virals thoughts after recent reread
spent the last few weeks doing my yearly virals reread and here are my thoughts
the older i get the crazier it is to me that tory is 13-16 throughout the series. a literal baby
it's quite strange to me how ben is written as kind of ambiguous racially (and as a whole how tory's perspective on his heritage is written but that's another issue). like, it's stated that he's only 'part' indigenous in the first book, and the rest is left unsaid, but is generally described as being visibly not white like at all. in my head he has always been fully native anyway
(also it is completely skimmed over how terribly ben in particular is treated by virtually every adult and official they encounter. are we supposed to believe there's no bias against him for bigoted reasons)
the virals all being variously neurodivergent is both coded throughout the series and, in my head, very real
i wonder how tall shelton is really. we know ben is 5'10 and hi is not much shorter than him but i wonder if shelton is actually shorter even than tory, who are both described as the 'smallest' on separate occasions. maybe he is like 5'7, just short for a guy
i get that she's 14 and immature in several ways but i wish tory didn't harbor such resentment for most women she encounters
chance is so irredeemable oh my god. covering up a murder and threatening people's lives, then stalking and essentially preying on a girl 3+ years younger than him, then everything he caused in book 5. i'm sorry i just hate him
ella ending up with chance was so unfair on her, anyway she's a lesbian and her friendship with tory has been a situationship
whitney's character development is truly wonderful
i'd love to know more about the boys backstories. when did they each move to morris? have they always been outcasts together?
it's so funny to me that tory's perspective never holds back from gritty details like she'll say 'i can smell the boys sweating' a LOT
shelton thinks tory is pretty and more than pretty when she smiles :)
it's just a little bit unrealistic to me to suggest that ben had no friends at all outside of the virals at bolton, or at least no company. he was older, consistently described as very handsome, and sometimes notably absent from the others' company. i feel like he must have attracted at least a little attention just for being good looking and athletic
why were hi and shelton so gay from the very jump
why was shelton's japanese heritage not really acknowledged at all!!!! at the most basic level, you're telling me he speaks no japanese? understands none? he didn't even recognise the 'himitsu-bako' phrase as being japanese i mean cmon
tory refusing to forgive ben has always made exposure the least enjoyable read for me. he was completely a victim who was completely exploited and it breaks my heart. but it occurs to me that maybe tory only took his betrayal so hard because she trusted him so much, and a part of her maybe already had deeper feelings?
the morris island residents count makes 0 sense and really shouldn't be any more than 20 or 25 at the absolute most
it's funny that the villains in this series will always explain their entire plans and motives to the virals. feels like scooby doo
tory and ben being bonded by loss and forcibly growing up too fast. while hi and shelton are the friends they can count on to make those loads a little lighter
ben actually being a calming and stabilising presence to tory is so important. he gets her head on straight. this also parallels how tory describes her mother in shock
jason is such a good guy truly. even at his worst (fighting with ben) it was at least semi justified and he was never ever one to flex his wealth and privilege on any of the virals. unlike chance even when he was an ally
literally when and how does swipe take place
last thing. i believe that hi and shelton were each other's first kisses
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For International Taxi Driver's Day: On "The Taxi Boys"
March 22, by some mysterious decree, has been designated International Taxi Drivers Day, the ideal time, it would appear, to introduce Hal Roach’s “Taxi Boys” comedies. The Taxi Boys were a late attempt to replicate the successes Roach had had with such series as Our Gang (the Little Rascals), The Boy Friends, and the Hal Roach All-Stars, which had produced the team of Laurel and Hardy. The…
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John Payne, Gracie Allen, George Burns, Martha Raye, Bob Hope, Florence George, Ben Blue, Betty Grable, and Jackie Coogan are in agreement in College Swing / Swing, Teacher, Swing (1938)
1. “Betty Grable and Jackie Coogan give teacher a Big Apple”
2. “Martha Raye and Ben Blue listen carefully to a college lecture”
3. “Singing Sweethearts of Hidehi (Martha and Bob)”
4. “Gracie says even teacher’s pet so why can’t Georgie. . .”
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i keep seeing headcanons of hi as trans and i am HERE for it so here are my headcanons
ben [he/him]: straight/cis, but experimented with men, especially at wando. he is also the most protective stoic bodyguard when they go to pride and is the most aggressive ally.
hi [he/him until age 16, and then he/any]: trans man/queer. started transitioning at a really young age. identified as pan for a while but then decided he likes the label queer more.
shelton [they/he, experiments with neopronouns]: demiboy/asexual/demiromantic. denied being ace for a really long time and finally accepted it when they walked in on tory and ben by accident.
tory [she/any]: cis/bi, but doesn't really care how anyone perceives her. had a huge crush on ella, regularly points pretty girls out to ben when they're out in public.
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