects it to shut Jace up, but the girl's chocolate brown eyes crinkle. “That would certainly do,” half a dimple comes upon her face as grins at Aerea.  She represses any giggles, and pats Rhaegal’s shoulder. “Seems like you have some work cut out for you, though.”

What does that mean—

She very nearly stood up. She would’ve, hadn’t it been for Rhaegal promptly grabbing on her hand and squeezing on it as if to contain her. His face is entirely flushed red, and that frustrates her too, until he lifts himself from his seat and dragged her alongside him. “We should dance,” he says abruptly, whisking her away. He doesn’t wait for any confirmation, taking her towards the dance floor.

Jace watches them as they leave the table, full grin on. “And I after!” she announces with roaring laughter.

Aerea would have gone back to chew her out if it hadn’t been for the fact Rhaegal already turned to glare at their niece. Clearly flustered, but deliberately glaring. She finds him handsome when he glares. She supposes it is the conviction that appears in a usually carefree gaze. She similarly does not resent the grip of steel he has on her, but that better not be because he must separate her from Jace.

“She flusters you?” Aerea accuses, not asks. Her hand reaches for his shoulder, as the dance’s form calls for, but her nails dig deep at the shirt and skin. She doesn’t care if it makes her easily irritable, the next she sees a strong hand on his shoulder she’d cut it off. If they can take eyes, why couldn’t she take hands? That brazen bitch deserves it.  

Rhaegal gathers her close to him. His hands are supposed to go on her waist, but they sit lower than the small of her back. It is a pleasing enough feeling, and she feels a surge of heat rushing through her— No. Focus. She must keep the frown. He needs to answer! 

“No,” he says, and he sounds awfully riled as he says so. “It is only that she inserts herself to where she shouldn’t.”

Aerea grabs at his nape to look at her. “You think me blind to not see that? I had the entire day to see. Oh, I know she dreams of insertions, that—”

His grip on her becomes more forceful in a split second. It makes her take a deep inhale within. “Hardly,” he says, and cranes his head closer to her ears. “She thinks it amusing, to make you frustrated. Just as she thinks she helps me by making you frustrated.”

“You don’t—” Aerea starts, but  then takes a moment to digest that statement. She feels her ears grow hot, embarrassment and anger smoking at each flushed lobe. For a moment she feels stupid, and then she feels rage. That girl played her like a fiddle? On purpose? She hates that. More than anything. “I’m not jealous,” she says, trying to ignore the waves of envy that ran through her before and now. 

It is just no funny thought to her, having him tempted by Jace. Those bastard girls could do anything and be acquitted from any fault by their mother. As if she doesn’t hear Father talk of how easier it would’ve been had her husband just married her instead. It started with Rhaenyra and continued with Jace and gods be good even if the lot of them die she may just hear the same with baby Viserra.

She knows she had been stupid at times, but she gave him three children and all the love she has left to give. She hates, loathes, abhors how easily they make her feel replaceable. 

Rhaegal puts his forehead against hers. “You needn’t be,” he soothes, as he knows to do. He knows she yearns that quelling, and that makes her scared by itself. She has made so many mistakes, but he holds her heart tender. He nuzzles against her and it is all reassurance, until she opens her eyes and meets his gaze.“But I’d like the flush on your face to be all for me, as well.” 

She considers stomping his foot, if only for the mere suggestion that any redness could come to her cheeks if it wasn’t for him. Jace couldn’t have embarrassed her for years to come if she hadn’t used him. If it wasn’t for him, she would’ve found a reason to smash Jace’s face into her plate of cake and she would’ve been as pale as the moon doing it. 

“As if it could be for anyone else,” she says quietly, and licks her lips. She knows this isn’t quite how he likes that phrased. Between her cynical and his lyrical their words never match unless they make the effort to make them as such, and it is an effort worth making. “I love you.”

He is not one to reach out to her when they are among the masses. His intimacy is a separate section of him, belonging fully to her when they share a lone room. A secret only she knows.

Regardless, he kisses her this time, full on the lips. 

He knows how she likes his love expressed, too.

Aerea sighs as the kiss breaks off. She expects bulging eyes at the two of them. To imagine the prince will disrupt an entire dance routine only to kiss his wife; an event worth the stares for once, if you ask her. She hopes Jace had looked and blushed at a site that required none of her incitement.

And yet, the choice to kiss her has not seemed to have compromised their secret at all. The eyes of their guests are all on the high table, where seemingly, a yelling match between Aemma and Jace is taking place. Or more like, Jace is barking, and Aemma is smirking.

Hah! She should’ve known Aemma wouldn’t have let her get away with things. Sometimes little sisters are good to have.

Aerea almost steps in to come aid her, but Rhaegal holds her arm.“Don’t,” he whispers to her ear, and she blinks at him. Mother and Rhaenyra stand to calm the yelling girls, and he continues, his hand sliding down to hers. “They will be alright. Let’s go.”

“Go?”

He weaves his fingers in hers. “Before everyone can notice.”

Aerea smiles widely. A day for fine judgement indeed; her husband has his wits about him. She squeezes on his hand, dragging him with her instead of slipping away any sort of gracefully. His pearly whites show as he stifles a laugh.

The lords and ladies, and all their family can look as they rush away together. Because his very smile is mine.

#hotd fanfic #i'm not going to even tag it the normal tags this feels too indulgent LOL #*rhaegal #*aerea #*aereagal #*aemma #*reqs #*answered

[mlm-writer]

Piss Paladin (Wade Wilson x FtM!Reader)

Pairing: Wade Wilson/Deadpool x FtM Reader For the pride prompt: FtM reader learning to pee standing up, failing miserably, getting anxious and then getting help from their lovely AMAB partner Rating: Mature  Words: 1321 POV: Second Summary: Wade got you an STP and you can now finally pee while standing up. Easier said than doen tho. Notes: Happy Pride! See all works for pride 2022 here. Reader has not undergone bottom surgery, but everything else from HRT to top surgery is up to you. Tags: fluff, hurt/comfort sort of, domestic fluff, established relationship, we all know Wade is a horndog oh and he also breaks the 4th wall

“Babey!” Your boyfriend was as loud as ever, as he barged through the front door. Well, it was technically his apartment, so he was allowed. You looked up from your phone and shifted on the couch, bare legs no longer folded over. You tugged your shorts down, so they were no longer giving you a wedgie. Eyes narrowed at Wade, when he got a glass from the cupboard and filled it with water. “I got you something,” he practically sang, approaching you with the glass and a package held behind his back. You were more confused by the glass of water to be honest. Wade was not one to hydrate voluntarily. “But - and that’s a big butt - you first need to drink this.” 

You let out a scoff and took the glass he held out for you. Wade had weirder antics, so you did not question him. You wished he had picked a smaller glass though. It took you a moment, before you had consumed its entire contents. Wade made in the meantime three jokes about swallowing and being so good at it. One time you laughed accidentally and almost choked, which triggered a choking joke or two. 

When you finally put the empty glass onto the already-full coffee table, he handed you the package. You raised a brow at him and took the package, ripping off the top while looking him dead in the eyes. “This better not be another strap-on, Wade. We already have enough.”

“Well this one you can use for multiple things.” You sighed and pulled the bubble wrap out of the box, then frowned at the hollow strap-on you found inside. It was limp and did not seem good for fucking at all. Then it clicked. You gasped and turned to your boyfriend hanging off the back of the couch. 

“No way!” “Yes way!” “Wade!”

You jumped and hugged him, slapping him in the face with your new dick. “Ho there fella, might want to wait with slapping me in the face with that thing until I’m on my knees.” You were giddy with excitement and took the glass off the table to fill it with more water, chugging it as if you’ve been in the desert. “It is for pack, pee and play, but I guess the first thing you want to do is pee while standing up?” 

You nodded. “Honestly, it is the best part of having a dick if you ask me.” You fished the harness out of the box and started placing your cock inside in various ways, until Wade grabbed the manual and helped you with sticking things in the right hole. 

“Well then let’s get you in this thing, go to the park and find you a nice little tree.” You wiggled out of your pants and underwear. Then tried to put the harness with the STP in it up, only to find out that it was rather tricky. 

“Maybe first try the toilet?” You suggested, as you moved the silicone around until it was comfortable. You then pulled the underwear back over it and your shorts. You wiggled around and reached into your underwear to find a comfortable position for the dick. “Where do you leave the shaft?” You complained. 

“You’re boring,” Wade sighed playfully. He nearly giggled like a schoolgirl as he watched you struggle. “Well I just leave it parallel to my right leg, but you can also do it to the left.” You followed his instructions and then stared at your bulge. “Damn baby boy, you are packing,” Wade exclaimed as he stared at your crotch with you. 

“Is it too obvious?” He shook his head. You read the manual to figure out what else came with the penis, while you waited for mother nature to make her call. When you finally felt it, you jumped up from the couch to go to the bathroom. 

“Go my piss paladin! My golden shower champion! My urine conqueror! My…”  “Shut up, Wade!”  “Hey don’t blame me! We are over 650 words in and the readers still haven’t gotten what they came for!”

You rolled your eyes and then closed the bathroom door behind you without locking it. Excitement coursed through your veins, but as you stood above the toilet, seat up and silicone dick in hand, nothing came out of you. As if your body was saying ‘we need to sit down to piss’. So you stood there a good minute or two… or three… Eventually Wade was knocking on the door. “You know, it is supposed to be quicker,” he called from outside the door. You tried to force something out again, but not even a drip left you.

“Urgh, it won’t work!” You exclaimed, stomping your foot and zipping your pants back up. You heard Wade come in, but did not look at him. “I just… I can’t do it!” You felt Wade approach from behind and then his arms were around you. 

“Yes you can, my piss paladin. Come on, let’s zip those pants down.” Wade pushed everything down to your ankles. “You’re just having a mental block so let’s try this a bit more like you’re used to. Bend the knees, rest that pretty butt on me, yes just like that.” You were sort of leaned forward with your butt on Wade’s knees slash thighs. Wade had his hands on your hips, steadying you. “Ok now close your eyes and breathe. Once you let go, everything will just flow.” 

It took you a good minute more, but with Wade keeping you calm and reminding you that one step at a time was fine, you eventually succeeded. When the dam finally overflowed, it was a relief like nothing else. The sound of piss landing in the toilet water had never before triggered so much relief and happiness. You and Wade were cheering like you just won the jackpot. 

However, victory did not last long, as you felt a warm stream trickling down your leg. “Oh shit,” you exclaimed as you tried to stop yourself from filling the overflowing penis even more. The idea was great, but the execution was not as smooth as you had envisioned. 

“Keep calm, king, this is fine,” you heard Wade say behind you, but piss was trickling down your leg and you could not really stop yourself mid-way. It felt like it was just coming and coming. By the time the STP was empty, you just stared down at it with absolute horror, trying to wrap your head around what just happened. 

“Oh my god, I am so sorry, baby, I pissed all over you. Oh my god this is so embarrassing.” You felt like crying. The entire vicinity was stinking and covered in yellow fluid. You heard Wade talking, but you were frozen in place and your ears had stopped working. 

Wade turned you around roughly, but you closed your eyes, unable to look at him. You pissed on him for fuck’s sake. “Hey, my handsome piss paladin, look at me. Come on, open those beautiful eyes… there you go. It’s all right.”

He smiled at you reassuringly, but you had tears pricking in your eyes and you could feel the distress everywhere in your body. “It’s not all right, Wade, I pissed on you.” 

“And I don’t care! Really! Look! Look here!” You followed his pointed finger to where you saw the stain on his pants and… a boner. Seeing it made you chuckle. 

“Really, dipshit? A piss kink?” He chuckled with you and reached past you to grab the roll of toilet paper. 

“Don’t blame me, you’re the one who is hot no matter what… just like your pee.” He whispered the last part, making you laugh again. Wade handed you some TP, but you refused, telling him a shower was going to be a better idea. He agreed and then joined you under another warm stream. 

#wade wilson #deadpool #wade wilson x reader #deadpool x reader #male reader #ftm reader #wade wilson x male reader #wade wilson x ftm reader #deadpool x male reader #deadpool x ftm reader #mcu #mcu x reader #mcu x male reader #mcu x ftm reader #mcu x you #MCU x Y/N #marvel #marvel x reader #marvel x male reader #marvel x you #pride #pride month #pride 2022 #Marvel x Y/N #marvel x ftm reader #ftm #gay

[user-needs-new-hyperfixation]

make something up, yes! Here goes...

Mycroft Holmes

Send Me a Character & I'll Tell You✨️

Mycroft Holmes (Yuukoku no Moriarty)

My first impression: ahaha this just reminded me that my first impression (I watched the anime first) was a very unenthused "oh goodie, a Black Butler joke 😑" (and that was before the dub!)

My impression now: sexy sexy dork. Incredibly powerful man who exudes big dick energy is also Every Oldest Child Ever, thrilled to shoot his little brother with toy guns and show him up at every opportunity. Secretly incredibly sentimental. Sends his boyfriend notes via carrier pigeon even though it is entirely within his authority to just visit him. A hero amongst introverts who built an entire club on the premise of silent parallel play for adults. In short, an icon.

Favorite thing about that character: tips into borderline headcanon I suppose, but I think he's immensely protective of people he cares about, and it's sweet. Also his fussing over his hair is adorable.

Least favorite thing: I don't know if it really counts because I enjoy roasting him for it so much that it seems weird to say I don't like it when it's fun for me, but "dislikes stupid people and likes black coffee" is the most cringe Reddit bro nonsense ever.

Favorite line/scene: I like the parallel [paraphrasing, too lazy to find exact quotes] where he says to Albert in chapter four "you have my attention, what do you want?" (intrigued, possibly flirtatious) vs in chapter 23, "you have my attention, what do you want?" (resigned, a little bit sad).

Favorite interaction that character has with another: anything with Albert, obvs, but also the bit when Sherlock comes back is very Important and I'm glad it's there. Also that little part where he says he's been protecting Sherlock from their family's secrets and sort of smiles conspiratorially at William.

A character that I wish that character would interact with more: Louis, actually. I want to know to what degree they became friends during the timeskip and possibly leaned on each other in their own reserved and quiet ways in the midst of their grief.

Another character from another fandom that reminds me of that character: hrrrrrm. I feel like there's something obvious that's refusing to come to mind, probably because I'm trying too hard to avoid the fact that the anime wants me to associate him with Sebastian. That did lead me down a J Michael Tatum path to thinking that if anything he maybe reminds me a little of an older Kyouya from OHSHC lmao. Anyway I'll add an edit when the obvious thing I'm forgetting come back to me. 😅

A headcanon about that character: all the dom stuff mainly pfft. Also that he was closer to his father, while Sherlock was a mama's boy.

A song that reminds of that character: all my songs for him are just songs I associate with Mycal, and mostly in a more kind of "Albert POV," but here's one that I have in my Mycal playlist that I think of as more Mycroft POV

An unpopular opinion about that character: eeh. I think I'm pretty in line with the majority of the fandom on him.

Favorite picture: I mean there's lots of lovely shots of him looking very handsome but like...

he's so pleased with himself 🤣

#moriarty the patriot #yuukoku no moriarty #mycroft holmes #mycal #asks

[themaybewoman]

[pjo series thoughts - spoilers ep. 1]

First note is a biggie: When Sally starts describing the story of Perseus in the museum, I had to pause. It starts with Perseus and his mother thrown into a box and cast out to sea, to be forgotten about, to die basically. It made me think about how Sally and Percy basically grew up alone, how that situation mirrors Perseus in the myths, and the fact that in the myths the mother-son pair were 'surrounded by sea' (the exact words Sally uses to tell the story, btw) just adds to the parallel.

In the books, Sally describes Poseidon essentially going to the sea and never coming back. In the show, we meet her properly at the apartment and she's standing in the rain, surrounded by water. In short, the 'surrounded by' part of that story is equivalent to 'being shaped by'. Their lives – both Sally-Percy and Perseus and his mom in the myths – had a large part of their lives determined by Poseidon, determined by the sea.

——

• Bobofit? just makes me think of Boba Fett and now I'm picturing Nancy fanart as a star wars clone XD

• Eddie the Super is a bro in this adaptation. I agree with what I've heard some other folks saying around these fandom parts, I like this change from Eddie being one of the poker buddies to being at odds with Gabe, too.

• Sally Jackson listening to 'logical' by Olivia Rodrigo. Sally Jackson being an Olivia fan!!!!

• Gabe and Sally's relationship here... it's not good sure, but in this adaptation, I can see sort of how they could have started, maybe at first it not being about 'protecting Percy', as they sort of have a banter here that doesn't just seem like a watered-down/kid-friendly version of a dysfunctional marriage but also like the remnants of some sort of clicking. Of course, I want to believe that Gabe is still an awful human being, and yeah, the show portrays that he's a slum, a verbal dick towards everyone in his life, has abusive habits like checking Sally's phone without permission, so I still don't like him here. But, there's a difference between series!Gabe and book!Gabe in which book!Gabe was just painted as cut and dry, black and white awful, like the worlds slimiest, grimiest old fool. Maybe it's the act of seeing it instead of reading about it since in the book we ARE the narrator – a twelve-year-old boy with a limited worldview and seeing things more as cut-dry/black-white – and here we're more on the outside looking in, so we can approach the world with a more objective viewpoint, and see details not as 'good' or 'bad' but as just details. Just something like 'life just be like that sometimes' kind of way.

• 'Like a puzzle with have the wrong pieces' hit home for me. Also, describing Percy's attention slips through the mist as 'daydreaming' is such a good way to relate ADHD to his demigodness. I like how the series described Percy's mind and disabilities better so far than the books.

• 'Something that felt real to you that no one else can see?' The way Sally delivers this line... UGH so good at being very subtle in suggesting that she can relate to Percy personally here, hinting at her ability to see through the mist as well despite being 100% mortal. Or maybe that's just me knowing things revealed later in the series and subplanting that onto the now.

• It's hard explaining greek gods being real to your son. LOL undercut perfectly with Walker's comedy ("like– like Jesus?"). Also, Walker's acting? 10/10

• putting Percy and Grover at odds in the series just like in the books but each do it differently – in the books, Percy ditches Grover bc he's acting weird and it's stressing Percy out. In the series, Grover is the one that does the dirty deed and makes sure Percy gets expelled from Yancy. Either case, they both put tension in the relationship (to be repaired later in the narrative). So, before you say anything bad about the differences between book and series, think about the emotional part of it. The series speaks to the HEART of the scene, of the story, even if it's not a word-for-word retelling with visuals.

• "He is brutal, he is relentless, he–" "He is still wearing underpants." Classic Percy comedy akdjfhgklsjdfg I'm in love

• Sally setting Grover up for his emotional journey on the quest by making him swear to protect Percy against all monsters/threats that come his way.

• Oh god, it's even more heartwrenching the second time watching Percy watch his mom "die" – the silence that encompasses the moment, all sounds drowning away, the rain so crystal clear on his face, and his eyes... god. so good.

• I love the last scene. The campers' voices coming out of the blackness, the blackness fading into a hazy purple sunset as Percy's vision come to. Annabeth's voice saying "he must be the one,' as she so wants him to be the one that will bring her along on a quest. just the way the framing lands at the end, with the subtle movement of camper silhouettes shifting away and Chiron front and centre, welcoming Percy (and thus the audience) into the world (into the series). Such a good introduction. So, so good.

#pjo series #pjo #percy jackson #disney plus #pjo series thoughts #spoilers #episode 1 #lilly's musings #parallels #sally jackson #annabeth chase #nancy bobofit #star wars #boba fett #greek gods #greek myths

[stardust-falling]

Hello.... Can I ask your top 5 (or top 3) favorite characters from SVSSS? And why you loved them? And your top 5 favorite moments from the series? Thanks if you want to answer....

Top 5 favorite characters:

1 - Shen Jiu 2/3 - Yue Qingyuan, Shen Yuan 4/5 - Luo Binghe, Gongyi Xiao

Honestly, it's super hard to decide my favorites, hence the 2/3, 4/5 here lmao. Depending on the meaning of "like" I really don't dislike any SV characters (obviously OPM, QJL, WYZ can go get fucked if we're talking about emotional affection/blorbofication, but I do still enjoy them in a meta sense for their roles in the story). But because SJ is both my favorite in terms of "I feel affection for this character and he is my little scrungly blorbo" as well as "I want to study him under a microscope like a bug" he gets the top spot easily.

Top five favorite moments is pretty hard too, since things are my favorite for different reasons... So I'll pick my favorite scenes for analysis, not necessarily for emotional reaction or attachment, in no particular order. Going under a cut because I rambled, as usual:

I really, really like the entire Holy Mausoleum arc, but I specifically like the part where SQQ and LBH are confronted by OPM and QHT. I feel like it's here that we can really see beneath the unreliable narrator and actually see that SQQ truly does love LBH back. Holy Mausoleum in general just says a lot about Bingqiu without saying it directly, and I do encourage everyone who thinks that SQQ doesn't actually love LBH back please reread that part while looking for it because damn, SQQ's narration tries to hide how much he actually cares for this boy.

Qijiu extras, the scene in the Lingxi caves. Between SJ's paranoid and irrational internal monologue that shows that despite everything, he really doesn't actually see himself as he is or as a legitimate peak lord, Yue Qingyuan's appearance at a critical moment to keep SJ from spiralling past the point of no return (contrasting this to his inability to return to Qiu Manor in time), the fact that even though they are not on good terms, YQY is still able to calm SJ down from qi deviation, and that SJ tolerates both his presence and his touch, it shows a lot that despite his paranoia and his hurt, a part of Shen Jiu still trusts Yue Qingyuan. The fact that it's revealed that they're in the very cave that YQY was trapped in with Xuan Su is just the icing on the cake... the truth is laid out before them, just a step from being revealed, but still isn't... I just think this scene really is so important to show how 79's relationship stands on a deep level, both the trust that is still there as well as the barriers.

Skinner demon confrontation, after they're captured. The irony of the first mission being to take down a demon that's literally wearing someone else's identity as their own is great. There's also Luo Binghe's sexual awakening upon seeing SQQ shirtless, which is honestly quite funny to me as an ace person. But my favorite thing, I think, is the way that SQQ sets up Die'er's defeat by using LBH as bait which, while it is successful due to the genre's conventions, also makes Luo Binghe's trust waver... it sort of sets the tone for the entire emotional conflict of the novel. Despite SQQ knowing that LBH will be fine, since it has all been decreed by plot, he underestimates how much it will hurt him-- and he's thinking about hurting LBH in terms of how it will affect SQQ himself later on, rather than LBH's own pain. Then, afterwards, SQQ leaves LBH behind to go into seclusion, he gives LBH the new manual but doesn't move him out of the woodshed, and there's no indication that Ming Fan's bullying stopped during that time either. When SQQ returns, he ends up sacrificing himself and taking the poisoned hit for LBH... in a way this all just parallels the actual plot of the novel in short-form and I think that's very, very neat.

The water prison arc-- everything from LBH's visit where he stops LPM from attacking SQQ, where SQQ refuses to answer LBH's question because of his inaccurate perception of the situation, LBH's volatile emotions in this sequence, Gongyi Xiao's assumptions that LBH had assaulted SQQ and SQQ's complete obliviousness to that possibility, plus just GYX being the best boy ever tbh, he doesn't deserve to live in this messed up book and certainly doesn't deserve to die. This sequence has so much about how inaccurate perceptions of situations can lead to wildly off-base interpretations and how a lack of proper communication can escalate a conflict where it really didn't need to escalate. The "perceptions and interpretations vs. reality" idea is another major theme in SV, and this sequence really showcases a lot of that in a clear way.

Maigu Ridge. This one's controversial. A lot of people have a lot of opinions about it and let me just make a disclaimer that I'm not including this one because I enjoyed reading it on an emotional level. Maigu Ridge is FUCKED UP!! It's a massively fucked up situation for all parties! It's uncomfortable, and definitely something that warrants a trigger warning before reading the book-- and yet, it's so interesting to analyze from a hypothetical standpoint because the situation is just so, so messy in terms of who gives consent and who doesn't-- and does anyone really have the option to consent here, since both parties are under the complete control of the narrative-- in terms of who hurts who, etc. There are a lot of little details to debate, and of course there's the instant, knee-jerk surface reaction that people get, which I can totally understand especially if you didn't go in expecting this sort of scene and ended up getting triggered by it, but once you start to peel back the layers you can actually find that this scene is way more complicated than 'one party as the aggressor/one party as the victim.' It's a deconstruction and subversion of tropes, but also a really interesting place to analyze themes of consent as a whole, and the effects on the individuals involved. For this, honestly, people just need to remember that these are fictional characters. It's not saying anything about IRL survivors, and I'm a major proponent of considering massively fucked up situations through a fictional lens in order to understand the shades of gray that may exist in similar but less-extreme situations in real life, without the possibility of your deliberations causing harm to any party since in the fictional scenario, since none of the characters are real (I can't even begin to tell you how much of my own trauma I've processed based on extreme fictional scenarios). But on the flip side, if the scene upsets you or triggers you, it's perfectly valid to dislike it! It's also perfectly valid for you to dislike the Bingqiu relationship because of it! It's not for everyone and I completely get that, but also, keep in mind that people analyzing the scene in different ways doesn't have anything to do with how they'd react to real-life situations. It's all about what works best for each person.

Anyway that last one got really long, just because I've seen so much knee-jerk reaction in fandom with it and tbh, I feel like I have to cover my bases these days.

A lot of people say that SVSSS is less well-written than MXTX's other books, and while it does have issues, I wouldn't say that the book isn't well-written. I have no idea how much of what I talked about in those scenes above is deliberately intentional storytelling and how much just sort of happened, but those are just some of the reasons that I really do think it's actually a very good book, genuinely, and not the only scenes at that, I just limited to five here.

I hope you enjoyed reading all my ramblings-- SVSSS brainrot is real and the hyperfixation is going strong haha.

#svsss #zhuixing svsss #analysis #svsss meta #as a writer svsss is such an interesting book for me #like anything else that takes on genre tropes in a meta lens #but coupled with characters that i just find myself so emotionally connecting to as well as that i enjoy analyzing #i talk about maigu ridge here but i keep things pretty vague so i don't think it needs a cw #but let me know if you think it does!

[nikofortuna]

JTTW Chapter 6 Thoughts

Chapter Six for the @journeythroughjourneytothewest Reading Group!

Starting things off with another look at how time is accounted for in Heaven. Last time I concluded that the years that the Immortal Peach Trees need to grow their fruits were Earth years. This time around when they say that the Peach Festival happens every year they do mean a full year in Heaven, so multiple hundred years on Earth. It kind of has to be this way otherwise things would make little sense since if it wasn’t so the festival would be every day in Heaven and then they’d run out of Immortal Peaches really quickly even without a monkey eating them all up.

This chapter Heaven is back on with its nonsense, this time in retelling what happened instead of their actions. They most certainly did not “educate and nurture the talented monkey”, they didn’t actively teach him anything outside of maybe the bare minimum Sun Wukong was told by the people he worked with. They didn’t even tell him how the ranking system works!

Also they totally denied that he beat Nezha.

What becomes clear here as well is that they didn’t even pay Sun Wukong when they did give him the job to look after the garden. Sure it’s not like the Monkey King would have cared much, but that’s still not a good move.

We stan Guanyin, my favourite Bodhisattva, for sending her own disciple down to the battlefield for specifically a factual report. I firmly believe she is seeing through the nonsense the Jade Emperor has woven in with the truth in his recounting of events!

Also she is already saying “our [monkey]” like she has already decided to sort of take him under her wing. My speculation here is that she probably listened up when it was mentioned vaguely that Sun Wukong cared for his monkeys.

When Erlang Shen enters the fray some rather interesting points arise. For one his sworn brothers, who must know him very well, said that there was no time for “praise or blame”. Oho, what could they mean with praise? In the J.F. Jenner translation they even say "Stop admiring him and challenge him to battle.", which after taking a look at the original Chinese put through Google Translate is actually more accurate.

All of this is very interesting. Perhaps it is meant to harken back to Erlang’s own story and his troubles with Heaven, so now some appreciation for Sun Wukong being rather likeminded in this instance shines through. Aside from both of them having a rebellious streak, another parallel is that both of them have a brotherhood of seven!

And then of course Sun Wukong things of him as being very pretty. I can certainly see why people appreciate those two together.

Additionally Sun Wukong doesn’t want to fight him, because he appreciates his care for his mother! Aside from them not having any personal issues with each other.

Interestingly the Jingu Bang is always metaphorically called a Dragon in multiple instances of combat while the opponent’s weapon is referred to as Phoenix.

Some more translation shenanigans Erlang’s face is not simply green as stated in the Anthony C. Yu translation! I checked the Chinese text with the help of Google Translate for the Pinyin again and it’s verdant, so it could be more blue or green or inbetween even. The colour is specifically [青 Qīng], which doesn’t specify if it’s green or blue, just that it’s verdant. Only if an additional character had been used it could have been clearly differentiated. The German translation actually calls it “grünblau” literally greenblue as well.

Yippie, Xiàotiān makes an appearance this chapter as well! Wish we could have seen more of the good boi, but maybe we’ll get more later at some point. For those who’d like to see more of her, I can happily refer to the New Gods: Yang Jian movie!

She’s so goofy, so adorable! Yet still packs a pawnch as well.

Guess why Erlang is called Little Sage in this! The German translation notes that it is because Erlang [二 郎] has the number two [二] in it, which stands for the force of Yin with which the small/little is associated. So it’s Little Sage in the chapter title! Additionally Sun Wukong has a lot of Yang force, which gets opposed and undermined by Erlang’s Yin.

Lastly the Audio Drama Production Notes of this chapter bringing forth that the “plant-headed deities” in the Anthony C. Yu translation, well, have nothing to do with plants at all. Instead something they could be called which is more true to the intended meaning is “unappointed deities”.

And that should be the last we see of Huaguoshan until about… Chapter 28! Good grief, I’m not ready.

#xiyouji #journey to the west #jttw #new gods yang jian #guanyin #erlang shen #xiaotian quan #sun wukong #monkey king #jttw reading group #jttw book club

[sollody]

Joyce is (almost) always right ... right?

Um...

Remember the scene where Brenner tries to manipulate Joyce - most definitely - in order to get her to help him get Eleven back (1x08)?

Well, I can't help but think that her reaction is a bit ... suspicious...

[Huh!?!?!]

To me, the response seems quite odd considering she knows about Jane and her abilities. She's well aware that the man in front of her has a history with Jane. Not Will. Jane. Eleven. 011.

Hopper even admitted that "he had been chasing after some other kid" - after she pointed it out (1x06).

And yet, she decides to accuse Brenner of taking Will and leaving him in that place to die.

[I mean, I get that she was probably trying to leave Jane out of it in order to keep her safe or something - but she could've easily been like: Uh, yeah, right. Your people just handcuffed me and took me to this creepy interrogation room. Why would I help you? - or something.]

And the way she puts it ...

It's not an assumption - it's a statement.

------------

Just so you know, I - obviously - don't think it was Brenner who took Will and 'sent' him to the Upside Down. :D

But!

They've made it quite obvious that Joyce has some sort of ... sixth sense.

So what if she really is onto something in that scene with Brenner?

There are a few things that suggest that he (or the lab in general) had been in the know about Will (and his powers) - even before the events of November '83. (The fake body, Brenner's reaction in the shed etc.)

And I've always considered the conversation between Brenner and Connie Frazier (1x08) to be particularly ... interesting.

It feels kind of ... random, no?

----------

Like I've said, Brenner obviously didn't take Will and put him in the Upside Down.

However, he may have taken advantage of the situation.

----------------------

My thoughts:

First of all, you may or may not be aware that quite a few people (looking at you, @pinkeoni , @chirpsythismorning and @ki-flor :D) are convinced that Will has creation powers and created the Upside Down version of Hawkins.

I am no different. :D

In fact, I take the matter even a little further: I believe that it's possible that he has something to do with the yellow wasteland version as well. [here and here]

Let's assume Brenner really had been aware of Will's abilities...

... we all know what he was like. He didn't give a damn about common moral and ethical principles...

So what if he really did intend to leave him there? - for research purposes or whatever

Like one of those "Hm, let's see what happens."- situations.

Another possibility: he was scared of Will's powers.

I must admit, this seems a bit silly. But there has to be a reason Will wasn't part of the experimentation program (in 1983) - even though they were aware of him. Perhaps Brenner and his team had never been able to find a way to deal with our boy's abilities. It's also possible that it has something to do with the huge amount of parallels between him and Henry.

So maybe he really did want for him to die in that place.

Who knows?

All I know is that we should never, ever underestimate a gut feeling of Joyce Byers. :D

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Anyway, thanks for reading. (:

#sigh - there's soooooo many unfinished theories in my drafts :D #yet here we are :D #stranger things theory #my theory #thoughts #stranger things season 5 prediction #will byers has powers #byler #<- target audience #dr brenner #joyce byers #will byers with powers #will byers #stranger things #tw death mention #i told you I'm terrible at explaining things:D #don't come for me #please #:D #also its likely there's typos #im super-duper out of it atm

[kenzan-kiwami]

been hunting for excuses to write about him again before rgg8 and i finally found one

i didn't think much of this scene when i played through it initially, but going back to it i suddenly remember that scene from the start of yakuza 1 where he tells kiryu that kazama used to be the tojo clan's top assassin. being as close to kazama as he is, i have no doubt he already knows the true nature of sunflower and the deaths of kiryu and nishiki's parents at this point.

a big part of the reason i like to lowball kashiwagi's age (29 or 30 in Y0; mid-sixties in IW) is because i don't think he'd have had such an idealised view of kazama had he been any closer in age to him when they first met. i don't know if they'll ever tell us how long kashiwagi was in the family before he made captain, or why he swore up in the first place, and frankly i don't ever feel informed enough to make those kinds of decisions for my own headcanon. but if he was, say, in his late teens or early 20s, i don't think it would be a stretch to say he might still take some influence from kazama's mentality. absolutely not as much as if he was a sunflower kid (...could he have been a sunflower kid??), but enough to inform decisions he makes later in his life.

to wander further down the path of non-canon, i'm not sure kashiwagi would have decided on his own not to say anything to the boys for thirty-odd years. kazama clearly harbours a lot of guilt around the fact he murdered enough parents to fill an orphanage, and keeping it from the kids means he doesn't have to confront that fact every day he sees them. they miss their parents, but they look up to kazama for offering them a new life. they enjoy his company. they're happy. why risk demoralising them, kashiwagi, after all that?

on the other hand, he could have just kept himself out of it on purpose like he does here. it's an interesting parallel to how he's described in yakuza 3 - staying out of ichiban's drama because he trusts him to sort it himself, vs staying out of clan drama to not bring anything down on his head as clan captain (which obviously doesn't work). still, he refuses to relay daigo's whereabouts to kiryu, because he thinks it best kiryu doesn't know. for valid reasons, but it's there.

i want to say something profound here but i don't think i can. i just really like him in this game. it's nice to be able to see how he's grown and changed as a person since the 80s; since kazama's death; since he got gunned down in his office and died in the arms of his last remaining family figure. but it's also nice to see the ways in which he's stayed the same. this scene from 7 is one of the things that makes me long for a more kazama-centric game, or at least more exploration of kazama's character, because if that gaiden substory is anything to go on he's been informing kiryu's decisions for basically his entire life. it'd be cool to get a more direct peek into kazama's story.

#kashiwagi osamu #kazama shintaro #7 #meta #k1 spoilers #3 spoilers #i'm expecting a LOT more to garble about in a week or so . #as much as i want to do all the substories again i think i'm probably gonna be beelining the main story until i unlock kiryu's side content #cause i mean #substories can wait until before the finale right #unless they pull a yakuza 3 on us again #nah it'll be fine i'm sure #he says

[hlficlibrary]

HL FIC LIBRARY ✤ AUTHOR REC

AO3: LadyLondonderry

Tumblr: @londonfoginacup

STATS:

✤ Number of fics: 114

✤ Posting Since: 2015

TOP 5 FICS:

1️⃣ Souls; Plural, Parallel [T, 19k]

Soulmates are rare, the sort of rare that means everyone has a story about a friend's sister's coworker or a brother's roommate's cousin. But the fact of the matter is that most people never meet theirs. It's unfortunate then, that Louis finds out the hard way that he met his soulmate in a club, and the guy never texted him back.

2️⃣ Compass to my Soul [T, 31k]

Harry Styles, alpha, is 1/4 of the perfect pack, and 1/5 of world famous boy band One Direction. He spends his time touring the world with his best friends and family.

Louis Tomlinson, omega, is 1/5 of world famous boy band One Direction. He spends his time hoping his bandmates don’t notice him.

3️⃣ You're like a Sponge (Abrasive and Colorful) [T, 6k]

Harry LOML Styles: Hey, can you recommend your fav shoe stores? Heels Abroad is closing and I know you know some good places

Butterflies have erupted in Louis’s stomach. This is the first time Harry has ever texted him. He glances down at the beat up old Adidas he wore for his run this morning. Harry thinks Louis knows some good places? He trusts Louis’s opinion on something?

Louis gulps, and then coughs up toothpaste, hastily spitting into the sink. Everything depends on this. Harry - Harry Styles - has texted him! Louis can’t mess this up. He has to be perfect. He has to have great shoe store recommendations. He feels giddy. This is it! A turn in their friendship! The toothpaste-y grin firmly on his face, he picks up his phone again just as another message comes through.

Harry LOML Styles:Sorry, wrong person

Oh.

Or, Louis's flirts look an awful lot like insults.

4️⃣ Things Unsaid [G, 4k]

"That chunky oversized sweater is like a clown outfit made for winter."

It feels like time slows down.

Those words echo in his mind, familiar. Why are they familiar? The— the sweater he saw last week. The one with all the knit squares.

The train slows to a stop and Louis just— he doesn’t move. He feels frozen in place as people surge around him. Suddenly everyone is moving too fast and then just as suddenly the car is near empty, taking off again.

The man is gone.

His soulmate is gone.

Or, where you have a tattoo of the first thought your soulmate has when they see you.

5️⃣ Frankincense-ational [T, 31k]

Harry Styles works at the Hillsyde Library with his friend Zayn and best mate Niall. It’s December, which means Christmas, which should be the happiest month of the year…

Except Niall just broke up with his boyfriend, Zayn needs to let up on the rules a little, and the library is getting their fire alarm system replaced, which means that for the next few weeks there are going to be firemen patrolling the library ‘looking for fires’ while the system is down.

Harry almost hits one of them with his car right off the bat - and of course he’s the hot one.

Happy Christmas, here’s to many more.

HIDDEN GEM:

💎 Moon Dances Over [G, 2k]

Louis knows that his tail is, frankly, stunning. His iridescent blue scales shimmer in even the slightest sunlight, and his fins have grown since he presented, delicate and almost transparent in their webbing.

He also knows that that means he’ll be one of the first to pick tonight, as the most beautiful omegas are blessed to pick their mates first. It’s considered a huge honour, since the guppies they’ll eventually birth will certainly be beautiful as well, bringing favour on the whole clan.

Louis has a stubborn streak, though. He’s always been rather a fan of mating for love, and there’s someone he’s had his eye on for a long time now.

#hlcreators #hljournal #hltracks #trackinghome #tracksintheam #1dficvillage #trackinghappily #1dsource #hlsource #yourlarrysource #ficsfor4am #ladylondonderry #londonfoginacup #ficrec #authorrec

[dinitride-art]

Lighting and Mike and Will and El - Full Analysis (Pt. 11)

Alright, so, we’ve buried a body, and now we’re having a nice chat about being scared of our feelings on top of a car. 

S4:E5 - Seven Up

We start out looking at Mike and Will. This is our establishing shot for this scene. The lighting is falling on them relatively equally from this perspective; half in the light, half in shadow. It’s also interesting that we see the dark cliff on Mike’s side, and the lighter desert and sky from Will’s. Even here we’re seeing lighting discrepancies. 

Honourable mention of Mike’s 7-UP can. It’s right in front of my face, I can’t just ignore it. It’s also paralleled to the Molotov cocktails, in Nancy, Steve and Robin’s fight against Vecna. The label on the bottle said Four Ball. When Robin threw hers, her thumb covered up the word ‘Ball’. This was some neat foreshadowing of the Vecna’s plan working with the four gates. Drink cans have been reoccurring themes within the whole series, so it’s not crazy to think that there might be symbolism here as well.  

I’m including this shot here because of the parallel it has too the burial scene. It also shows the true value of the mountain behind Mike being lighter than in the establishing shot, and Will’s lighting getting brighter. 

This shot here, while we can see that Will’s face is in the light, is important because of Will’s positioning. This isn’t the first time that Mike and Will have been in the same light, but tilted so we see Will’s face in the light and Mike’s in the dark. We can sort of see this in the apology scene, when Will is placed in a way that the light shines brighter on him than Mike, even though they are in the same lighting. We see that they’re in the same lighting later on when we get Will’s perspective of Mike. 

This scene is a little different in that their positioning is far more obvious. This is also an over-the-shoulder shot. So that means that we’ve got an understanding here between Mike and Will with what’s being  said. But also showing that we’re looking at Will from Mike’s perspective. 

The mountains behind Mike are in shadow whereas Will’s background is fully lit. Mike here is turned away from the light, as little on his face in the view of the camera as possible. 

The contrast between Will and Mike continues to get more and more obvious as we get through the season. Eventually we end up at the cabin scene with the literally rays of sunlight shining down onto Will. The lights always been here, carefully growing in a gradient. 

Unintentional lighting don’t grow brighter in a gradient across a season. 

A few things on this shot here. One, we see a front view of Mike and Will. This is again giving us a normally lit perspective of them. It’s also angled in a way that it could be either Argyle or Jonathan, or it could just be the general direction of them. I believe that in this scene we switch back and forth between Mike and Will, and Argyle, so this could also just be indicating that. 

Either way it gives us a neutral lighting perspective. 

Another thing to note here, symbolically, is that seven up can. In the establishing shot we couldn’t see the seven on the can. But now? We’re at an angle that it’s visible. Again, it’s not the only time this season that they’re done this sort of foreshadowing/symbolism, so it’s worth looking a little further in depth at this placement here.

The seven on the can is tied to a few things: the first episode of season one, Mike being conveniently out of episode seven, and probably a few other occurrences that I am not aware of. 

What I really want to highlight here isn’t just the can, it’s the combination of the can, the scene and the sign in the background. Surfer Boy Pizza. The logo here is cut in half and we only see the word Boy.

Seven up can, Mike and Will, boy. 

The light is shining on that seven up can and everything else here is sending a pretty clear message. 

As we can see the lighting is normal for the rest of the scene. There may be a little more on Will than the others, but it’s not much. 

The paper here isn’t in the light. Which is weird. There isn’t anything to hide here, the numbers are written clearly and it’s in the middle of the frame. If our full attention was to be brought to it, wouldn't it be fully illuminated? This goes back to Mike’s perspective of El and the lack of lighting there is when she’s in his perspective. 

And we have Argyle’s rainbow socks. 

Will keeps getting brighter but we don’t notice it as much because of how carefully it’s built up. During the apology, Mike and Will’s backgrounds were mostly the same, but here? Will’s whole frame is glowing compared to Mike. 

Other added symbolism helps give meaning to this scene, but even on it’s own the light is saying a lot. 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 (To be edited)

#byler #mike wheeler #will byers #stranger things #byler analysis #the lights #i rewatched eps 8 and 9 #and oooh boy do i have some thoughts #but also i realized that i needed to split this further #because i remembered will when he was singing #and ive got some stuff to say there as well

[stranger-chichka]

Back to the Future 3 & the Forever Clock in Stranger Things 3

At first I just started noticing this windmill, which kinda looks like Dustin's Forever Clock, in the background near the Clock Tower that is paralleled to the Hawkins library, and also near Doc's love interest's house. Dustin is associated both with the Forever Clock and the library.

Lately it's mentioned as the "point of no return" in Doc's plan of getting back to the future, and I wonder what would it mean for the plot in Stranger Things. Can’t be a coincidence.

In s3 Dustin gives the Forever Clock to Will with the words "very useful in the apocalypse" and Will looks very interested in this invention. Also, considering the fact that it's made of Coke and knowing about Regular Coke representing Mileven and New Coke - Byler in s3 (@ghostgirlinsatinirlinsatin and @awhstrangerthings are geniuses!!!), makes everything even more interesting.

And why it's always Dustin? Library references? Dustin.

Nov. 6th!!!

Five at a time. Curiosity voyage. Time travel foreshadowing? Five of them are going into the Upside Down. It's definitely not about s4, because we have 4 people there (Nancy, Steve, Robin, Eddie). But also the librarian says "you already have 5 books checked out", so maybe there will be more people going into the Upside Down for some sort of mission.

Electricity references? Dustin. Water references? Dustin. Here we have wind. I don't really remember any references to the wind before in the show, but @awhstrangerthings in one of their posts pointed out that the Mind Flayer is actually made of wind and dust. Now we know it's controlled by 011/Henry/Vecna. And look what @elkdiaries posted.

I haven't properly analysed Coke references in s4 to connect the dots, but maybe @aemiron-art has something to say, he's really into Coke theory. I remember only one New Coke appearance - on the clock during Mileven fight above Mike’s head = he’s thinking about the relationship between him and Will at that moment.

There’s Regular Coke during the reunion scene, where see El's disappointed because he wrote “From, Mike” again.

At Rink o Mania we see Regular Coke 2 times - when Angela takes El to the roller rink and Mike shows zero concern about it, ignoring the fact she definitely looks scared and uncomfortable near Angela (she even looked at him for help, come on!!!), and when we see devastated El after the accident, sitting alone and Mike, again, showing zero concern.

Again, we see Regular Coke during dinner, when Mike says “She didn’t look fine.”

One more reference I can remember is during their interrupted talk at Surfer Boy Pizza, where Mike starts talking about their fight and we don’t happen to know what he wanted to say, because Argyle brings pineapple pizza (pineapple pizza and New Coke both represent Byler) and Mike looks very uncomfortable with it.

What I think about it is that only when Mike accepts what kind of relationships he wants with El (platonic) and Will (romantic), only when the three of them (=the Forever Clock) are in good terms will they be "powered and useful in the apocalypse" (= in defeating Vecna).

In Back to the Future 3 Doc says to Marty: "Once we pass this windmill, it's the future or bust" = The future depends on the relationships between El, Mike & Will. Byler = future, Mileven = bust (a complete failure here, but it also means woman's breasts, which makes sense, right?).

By the way, I also wrote posts about Back to the Future 1 parallels, check the pinned post <3

#byler #the forever clock #stranger things theory #stranger things #st theory #cokegate #coke theory #stranger things time theory #stranger things x back to the future