#Thank you for the ask btw!!! I'm always hella down to talk about my ships 😊

[multiplemike]

What did you like zoke for and why, mister generous. Hmm?

A main reason I like Zoke so much is some of the touching dialogue Zoey & Mike exchange. As a person with DID, seeing positive conversation around the condition is particularly special to me. Don't get me wrong--I have my fair share of criticisms for the way TD handled certain things, but overall, I think it's a great basis for something meaningful. Two scenes I'd like to point out in particular are:

...Mike finally confessing that he is a system to Zoey, followed by her incredibly powerful and positively affirming line. Despite Mike's fear that his disorder will continue to impair him even through interpersonal relationships, Zoey is willing to be present to the best of her ability. Coming to terms with having DID is hard, sometimes confiding in people is even harder, but building a genuine support network that values honesty is paramount. Which leads into...

...The conversation they have after Mal is introduced from dormancy. Even though Zoey and Mike both fear Mal as persecutor who is willing to sabotage the system and their support network, they are willing to navigate and transform the unhealthy behaviors for the better.

I don't really like the way Mal was handled; I would've much more preferred proactive language and reactions to having a persecutor (such as the show ending with Mike being a functional multiple or working through integration slowly instead of a literal reset button), but like I said earlier, the thought and intention are there for this couple to be representative of a system receiving love and support from an understanding partner.

#Moving away from canon a little bit...I just want to say I really would've liked to see Zoey form a more #intimate relationship with one or more of Mike's alters. I know it's easy to dog on All Stars for being out of character but #it really does seem like a loss that she explicitly said there is More Mike To Love while only maintaining intimacy with...Mike. #Vito or Manitoba could've been great contenders #tho Mike having a healthy relationship with Zoey while Vito has one with Anne Maria would've been amazing too #And I also do personally headcanon Zoey to be an OSDD1a system #so I think it would've been SO SO SO good to see an arc with Commando and Mal #maybe even where they end up together 👉🏼👈🏼 #There is just. So Many Great Things you can explore with Zoke which makes Another reason why I love it So Damn Much #Thank you for the ask btw!!! I'm always hella down to talk about my ships 😊 #total drama #total drama island #total drama revenge of the island #revenge of the island #tdroti #total drama all stars #tdas #zoke #zoey total drama #zoey td #zoey tdi #total drama zoey #td zoey #tdi zoey #mike total drama #mike td #mike tdi #total drama mike #td mike #tdi mike

[racebox-of-higgars]

//plops down at table with three notebooks//

Good evening.

You shall now be the subject of my rambling and info-dumping, seeing as you have recently reblogged a post about invading your ask box to do just that.

So, buckle up, my beloved mutual, for I am about to talk your damn ears off.

We all know historians are heterosexist shabuire, yes? Yes? Good. So I've taken it upon myself to send an f-you to all of them and collect evidence for one of the historically accurate ships they so desperately try to erase. The one in question here is, of course, Alexander Hamilton x John Laurens, or more commonly known as Lams.

I've done... a lot of research, to put it mildly. And yes, as a matter of fact, I do consider reading letters from the late 1700s and screaming because I can feel my heart MELTING as research.

Anygay, there's a lot that I have right now so I'll just hit the highlights, because if I go completely in-depth with everything I've found, this'll be thousands of words longer.

The year is 1779. The month, April. The date... unknown. Which sucks. Alexander and John have fought together for years at this point and are very close... friends. This is the first time they've been truly separated. The letter open with:

"Cold in my professions, warm in my friendships, I wish, my Dear Laurens, it might be in my power, by action rather than words, to convince you that I love you. I shall only tell you that ’till you bade us Adieu, I hardly knew the value you had taught my heart to set upon you. Indeed, my friend, it was not well done. You know the opinion I entertain of mankind, and how much it is my desire to preserve myself free from particular attachments, and to keep my happiness independent on the caprice of others. You should not have taken advantage of my sensibility to steal into my affections without my consent. But as you have done it and as we are generally indulgent to those we love, I shall not scruple to pardon the fraud you have committed, on condition that for my sake, if not for your own, you will always continue to merit the partiality, which you have so artfully instilled into me."

So pretty much what this opening paragraph is saying is this: "*Sexual innuendo* And I'll keep telling you that until you die. So you know I hate everyone and don't want to have any attachments to anyone. But you've managed to worm your way into my heart, even though I didn't want it. So now that you've done it, please keep doing it, for you if not for me."

Now that's just hella gay. Like, hella fucking gay.

The middle paragraphs are mainly talk about the war, so skipping those for the end because that's when things get spicy as FUCK.

Alexander asks John to find him a wife and goes into great detail about exactly what he wants in a wife. I saw a theory somewhere (I can't remember where) that Alexander was actually describing John and yeah, it pretty much checks out. Keeping in mind deliberate irony is a thing.

So then he goes on to say: "...mind you do justice to the length of my nose and don't forget, that I ⟨– – – – –⟩." 'Nose' is a slang term. And the - - - - - are crossed out words. We'll get to those later.

The last sentence of this letter is: "I have gratified my feelings, by lengthening out the only kind of intercourse now in my power with my friend." and I find this. So. Sweet. He's pretty plainly missing John. And just- he uses the word intercourse. How- how is that platonic? This is gay. They're gay. It's gay.

In almost all the letters that survived, they're signed with "Yours", "Affectionately Yrs.", "Yrs most sincerely", "Yr affectionate", and "Yrs forever" from Alexander. "Adieu, my dear boy", "My love as usual", "You know the unalterable sentiments of your affectionate Laurens", and "Yours ever" all came from John, with the last being the most common. That's... also not terribly straight. Something additionally interesting is that John's father, Henry Laurens, called his wife, Elenor, "Dear girl." That would make it explicitly romantic in his eyes. John also called his wife that in the only surviving letter from him to her. Oh yeah, he's married and has a kid, btw.

So pretty much how that happened was John's boyfriend Francis Kinloch broke up with him, he banged Martha probably 'cause he was sad and pissed and had a lot of feelings, she got pregnant, then he married her out of pity. Alexander knew none of that. And they were really close. The only reason he found out was because he happened to stumble upon some stuff he shouldn't have, and he was pissed. The whole paragraph about him detailing the wife he wanted? Pretty much petty payback.

Devoted is an interesting word, isn't it? Stronger than it's synonyms, such as caring or loyal. So if we skip ahead a few years, Alexander is engaged to Eliza. He tells John about this, John responds, and in his next letter he says: "...as if after matrimony I was to be less devoted than I am now." He's telling him, "Don't worry, I'll still love you as much as I always have. Just because I'm getting married, it doesn't change my feelings for you." Again. Heterosexual explanation? None.

" I hate Congress—I hate the army—I hate the world—I hate myself. The whole is a mass of fools and knaves; I could almost except you and Meade." Keep in mind that at this point now, Alexander was married. And he didn't include his wife in the exemptions. Only John and one of his closest friends, Richard Meade. Dunno 'bout you, but that seems rather telling to me. He also says at the end: "My ravings are for your own bosom." And I can't. His ravings are for John's heart I can't.

These are just some of the highlights of my nearly six thousand word book on this subject. I would happily copy/paste it all, but I'm not gonna subject you to that XD For full viewing the link is here, should you wish to listen to me ramble and rant in more detail.

Thank you for allowing me to dump this all on your lap, and I shall now bid you adieu. //vanishes back into the shadows//

HI, sorry it took me so long to answer this, I’ve had a pretty full-on day. 

This was actually super interesting to read. I actually did a little bit of research into this about a year ago, when I was writing Lams fanfiction, so I knew about the ‘cold in my professions, warm in my friendships” letter, but not any of the others, so thanks for this!! It was a really fascinating read, and I definitely learned a lot from reading it. Have a good day :)